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Basque Organisations Sign Agreement on Peaceful Conflict Resolution 26.09.2010 | Agreement, September 25th, 2010 Yesterday more than 30 Basque organisations, five parties included, signed an "AGREEMENT FOR A SCENARIO OF PEACE AND DEMOCRATIC SOLUTION" in the Basque town of Gernika (Spanish: Guernica). Gernika and the picture of Picasso are a symbol of the long Spanish-Basque conflict. The foto shows the frontpage of the agreement. It demands from ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, Basque Country and Freedom) and from the Spanish Government an end to their confrontational strategy and to allow for a peaceful solution: "These political, trade union and social organisations demand ETA and Spanish Government to take those decisions and initiatives that would allow the creation of an scenario of this kind, an scenario of non violence with guarantees and of progressive political normalisation." The agreement is another important step of the initiative of the Basque pro-independence movement (Abertzale Left) to peacefully and democratically resolve the conflict. English translation of the agreement: AGREEMENT FOR A SCENARIO OF PEACE AND DEMOCRATIC SOLUTION The Basque Country is facing the opportunity to take the political conflict and the violent confrontation towards a scenario of peace and democratic solutions. On that direction, we have to settle a non violence situation with guarantees and a first stage of political normalisation based on the following contents: Declaration by ETA of a permanent and unilateral cease fire, verifiable by the international community, as an expression of will of a definitive cessation of its armed activity. Recognition of civil and political rights, allowing the activity and development of all political projects, taking into account that the recognition and protection of all rights is their fundamental base. Therefore we demand the abolition of the Politic Parties law, as it embodies a juridical instrument on which the violation of basic rights is supported. End to all kind of menaces, pressures, persecutions, arrests and tortures against any person motivated by his political activity or ideology The cessation of the ongoing penitentiary policy against Basque political prisoners, conceived until now as part of the confrontation strategies, and the adoption of the following measures as a first step towards the amnesty, that will lead us to the total absence of prisoners and exiles caused by the political conflict: Transfer of the prisoners to the Basque Country, ending the dispersal policy. Release of prisoners affected by serious illnesses. Release without bail of all those prisoners held in prison awaiting a trial. Release on parole of all condemned prisoners who have fulfilled all legal requirements. Application without restrictions or arbitrariness of all legally established penitentiary benefits Abolishment of the legislation that impones 40 years sentence. Revision of those judicial processes against persons and organizations structures based on their political activity. Closure of special jurisdictions and tribunals, of all exceptional legislation and the disappearance of incommunicado detention. Lifting of restrictive or/and prohibitive measures on political activity of Pro-independence activists and organisations. Encourage participation of international agents in order to verify that there is not any kind of Human Right violation. These political, trade union and social organisations demand ETA and Spanish Government to take those decisions and initiatives that would allow the creation of an scenario of this kind, an scenario of non violence with guarantees and of progressive political normalisation. In the same way, the endorsers believe that in the frame of a process of these characteristics, where that scenario of peace and enough political normalisation would be consolidated, it will become essential to activate spaces of political dialogue and negotiation in order to fully address the reasons and consequences of the conflict. This process of political dialogue and negotiation has to be based on the following principles and contents: Dialogue and negotiation in all fields would be ruled according to the commitment established on the “Mitchell Principles”. To democratic and exclusively peaceful means of resolving political issues To oppose any effort to use force, or threaten to use force, to influence the course or the outcome of all-party negotiations To agree to abide by the terms of any agreement reached in all-party negotiations and to resort to democratic and exclusively peaceful methods in trying to alter any aspect of that outcome with which they may disagree The negotiation process to reach political agreements will exclusively belong to political, trade union and social agents. The contents of the political dialogue will look for an inclusive agreement among all politicalcultures of the country, regarding the recognition of both the Basque national reality and the right to decide, and also to the respect of the democratic popular will regarding internal juridical and institutional model, and regarding the type of relation with the states, including independence. Need of recognition, reconciliation and redress of all the victims caused by the political conflict and recognition of the reality of the multiple violences. Nowadays, as a consequence of the existing social model, participation of men and women is not equal. Therefore, women must be an active subject in the solution, because they are not outsiders to the political conflict. All postulates addressed in this document are assumed by those trade-union, political and social organisations signing it, and commit themselves to fulfil them, transmit them to the international agents and work for the popular activation of Basque society, so that its citizens will adopt them and take their place as the only guarantor of the evolution of the process of democratic solution. Gernika, Euskal Herria – Basque Country September 25th, 2010 ENDORSERS: ABERTZALEEN BATASUNA ALTERNATIBA ARALAR EUSKO ALKARTASUNA EZKER ABERTZALEA EHNE EILAS ESK HIRU LAB AEK APAIZEN KOORDINAKUNDEA BERTSOZALEEN ELKARTEA BILGUNE FEMINISTA ESAIT ETXERAT EUSKAL HERRIAK BERE ESKOLA EUSKAL HERRIKO GURASO ELKARTEA (EHIGE) EUSKAL IDAZLEEN ELKARTEA EUSKARIA EZKER SOBERANISTA GAINDEGIA GazteHerria-GAZTE ABERTZALEAK GazteHerria-GAZTE INDEPENDENTISTAK GazteHerria-ALTERNATIBA GIZA ESKUBIDEEN BEHATOKIA GURASO ELKARTEA HERRIA 2000 ELIZA HIZKUNTZ ESKUBIDEEN BEHATOKIA INDEPENDENTISTAK IKASTOLEN KONFEDERAKUNTZA IRATZARRI SORTZEN-IKASBATUAZ TAT