International Catalan Institute for Peace

LAW INTERNATIONAL CATALAN INSTITUTE FOR PEACE LAW Published on DOGC 5030 – 17.12.2007 © Institut Català Internacional per la Pau Juliol 2009 THE DEpaRTMENT knowledge and research, and its desire to foster the values and content of peace, OF THE PRESIDENTI justice and solidarity of the country’s educational institutes. Within this context then, it is significant that in 2003 the Parliament passed The President of the Catalan Law 21/2003, of the 4th July, concerning Government the fostering of a culture of peace, with the unanimous support of all parliamen- The Catalan Parliament and I, on behalf tary groups. It was the first Law of its kind of all of its citizens, enact the following to be passed in the Spanish State, making in the name of the King and the accord Catalonia a pioneer in the collective duty established by Article 65 of the Statue of to foster a culture of peace. With this Autonomy of Catalonia. decision, the Parliament was responding to the demands of the peace movements LAW that, over recent decades, had become deeply rooted in society, as evidenced PREAMBLE by the refusal of the people of Catalonia to employ violence as a form of political Catalonia is, and always has been, a land expression during the Transition to demo- which has fostered peace, both within cracy, the majority opposition to Spain’s and beyond its own borders. Back in the joining NATO, or the massive demonstra- Middle Ages it had already established tions against the Gulf War and, institutions that transformed, resolved in February 2003, against Spain’s and managed conflicts with the lowest de- participation in the war in Iraq. In effect, gree of violence possible, such as the As- the rise and development of the peace semblies of Peace and Truce (assemblees movement in Catalonia from the end of de pau i treva). Catalonia has established the seventies through to the present day, forms and mechanisms of governance and in itself justifies the proposal to establish governability in diverse areas, bringing a International Catalan Institute for Peace. together the combined, complementary In the early nineteen eighties the action of the different levels of public ad- peace movement turned into one of the ministration, civil society and market for- most significant social movements in ces. Catalonia has fostered values, action the contemporary history of Catalonia, and proposals to favour peace, solidarity since when it has more or less consis- and international cooperation and the de- tently remained strong, thus making velopment of peoples: from specific action Catalonia a beacon to new social move- in situations of armed conflicts and crisis, ments worldwide. The activities of the through to sustained action in the area peace movement have proven decisive in of non-violence, conscientious objection, bringing large sectors of the population civil disobedience and fiscal objection. to reflect on such crucial issues as peace, And Catalonia has achieved this thanks war, violence, military blocks, neutrality, to its commitment and its high level of disarmament, nuclear weapons, military 2 expenditure, armies, conscription and Thus the founding principle of this conscientious objection. The analyses and Law for the establishment of the Interna- proposals made by the peace movement tional Catalan Institute for Peace (lnstitut kindled debate and finally led to Virtually Catala Internacional per la Pau) is to all of social collectives and all organisa- seek the abolition of war as a means of tions and institutions taking a stand with conflict resolution and to provide Cata- regard to the aforementioned issues. The lonia and the International Community peaceful demonstrations organised have with an instrument which, in line with the received broad citizen support, have been tradition of fostering and constructing amply covered by the media and have un- peace, promotes the values and practice questionably had political repercussions. of a culture of peace, of human security, Moreover, the peace movement with its disarmament and the pacific resolution of highly heterogeneous membership, has social conflict and tension. drawn together diverse deeply seated The present Law is linked with the political and ideological traditions. objects of Law 26/2001, of the 31st De- The idea to establish a International cember, regarding Development Coo- Catalan Institute for Peace is not one peration, the Preamble of which states that emerged in isolation in the Euro- “Catalonia must also step up its respon- pean context. It was, on the one hand, a sibilities with a view to helping construct response to the development of the peace a more secure, more just, wealthier and movement in Catalonia and, on the other, more solidary International Community. a mirror of what had already occurred in Today it is impossible to construct either Europe and the rest of the world in gene- a credible national plan or an advanced ral in the second .half of the 20th century. democratic society without actively, In effect, the experience of the two world decisively participating in the construc- wars, the horrors of totalitarianism, the tion of a more just, more solidary world atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and order. Peace, freedom, the dignity of the Nagasaki and the Cold War set the scene individual, work, justice and the respect within which the western world developed of pluralism are the values which form its movements for peace, disarmament, the backbone of peaceful coexistence and denuclearisation and the disappearance of progress”. And, in its Article 3, it makes military blocks. mention of the promotion of peace as one Peace is a common ideal pursued of the values that is to guide the activities by all human beings. Thus it is not at of the Administration of the Generalitat all surprising that several countries and (the Regional Government of Catalonia) cities have established specialised centres and the local government bodies in the to reflect on the problems of war and area of development cooperation and violence and the different roads to peace. international solidarity. Nor is it any surprise that such centres Moreover, the purpose of the present should promote specific activities aimed Law is twofold, deriving from our juridical at furthering progress along a road that and normative ordinances. In the first is to lead us to a less violent, more just place, it meets the requirement of the world. Laws on development cooperation and 3 on the fostering of peace which establish universal aspiration of peace amongst that the fostering of peace, justice, equa- nations”. Then again, the 1979 Statute lity and equity in the relations between proclaimed that the highest values of individuals, peoples, cultures, nations and the collective life of the Catalan people states, the pacific solution of conflict and are freedom, justice and equality, values social tension and the strengthening and which may only be made effective within anchoring of peace and peaceful coexis- a context of peace. And Article 51 of the tence are the values that are to guide the current Statute, approved in a referendum activity of the Administration of the Gene- on June 18, 2006, clearly establishes that ralitat and of the local authorities. one of the guiding principles in the action To such ends the Law on the foste- of the Generalitat is to be “the promotion ring of peace regulates a series of areas of a culture of peace and of actions aimed of action and authority with regard to at fostering peace all over the world”. the application and development of two Within this context the vital role instruments: the Catalan Council for the played by women in the prevention and Fostering of Peace and an international resolution of conflicts and in the conso- peace institute. lidation of peace should be underscored; The Catalan Council for the Fostering similarly, the important fact that women of Peace, made up of representatives of have fully ‘participated and intervened the administration of the Generalitat, in all - initiatives aimed at keeping and local authorities, parliamentary groups, fostering peace and security should also non-governmental peace organisations be emphasised and their participation in and other institutions, as well as diverse the decision making processes for the pre- outstanding public figures, and configured vention and resolution of conflicts should as Catalonia’s consultative and partici- be increased. Likewise, the present Law patory body for the fostering of peace in recognises the urgent need to incorporate the activities of the Administration of the the gender dimension in peace keeping Generalitat and local authorities, was first operations by fostering action that takes established in July 2005, since then it has the specific, needs of women in war zones remained operative. Thus there remained into account, that helps lead and support the task of establishing the International their peace initiatives and their partici- Peace Institute. pation in all of the mechanism by which And secondly, the present Law peace projects are implemented and also provides a response to a will, one that the adoption of measures to guarantee has always been amongst the highest of the protection and respect of their human the aspirations of the people of Catalonia rights. and reflected in the statute passed by With regard to the nature, objectives, the legislature. Thus the preamble of the areas of authority and structure of the Statute of Nuria, passed by referendum International Catalan Institute for Peace, on 2nd August 1931, stated that it was this Law is based on a comparative analy- the aspiration of the Catalan people for sis of other similar institutions and on the the different peoples of Spaln to make “a opinions and proposals that resulted from most humane declaration in favour of that a process of consultation with experts, 4 civil society and with specialised social In other words, the International organisations and movements.

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