Subject: "HANDS OFF CAIN" INITIATIVES
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X-Comment: The Transnational Radical Party List
In order that we might to realize the commitments we adopted at the
Brussels Congress to fund the "Hands off Cain" campaign ,first of all we
are planning to undertake an initiative at Eastern, which will be aimed at
the Catholic Churc.
At Christmas, President Clinton sent a video to the Pope in which he
acknowledged the fundamental role played by His Holiness in the struggle to
uphold human rights throughout the world.
Bearing this in mind, and considering the prestige enjoyed by the Pope not
only in Catholic countries but also at an international level (many
executions have been suspended in the United States thanks to the Pope's
intervention, also because the majority of the American clergy are
abolitionist), we are thinking of promoting the following initiatives:
- a petition addressed to the Pope. It will be signed by Nobel Laureates;
by important figures from the world of politics and culture and from the
international religious community; by institutions (regional, provincial
and town councils) that have supported our Abolitionist Campaign, and by
international organizations, asking His Holiness to request that Clinton
and Heads of State in pro-execution countries impose a moratorium on all
scheduled executions; apply the principles laid down in the Statute of the
International Tribunal for Ex-Yugoslavia, which they have already approved;
support the project to create a permanent International Tribunal.
- an Easter March across Rome to St. Peter's, on 3 April 1993. In all
probability this will be followed by a meeting between the Pope and a
delegation composed of important people and parliamentarians from all over
the world.
It is extremely important to seek support not only in the Catholic world
but in all religious communities, and to take the necessary action that
will allow us to exploit this occasion and address ourselves to the United
States before the June elections by exerting strong pressure on public
opinion. This could also have a very positive effect on all pro-execution
countries.
The Eastern march can be organized by using the resources and structures of
institutions, particularly those in Italy and Europe, which are founder
members of the Abolitionist Campaign. They could bring banners, put up
posters promoting the march in different parts of the city, organize
coaches, and perhaps offer to host a delegation from the pro-execution
country that they have "adopted", as suggested in the Brussels Motion.
With regards to this point of the Brussels Motion, in Italy the Lombardy
Region is preparing to "twin" with a US State that is pro-execution, and
the Veneto Region intends to do this with Serbia; while the Province of
Milan is organizing an end-of-January conference on Moldavia, as the
Moldavian parliament prepares to discuss the new Constitution.
In the same way, as we are not yet in a position to estimate the overall
cost of the Easter March and have not yet ascertained potential resources,
it would be a good idea if each of us began to seek financing for our
respective delegations. We could approach foundations, institutions,
international organizatios, or people from the world of entertainment who
may want to act as testimonials for our Campaign.
