At the Dialogue “Conflicts: prevention, resolution, reconciliation” John Hume, winner of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, put the question this afternoon: why permit war to preserve human rights, if in war people always suffer, and have their rights undermined - most importantly of all, their right to life?

Likewise, he emphasized the need for education to eliminate poverty and work towards development. He pointed out “if I had not studied I would not be here today, and if my father had been unemployed I would not have studied and would not have been able to do the things I have done in my life”.

Winner of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize he stressed the importance of education as a means to produce a civil and active society. In his view, educated people are prepared to combat conflicts and meanwhile there is general agreement that the poor countries are those with the least education and vice versa.”.

“We are at the beginning of a new century and it has to be not just an ideal but an objective to have a world without war or conflict” he pointed out. When asked about the conflict in the Basque country he called for “full respect for diversity and the need to create institutions that have this respect, and also to create circumstances that respect the situation”.

Mariano Aguirre, expert in international relations, said in the aftermath of conflicts “the economic side of reconstruction is usually put aside in favor of reconciliation.” In the same way he appealed for “the provision of a form of subsistence to those who live in violent situations because if not they will continue to live that way”.

José Antonio Pastor, of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, pointed out that “it is difficult to make Bush pay for his actions. The only thing that can make him do that is his conscience and the influences around him.”

The Dialogue “Conflicts: prevention, resolution, reconciliation” will end tomorrow at the Forum.