Subject: From TRANSNATIONAL - Satyagraha - 18 July 1994 - No. 6
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Fortnightly Newsletter of the Radical Party
EXTENDED MEETING OF THE GENERAL COUNCILOF THE RADICAL PARTY, FOR THE CIS
AND THE BALTIC STATES
(Moscow, 9 July 1994). On 8 & 9 July an extended meeting of the General
Council of the Radical Party, for the CIS and the Baltic States, was held
in the Parliamentarians Center of the Russian Federation in Moscow.
The meeting was attended by: Ottavio Lavaggi, Treasurer of the Radical
Party; Olivier Dupuis, President of the General Council; Antonio Stango,
member of the Secretariat and Chief Coordinator of Radical activities in
the CIS and in the Baltic States; Mamuka Tsagareli, Vice President of the
General Council; Jokubas Minkevicius, member of the Lithuanian Academy; Lev
Razgon, Russian author and former political prisoner under the Stalin
regime; Arif Ragim-Zade, member of the Azerbaijan Parliament and member of
the Radical Party; Valentin Oskotskij, Russian author and member of
President Yeltsin's Committee for Pardon. Members of the General Council
included: Nikolaj Khramov (Russia), Fedor Chub (Russia), Samvel Shaginjan
(Armenia), Sergej Sheboldaev (Russia). Many Radical activists hailing from
different cities and countries also attended.
Reporters from the press agency Interfax, the Moskovskij Komsomolets
newspaper, and Russian TV, were present at the meeting, which was reported
on "Vesti", a news programme broadcast by Russian TV.
We are publishing below the complete text of the final document drawn up at
the end of the proceedings.
FINAL DOCUMENT OF THE EXTENDED MEETING OFTHE GENERAL COUNCIL, FOR THE CIS
AND THE BALTIC STATES
(Moscow, 8 & 9 July 1994)
The extended Meeting of the members of the General Council of the Radical
Party, for the CIS and the Baltic States, held in Moscow on 8 & 9 July,
emphasises the fundamental importance of the subjects discussed.
A. The Meeting is firmly convinced that the death penalty is not only a
flagrant violation of fundamental human rights (a right to life being the
most important of all) but also a threat to the rule of law, on which the
foundation process of post-totalitarian societies is based. The issue of
the death penalty is of great importance and is central to the revision
process of the Constitutions of many former Soviet Union Republics.
Consequently, the Meeting draws attention to the positive experience of the
Georgian Parliament, where the Constitutional Committee has included the
article on the abolition of the death penalty in the draft Constitution now
ready for discussion. The Meeting calls on members of the Radical Party,
members of national parliaments and of the executive organs of the Radical
Party to plan, during the coming months, a campaign aimed at maintaining
this particular article in the draft Constitution of Georgia.
Furthermore, this extended Meeting engages itself to sustain and to give
added impetus to the campaigns already launched against the death penalty
in Moldavia, seeing as that Parliament will also be discussing a new
Constitution this year.
It is also necessary to study the analogous situation in Armenia. The
Armenian Constitutional project includes a special article on the
inviolability of human life, which can be interpreted in an abolitionist
sense and which, therefore, could be used as a departure point for an
abolitionist campaign.
The meeting deems it necessary to underscore the obvious danger involved in
discussing the new penal code in Ukraine this coming Autumn, given that the
draft code tends to extend the application of the death penalty rather than
limit it to a minimum number of crimes. Apropos of this the extended
Meeting calls on members to promote an appropriate transnational initiative
in the Supreme Soviet of Ukraine.
The same applies to the Russian situation, and the extended Meeting
emphasises the need to concentrate on obtaining a permanent moratorium on
the death penalty, seeing that a moratorium has already been imposed by
President Yeltsin. It is an opportunity to promote an appeal by well-known
personalities from the world of politics, science and culture for
presentation to President Yeltsin and the Russian Federal Assembly, which
requests a permanent moratorium and the de jure abolition of the death
penalty in the next few years.
Furthermore, the Meeting turns its attention to the importance of the
effort that has to be made at the level of international organizations to
enforce the universal moratorium on the death penalty. In relation to this,
it is necessary to support abroad the initiative of the Italian Government
that has asked for the moratorium be put on the agenda and discussed at the
next Session of the U.N. General Assembly. It is also essential to promote
the adoption of appropriate resolutions in those parliaments where there
are members or supporters of the Radical Party.
B. In the same way that obstacles impeding the institution of the
International Tribunal for war crimes committed in the Ex-Yugoslavia were
overcome, the Meeting launches an appeal for action - especially by
collaborating with the Member States of the U.N. Security Council - so that
the numerous attempts to prevent the Tribunal from beginning its work
efficiently (the most recent being the delay in appointing the Chief
Prosecutor without whom the Tribunal cannot function) might be successfully
thwarted. Concerning this, a transnational mobilization is necessary to
bring about the appointment of the Chief Prosecutor by the U.N. Security
Council as soon as possible.
There is also an absolute necessity to organize actions urging the Tribunal
for crimes committed in the Ex-Yugoslavia not only to investigate criminal
acts perpetrated by individuals but also to bring to justice the
politicians responsible for organizing the "ethnic cleansing".
C. Regarding the Permanent Court for war crimes and crimes against
humanity, the Meeting would like to express its satisfaction concerning
recent news from Geneva regarding the work of the International Law
Commission that will soon finish drafting the Statute of the Permanent
International Court. If this news is confirmed in the immediate future it
will mean that the U.N. General Assembly will have the possibility - at
least in theory - of discussing and adopting the Statute during its Autumn
Session. This implies that in a short space of time Radical Party members
will have to mount campaigns to pressure the governments of their
countries, requesting that the appropriate documents be adopted in the
parliaments, so that the General Assembly will have a real possibility of
discussing and adopting the Statute of the Permanent International Court
before the end of this year; and also of instituting this Court by 1995, to
coincide with the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.
The Meeting turns its attention to the necessity of coordinating the
efforts of the various social groups and individuals engaged in bringing
about the constitution of a supranational legal institution, namely, the
Permanent International Court, and suggests promoting a membership campaign
for the International Committee "There's No Peace Without Justice", formed
this spring, which parliamentarians, mayors, writers, scientists and
citizens of the CIS and Baltic States can also join.
D. The public Meeting draws attention to the fact that the Russian
Federation is the only Republic of the former Soviet Union, where the right
to conscientious objection still does not exist. The meeting considers the
necessity of relaunching the campaign aimed at having the State Duma adopt
a law providing for alternative civilian service.
Moreover, it is necessary to reopen the debate on anti-militarism, pacifism
and nonviolence, and to discuss the possibilties of collaborating with all
anti-militarist groups; in particular, after the fall of the Berlin Wall
and and the bipolar division between East and West having ceased to exist,
peace movements and groups are in a state of crisis, while it is also
necessary, without any shadow of doubt, to create a strong anti-militarist
front, especially in consideration of the miltiary threat and the
resurgence of fascism and naziism in former totalitarian regimes.
E. The Meeting deems it necessary to ensure the Radical Party's continuing
commitment to the campaign for a new clean energy policy. It is
particularly necessary to deal urgently with questions concerning the
closure of dangerous nuclear power stations in the countries of the former
Soviet Union; the consequences of possible accidents, and security measures
applied to the storage of radioactive waste. Concerning this, it is
extremely worrying that the Ukraine Government has refused to shut down
Chernobyl, despite strong international pressure. It is also necessary that
international organizations for the environment to pay particular attention
to the document prepared by the Committee for Environmental Problems and
Natural Rescources of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Armenia that
recommends that the Armenian nuclear reactors once again become functional;
and also to the development of alternative energy sources in Armenia.
F. The Meeting expresses its concern regarding the situation of the rights
of populations without a right to citizenship in Latvia and Estonia, and
urges the Radical Party to hold a conference on this matter, at Riga,
before the coming Autumn.
G. The Meeting has noted the dearth of members from the CIS and the Baltic
States and calls on all members of the Radical Party to devote more energy
to enrolling new members in their own countries.
Apart from the newsletter "Transnational" - important in that it is the
sole means of communication and information available, owing to the
under-developed and inaccessible computer networks and the lack of an
instrument like Radical Radio - which has been sent out since April of this
year, the extended Meeting proposes that the membership campaign also
include a series of open Meetings held by the Radical Party in the coming
months, with the aim of increasing the number of members in the Republics
of the former Soviet Union.
H. The Meeting considers it necessary to strengthen the communication of
Radical Party activities, with the support of the mass media in the CIS and
Baltic States.
