Brussels, 3 October 1995

Dear friend and Radical Party member,

five months after our last Congress, I am writing to inform you of the current situation, to give you an overview of the initiatives undertaken and the first results obtained, as well as the serious difficulties we are facing. The first part of the letter (and I apologize in advance for its length) deals with the achievements of the last few months; the second describes the possible initiatives for the future; and the third outlines the problems we are facing at the moment.

INITIATIVES UNDERTAKEN

* In the European Parliament

Thanks to the small but dedicated transdivisional group of deputies who are members of the Radical Party, we have obtained approval in the European Parliament for a number of extremely important documents. These include:

- a resolution, which many people defined as "revolutionary", on the respect of human rights in Tibet. Apart from a motion in the American Congress, this was the first parliamentary document to condemn the invasion and occupation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China, and not just the violation of the Rights of Man;

- a resolution on the Ebola virus and pandemics, the first time that a Parliament has faced this increasingly pressing issue with concrete proposals;

- a resolution on the funding of the ad hoc tribunals on the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and on the establishment of the Permanent International Criminal Court. The European Parliament gives a precise mandate to the institutions of the Union and the member states to assume all possible initiatives within the United Nations to ensure that the ad hoc tribunals are provided with funds to allow them to operate, and that the Permanent Court is established, without further delay, in the 1995 session of the General Assembly of the United Nations;

- at the end of July, on the initiative of Marco Pannella, the Foreign Affairs Commission of the European Parliament approved a political motion on the question of Bosnia-Hercegovina containing, for the first time, an explicit denouncement of the agressors.

As well as presenting these legislative documents, we have also presented dozens of parliamentary questions, thanks in particular to the efforts of the Euro-deputy Gianfranco Dell'Alba. We have intervened in every session on the former Yugoslavia, and also on issues that are more circumscribed, but no less important, such as the attacks in Moscow on the Radical Party activists Nikolai Khramov and Sergei Vorontsov.

* BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA

Once again by means of action in the European Parliament, in particular through a letter signed by around twenty Euro-deputies and sent to the Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic, we have launched a campaign supporting immediate membership of the European Union for Bosnia Hercegovina. Sandro Ottoni went to Sarajevo, where he presented the letter and our proposal to the Prime Minister, several members of the government, and the President of the Parliament.

The initiative met with warm interest, but also with the understandable fear that an application for membership would be rejected by the European Union, given that the Union has not shown much courage or enthusiasm on the issue. Consequently, on our return to Brussels and Zagreb, we immediately submitted the proposal, in the form of an appeal, to the national deputies of the various European countries. The appeal was signed by a total of almost 600 deputies from over 30 countries.

In May, on the basis of the contents of a letter sent to the deputies by the President of the Bosnian Parliament, Miro Lazovic, we relaunched the campaign. In June, due to the fact that consensus was growing although the mass media remained silent, we made an attempt to publicize the campaign on the occasion of the Summit of Heads of State and Government in Cannes, by placing full-page insertions in Le Monde and Oslobodjenje, the leading Bosnian newspaper. Here, however, we felt all the weight of our current difficulties - the insufficient number of members and supporters. We were not able to raise the necessary funds, and the project ended in failure.

In August there was a dangerous attempt by a number of Bosnian deputies to introduce an emendment to the constitution which would have barred non-Moslems from the office of President of the Republic. In the face of a move which would have caused a deterioration in the situation throughout the former Yugoslavia, the Prime Minister, Silajdzic, responded immediately by presenting his resignation. Despite the void caused by the summer recess, we managed to send a letter-fax to several hundred European and national parliamentarians asking them to urge the President of the Bosnian Parliament, Lazovic, to reject this attempt to destroy, in Bosnia as elsewhere, the foundation of a multi-ethnic and multi-racial society that has existed for many centuries.

* UN recognition of the Radical Party

A great boost for the image of the party and for the growth of the transnational project came, last May, with the recognition of the Transnational Radical Party as a 1st Category Non-Government Organization, with the right to present motions and with consultative status. The procedure for recognition, initiated during Emma Bonino's term as Secretary, was brought to a successful conclusion thanks, in particular, to the hard work of Marino Busdachin at the New York party office. The Radical Party is the only party in the world to have obtained NGO status. It is not just a question of prestige, but of assuming a role which, if we are sufficiently strong, will allow us to pursue initiatives and draw up projects, etc., to be submitted to the world assembly. We will make use of this "privilege" to work towards a stronger, more democratic United Nations.

* International Court

The ad hoc UN Committee set up to finalize the draft statute of the Permanent International Court concluded its proceedings at the end of August. Although some of its conclusions are rather vague, the overall results can be considered positive. It is now up to the Sixth Committee of the United Nations, when its proceedings recommence on 28 October, to sort out the remaining problems. Above all, however, the task of the Sixth Committee is to take the decision, which we have supported with great determination, to set up the "preparatory committee" of the Plenipotentiary Conference for the institution of the Court, to be held in 1996. Given the current crisis of international law, there is no time to lose.

* Freedom for Tibet

At the end of May, Piero Verni, President of the Italia-Tibet Association, and Massimo Lensi took part in Vilnius in the Second World Conference of Parliamentarians for Tibet. The conference, attended by around one hundred parliamentarians from over 20 countries, provided an opportunity for a number of meetings, in particular with the President of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, Samdhong Rimpoche, and Tempa Tsering, Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Information in the Tibetan government in exile.

As soon as we obtained UN recognition, urged by our Tibetan friends we presented a statement on the situation in Tibet to the UN Commission on Human Rights.

At the end of July, Piero Verni went to Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, where he met the Dalai Lama, the President of the Parliament Samdhong Rimpoche, Tempa Tsering, and numerous Tibetan dissidents who have fled from Tibet after years of imprisonment. Together they were able to draw up a list of priority initiatives for the next few months.

Finally, Paolo Pietrosanti, Marina Sisani and Francesco Pullia, from Terni, worked to obtain the best possible results from the visit to Italy of the President of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, Samdhong Rimpoche. In a press conference held on 21 September, the Tibetan President gave a brief outline of his meetings with the Vice-Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and with the Office of the Presidency of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. The press conference was also attended by six deputies committed to the establishment of a cross-party group on Tibet and to the presentation of a parliamentary motion.

* Universal abolition of the death penalty

On the issue of the abolition of the death penalty, a "Tour of Italy" was organized during August by the "Hands Off Cain" Association. The Tour allowed the association to make contact and discuss the issue with the mayors and authorities of a large number of Italian cities. Although initially limited to Italy, the initiative - entitled "10 countries, 100 cities, 100,000 signatures against the death penalty" - gathered wide consensus around the proposal made by the Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain", the association co-founded by Maria Teresa Di Lascia, for a moratorium on executions by the year 2000.

In July, the Premio Strega (the highest literary prize in Italy) was awarded to Maria Teresa Di Lascia for her novel "Passaggio in ombra" (Maria Teresa, who died last year, was a former deputy and Secretary of the Radical Party). As a result of the award, the objectives of the Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain" were the subject of debates, during which Sergio D'Elia, the Secretary of the association, was able to illustrate our proposal.

* Anti-prohibitionism on drugs

In May, concerned at the growing pressure from a number of member states of the European Union asking for Holland to back down from its tolerant approach to the drugs issue, together with our friends from the Drugs Peace Institute of Amsterdam we organized demonstrations in support of the Dutch government outside around fifty consulates in over 20 countries. Unfortunately, it seems that our efforts were to no avail, and that this small bastion of tolerance and anti-prohibitionist experiments has partially collapsed.

Maurizio Turco, Michel Hancisse, Patrice Audibert and Begona Rodriguez did, however, produce and distribute the first two issues of a monthly newsletter for the legalization of drugs. The aim of the newsletter is the foundation in the near future of a European Anti-prohibitionist Association along the lines of the Italian CORA. This would be a great step forward in the growth of anti-prohibitionism.

Still on the subject of anti-prohibitionism, we have produced an 80-page book outlining the main reasons in favour of abandoning the catastrophic prohibitionist policy and introducing a policy of regulating drugs. Thanks to contributions from CORA and from the "Movimento dei Riformatori", the book is now available in Italian. As soon as we have sufficient funds, it will be published in English, French, Russian and Spanish, and subsequently in several Central European languages.

* International language, linguistic democracy

In June, following a proposal made by Giorgio Pagano, the Secretary of the Radical Esperanto Association (ERA), Gianfranco Dell'Alba presented the European Parliament with a plan to create a European Language Watchdog.

There have also been a growing number of initiatives, mainly in Italy, for the teaching of Esperanto in primary schools. These initiatives have met with considerable success. It is now a matter of extending them to other countries, of making them transnational.

* In support of Turkish membership of the European Union

Following the support given by over 90 Turkish members of parliament to the initiative for Bosnian membership of the European Union, and also to re-establish existing relations with deputies and members of the Radical Party in a country that is extremely important for Europe and for the struggle for tolerant Islam, Massimo Lensi and Michele Boselli travelled to Ankara in order to meet ministers and members of parliament. On the basis of their reports, we are already working to lay the foundations for further steps and initiatives.

* Communication

Due to our shortage of funds, since the Congress in April we have only been able to send three issues of the newsletter "Transnational" to members and supporters (the first at the beginning of May, the second at the beginning of June, and the third in mid-June).

We have therefore decided to make better use of the mass media, by publishing press releases much more frequently. Since the Congress, we have issued about 50 press releases. Only a few of them have been published, either wholly or partially, in the majority of countries (especially in Western Europe, with the exception, to some extent, of Italy). The initiative has, however, opened up a "breach" in the wall of silence in Eastern Europe (in Poland, for example), while a degree of media interest has been confirmed in Russia, Ukraine, Albania, Croatia, Bulgaria, and the USA.

This is a new and extremely interesting development, which should be further explored. The largely censorial attitude of the media is by no means a novelty, and is not limited to the Radical Party. We are well aware of this, and realise that it is one of the greatest challenges that we must face as a transnational and transdivisional party.

INITIATIVES FOR THE COMING MONTHS

* Freedom for Tibet

There is no lack of projects to contribute to the difficult battle being fought by our Tibetan friends to halt the tragedy taking place in their country. On the "parliamentary" front, we are distributing a draft motion, based on the European Parliament motion, to over 30 parliaments throughout Europe. Around this initiative, we would also like to try to establish a genuine "transnational parliamentary cross-party group", building on parliamentary cross-party groups that already exist and others that we hope will be set up.

On the "militant" front, we have agreed with our friends in the Tibetan government in exile to organize a day of mobilization in Europe and, if possible, in America, on 10 March 1996, the anniversary of the Lhasa insurrection of 1959. This will take the form of a large-scale demonstration in Brussels (and, we hope, in New York) to gather together all those who support and work for the freedom of Tibet.

In view of the demonstration, we are hoping to involve mayors from all over the world by inviting them to sign an appeal for the freedom of Tibet, and to fly the Tibetan flag on their town halls on 10 March. From the Capitol in Rome to New York and the Paris Mairie, this could be an effective way of reaching millions of people.

In preparation for 10 March, we are also trying to organize hearings on the situation in Tibet in the European Parliament and in a number of national parliaments. These hearings would provide an exceptional opportunity for former political prisoners, legal experts and doctors, for example, to speak about and illustrate the tragic situation in Tibet.

* Anti-prohibitionism

The inexorable spread of the drugs scourge means that it is vital to expand and reinforce the campaign for the regulation of drugs. The objective, which we identified more than two years ago, is clear: the "denouncement" of the international conventions which are the foundation for the prohibitionist policy. These conventions provide the juridical basis for the "war on drugs", the absurd strategy which has cost, and continues to cost, billions of dollars without having touched the scourge that it hopes to defeat. The term "denouncement" is used here in a strictly technical and juridical sense, not in a moralistic or journalistic sense. The "denouncement" we are talking about means that the conventions would be abandoned or radically modified by the United Nations, and thus by member countries.

In this area, too, the mass media have, with rare exceptions, failed to provide information or illustrate the opposing positions (prohibitionist and anti-prohibitionist) on how to face the tragedy of drugs, a tragedy not only for addicts, but for democracy itself: corruption and paralysis are increasingly taking the place of efficiency and justice in vital sectors - the police, the judicial system, customs, the media, politics, finance, the economy, real estate, industry...

What could we do, with the inadequate funds at our disposal? We believe that we have chosen the best strategy: a short and inexpensive publication addressed to citizens, to people who work in the judiciary and in the police force, and to doctors and politicians, which outlines the proposals and arguments (usually hidden or misrepresented) in favour of the immediate regulation of drugs. As soon as we have sufficient funds, we will try to make a draft motion available to the parliamentarians of as many countries as possible, asking their governments to take the necessary legal steps for the denouncement of the international conventions.

These initiatives, involving information and parliamentary pressure, are certainly not sufficient. In all probability we will have to develop initiatives of disobedience (along the lines of the action undertaken in August by the Italian Riformatori Party, whose developments we are following closely in order to understand all its mechanisms and potential), initiatives capable of convincing the general public of the need to abandon the path of prohibitionism and turn to the strategy of regulation, both at international level through the modification of the conventions and at national level through new legislation.

* Universal abolition of the death penalty

We are trying to re-establish an alliance of countries within the UN, beginning with France, Spain, Italy and other European countries, which will be able to re-present a motion for the introduction of a universal moratorium on executions in the current session of the General Assembly.

In the meantime, "Hands Off Cain" is organizing a Conference in Tunisi to discuss the issue of the death penalty in Islamic countries. In December, the second Congress of "Hands Off Cain" will be held in Strasbourg.

* Permanent International Criminal Court

On the issue of international justice, as for the abolition of the death penalty, we are trying to establish a nucleus of countries that can form an alliance within the UN, in this case in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, to prevent further delays in the conclusion of the procedure for the establishment of the Permanent International Criminal Court (a procedure which began twenty years ago...).

This means preparing the ground for 30 October, when the Sixth Committee commences its proceedings, to ensure that the member countries taking part overcome their differences and put aside their "objections", entrusting a Preparatory Committee with the task of organizing the Plenipotentiary Conference for the Institution of the Court, a Conference which Italy, partly thanks to the constant efforts of Ambassador Fulci, has offered to host.

* Democracy in Cuba

Francisco Chaviano, leader of the Cuban opposition and a defender of the rights of man, has been held since 7 May 1994 in the Combinado Punta del Este prison. Sentenced on 21 April 1995 to 15 years' imprisonment, he is now waiting for his appeal hearing. Whilst in prison, Francisco Chaviano has joined the Radical Party.

As well as a campaign for his release, which began with an appeal, we will present an urgent resolution in the next session of the European Parliament asking the Cuban authorities to ensure a fair trial for Chaviano and his right to choose his own defence lawyers.

The campaign for the liberation of Francisco Chaviano has led us to undertake a wider campaign for the abolition of the article in the Cuban Penal Code regarding "contempt of the revolution", on the basis of which many of the supporters of the rights of man and of democracy have been imprisoned.

* Former Yugoslavia, Bosnia...

We have to admit the truth: the anti-Europe has won in the former Yugoslavia. International justice has failed. The Radical Party has been one of the few political forces, if not the only one, to have tenaciously defended the Europe of democracy and justice through a battle that has lasted over fifteen years, first for Yugoslavia and then for the new Republics. This was the line of responsibility in European policy, above all towards itself. Ethnic cleansing and compromise with the war criminals have prevailed, concealed behind international agreements celebrated in great pomp.

Behind the Croatian invasion of Kraina at the beginning of August, behind the recent bombing of Serbian positions around Sarajevo, behind the recapture of cities and territories in Central Bosnia, lies the implementation of a plan drawn up under the guidance of the Americans and with the blessing of Europe - a plan which rewards the policy of aggression and ethnic cleansing carried out by the Serbian President Milosevic and implies a de facto extension of the policy of "reclaiming" the areas which the Serbian military forces will have to give up to the Bosnian Federation. This operation means that tens of thousands more people will have to flee (most of them Serbs, this time), forced to abandon their homes. The results of this forced transfer is already evident in Voivodina and Kossovo: thousands of people who have always lived in these areas, such as the Hungarian, Croatian, and Albanian minorities, have been forced out of their homes and maltreated.

There remains the International Tribunal on the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, to whose establishment we made a considerable contribution. We will, however, have to keep a close watch to ensure that it can continue to operate, a task which will not be easy. It is the only instrument which can ensure that the Serbs, first of all those who have lost everything, understand the nature of the bloody, destructive undertaking they have been dragged into: to ensure that they understand that their leaders, now turned into heroes by the negotiations, are responsible for a war that has caused 200,000 deaths and 3.5 million refugees, a war which has led to the return of barbaric crimes such as genocide and rape, and which seen cities bombed and destroyed for four years.

We must now work to ensure that the Constitutions of the states that emerge from the peace agreements contain a group of articles (the same in each Constitution) guaranteeing equal status, in terms of civil rights, for all minorities, whether or not they be reciprocal (the Croatians and Moslems in Serbia as well as the Serbs and Moslems in Croatia, but also the Hungarians and the Albanians, etc.).

Finally, we will have to fight (probably against the Kossovan leaders themselves, whose objectives and strategies we no longer understand) to ensure that the question of Kossovo does not become the unspoken mystery, or the sacrificial lamb, of the peace plan. It is time for the Kossovan leaders to raise their voices, to struggle to make sure that the problem of the human, civil and political rights of the people of Kossovo is included in the peace negotiations, if peace is to last.

As regards our proposal for the immediate entry of Bosnia into the European Union, we cannot hide from the fact that if the current peace plan, a plan based on ethnic division, is accepted, the proposal will have lost much of its significance: to guarantee, within the confines of the Union, the continuing existence of a multi-ethnic, tolerant Bosnia. We stick, however, to our aim to rebuild and strengthen Bosnia and all the other Republics of the former Yugoslavia which show, through their constitutions and their actions, that they intend to be democratic, with, through, and within the European Union.

International language - Linguistic democracy

We are currently preparing an "information campaign" addressed, initially, to the members of the European Parliament. As well as an analysis of the problems of communication in the EU in the present (translation, interpreting, costs...) and the future (with the expansion of the EU to the East), the campaign also involves an invitation to sign an appeal for an international language of communication and to fill in a "declaration-comment" along the lines of those gathered for the drafting of a first dossier on communication in the EU.

* Europen Union

As things stand, the signs are that the Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC) of 1996 will not be a moment of "great reform" of the European Union, its operation, and its objectives. The preparatory reports and documents indicate a consensus around less significant modifications to the Maastricht Treaty. The Yugoslavian tragedy, which was pointed to as a demonstration that the European Union needs to develop a common foreign and security policy, seems, with the American peace plan, to have lost all its dramatic force of persuasion.

In this new context, we are trying together with other national and international political forces to plan initiatives which can revive the struggle to introduce federalist reforms, such as the development of "common foreign and security policy", the creation of a "European humanitarian aid policy", the creation of a "hierarchy of regulations" within the rules of the Union, "expansion to the East and to other democratic countries in Europe", and the institution of a "European energy plan".

* CONCLUSIONS

As you can see, despite our lack of funds we are trying all the same to pursue political initiative in a number of directions, with a series of wide-ranging proposals and projects for immediate implementation. However, although we can be satisfied from this point of view, we cannot say the same of a financial situation that seems likely to prevent us from pursuing both the initiatives and the projects.

We were already aware at the April Congress that the party has a serious deficit (around $2 million), the result of a reduction in our main financial resource, that is our Italian members. Reasons related to the political crisis in Italy, and also to the transformation of the party into a transnational force, have led to a fall in this source of funds.

The transformation of a party which was essentially Italian into a transnational organization is a new, revolutionary process, whose procedures and outcome cannot be taken for granted: as we have said from the moment the idea was born, it is a difficult challenge to face, and an even more difficult challenge to win.

Up to now, the "survival" of the party has been guaranteed by a total of around 4,000 members, 3,000 of whom are Italian. But to carry on our activities with almost no resources is extremely difficult. We have managed to carry out the little (or large...) amount of political action I have outlined mainly thanks to the contribution of Marco Pannella's Riformatori in the European Parliament. And also to the 300 or so friends who have placed their faith in us by joining the Radical Party after the Congress.

Together with the Treasurer Danilo Quinto, we have had to implement a first drastic cut-back in operations, which has affected all our offices from Moscow to Rome, from Budapest to Zagreb. It is easy to imagine the consequences in terms of our capacity for political action, for the development of our initiatives. However, the gravity of the financial situation will soon force us to make a second series of cuts, and therefore a further reduction of our presence in some countries: including, even, the closure of offices which have not given signals, concrete political and also financial commitment, for the construction of the party and for support for its battles.

Personally, I am more than ever convinced of the absolute need to create and support transnational and transdivisional parties capable of action, under the banner of nonviolence, across geographical and ideological frontiers. Parties able to represent an alternative to nationalism, religious, ethnic or political fundamentalism, the power of the mass media - the new clergy of our time, arrogant and omniscient, which decides what is important, what is true, and what exists, and which bends the truth to its own ends.

It is an enormous, arduous task. No less so than in the past. I do not know whether we can succeed, I do not know whether we have the strength and the intelligence to obtain victories on issues whose importance is clear to all. I only know that together, and with the strength given to us by the memory of those who have died while they were working with us - Izet Muhamedagic, Andrea Tamburi, Maria Di Lascia, and many others - only together will we be able to keep on trying. This is the first challenge to be won.

Best wishes,

Olivier DUPUIS

(Secretary of the Radical Party)