ABSTRACT: Letter from the political executives of the Radical Party to the President of Sri Lanka, whereby they denounce the violations of human rights, the violence and the killings in that country, and urge the creation of an independent committee of inquiry, the findings of which should be made public.

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Rome, 21 February 1992

TO THE PRESIDENT OF SRI LANKA

HIS EXCELLENCY RANASINGHE PREMADASA

Excellency,

On the basis of the authoritative and consonant reports we have been receiving from many parts, we are extremely concerned for the continuous violations of human rights, the grave attempts on civil and political rights, the climate of civil unrest and the acts of violence which have caused the death of dozens of thousands of citizens of Sri Lanka.

We are writing to you, Mr. President, also on behalf of the more than 150 parliamentarians from 18 different countries and 53 national parties or lists who have to date joined the Radical Party, along with Nobel Prize winners and preeminent international personalities. The Radical Party is a nonviolent, transnational organization - a transparty - whose principal objective is upholding the right to life and the life of rights. This is why it operates beyond national borders and political membership.

As Gandhian militants of active nonviolence, we condemn the acts of terrorism against governmental and civil objectives on the part of the armed groups that operate in the Southern and Northern part of your country.

Nonetheless, as democratic militants, as partisans of the rule of law, we consider even more unacceptable the grave violations of human rights ascribed to the governmental and paramilitary forces; we are referring to the extrajudicial executions, the intimidations and threats of death also against members of Parliament, the disappearance of opponents arrested by the security forces, the torture and the deaths in prison.

In order to shed light on the fate of all those persons reported missing, we appeal to you, Mr. President, and to the government of your country, to urge the appointment of an independent committee of inquiry, the findings of which should be made public.

To prevent further, grave violations of human rights in Sri Lanka, we ask you, Mr. President, and the government of your country, to radically revise the "Prevention of Terrorism Act" as well as the other emergency provisions which grant ample powers to the security forces to arrest the suspected members of the opposition and keep them in "incommunicado", without indictment or trial, for long periods of time.

Such laws, issued with the aim of facing the armed opposition, have increased the probability of cases of disappearance, of extrajudicial execution, of torture and of death in prison. Such laws and special powers have been incapable of opposing the violence of the groups of the armed opposition, and have on the contrary caused a recrudescence of the same; above all, they have often been used as a cover for the repression of members or sympathizers of legal opposition parties.

As members of the Radical Party and as members of Parliament, we will operate, each and all, in our respective national institutional fora and at the European Parliament, to urge aid and credits to the government of your country to be linked to the enactment of immediate and significant steps for the respect of human, civil and political rights in Sri Lanka.

We hope for a prompt intervention on your part, the essence of which we pledge to communicate to all parliamentarians and government officials belonging to the Radical Party.

Yours faithfully,

Sergio Stanzani Emma Bonino Paolo Vigevano

MP, First Secretary MP, President of Treasurer of

of the Radical Party the Radical Party the Radical Party

Marco Pannella Sergio D'Elia

European Parliamentarian, Federal Councillor of

President of the Federal Council R.P. the Radical Party