TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE VI COMMISSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEMBER STATES

We the undersigned,

Parliamentarians, members of government, and citizens of the member states of the UNO:

In consideration of the fact

- that all over the world, from the former Yugoslavia to Rwanda and to the many tragic aggressions and wars, dramatic conflicts persist and continue to flare up in the name of ancient nationalistic and ethnic sentiments or of absurd and unacceptable religious incomprehension, and that these conflicts are marked by atrocities that seem to bring back the violence and the horror of the totalitarian regimes;

- that it is therefore now necessary to create a valid body of international law and jurisdiction which, by expressing and giving concrete force to the desire for justice felt by men and women of good will, can manage in an effective and credible manner to identify and punish those responsible for crimes condemned by the common conscience;

- that it is up to the international community - and thus to the United Nations, the expression of the will of free peoples and governments - to create and support, as soon as possible, this form of new law and jurisdiction through the institution of a permanent Tribunal on crimes against humanity, which can effectively take up at a global level the work begun by the ad hoc Tribunal on the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia;

- that the International Law Commission has been working since 1947 on the drafting of a Code of crimes against the peace and security of humanity, a Code which the UN adopted at first reading in 1991;

- that the 48th General Assembly (1993) conferred on the same Commission a priority mandate to draw up the Statute of an International Penal Tribunal, in time for adoption by the 49th General Assembly (1994);

- that the International Law Commission finally completed a draft Statute in its 46th session (May-July 1994);

we appeal to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the VI Commission of the General Assembly, and the representatives of the member states to assume a determined and urgent procedural initiative to ensure that the General Assembly, on the occasion of its 49th session (September-December 1994)

- discusses the draft Statute drawn up by the Commission and convenes a United Nations Conference in 1995 for the approval of the Treaty relative to the institution and operation of the International Penal Tribunal.