The arrest of Josu Urrutikoetxea raises a tricky question for France
Veronique Dudouet (scholar and conflict resolution expert), Andy Carl (peacebuilding practitioner)
&
Jean-Marie Muller (philosopher and writer)
Efforts to bring an end to violence and deep-rooted conflicts around the world – from Ukraine to Yemen – remind us that, while waging wars involve tremendous personal sacrifice on the part of our uniformed forces, it is less well remembered that the same is true for those waging peace. The arrest of Josu Urrutikoetxea, known for his Basque pro-independence activism but also for his role in peace talks to end the Basque conflict raises an awkward question for the French government. How to support transitions out of conflict in the Basque provinces while recognising the seriousness of the violent acts committed in the past, and the rights of all victims of the conflict to truth, justice and closure? While we do not claim to hold the ultimate answer to this perennial question, we believe that criminalizing those who have led the transition from violent struggle to peaceful politics is both ethically problematic and strategically counter-productive. A similar conviction is shared by the signatories of the support committee for the liberation of Josu Urrutikoetxea and the online petition demanding his liberation.
As peace and mediation-support practitioners, we have seen how conflicts end with compromises and concessions – sometimes through violent coercion and defeat and sometimes through dialogue and peace agreements. As confusing as it is, the end of the violent phase of the long-standing Basque conflict has shown that it is also possible to reach an end without a comprehensive military victory nor a negotiated peace agreement. To challenge our assumptions even further – ongoing acts of violence and unimplemented provisions in peace agreements in contexts like those in Northern Ireland and Colombia show that even a celebrated agreement does not, in itself, deliver peace. Such moments leave more unfinished than not, and they require more hard work, more dialogue and more compromise.
Choosing nonviolence is not a soft option for a state, a society or for a group who has taken up the tactics of war to pursue their goals and grievances or maybe especially not for those who have been the victims and survivors of violence. No one has the right to demand their forgiveness, it is entirely their gift to give, or not. Experience from conflict resolution processes around the world has shown that protracted armed conflicts can only really be resolved when their main protagonists make an active choice to pursue a paradigm shift towards dialogue with their former enemies, using peaceful and political means, and convincing their peers, especially the most hardliners, to embrace that change.
Conflict resolution processes usually involve the dismantlement and disarmament of militant structures which is reciprocated by gestures of good will by the state, including the release of prisoners or measures of pardon in exchange for truth and reconciliation processes.
But the Basque process has been different. After a long series of inconclusive efforts to reach a settlement through political negotiations, where Josu Urrutikoetxeaplayed a central role (in often unreported peace talks in Algiers, Oslo and Geneva), members of the pro-independence movement opted to try a different tact. Their leadership (inside and outside prison) carried out a process of strategic reassessment of their historic goals and their strategies and made the decision to take the pulse of their wider constituency, and to listen to their communities’ demands for change. This, ultimately, led their making the decision to pursue their legal claim to self-determination through exclusively peaceful means. This change culminated with the unilateral declaration of the end of the military campaign by ETA followed by their full and formal disarmament in April 2017 and eventually the dismantling of ETA in May 2018. Civil society and political figures in French Basque country and across France were active and essential agents of this transformation, by acting as supporters, witnesses, and guarantors of the process. Notable examples include the citizens’ movement Bake Bidea, the commission of lawyers for peace in the Basque country, and the Peace Artisans who played a leading role in the disarming of ETA.
Josu Urrutikoetxeawas a key protagonist throughout this process. In another more traditional peace process, he would have benefited from conciliatory gestures by the state, allowing him to continue to take an active role in pursuing peace by peaceful (and political) means including the essential and equally hard work of truth-seeking and reconciliation with all conflict victims, to help build a peaceful society, and to educate future generations about the past.
Without a negotiated settlement, there is no such reciprocal agreement to which those leaders driving change can appeal.
But by prioritizing a judicial approach that focuses on violent acts committed 30 years ago while turning a blind eye to efforts undertaken to transition away from a logic of war, the French government misses a crucial opportunity to show leadership and courage in this unfinished peace process. They risk sending a dangerous message that outstanding grievances can only be redressed and peace can only be built without compassion and with more force and coercion. An alternative response is not easy, but it is essential.
Taking a more conciliatory stance towards past violence conflict is not a soft option and does not preclude the recognition of the seriousness of the violent acts committed by ETA in the past, and the rights of their victims and all victims of the conflict to truth, justice and closure. But transitional justice is hard to achieve through juridical and security processes alone. We therefore call on the French public to call on your government to have the political courage to make every effort to resolve the last remaining obstacles to a sustainable resolution of the Basque conflict, including on the issue of prisoners and former militants, as well as through dialogues that listen to the victims and survivors to build peace and democracy in the region.
Veronique Dudouet, scholar and conflict resolution expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Washington, USA
Andy Carl, peacebuilding practitioner and co-founder of Conciliation Resources, London, UK
Jean-Marie Muller, philosopher and writer, co-founder of the Mouvement pour une Alternative Non-violente (MAN), France
Read the French version, published in Le Monde daily
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