"The criminal conduct of Italy and the European Community, the pacifist forces and the forces of the left as well as those of the Italian government, towards the actions of the militarist, antidemocratic forces of power that dominate Belgrade and dominate from Belgrade, must be effectively condemned and find an effective solution. May the right to life and the life of rights be upheld and defended immediately!" In this statement, made on 6 May, Marco Pannella explained his decision to commence a new hunger strike.

There is resistance in the West

(...) The tragedy of the ex-Yugoslavia, the Nazi-style massacres, the scientific precision of Belgrade's actions which aim at a "great" Serbia at the cost of a "great" Croatia, and of the Fascist and Bolshevic oppression of Albanians, Moslems, Bosnians, and the people of Voivodina, the shameful foreign policies of the EEC and the Italian government (which completely ignore the deliberations of Parliament) are seen as a natural catastrophe, and are not fought against.

(...) I appeal to democrats, supporters of nonviolence, and parliamentarians to ensure that those who are dying, who are suffering, who are oppressed, who have to flee from their homes in their thousands, not far from our own country, are aware that they are not alone, that they will not remain alone, that there is resistance in Rome and in Brussels to the Nazi-style "ethnic purification" which is taking place in the ex-Yugoslavia.

In Sarajevo as in Warsaw

In Sarejevo as in Warsaw, the Moslem population is oppressed today as the Jewish population was oppressed in the past. A population guilty only of being Bosnian and Moslem. The press, the political parties and leaders, and the Parliament are all behaving shamefully, the political, human, and juridical accomplices for the last year of these "trifling massacres". Does the Vatican City want to repeat its silence of the past? Is Brussels the capital of a Europe we must leave? The "ethnic re-organization" is a Nazi-style plan, even though Belgrade has dismissed the Nazi-Bolshevic army, guilty of failing to exterminate with sufficient energy and speed. I hope that Bosnia will not follow the cowardly example of Slovenia and the cynicism which seems to prevail in Ljubljana. I hope that the democrats of Serbia, the Albanian population, the Hungarian and other minorities are not left alone in this tragedy. The members of the Belgrade regime are not common criminals - they are war criminals.

On this issue, the Italian left-wing is worse than the centre or the right. The Radical Party alone, and not only in Italy, is organizing resistance - in the European Community, in around twenty parliaments in the East, through initiatives on the war front and through nonviolent initiatives by its members - to Nazism and the accomplices of Nazism, to this war which belongs to everyone, including, as usual, the pacifists.

Before Sarejevo becomes like Warsaw, before the Moslem population meetswith the same fate as the Jews, which is happening right now, we must take action, with adequate measures rather than idle, shameful chatter."

AS Marco Pannella continues his hunger strike, dozens of messages of solidarity are reaching the Radical Party. The Belgrade Anti-War Centre: "As a pacifist organization we are not able to carry out political action such as that of Marco Pannella, but we support all the efforts being made by organizations which are fighting in Europe to obtain peace and stability in the ex-Yugoslavia." The Radical Party members and deputies Miroslav Zupancic and Vjekoslav Zugaj have written to us from Croatia. Together with the lawyer Josip Pinesic, also a member of the Radical Party: "We are happy to be amongst those who agree with your ideas and who are taking similar initiatives. Keep going, Marco, don't give up!"

More than two hundred people

11 May - More than 200 people begin a "two-day relay hunger strike" in support of Marco Pannella's hunger strike to obtain immediate action on the part of the Italian government and the EEC to stop the massacre currently being carried out by the Serbian regime in Bosnia Hercegovina. These include numerous Radical activists, members of the PDS, Rifondazione Comunista, the Green Party, Catholic organizations (ACLI), the Socialist Party and the Christian Democrat Party, regional, provincial, and town councillors from all the political parties.

40 deputies wear black armbands as a sign of mourning

During the joint assembly of the Italian Chambers for the election of the President of the Republic, on the initiative of the representatives of the "Lista Pannella" group, dozens of deputies wear black armbands as a sign of mourning for that which is happening, to widespread indifference, in the countries of the ex-Yugoslavia.

Exactly like Hitler

On 14 May, Marco Pannella said in a statement given to Radio Radicale that: "The operation currently being carried out is what is known as ethnic redistribution (...) that is, exactly what Hitler did - the unity of all the Germanic people. Here it is caused by one and a half million refugees in Croatia, an area with a total population of 4 million. And Croatia has been brought to its knees, because one and a half million refugees in an area where there are 4 million people obviously destroys the social, economic, military and political framework. It is a miracle that we have managed to restrain the reaction of the Zagreb government. It is now necessary to take immediate action, to increase mass mobilization..."

What is to be done?

"What should be done? We, as the Radical Party, with our 200 parliamentarians (...), from those of Croatia to those of Baku, from those of Armenia to those of Azerbaijan, (...) must immediately do the hundreds of things that a serious government does when it takes up a particular position. And therefore (...) not only the withdrawal of ambassadors but also an air blockade, a complete boycott and aid to the democratic forces (...) of Serbia, which are oppressed. And we must bring up the issue of the nonviolence of the 2 million inhabitants of Kosovo, who are under military occupation..."

Demonstration

15 May. Around 500 people take part in the demonstration outside the Serbian (ex-Yugoslvian) embassy against the aggression of the Serbian army in Bosnia Hercegovina, Croatia, Kosovo and Voivodina, organized by the Radio Party, the Movement of "Marco Pannella Clubs" and the Pro-Bosnia Hercegovina Committee. Demonstrators include numerous members of the Radical Party, the PDS and the "Lista Pannella", as well as many representatives of the Moslem, Croatian and Kosovo communities. Banners declared "Stop the massacre in Bosnia Hercegovina" and "Milosevic is a racist and a militarist". Similar demonstrations are held at the same time in MIlan, Naples and Bari.

450 hunger-strikers

Whilst the number of hunger-strikers grows by the hour, in Croatia deputies Josip Valincic and Miroslav Zupancic decide to support Marco Panella's nonviolent initiative by going on hunger strike. Dozens of information desks, torchlit processions and demonstrations are organized throughout Italy to defeat the non-coverage by the mass media of nonviolent initiatives and to reconstruct a degree of truth about what is really happening in the ex-Yugoslavia. For "Italian pacifists", in fact, are afraid to talk of "Serbian aggression". They prefer to remain silent.

Demonstration in Moscow

15 May. Twenty or so Radicals, including Moscow Soviet deputy Vladimir Grishkin, demonstrate outside the "Serbian" Embassy in Moscow. Their banners declare "We are with the victims!", "Serbian army out of Bosnia!", "We are Moslems".

Letter to the newly-elected President of the Republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro

18 May. On the initiative of Marco Pannella, parliamentarians of various political groups send a letter to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, asking that "urgent consideration be given to the request that a delegation of Italian deputies and senators be sent immediately to the areas of the ex-Yugoslavia where massacres continue to be perpetrated and acts of violence of unprecedented ferocity are being carried out against desperate and defenceless citizens".

Message to Pannella from Croatian Prime Minister Greguric

20 May. "Dear Marco, as always when we are going through times of tragic difficulty, you're the one who takes action. Whilst many politicians are forgetting their duty to help those who are being attacked, to stop the murder of women and children, you and your party try to urge them through all possible means to carry out their duty. You have gone on hunger strike together with several hundred other people in order to awaken the consciences of those who could give help but are not doing so. You are writing protest letters to political leaders, you are collecting signatures to approve a motion in the Italian and European Parliaments, and you are always able to find the right words to help those who need immediate help. In their name, in the name of the government of the Republic of Croatia, I thank you with all my heart. Franjo Greguric."

21 May. On the advice of Prof. Tommaso Fiaschetto, Marco Pannella breaks off his hunger strike due to serious health problems. On the same day, Pannella talks to Radio Radicale and expresses his fear that the nonviolent initiative may lose momentum just as an increasing number of deputies are signing the motion on the ex-Yugoslavia (drawn up by Pannella at the end of April). After this appeal for greater mobilization, hundreds of citizens decide to undertake a public hunger strike.

27 May. Nobel Peace prize winner Mairead Corrigan, a member of the Radical Party, presents UN Secretary Boutros Boutros Ghali with the text of the Italian motion and informs him of the hunger strike initiative.

Parliament majority for Radical motion

1 June. 374 out of 610 Italian deputies from almost all the political groups have now signed the motion (first signatory Marco Pannella) which commits the Italian government to impose and promote, at European and international level, a series of drastic sanctions (an air and sea blockade, economic sanctions) on the criminal Belgrade regime.

2,203 hunger strikers, including hundreds of prisoners

A total of 2,203 people are taking part in the relay hunger strike, including 756 inmates from the Milan and Verona prisons, who state their intention "not to remain indifferent to war crimes".

This level of public involvement is made possible through the help of Radio Radicale, which provides detailed news with live reports from Sarajevo, Osijek, Bosanski Brod and Zagreb, as well as constant updates on the number of hunger strikers. A large proportion of broadcasting time is devoted to the subject, with phone-ins and political debates.

Support from mayors

188 mayors sign the parliamentary motion and place the issue on the agenda of local councils. 22 of them decide to take part in the hunger strike. Bruno Mori, mayor of the small town of Preganziol in the province of Treviso, writes to Marco Pannella: "With great sadness I have to agree with your observation that there is a general lack of interest in the tragedy which is afflicting entire peoples, a tragedy of biblical proportions... I assure you that I will be taking part, together with the rest of my family, in the hunger strike organized by nonviolent movements as a sign of solidarity with the populations under attack...".