The Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, which mediated in the negotiation of the end of the terrorist group ETA and the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will be one of the organizations that will provide support to the international verifiers of the meetings between the PSOE and Junts —also between the PSOE and ERC— which will begin tomorrow in Switzerland by virtue of the investiture agreements between the socialists and the pro-independence formations.
This organization, based in Geneva (Switzerland), will provide logistical support to the group of people who will verify the negotiating process that is expected to begin this Saturday in Geneva between the PSOE delegation, headed by the secretary of organization of the socialists, Santos Cerdán, and that of Junts, by Jordi Turull, general secretary.
According to the digital El Español, Zapatero has been a "key piece" in the rapprochement between Pedro Sánchez and Carles Puigdemont. He also points out that it was the former Catalan president, who has been in Belgium for six years beyond the reach of Spanish justice, who "a year ago" took the initiative to contact the foundation and that the head of the Executive would have accepted this verifier "given the close relationship with both Javier Solana - honorary president of the entity - and with Zapatero".
The Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue is a private diplomacy foundation established in November 1998, based on the principles of humanity, impartiality and independence. The center is linked to the International Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations. Not in vain is it named after the Swiss philanthropist and humanist Henry Dunant (1828-1910), one of the founders of the International Red Cross and one of the inspirers of the Geneva Convention and winner of the first Nobel Peace Prize.
However, the foundation itself clarifies that "there is no organic link" between the Henry Dunant Center, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and makes it clear that it never denies or The participation of the Center in any conflict resolution is confirmed. Doing so would go against the good work of the Center itself, he warns.
The center carries out its activities in four fundamental fields: technical mediation, civil protection, disarmament negotiations and the reconstruction of judicial infrastructures in countries after conflicts have ended. He has intervened on different occasions in mediation activities to resolve conflicts between countries and internal conflicts within a country, although most of these interventions are unknown because they are classified information.
As the organization explains on its website, its mission is to "prevent and resolve armed conflicts through dialogue, mediation and discreet diplomacy" and claims to be working in 80% of the conflicts that take place in the world and to bring together "to all parties" to "find the path to peace." Among his mediation tasks, the end of the separatist conflict between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement stands out after 29 years of armed struggle, in Libya or in the south of the Philippines. In addition, it "executes mediation and peace-establishment projects in Africa, the Middle East, Eurasia, Asia and Latin America," as explained on its website.
The HD Foundation is heir to the Henri Dunant Institute founded in 1965 and its headquarters are located on the shores of Lake Geneva, in a 19th century chalet called Villa Plantamour that the city of Geneva gave to the foundation as soon as it was founded.
Its president was until 2001 Abdul G. Koroma, judge of the International Court of Justice. In 2006 Michael Aaronson took over as chairman and its chief executive was Martin Griffiths. In 2011, its executive director became David Harland, who was in charge of certifying the Spanish and French governments that at 2:00 p.m. on May 3, 2018, ETA had ceased to exist.
The foundation is financed through contributions from the governments of different countries such as the United States, Switzerland and Norway, the European Union (including most of its governments), as well as other institutions, such as the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Cross. Red Moon.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, yesterday maintained maximum discretion regarding the negotiations between the PSOE and Junts and yesterday avoided confirming even if the meeting is going to be in Geneva. “We are not yet in a position to say where it will be,” he warned. He also did not want to reveal the identity of the verifier who will mediate between the parties, although he pointed out that "the person who will accompany us in this dialogue process will be known, both with ERC and with Junts." The head of the Executive, in any case, justified this figure again in the face of “very different starting positions” and the “extraordinary distrust” that the PSOE also has with these political actors. “It is good that if two do not understand each other, in this case at the table with ERC and at the table with Junts, there is a third party to accompany us, to verify that the agreements are put into operation,” he insisted.
