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 S.MANZI IN AGORA'.
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
