ADNKRONOS - Rome 4 March 1994 - 16:39 - "If the effort to find money for the court on war crimes had been the same as the one to get weapons, we would now have the richest tribunal in the world", said Muhamed Kresevljakovic, mayor of Sarajevo, during a press conference organized to present the Easter March of 1994, scheduled for 3 April in Rome. The objectives of the march - promoted by the Radical Party, the Mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli, Caritas Diocesana and "Hands Off Cain" - campaign for the abolition of the death penalty by the Year 2000 - are a moratorium of capital executions and the creation of a permanent court for crimes against humanity.

"Two years have gone by" - said the major of the Bosnian city, who promised to do all he could to participate in the march of 3 April and make the city of Sarejevo participate - "during which 10,000 inhabitants of the capital of Bosnia have been killed, 3,000 of whom were children. In the entire republic, over 200,000 people have died. To these we need to add the refugees and the hundreds of women who have been raped. Considering all this, and the fact that during this war crimes have been committed that were unprecedented in this centurty, the Tribunal should long since be operative". Emma Bonino stressed the fact that the budget of the Tribunal ($33 million, approximately 50 billion lire) has not yet been voted by the United Nations General Assembly. "The Tribunal lives with a special fund which some states have contributed to".

For his part, the mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli, pledged to write to the Italian and European mayors to urge them to participate in the initiative of April 3rd, and to ask the Rome town council to promote an international action on the subject of the abolition of the death penalty. Rutelli then recalled the request signed by the Italian mayors on the occasion of the demonstration of solidarity for Bosnia. The petition, addressed to the Italian government and the international bodies, urged the immediate operativity of the Tribunal. "We want to avoid the peace process from being entrusted only to good will and solidarity", he concluded.