Firstly, we would like you to tell us about your opinion on the law on historical memory.

The current law on historical memory talks about retrieving memory. However, most important for building peace is to reconcile enemies. History is an academic subject or science, and is very interesting, however from the point of view of conflictology, it is not of such specific interest. If history can be used to make old enemies find reconciliation, then I think it is good to study it, but if retrieving memory means enemy relationships are maintained, then it doesn’t make sense to invest too much energy in it.

I think the law in Spain has not had a positive outcome because it has retrieved memories that have incited fighting instead of reconciliation, and if it makes us fight then its better to leave it alone. In other countries, however, these laws have been devised in order to reconcile, and not just to recall history merely of interest to historians, but rather to achieve reconciliation amongst old enemies.

Do you mean to say that implementing a law on memory can be helpful, but if people don’t make an effort to reconcile, then…

I wouldn’t have implemented any kind of law. Rather, I would have channelled resources to help the two sides, republicans and nationalists, to come together again and understand that each one was fighting to defend their ideals, that fighting for what you believe is great, but they should understand that the political and armed systems used were too violent. What should have been done was to facilitate the disappearance of hate between old enemies.

The Letter of Peace states that those living today have no responsibility for the misdeeds that happened in history and that we must not feed nor pass resentments on from generation to generation. If resentments are passed on from one generation to the next, can conflicts be resolved?

Definitely, people of today have no responsibility for the misdeeds carried out by our ancestors or, in fact, by our co-citizens in years gone by; although we, the people of today, live through, suffer or enjoy the unjust conditions of privileges, advantages or disadvantages, that are a consequence of what was done by those who came before us.

They say that conflict is not solved until acts of reparation or reconciliation are carried out between the victims and aggressors (or their biological, social or ideological descendents).

In order to solve a conflict, is it important to know about the historical events that could have triggered it?

For better or for worse, we are what we are and we live as a consequence of historical events that we must try to overcome. But forgetting could be a new form of injustice, a new offence and a new misdeed that we would be inflicting on the victim’s descendents. We must give dignity back to those who were unfairly divested of it. Misdeeds done in the past to certain people whose descendents now suffer, must be repaired and acts of reconciliation will have to take place between those people who were enemies. A way must be found for apologising and forgiving in a way that goes beyond mere words, thereby overcoming resentments.

Once the conflict is over and the peace building process has begun, how can we prevent resentments from arising, leading to new threats?

Reparation and reconciliation is the total opposite of revenge and anger; it means retrieving peace by doing justice. It means not looking back with anger any more, when there are unresolved issues left, nothing left to reclaim, when responsibility has been taken for everything, the errors have been admitted and we are relieved of our pain and sense of guilt because we understand the motives of the other party, the pain and the fear they feel, when we are able to forgive and ask for forgiveness, to feel affection once again towards the other party, towards old enemies, towards those who are different to us.

Training on the culture of peace should not be limited to exploring more or less abstract principals and values, or just teaching specific techniques. Learning to live in peace is about learning to live without fear, to feel affection without discrimination, to listen and understand, to know how to forgive and ask for forgiveness, to give and provide benefit, fairly, to those who have lost the most and have the least.

Could you give us a specific example of situations that have been difficult to solve, but it has been possible to work to heal old wounds?

I know about a very intense case relating to Apartheid in South Africa. There is a foundation for reconciliation that has two directors: one is a white woman who is about 60 years old and lost her son in bomb attack in a disco, and the other is a black man who gave the order to plant the bomb there. Now they work together because they have been able to understand that they were both fighting for their ideals using the wrong means, their ideas may have been good: but when it came to their methods they got it wrong, they were too violent.

In the case of South Africa, I recommend you see the film “In my country”, which depicts the dramatic process of reconciliation based on African traditions. Victims and aggressors come together in a way that I am not sure would work in the same way here.

Basically, are you saying that recognising misdeeds of the past is just, but that this is not absolute unless it is done with a view to improving the present...

Justice is an important aspect, but if it doesn’t end in reconciliation then the conflict does not end.

You have been one of the pioneers in incorporating conflict resolution and mediation into the academic world in Catalonia and Spain. In all these years of experience, what would you highlight as most important?

I believe that the most important acts have been the initiatives that have been implemented in society, public entities and private initiatives. Many courses on the culture of peace have been created because as time goes on, more and more people are interested in these issues and incorporate them into their lives, both on a personal as well as a vocational and professional level; along with the acceptance of these subjects into practical academic planning.