Despite knowing that the day of ETA’s disarmament was not a holiday, on April 8 in Baiona Ttipia felt the ingredients of the festive atmosphere: joy, laughter and joy. As the day progressed, calm took a place under pressure on the faces of the craftsmen of peace. At night, congratulations to the tranquility. Because, from the beginning of the march, he had gone well. "We have fulfilled the objectives of the day: on the one hand, the technical and practical aspect of disarmament has gone well and, on the other, we have passed our message, taking to the letter what we have said, each one will find respect and recognition and our desire to participate in those words," said the following day the peacekeeper Mixel Berhokoirigoin. From the day after the arrests in Luhuso until 8 April he repeated again and again: "Disarmament facilitates peace, but it is not yet peace, much remains to be done," concluded the Minister of Justice.

ETA left civil society the political and technical responsibility for disarmament, in a positive response to the proposal and condition that Michel Tubiana, Mixel Berhokoirigoin and Jean Noël Txetx Etxeberri made on 3 October 2016. On 8 April 2017, the responsibility is very much at stake. From the beginning, it was a day full of courage and commitment. On that day, the trust placed in the people came more quickly than the sense of insecurity that unilateralism can bring.

At dawn, several of them started the day. At dawn he drove him to a forest. In particular, because in the disarmament of ETA, wanting to make its contribution as citizens, they were present in the arms deposits as inspectors. The obligation was to ensure that the weapons they were going to deliver would remain in the hands of the French authorities. In total, there were 172 labortans, behenafarers and xyberotarras. Women and men, elected officials or humble citizens of all ages, despite the presence of youth. Like MEP José Bové, there were also some who were not Basque. Socialist MEP Sylviane Alaux was in the post of inspectors. "When I learned that they needed inspectors, I gave them my name by saying 'if my status as a Member can give you something else, use me, take the responsibility I have'." Ezpeletarra Xina Dulong also guarded the arsenals. The Luhuso initiative, which took place at the end of December, "personally excited", also wanted to contribute its contribution to the peace process: "we had to prove that it was possible even in a lockdown situation."

He especially thanked Jean-René Etchegaray, President of the Single Commonwealth of Iparralde, in a statement made at 09:00: "Even civil society, in order to achieve lasting peace in our country and to end this latest armed conflict in western Europe, the blockade was so great after five years of waiting and hope." If, in addition to the Northern Basque Country, the peacekeepers awaited the presence of the Basque Government and Navarre, at the end only the representative of the Basque College appeared. Whether they were peace-keepers or members of Bake Bidea, they all highlighted and thanked Etxegarai for his presence. At a press conference, members of the Luhuso initiative stated that it had "a very positive role" and that the mayor of Baiona "facilitated" disarmament.

Information to verifiers

During the morning, the peace-keepers Etxeberri and Tubiana met with the International Verification Commission, accompanied by the President of the Basque Commonwealth, Jean-René Etchegaray, the Protestant Pastor of Northern Ireland Harold Good and the Archbishop of Bologna Matteo María Zuppi, as well as Anaiz. The list of weapons points held by Ram Manikkalingam at the head of the Baiona prosecutor, Samuel Vuelta, was immediately suspended. In total, there were eight areas where weapons were found, three of them in Iparralde and five over several kilometres in Occitania. In total, it is estimated that 120 weapons, three tons of explosives, and thousands of ammunition and detonators. Starting to spread the rumor and/or misinformation that ETA reported directly to the police, Berhokoirigoin immediately announced the correction: "What some media outlets are spreading is that ETA has handed over the location of the weapons to the French police, which is poisoning. That is not the case.

Of the seven territories

In response to the invitation of the artisans of peace, people came from the seven territories. 20,000 people showed him their support and solidarity. Often, the answer was: "Like everyone... I don't know what new...!" One of them was Nestor, from Irun: "I am here because I want it to end with dignity, because I want to achieve a just peace. This was the step that had to be taken to get more steps. The same Monique de la rosa said: "This unilateral step is very rapid and it is a pity that states do not recognize it. But we will need recognition, which will have to be carried out through the change of penitentiary policies". Battitt, from Uztaritze, was in the same direction: "Today is not an end, we will need a series of events: the return of prisoners and exiles, the coexistence...". La Ana, coming from Vitoria-Gasteiz, thought in a similar way: "There has been a lot of pain and in order to heal all of us we have a lot to do, both those responsible and we, each as a person," the spokesman said. The zalciera Juana said that she had for society as much as for Euskal Herria the necessary step of disarmament: The weapons were, like a black cloud, a huge weight that weighed on our heads. What we felt in all departments, in politics, in economics, in territory, but also in relationships between people. It will take us out of pressure and it will help us to build things together." This zuberotarra had been watching a stockpile this morning.

The congregates at the Baiona Ttipia were informed step by step of the day. In addition, they were offered the opportunity to reflect on the elements that make up peace, conflict resolution and talks, projections or debates. The full programme will be set at 15:00 until the great concentration for the disarmament and peace process. Wanting to have a place, he began to fill the plaza for a long time and, little by little, in addition to the plaza, all the streets and corners around were crowded with people. Funosas was the first to speak: "All this would not have been possible if you had not believed in this avalanche, if you had not believed that we had the power to change things and open the way to the peace process. Thank you for all the organizers." The public responded with a applause applauded to the thanks that had been given to him, with appreciation. Besides Berhokoirigoin and Tubiana, Good was also on the stage.

Strong manifesto

The last of the interventions was a sample of the diversity that has been consolidated over time in Ipar Euskal Herria and that is taking shape in Hego Euskal Herria. More than a hundred agents joined the scene to read the manifesto signed by ARGIA Director Estitxu Eizagirre, former judge and former expert of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Louis Joinet, member of the Fernando Armendariz Social Forum and writer Susan George. "This manifesto is a text that will be of reference, and on which the other steps that will be taken for the future of disarmament will have to be based. It gives us the political and human dimension that we will need for the next one," says Berhokoirigoin.

This is an agreed manifesto for the future. Because "peace is not the absence of violence and, therefore, violence is not there", elements can be found for a just and lasting peace. But even if you've written looking to the future, you don't want to turn your back on the present and the past. "Now we leave the disarm in the liver, (…), we want to leave it in the liver, but not without looking back," he added.

The victims, "those of yesterday, those of today, those known and unknown, those who have fallen armed, those who have collapsed", remember, "express their commitment to work for the future to be of remembrance and recognition." "We are involved in building a future that has been denied them," he added. The organizers have committed themselves to working to make the future synonymous with "coexistence" and "concord", among other things. Among the victims are the prisoners of eta, some of them imprisoned. Those who are sick and those who have carried out their punishment are wondering about the liberation and rapprochement of all. Believing that it is possible to achieve more than that: We want to believe that they will come home as soon as possible. Because it's necessary and it must be."

This moment of the day was a showcase of the plurality that is being built around the commitment to bring the peace process to the end. The manifesto itself emphasizes plurality: "It is true that we do not represent the people as a whole, but no one can deny that, coming from all the people and united in Baiona, we represent the territories of this people, including their people and their most unfavorable sensibilities." They also remember those who have not been there: those who have been in the reflection of this day of disarmament but have not risen to the stage, those who have marked the conflict and those who have been beaten: "It has not been easy for us to get here, without falling into despair. The truth is that not everyone has succeeded in doing so. In other words, it is a manifesto written in respect of all.

However, since not everything can be done unilaterally, the manifesto concludes with an appeal to the Spanish and French Governments: "To let them agree to speak, to remember all those years that have bequeathed us by inheritance. And so we know how it happened. This must also be possible, because it is necessary." The day was not interrupted by the French authorities and was known thanks to the negotiations that have taken place since the Luhuso initiative. In addition to not hindering the quotation, the willingness of the Spanish and French Governments to engage in future dialogue will be displayed in the coming days. It is necessary because coexistence, recognition and reparation cannot be carried out unilaterally.