I. Elkarri's ideas

Elkarri firmly denounces and rejects recourse to violence. It is committed to the defense of the right to life and security of person and of all human rights. It defends models that seek solutions through dialogue and democratic procedures (in this sense it considers the peace process in Northern Ireland as a positive reference). It considers that the diverse nature of Basque society is a heritage that has to be defended. It is firmly in favor of strengthening democratic principles.

II. Functioning and Funding

Elkarri¹s organizing and decision-taking structures are following: Local Workshops, the Permanent National Workshop, the Provincial Workshops, the Provincial Assemblies, and the General Assembly. The organization¹s decision-taking bodies are the Provincial Workshops, the Provincial Assemblies, and the General Assembly.

The General Assembly is elkarri¹s supreme decision-making body. It approves annual reports and major guidelines. It is open to all members and collaborators. It is held every two years on an ordinary basis, and on an extraordinary basis whenever the Permanent National Workshop thinks it fit.

The Provincial Assemblies, which are attended by all members in the province, are generally held on each month¹s last Wednesday. Provincial Assemblies are the ordinary participation and decision-making bodies in this social movement.

Provincial Workshops gather fortnightly, and apart from the province¹s own dynamics, they are in charge of developing national level tasks in the province. Generally the member in charge of each Local Workshop in the province attends these meetings.

The 1,200 activists of Elkarri and its 100 local workshops are coordinated by the Permanent National Workshop, a committee that meets weekly to develop guidelines and action plans and carry out the decisions made in its Assemblies. The Permanent National Workshop is made up of 16 people who are elected every two years.

11 people work for Elkarri. The spokespersons and coordinators of the social movement are Jonan Fernandez and Gorka Espiau. The average expense budget of Elkarri per annum is around 600,000 euros. Only 15% of its income comes from subsidies. The rest is self-financed by the social movement. Most of its funds come from the fee (10 euros) that its members pay monthly. Elkarri also organizes a range of popular activities to cover its financial needs, such as the promotion of artwork and publications.

III. Initiatives and publications

Current Initiatives:

III Peace Conference

Elkarri is now preparing its third Peace Conference for the Basque Country. After the first Peace Conference in 1995 and the second in 2001-2002, the objective of this initiative is to create a new space for dialogue between all the political forces. Elkarri¹s commitment consists of completing the work begun in the previous Peace Conference, particularly the process of unfinished dialogue. Three projects already in motion comprise the activities of this Peace Conference: an international forum, in which Elkarri will gain important external input on the conflict; a political forum, in which a political dialogue without inclusions will be promoted; and a social forum, in which an agreement on consensus scenarios will try to be reached.

International seminar on the Basque conflict

On November 11 ­ 13, 2004, Elkarri will convene an "International Seminar on the Basque conflict." This seminar hopes to encourage the international community to contribute to the development of a peace process and to expose the results of the Peace Conference to international actors. Furthermore, it hopes to develop a menu of possibilities for the development and implementation of the main ideas produced from the Peace Conference, while also analyzing the interaction between the specific organizations involved and the Basque political parties. The seminar will be comprised of private working sessions with each of the political parties, during which each political party will be able to express its views of the Peace Conference results.

Contributions in the areas of trust building, the role of victims in a peace process, formal and informal spaces for dialogue, and citizens¹ participation are some of the areas in which Elkarri hopes to attain these important international contributions.

International network

One of Elkarri¹s more current initiatives includes expanding its international network. The purpose of this expansion is to broaden its contact base in the international community so that it can reference and collaborate with other individuals and organizations that may be able to give a unique perspective on possible solutions or frameworks.

Past Initiatives:

Over the past 12 years, Elkarri has advocated non-violence, dialogue, and human rights through several public and private initiatives, across society at large and at the local level, as well as within the political sphere.

The campaigns, information gathering, and information dissemination undertaken by Elkarri create a process of on-going, reciprocal feedback between the grassroots and political levels. The grassroots level is given the opportunity to debate over current political problems, ideas, and possible solutions. The conclusions reached at these forums are then transmitted to the political parties, while the current proposals and projects put forth at the political level are in turn conveyed to the grassroots level. Furthermore, evidence has shown that the political parties very closely follow all issues discussed and debated on the local level.

Major Elkarri initiatives have included:

251,323 Signatures

Conscious of the importance of keeping an active and balanced presence in the street, a signature gathering campaign was launched in May 1993 in favour of dialogue and agreement. The campaign became an important means of spreading Elkarri´s message and demonstrating social support for peaceful resolution through dialogue.

Northern Ireland

In September 1994, an Elkarri delegation traveled to Northern Ireland to observe the inner workings of the peace process there. Elkarri had the chance to meet leading members of Sinn Féin and SDLP, Irish social movements, trade unions, and journalists. As a result of this experience Elkarri published a report (Elkarrikasi) summarizing the details of the Irish peace process and the manner in which its principles might be implemented in the Basque Country.

Subsequently, the former President of the Republic of Ireland visited the Basque Country at Elkarri´s invitation , meeting the Basque President and top authorities in the Basque Region and the Autonomous Region of Navarra.

Since then, Elkarri has kept in constant contact with the main players involved in the Irish peace process: political parties, governments and civic movements.

"More than just words" demonstration

On June 29, 1996, coinciding with the week-long ETA ceasefire, Elkarri brought together 10,000 people in a multilateral demonstration in support of a fair peace process in the Basque Country. This demonstration, supported by a wide range of intellectuals and public figures, called for real and positive steps toward a fuller support for dialogue.

Meetings on the Future of Navarra

With the purpose of opening up a process of debate and reflection on the topic of the future of Navarra, Elkarri initiated a campaign in February 1995. A dossier was mailed to all homes in the province, in which each citizen could choose from different options about the future government model for Navarra. Further, personalities from the world of culture and academia, leaders of all trade unions and political leaders from IU, EA, HB, and PSN/PSOE took part in organized debates, with the notable participation of Juan Cruz Alli, President of the Government of Navarre.

The Local Forums

These groups form the central axis of our organization and have created a pivotal role for the local workshops in the past couple of years. The forums represent the practical grassroots side of our dialogue and social mediation, centering on both the content and solutions to the conflict. The groups consist of a wide range of individuals who meet, discuss, debate, study and develop arguments, proposals and initiatives related to the conflict that affects the Basque Country. To date there are almost 120 local forums throughout the towns, villages and cities of The Autonomous Basque Region and Navarra.

Educational Units For The Primary Education Sector

In September 1993 Elkarri set in motion its Education Commission, composed of professionals and education specialists. At the end of 1996 the commission published, together with the Federation of Ikastolas (Basque speaking schools), four didactic units aimed at the Primary Education sector. The aim of these didactic units being to work towards and promote attitudes that would make it possible to transform the conflicts they experience in their immediate surroundings in a constructive way, using dialogue and agreement. The material is aimed at both students and teachers, and are based around conflicts in the family, with friends, the school and the neighborhood.

Eraikikasi

With the Eraikikasi project Elkarri put into practice the most ambitious informative campaign in its history, sending four publications to more than 40,000 people and organizations all around the country addressing the ideas "Facilitate", "Cooperate", "No exclusion" and "Deepen democracy". The intention of these publications and the iniatives that accompany them is to offer ideas, contents, suggestions or reflections that contribute an answer to a two part question: what is the peace process and how can I/we help.

As a result of the answers recieved Elkarri has elaborated an exhaustive report that will be sent to those responsible in the institutions, political parties and the rest of the agents of the peace process.

The victims in the process of peace

Aiming to recognize the suffering, to alleviate its consequences and to facilitate the positive involvement of victims in the future of the Basque Country, in May 1999 Elkarri intensified this area of work that is absolutely necessary to the transformation of the Basque Conflict. Elkarri widely distributed written material on this subject and presented proposals to the Commision of Human Rights of the Basque Parliament emphasizing plans to develop a «Memory of the testimonies of the victims in the peace process».

In support of a conciliatory culture

In a cooperative venture, "Gesto Por la Paz" and "Elkarri" , two civic movements with different viewpoints and approaches, but both equally aware of the importance that the participation of society has in building a better future, jointly decided that it was of utmost importance to disseminate, promote and adopt a culture of reconciliation. This gave rise to the campaign with a manifesto entitled "In support of a culture of reconciliation", aimed at disseminating this message in towns and universities.

We need clear answers

When the peace process that had started eighteen months previously reached a crisis point in February 2000, Elkarri started a campaign entitled "we need clear answers". The campaign was in response to a very real worry that after ETA¹s return to the armed struggle, certain political and media sectors refuse to accept dialogue as a means for resolving the Basque conflict. In this context and with the ultimate aim of actually supporting the idea of dialogue, the campaign posed three questions to political leaders regarding their ideas and methods for finding a solution to the current problems. The campaign was promoted through the distribution of 100,000 informative leaflets, advertisements, public events, and round tables, in which the candidates of the main parties present in the general elections held on the 12th March 2000 took part and replied to the questions initially presented by Elkarri.

Campaign for "All Party Talks"

On the 28th March, 2000, Elkarri started a campaign aimed at creating a "Party Forum" to provide a negotiated solution to the Basque conflict. This exercise sent over 40,000 copies of leaflets with explanations about the definition, aims, principles and reasons for the forum in Basque society. A report containing the campaign's conclusions was published in the media and also given to Miguel Sanz (The President of the Navarra Government), Juan José Ibarretxe (President of the Basque Autonomous Region) and José María Aznar (President of the Spanish Government). A copy of the 2,400 signatures of those who participated in the campaign's activities was included, together with 600 comments and suggestions made by members of the public to the three presidents, as an illustration of the social awareness for a kind of peace based upon non-violence and all-party dialogue.

"Zubigintzan": Building bridges through 2,000 hours of all-party talks

In January 2000 Elkarri began to develop its Zubigintzan project to contribute towards the consolidation of a peace process in the Basque Country, and more specifically to foster and support all those kinds of dialogue that strive to obtain all-party agreements on the principles and procedures of the different processes that come together in the construction of peace and normal socio-political co-existence. In practice, the aim is to foster a dialogue marathon, i.e., to promote and support 2,000 hours of multiple, all-party talks, equivalent to between approximately 500 and 700 working sessions, including both dialogue at the highest political level and also at grass roots level, in towns, neighbourhoods and local councils.

IV. Elkarri´s assessment of the two central problems and their definition

Our society has been affected by two serious problems for decades: violence and the lack of political normalisation. On one hand, a form of organised violence (now by ETA) that is repeatedly aimed at the life of people and on the other, a deep and prolonged political standoff related to models of peaceful political coexistence. This analysis coincides with the perception of society that expresses and reflects, in many ways, that these are two of its main problems.

- Violence, rejected by the immense majority of people, is defined by those who support or justify it as a «legitimate armed struggle for the defence and conquest of the national rights of the Basque people». The interpretation of this phenomenon, born in Franco¹s time in power, involves many historical, biographical, political, social, cultural or educational factors. Nowadays, and coinciding with the impression of the majority of the population, support for violence and any other violation of human rights can be described as the consequence of a dehumanised adherence to the defence of certain ideas, which gives rise to the use of cruel or unjust means. In the last thirty years this violence, and others of different type, has left more than a thousand dead. This is the most real consequence of this problem and its most irreversible and cruel expression.

- The political problem is mainly defined by the serious divisions (See "An Overview: the Basque Conflict") that have been maintained over the years on basic questions behind peaceful political coexistence, such as institutions, the political framework, territorial organization, areas of decision and sovereignty, cultural identity or feelings of national belonging, among others. We should say that violence is not a «natural» consequence of the political problem, it is a conscious decision made by individuals and groups that reject the purely peaceful approach. What is part of the political problem is the existence of a sector of society (10-20% of the electorate in the last 25 years) that is outside the current legal and political framework, considering this framework as something imposed.

V. Elkarri´s Five Guiding Principles

The past and present of this movement has taken place within the framework of five guiding principles that also provide the framework behind the idea of the Peace Conference. Elkarri¹s perception of the situation is that a large, diverse majority in our society identifies with these principles and puts its trust in them to define its commitment or maintain its hope of peace. In Elkarri¹s opinion, these five principles mark out the area of opportunities for a process to find peace and solutions.

- Non-violence and human rights. This principle conceived as an absolute ethic of commitment to human dignity and all human rights of all people without distinction, whatever their beliefs or whether they enjoy their freedom or have been deprived of it.

- Dialogue and agreement. An ongoing requirement for democratic methods to overcome problems of peaceful coexistence aimed at political forces and open to participation by individuals or groups in society, to be implemented without impositions or exclusions.

- Democratic rules and the consultation of society. Commitment to democratic rules of the game and the political will to consult society, this being understood as the final culmination and legitimisation of a previous process of sufficient consensus between political forces.

- Respect for the plurality and diversity of political opinion. Understanding plurality as assuming the principle of reality, as an asset that makes up a community and which should be conserved by guaranteeing the same rights of democracy and freedom for all options.

- Support for constructive contributions. Commitment to act, on its own and in cooperation, with all kinds of players, based on the positive and constructive nature of the initiatives to be implemented.

Elkarri. Social movement for dialogue and agreement
An overview: the Basque Conflict