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Revision as of 21:24, 26 April 2017

Press conference in Baiona, April 8th, 2017

Artisans for Peace (Artisans de la paix in French, Bakearen artisauak in Basque) is a group of civil activists and syndicalists from the Northern Basque Country, which became known during 2016 and 2017 because they worked as peace mediators in order to obtain the disarmament of the separatist group ETA, through disobedience to the French government. In December 2016 five of them were arrested and four days later released. Thanks to their work, in April 2017 ETA communicated the position of the remaining weapons, which were confiscated by the police in presence of these activists. The members are well known persons because their previous work as activists in environmental, social and labour movements.

The artisans for peace

The following six persons were the first who were known as the "artisans for peace" in the Basque Country:[1]

All of them, except Michel Tubiana, were arrested on December 16, 2016 at Louhossoa/Luhuso. Michel Tubiana was not arrested just because he was happened to not be there that day.

2011-2016: Ceasefire of ETA, but the weapons remain

In Donostia-San Sebastián International Peace Conference, from left to right: Jonathan Powell, Pierre Joxe, Kofi Annan, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Bertie Ahern eta Gerry Adams.

On September 5th, 2010, ETA declared a new ceasefire. One year later, on October 17th, 2011, six international leaders, including Kofi Annan, Jonathan Powell, Bertie Ahern, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Pierre Joxe and Gerry Adams, presented a road map for the resolution of the armed conflict in the Basque Country. Finally ETA three days later, on October 20th, announced a "definitive cessation of its armed activity".[2][3] Since then the disarmament of ETA has become a common objective for Basque society.

During the next five years ETA gave several steps towards its disarmament; in February 2014 a small quantity of weapons were delivered to the international committee of verification.[4] ETA declared in July 2014 that its military structure had been dissolved. All these steps were always carried out unilaterally, without any agreement with Spanish or French governments. During these years these governments continued to arrest ETA activists, including in several cases those members of the internal structure of ETA responsible for the disarmament.[5]

Faced with this state of impasse, three civil society figures in the Northern Basque Country contacted with ETA, and offered themselves to carry out the process of decommissioning.

2016: Artisans for Peace are arrested

The incipient decommissioning process was torn down on December 16, 2016, at Louhossoa/Luhuso, when five civil activists were preparing the deactivation of an important quantity of weapons (about the 15% of the arsenal) they were arrested.[6]

The arrests sparked protests across the political spectrum in the French Basque country. Several demonstrations were carried out at Bayonne/Baiona, Louhossoa/Luhuso, Saint-Jean-de-Luz/Donibane-Garazi and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port/Donibane-Lohizune. Some 20 MPs and local councillors declared their support for the activists, declaring their "indisputable commitment to peace".[7] On December 23th, more than 600 elected representatives of Northern Basque Country (right-wing, left-wing, ecologist, nacionalists, etc.) demanded the French government «to get involved in the disarmament process and in the global resolution».[8] It was just during those days when media started to mention the name Artisans for Peace.

This headline can summarize the common sentiment shared by many citizens in Northern Basque Country: Kafka in the land of the Basques: five arrested for destroying ETA's arsenal.[9] Four days later the judge left them free, but with some constraints such as not to meet each other, and to remain in France. Anyway, three months later the peace workers, via Le Monde newspaper from Paris and along with dozens of new activists who have joined them, they called the disarmament day for 8th April.

2017: Disarmament in the presence of activists

On 8 April 2017 ETA revealed details of weapons dumps to The Guardian and to French police via the Artisans for Peace, and ETA became a disarmed organization.[10] The International Verification Commission (IVC) that was established on 28 September 2011 to verify ETA's declaration of a definitive end of violence, after six years, received, from Jean-Noël Etcheverry, an artisan for peace, information regarding the location of ETA’s weapons, ammunition and explosives. This information was immediately conveyed to the relevant French authorities. The Commission believed that this step constitutes the disarmament of ETA.[11] On the night of the 8th April, ETA became a completely disarmed organization.

Waiting for French Police to reach to all the weapon dumps 172 new artisans stayed there as custodians and observers, even though that work a priori was not strictly correct from the point of view of Law.

That day and the whole previous week were plaint of expectations, contacts, public declarations and debate programs in media. On that day, civil society itself would seal ETA’s weapons. Thousands of people were expected on an unprecedented day.

Previously, some days before, a secret tripartite meeting was carried out. Presidents of the three main Basque institutional representatives met with peace broker Ram Manikkalingam.

Tripartite meeting of the three main Basque institutional representatives with peace broker Ram Manikkalingam

See also

References

  1. ^ "'Peace activists' arrested over 'Eta weapons trove' in France - Evening Express". Evening Express. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  2. ^ "Basque group Eta says armed campaign is over". BBC News. 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  3. ^ "Ending ETA's Armed Campaign: How and Why the Basque Armed Group Abandoned Violence (Hardback) - Routledge". Routledge.com. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  4. ^ "Basque Eta militants hand in part of weapons arsenal", BBC News, 2014-02-21, retrieved 2017-04-21
  5. ^ Kassam, Ashifa (2015-09-22). "Senior members of Basque separatist group Eta arrested in France". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  6. ^ "Armes d'ETA : les cinq personnes interpellées mises en examen". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2016-12-20. ISSN 1950-6244. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  7. ^ "Protests in French Basque Country over peace activists' arrests". RFI. 2016-12-18. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  8. ^ Maju (2016-04-08). "Press dossier. "We are all peace-workers"". artisansdelapaix. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  9. ^ Maju (2016-12-18). "For what we are... they will be: Kafka in the land of the Basques: five arrested for destroying ETA's arsenal". For what we are... they will be. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  10. ^ Tremlett, Giles (2017-04-08). "Exclusive: Eta documents reveal details of weapons dumps as group disarms". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  11. ^ "STATEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL VERIFICATION COMMISSION (8 April 2017)". Berria.eus. 2017-04-08. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
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