PERMANENT INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL: OPEN LETTER TO FOREIGN MINISTERS

To the attention of Mr. ...

Foreign Minister of...

and p.c. to the Ambassador of ... at the United Nations

Bruxelles-New York, October 23, 1995

Dear......,

While there is increasing talk, even in view of the tragedies taking place in many parts of the world in the last few years, beginning with ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda, of preventive diplomacy, the international Community is largely powerless in preventing on the start conflicts, large scale massacres, evident violations of international rights and legality.

On the other hand, the ad hoc Tribunals on the crimes perpetrated in ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda, have demonstrated for the first time, the ability of the same international community to equip itself with an instrument of international criminal justice that although created after the onset of the hostilities, it has shown to be able to restore a minimum of legal rights what has taken place in those countries, threatening those who perpetrated hideous crimes with facing an institution of justice.

The issue now is, also to prevent the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations from being a mere celebration, in making the international Community take a leap in quality, endowing it with a permanent international criminal jurisdiction.

After over 15 years of preparatory work, accelerated during the last two years, the various competent organs of the United Nations have finally resolved the many problems of technical, juridical and financial nature inherent to the operation of such new institution.

There is only one obstacle left, political in nature. It is now up to the Member States, represented in the Sixth Committee of the United Nations, to overcome the last divergences of political nature so that the General Assembly may give a mandate for a "preparatory committee" to draft a consolidated and applicable text of the Permanent International Criminal Tribunal to be submitted to the Plenipotentiary Conference so that the General Assembly, during its 50th session, may convene such Conference.

An obstacle this that, with the recent and decisive favorable position of the President of the United States, Bill CLINTON, to a rapid establishment of a Permanent International Criminal Tribunal, the international Community could today, as never before, overcome and consequently, give a concrete realization to the hope expressed by the American President to "prosecute the war criminals in ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda and send a powerful signal to those who use the cover of war to commit terrible atrocities that they cannot escape the consequences of such actions" ... a signal that "will be further and strongly reinforced by the establishment of a Permanent International Criminal Tribunal"

The "moment of truth" will take place in a few days. October 30th, the Sixth Committee is going to start a working session which could and should be the final stage in the drafting of a document to be submitted for voting to the General Assembly.

With the strong hope that the representative of your Country to the Sixth Committee will be able to take up the historical responsibilities that this important moment of institutional life of the United Nations requires and thanking you for your attention, we send our best regards,

Marino BUSDACHIN (**) Olivier DUPUIS (*)

(Secretary of "There is No Peace (Secretary of the Transnational

without Justice, Association") Radical Party)

(*) The Radical Party is a political organization transnational and transparty. That is to say, an organization of citizens and parliamentarians belonging to various national political forces who have chosen to commit themselves to a number of specific campaigns. The current campaigns of the Radical Party are: the universal abolition of the death penalty; the establishment of a permanent international criminal court; the revision, in an anti-prohibitionist direction, of the international laws and conventions on drugs; support for Bosnia-Hercegovina, in particular through its immediate membership in the European Union; world democracy and, of course, Tibet. The Radical Party does not take part in national elections. It recently obtained First Category Consultative Status from the United Nations.

(**) "There is no Peace without Justice" International Committee is an international organization that supports the implementation of International Rights. Among its objectives there are the establishment of a Permanent International Criminal Court and the reform and democratization of the United Nations.