ABSTRACT: After giving an account of the party's latest political activities, the represenatives of the Radical Party urge members to take initiatives in their countries in the context of the campaign for the abolition of death penalty, for the depenalization of drugs, for the diffusion of the international language and on AIDS. Lastly, in pointing out the radical party's financial problems, they ask members to intensify their efforts to find the resources necessary to finance the party's activities.

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Rome, 25 January 1994

Dear friends,

another difficult year has begun for freedom and democracy, in Europe and in the world. There is no need for much explanation: we are all able to see the alarming signs of the problems and the dangers which are pressing upon us. As Radicals, we are determined to face them, if we manage to remain united and fight as in the last few years, during which we have constructed this new party, a very different and a very necessary party. In 1994, too, we will have to remain united, all together; we will have, in fact, to grow and gain in strength. We know it won't be easy. Some of us may already work in groups which are sufficiently strong and well-organized, others are still isolated, apparently far away and unable to contribute to the battle. It is to these people in particular that we address this message. By improving reciprocal communication, we can draw enormous benefits from apparently isolated supporters, who are in fact precious representatives in areas which are difficult, and thus more important for our u

nderstanding and action. In the 1994 membership campaign, it is from these people in particular that we hope to receive a strong, invaluable message.

In 1993 we have obtained a number of important results. The Secretary of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros Ghali, received a delegation headed by the Radical Party Secretary Emma Bonino and composed, among others, of Mona Makram Ebeid, Vice-President of Parliamentarians for Global Action, Vincent McGee, former President of the American branch of Amnesty International, and Yuri Orlov, President of the Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. After the delegation handed over the 60,000 signatures collected all over the world (including those of more than 1,000 parliamentarians, Nobel Prize winners and leading international figures), the UN Secretary General, who had already sent a message of support to our Assembly in Sofia last July, stressed the importance of pressure from organized transnational forces to encourage the most unruly and recalcitrant countries to assume greater responsibility and offer direct, open support to the International Community.

Every day, in the former Yugoslavia as in Somalia, we see how mistaken and fragile are the operations of the forces which should guarantee peace in the most tragic situations. If this happens, it is due - apart from the inadequacy of the United Nations, which must also be rectified - to the fact that the self-interest of single parties prevails over the common good and over solidarity between all parties. In the meantime, however, thanks partly to our contribution, the United Nations has succeeded in setting up the ad hoc Tribunal on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal has, and will continue to have, a difficult life, because everyone is already trying to deny it the means to go ahead with its work. It is therefore all the more necessary that we continue to organize the support that Boutros Ghali has asked from us.

If the Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia gets off the ground, we will also have opened the way to the constitution of a permanent Tribunal to punish crimes against humanity, wherever they are committed.

In Italy, a Radical party motion was approved by the government, which committed itself to contributing over two million US dollars to the Tribunal. In Belgium, on the initiative of the Green Party senator Benker, an all-party group of senators presented a motion of the same type. In Spain, two similar motions, presented by Senator Francesca Sauquillo and Deputy Pilar Rahola, will be debated at the beginning of February. In Luxembourg, on the initiative of four deputies, the question of the funding of the Tribunal will be discussed at the end of this month. The European Parliament, on the initiative of deputies from the Assembly of Parliamentarians of the transnational Radical Party, adopted a motion deploring the fact that the European Community has not acted quickly to guarantee funds for the Tribunal. Other initiatives (parliamentary questions, letters..) have been carried out in the UK, Ireland, France, Portugal, Finland, and the European Parliament.

WHY NOT ORGANIZE A DEBATE, A CONFERENCE, ETC? ASK THE NEAREST PARTY OFFICE FOR MATERIAL.

the campaign to abolish the death penalty...

At the same time, our campaign for the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000 took another important step forward: in December, the Founding Congress of the International "Hands Off Cain" Association was held in Brussels, attended by over 100 deputies and leading figures from Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The Congress set out the programme for the coming months: the institution of a UN moratorium on executions; the institution of a procedure for the intervention of the UN Security Council in cases of coup d'état or civil war; support for the decision to exclude the death penalty from the sentences of the permanent international tribunal; the initiation of legal action, as laid down by the international Pact on civil and political rights, against contracting parties which continue to apply the death penalty.

ON EASTER SUNDAY, 3 APRIL, AT THE END OF A MARCH THROUGH THE STREETS OF ROME, ENDING AT THE VATICAN, AN APPEAL FOR THE INTERNATIONAL MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS WILL BE PRESENTED TO POPE JOHN-PAUL II. IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT IF DEMONSTRATIONS, LARGE OR SMALL, COULD BE HELD IN ALL THE CITIES AND COUNTRIES IN WHICH THERE ARE MEMBERS OF THE RADICAL PARTY, EITHER AT THE SAME TIME OR IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER EVENTS OF PUBLIC INTEREST.

anti-prohibitionism gains ground...

As well as taking part, on 16 November, in the Baltimore Assembly organized by the Drug Policy Foundation, we have, in collaboration with the International Anti-Prohibitionist League, concluded the analysis of the United Nations Conventions on drugs. We are drawing up a document which will be sent to international experts, and especially to over 500 parliamentarians who are members of the "Health", "Justice" and/or "Drugs" commissions of around fifteen European parliaments. At the end of February, experts and parliamentarians will meet in Rome to define the political, technical and operative details of the campaign for the denouncement and/or the modification of the Conventions, and in the following weeks we should formally and officially launch the international campaign on the occasion of a great public meeting.

esperanto...

In November of last year, the party organized a demonstration in Paris on the occasion of the 27th General Conference of UNESCO, obtaining the support of the Director General, Mayor, for a concrete programme on Esperanto. In mid-Janaury of this year, a party delegation met the European Commissioner Ruberti to ask for a concrete space for the international language within the new language programmes of the European Community, and for the international language, in virtue of the principle of subsidiarity, to become the responsibility of the EC institutions. Finally, the first issue of "Translimen", a weekly newssheet on the right to the international language, was published a few days ago (if you are interested, you can receive a copy of the newssheet from the party's Rome offices).

the AIDS campaign...

The Aids campaign is moving along two lines. The challenge posed to the international community by the pandemic requires co-ordinated, sustainable, transnational and complementary co-operation. The donor countries, however, are showing a growing preference for working independently, or on a bilateral basis, with the countries of the Third World, thus undermining the credibility of the international organizations. There is, therefore, an urgent need for transnational juridical instruments able to ensure the implementation of common rules, together with the recognition of an international body with binding powers to oblige individual countries to follow agreed, concerted strategies against pandemics, as in the case of the HIV epidemic. The transnational Radical Party is looking at a number of hypotheses, from a Convention to be adopted by the United Nations to a wider and more cogent mandate for the United Nations on the subject of pandemics.

finally (for now)...

The party has also been present in New York, where for the first time thousands of American citizens have been able to enter into direct contact with the party (and some of them to join) thanks to a page of information published in the New York Times; in Africa, where the first Congress of the African campaign against the death penalty was held at the end of November; in the former Yugoslavia, through the distribution of an Appeal to the Serbian opposition forces; and in many other countries, such as Russia, the Baltic states, Bulgaria, etc, where assemblies and meetings have been organized.

where do we go from here?

EVERYTHING DEPENDS, AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, ON THE RESULTS OF THE 1994 MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN. THE GREATEST DIFFICULTY IS THE FACT THAT WE HAVE VERY FEW MEANS OF COMMUNICATING WITH EACH OF YOU (THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD WHO SPEAK 14 OR MORE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES). APART FROM THIS LETTER, APART FROM REPLYING INDIVIDUALLY TO THE HUNDREDS OF LETTERS WHICH ARRIVE EVERY WEEK, FOR THE MOMENT WE CAN DO NO MORE.

In Italy, where the financial income is greater, the 1994 membership campaign was opened with the distribution of 16 "special" issues of a newspaper, which was sent to all members from previous years. It was indispensable, partly to counter the flood of lies, untruths, and attacks aimed, in a cynical and systematic manner, at the party, in the silence of the Italian political news media, which have hidden us from the eyes of the people, and in particular from the 37,000 people who joined in 1993, thus expressing all the force of a common commitment to the growth of democratic values. The first results of this initiative are beginning to arrive, although still too slowly: so far almost 2,500 Italian citizens have renewed their enrolment for 1994.

In the other countries, the 1994 membership campaign was opened with the leaflet which you should have received at the end of the year. We are, however, a long way behind. This explains the need for this letter, to try to understand, together with the members of the General Council and of the Assembly of Parliamentarians, and with all party members, what initiatives to take in order to increase the number of Radicals in each country and in the world, without dropping and thus betraying the commitment we have all made, which you too have made.

THE FINAL ACCOUNTS FOR 1993 SHOW THAT THE PARTY CURRENTLY HAS AROUND 1.3 MILLION US DOLLARS, A FIGURE WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY INADEQUATE FOR THE ENORMOUS TASKS THAT WE HAVE SET OURSELVES.

1994 will therefore be an even more difficult year - there's no point deceiving ourselves. We must resume the battle of February 1993. We must do so in Africa, in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the countries of the European Community. In these countries, through the enrolment of old and new members, we must build up a force that will repeat the "Italian miracle" of 1993.

To this end, we must all work with humility and determination. First of all, by enrolling and encouraging others to enrol, you must help, as far as you can, to provide the resources necessary for the common campaigns.

We must all work to this end, in the countries in which we live, with the passion, strength and enthusiasm that we have shown so many times before.

You are called, we are called, to a difficult undertaking. Each of us must do all he or she can.

Best wishes,

Emma Bonino

Secretary

Ottavio Lavaggi

Treasurer

Marco Pannella

President of the Radical Party

Olivier Dupuis

President of the General Council