B per la Pau

It was now 65 years ago, on 18 March 1938, that Barcelona suffered a brutal bombardment, causing hundreds of deaths at the crossroads of Gran Via and Rambla de Catalunya. These were civilian deaths; men, women, children, the unarmed, undoubtedly with ideologies and stances taken concerning the conflict, but harmless nonetheless. They were trying to lead a normal life amongst the barbarie that war always represents. And they were burnt.

From the memory of those bombardments, the city of Barcelona wishes to express its solidarity with the people of Baghdad and other cities of Irak, people -men, women, children- over whom the bombs are flying today.

It is a grave responsibility to break the tenuous thread of peace in a world full of crises and imbalances and execrable dictatorships such as the one led by Saddam Hussein. It is an even greater responsibility to do so, obsessively, outside of the international organisations which, for better or for worse, are trying to find more rational ways of resolving conflicts, threats and the serious problems that exist in the world. Now it will be very difficult to pick up the pieces; we hope that we will be able to do so better than we have done so until now.

We also hope that the citizens of Barcelona continue to express their rejection of violence, the clamour for peace that unites the citizens of so many cities in the world. The cities, which are the sum of the people that live in them, are peaceful organisations. Cities do not make war, governments do. At times governments do not govern with the people, but against the will of the people.

For all these considerations, Joan Clos, Mayor of Barcelona, and in accordance with article 55 of the Constitutional Law of Barcelona City Council, has submitted at the Municipal Council Plenary Session, the following motion that has been approve by the municipal parties PSC, ERC-EV, IC-V, i CiU:

Motion

FIRST.- TO EXPRESS
our solidarity with the civil population of Irak and Iraqi Kurdistan, subjected to a condemnable dictator, and now victims of the further unjustified violence of bombs. We are convinced that ways exist, albeit undoubtedly complex and difficult ones, to resolve the precarious balances that sustain the world order today. War does not resolve these conflicts and often aggravates them, because it contaminates with hate and a desire for vengeance -with the radicalism of whatever sign- the people that experience them, whether as aggressors or as victims. War is a mistake, because it adds uncertainty to an already uncertain world.

SECOND.- TO AFFIRM
that this war constitutes an illegal international act, by not having respected the procedures envisaged in the United Nations Charter, which involve bringing these to the attention of and gaining the approval of the Security Council of said organisation, this being the only one that can permit the legal use of force between States. The action, which has deliberately sidestepped the Security Council -where it would not have been authorised- highlights the marginalisation of the United Nations as a creator and guarantor of International Law in the global strategy of the United States, which has opted for the creation of a system of international order suited exclusively to its own interests. Humanity has made a huge effort for war to be a legitimate instrument only when faced with a greater evil, faced with a threat, the breaking of the peace or aggression: to make war a last jointly administrated resort, not as a foreign policy tool. Regrettably, the attack on Irak is effectively a tool, instrumental in the strategy for the political and economic control of the region, and with a view to demonstrating the determination of the United States' ambition for global power.

THIRD.- TO EXPRESS
our concern for the Spanish position in this war. The efforts of President Aznar have aimed to justify and legitimise the position of the United States to the utmost. The Spanish Government is, therefore, part of this violation of international law. With its actions, the justification for which we do not share, the Government has contributed to breaking the unity of European action, it has abandoned the axis on which consensus on external policy is promoted, and has placed itself at odds with the majority of Spanish and Catalan public opinion, in addition to having a negative impact on our prestige and interests abroad. No counter action can compensate for this. In this respect, president Aznar has not respected the agreements which he himself had promoted at the Congress. We demand that the Spanish Government reflects on the grave responsibility it has taken on and that it rectifies itself as a consequence.

FOURTH.- TO PROCLAIM
our rejection to participation of the armed forces of the State in any type of unit linked to the ongoing military actions in Iraq -which are being carried out under the command of the United States-, even if said participation is of a support nature or is defined as humanitarian assistance. We consider that true humanitarian aid is avoiding from the outset the ever-dramatic consequences of war. In any case, Barcelona City Council expresses its willingness to collaborate in any tasks necessary to alleviate the effects of war, within the framework of co-operation between cities and the existing agreements of the United Nations.

FIFTH.- TO EXPRESS our conviction that, whatever the outcome of this war, we have to reconsider the representativeness, efficiency and effectiveness of the international organisations that supervise international security. This war, decided outside of the United Nations, highlights the need to make our international organisations more effective in defending the position of the majority. The voice of civilian society throughout the entire world, which has been expressed in the streets and in forums, is demanding such effectiveness. Furthermore, in order to be in a position to guide international relations in this positive and co-operative direction, we need Europe. A Europe which, in order to achieve this, urgently needs to recover its most firm, ambitious and constructive political will so that the European project, which is a project for the construction of peace, the peaceful resolution of conflict and the exercise of solidarity, will also be the best instrument in the construction of international security, and of a world order based on justice and the primacy of law.

SIXTH.- TO ASK,
finally, the people of Barcelona, and the citizens of the world, to continue to demand peace and the end of violence, and for all of us to build a more sensible world. We also ask that peace prevails in the citizens' demonstrations through the civil behaviour of the participants.

Barcelona, 21 March 2003