ABSTRACT
The January ceasefire was labeled by ETA as “verifiable,” as demanded by the Brussels and Gernika declaration. From then on, the verification of the ceasefire by international actors was up for public debate. The Spanish government’s official position was that there was no need for any international commission, as the Spanish security forces could do the job. In March, ETA declared in a communiqué that it was prepared to accept “an informal mechanism of verification,” and suggested that an international commission should be created.1 Currin and others were already working on it. They contacted some personalities such as Ram Manikkalingam, director of the Dialogue Advisory Group, previously involved in the resolution processes of Sri Lanka, Iraq, and Northern Ireland, and proposed setting up a verification body for the Basque case. Manikkalingam and the rest of the candidates for the verification group talked with the actors involved before deciding to engage in the process. In their contacts with Basque institutions, political parties and other agencies, they concluded that the commission would be welcomed. They contacted ETA as well. According to Manikkalingam, they wanted to make sure that the ceasefire was unilateral and unconditional, and that regardless of the policies of the Spanish government, the armed group would maintain it. The contacts with ETA were initiated in the spring or summer of 2011. The first contacts were indirect, and later on they met directly with the leadership of ETA. The conclusion from the preliminary contacts was that ETA’s commitment to a permanent and general ceasefire was serious. Regarding the Spanish government, the future members of the verification commission informed them through different channels what they intended to do, and they understood that the government did not object.2 In September 2011, the International Verification Commission (IVC) was established and publicly presented.3 According to a statement released on the occasion of its presentation, the IVC had been created in response “to the request made by different elements of Basque society to members of the Commission to create a mechanism to verify the ceasefire.” The Commission stated that their objective was “to contribute to the verification of ETA’s ceasefire through a serious and rigorous
process.”4 Once the IVC was officially established and they were engaged in the verification process, they did not make another public statement until January 2012, when they concluded that ETA was fulfilling its ceasefire obligations.5 Although the strict mandate of the IVC was to verify the fulfillment of the ceasefire, the commission became a further international agency acting as a facilitator of the process toward the end of ETA, along with others that were already in action, such as the International Contact Group (ICG) led by Brian Currin, the Center Henri Dunant, and Jonathan Powell.6
