Subject: JOIN THE HUNGER STRIKE FOR DIALOGUE
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ON THE NIGHT OF SATURDAY 12 MARCH OLIVIER DUPUIS, PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL
COUNCIL OF THE TRANSNATIONAL TRANSPARTY, STARTED A HUNGER STRIKE WHICH HE
ILLUSTRATES IN THE FOLLOWING LETTER. A HUNGER STRIKE FOR DIALOGUE - OR
SATYAGRAHA - WILL TAKE PLACE FROM MONDAY 21 MARCH TO FRIDAY 25 MARCH.
DOZENS OF CITIZENS FROM SEVERAL EUROPEAN AND NON-EUROPEAN COUNTRIES HAVE
ALREADY ANNOUNCED THEIR PARTICIPATION.
TO NOTIFY YOUR PARTICIPATION, SEND AN E-MAIL MESSAGE TO
a.leccese@agora.stm.it
Rome 16 March 1994
Dear friend,
in the context of the campaign which the radical party has long been
carrying out to urge the functioning of the international tribunal for
crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, the establishment of a permanent
international tribunal and the adoption on the part of the U.N. of a
universal moratorium on capital executions, we have undertaken a
non-violent initiative which is scheduled to continue in the coming months.
The aim of the first stage of this Satyagraha, or collective hunger strike
for dialogue, is to urge the U.N. to settle the question of the budget of
the international tribunal for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.
During this stage, the interlocutors of this hunger strike are the members
of the United Nations Fifth Commission, who, in the session from 21 to 25
March, will decide on the budget of the international tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia.
During the second stage of this hunger strike, i.e. between 25 March and 3
April, the day of the Catholic Easter and the day in which we will hold our
March from the Capitol to St.Peter's Square, our other interlocutor will be
Pope John Paul II.
We hope that in delivering his traditional Easter message urbi et orbi the
Pope will use his high moral authority to support the campaign for the
establishment of a permanent international court and a universal suspension
of capital executions.
Although the subsequent stages of this Satyagraha need yet to be decided,
we already know that we will need to concentrate our efforts on supporting
the activity of the United Nations Sixth Commission, which is charged with
drawing up a draft statute of the International Tribunal during its session
next May.
After that we will undertake initiatives to obtain the following
objectives:
- place the question of a universal moratorium of capital executions on the
agenda of the General Assembly;
- urge the General Assembly to approve the statute of the permanent
tribunal during its autumn session.
We hope this first initiative will pave the way for a real Satyagraha, with
the participation of hundreds of people in the world, and lay the
foundations of a new international justice.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Olivier Dupuis
