Subject: From TRANSNATIONAL - Satyagraha - 12 September 1994 - No. 7
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Fortnightly Newsletter of the Radical Party
FORMER YUGOSLAVIA: AN OPEN LETTER TO POPE JOHN PAUL II
Zagreb, 6 September - On the occasion of Pope John Paul II's visit to
Croatia, and of his planned visit to Sarajevo, the Radical Party members in
these countries appealed to him to declare his support for the immediate
commencement of the work of the ad hoc Tribunal on war crimes as the first
step towards the constitution of a permanent international Tribunal.
The letter reads as follows:
Holy Father,
millions of people, not only in Sarajevo, Zagreb and Belgrade but in the
whole world, are waiting for your word, in your journey to a martyred land
which, thanks to your courageous initiative, can now once again become a
land of possible peace and hope. Your word will reach peoples who, in the
face of the Yugoslavian tragedy and of the many other tragedies which are
tormenting them, are lost and impotent. Your message, we are sure, will
have a universal character, beyond the confines of the Catholic religion.
For this reason, from a land in which the variety of peoples, languages,
and faiths can and must be an admirable example of tolerance and civil
harmony, we Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, Orthodox Christians, Catholics and
Moslems, parliamentarians and simple citizens, we believers in nonviolence,
in the name of so many wounded and injured, orphans and refugees, are here
to give you our sincere thanks and to offer you all our support in your
mission.
For years we have been suffering from a war against which the chorus of
voices has remained silent or has been discordant; for years we have been
paying, we directly and the world which observes us from too far away, for
a return to barbarity and violence. For a long time we have been waiting
for the terrible crimes that have been committed in the land which you are
now visiting to meet with the sanctions of law and justice. On Easter Day
of this year, the mayors of Vukovar and Osijek, together with the Mayor of
Sarajevo Kresevljakovic and many other mayors and citizens from all over
the world, turned to you - with the Gandhian nonviolent Radicals - asking
you to give your support to a new instrument of law that could finally
punish the crimes committed in the territories of the former Yugoslavia
with just sanctions. Now it seems that this hope may be realized. This is
an important signal. For this reason, Holy Father, we appeal to you once
again so that thanks to your authoritative word the irreducible human
spirit that makes us all a single community may be further upheld, and so
that a wider international jurisdiction may begin to emerge and confer
absolute juridical value on the human rights. From this city, Holy Father,
express your support. May the international tribunal called to try the
crimes committed in the territories of the former Yugoslavia be the first
step towards a credible and authoritative International Court that can
bring back the human rights that have been denied so horribly in many parts
of the world, and make them the essential pillars of a new international
jurisdiction.
We call for justice, Holy Father, to affirm the dignity of man and the
universal value of his rights.
>From Sarajevo and Zagreb, address your solicitations to the human community
and to the International Organization of States.
This is our wish. We dare to hope that it is also yours.
>From all of us, once again, our greatest thanks.
Snjezana Biga Friganovic, Croatian deputy and member of the RP; Julije
Derossi, Croatian deputy and member of the RP; Teresa Ganza-Aras, Croatian
deputy and member of the RP; Zivko Juzbasic, Serbian minority deputy and
member of the RP; Enes Kisevic, Bosnian poet and actor, member of the RP;
Muhamed Kresevljakovic, Bosnian consul in Italy, former mayor of Sarajevo,
member of the RP; Rasema Mehadzic Cero, Bosnian deputy and member of the
RP; Izet Muhamedagic, Bosnian, Vice Minister of Justice and member of the
RP; Bozidar Patrac, President of the Croatian delegation to the CSCE,
deputy and member of the RP; Ivan Pauletta, Croatian deputy and member of
the RP; Marijana Stefanci Buhin, member of the General Council of the RP;
Zdravko Tomac, Croatian deputy and member of the RP; Vijekoslav Zagaj,
member of the General Council of the RP and former deputy; Muhamed Zulic,
Croatian deputy and member of the RP; Jadranka Cigelj, president of the
"Women of Omarska" group; Valter Despalj, cellist; Ranko Marinkovic,
writer; Jure Kolak, mayor of Vukovar; Zlatko Kramaric, mayor of Osijek,
deputy; Dusko Kucina, mayor of Zara.
