The International Law Commission of the United Nations has to approve the draft Statute of the permanent International Tribunal. And this must be done in the next few days, the next few weeks. It is a crucial stage in the iter of the Statute, because only if the ILC passes the text can the UN General Assembly discuss the project and proceed with the institution of the Tribunal.

This is why we still need to use the power of dialogue by sending faxes and letters to the ILC, along the lines of the text on the following page. It is only a suggestion, but an important one to follow,, and have others take up, by obtaining and asking colleagues to obtain the support of important figures for this auspicious message, for this appeal requesting that work on the Statute be completed rapidly, before the end of the present ILC session.

Meanwhile, we are continuing to address our campaign to all parliaments to have the Motions published in the previous issues of "Transnational" presented wherever possible.

We repeat: it is a crucial moment, and we are all doing our utmost to achieve results that will enable us to put into effect the Sofia Motion; to realize the commitments we have undertaken, which constitute the reason for our uniting to create the transdivisional, transnational Radical Party.

There seems to be an increasingly vital need for the Party of Law - that we are and we are in the process of setting up; the Party that has committed itself to affirming the need for rules and laws, and authorities empowered to enforce them democratically. The tragedy of Rwanda that has burst into our homes recently with its horrific and shocking images, which would seem to be something out of a crazy nightmare if they were not real, make it horribly clear that there is an urgent need for law, for international law that is really effective; that goes beyond merely being an abstract affirmation of principles to become a legal system equipped with individual laws, penalties, jurisdictional authorities, and everything else that will make the rules by which society lives something different to that which international law has created so far: a system founded on political mediation, which the law always had to make way for.

With the institution of the ad hoc Tribunal for war crimes in the Former Yugoslavia we have obtained the first institution operating in accordance with a new kind of international law, honest, binding law, that is beginning to be enforced at an international and supranational level. We have to keep a close eye on the ad hoc Tribunal to see how how things proceed, and support the work it is doing - to make sure that society gets the permanent Tribunal it deserves.

The Tribunal is not only a challenge, but a real necessity that is becoming more evident with each passing day.

RADICAL PARTY MEETS THE INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION

Geneva, 16 May 1994

Secretary of the Radical Party Emma Bonino, accompanied by Filippo di Robilant, Treasurer of the "There's no Peace without Justice" Committee, and by Ken Graham, General Secretary of "Parliamentarians for Global Action", met a number of influential jurists belonging to the ILC, the subsidiary organ of the UN Assembly charged with drafting the Statute of the permanent International Tribunal. The purpose of the meeting was, on the one hand, to review the situation regarding the work being carried out by the Commission and, on the other hand, to communicate the Radical Party's position with respect to the swift approval of the Statute and the provisions contained therein.

While the ILC is perfectly able to terminate the Statute from a strictly "technical" aspect before the end of the present Session (2 May - 22 July 1994), the work of the Commission is subject to numerous "political" problems.

The main difficulty that has to be overcome is the various categories of crimes that are to fall within the competence of the Tribunal. The proposal of the Radical Party and the PGA is to include genocide and war crimes in an hypothetical "List A" in order that the Tribunal can become operative as soon as possible, with the intention of later extending the list to include other crimes that will, for the moment, be featured in "List B." In this sense, it was emphasized that, in the face of the tragedies presently being enacted and the legitimate hopes of public opinion, it is of vital importance to give the world a concrete sign as soon as possible. Some members of the Commission seemed inclined to include other categories in "List A", such as aggression and drug-trafficking, which would mean that the Statute would probably take longer to approve. There are also other questions to be answered, such as: should the Tribunal be an organ of the United Nations (like the International Court of Justice) or an ind

ependent organ? Should States have to accept the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for certain crimes simply because they have adhered to the Statute or will it be necessary every so often to make provision for additional declarations? Should trials by default be authorized? Should the Public Prosecutor be permitted to appeal, a right that has already been granted to the accused?

The death penalty, however, has already been excluded.

The truth of the matter is that the situation, above all regarding the time it will take to approve the Statute, is still very unclear, and is summed up by Robert Rosenstock (US member of the ILC): "It is possible, but not probable, that the Statute will be adopted before the end of this Session."

To all members of the International Law Commission

Nations Unies

Room 10-06

Palais des Nations

814, Avenue de la Paix

1211 Genève 10

Switzerland

FAX++41-22-9170334

For the attention of Secretary-General Mlle. Jacqueline Dauchy

The ILC's approval of the Statute of the permanent International Tribunal, during its present Session (May-July) is of the utmost necessity and urgency. The UN General Assembly must absolutely be in a position to proceed, during its 49th Session (September-December), with the institution of the Permanent Court, not only to create new and binding international law but also to act as a deterrent with regard to the tragic armed conflicts that afflict the world, and are forever on the increase.

It is therefore our hope that the ILC will approve, before 22 July 1994, a Statute granting the Court jurisdiction on war crimes and acts of genocide, with the possibility of subsequently extending the categories of prosecutable crimes. In this sense, we are asking the ILC to submit to the General Assembly a draft statute, with the necessary alternative texts, before the end of the present Session.

Yours sincerely,

CUBA: AN INSULAR ISLAND

On 7 May 1994 the Cuban Secret Police arrested Francisco Chaviano Gonzales, President of the National Council for Civil Rights, and member of the Radical Party.

Amnesty International has proclaimed Francisco a "prisoner of conscience."

The Cuban Police informed Francisco's wife Anna that her husband will probably be accused of "having revealed secrets concerning State security." This crime carries a sentence of between 7 and 15 years in prison.

Yet again the Castro regime is seeking to neutralize its political opponents who are struggling to reaffirm the civil rights of the Cuban people.

Repression has reduced the democratic opposition to a bare minimum: only by exerting strong pressure at an international level can we prevent every form of nonviolent opposition from being permanently wiped out.

Francisco needs every one of us.

We are therefore asking all parliamentarians throughout the world, who have the fate of democracy in Cuba at heart, to table nmotions in their respective parliaments, to enable many governments to make their voices heard and exert strong pressure on the Castro regime, to prevent another political prisoner from being condemned.

Furthermore, every citizen can write a letter or send a fax to the nearest Cuban embassy to press for the immediate release of Francisco Chaviano Gonzales and to request that trials in Cuba be carried out lawfully.

Please send us news of your initiatives, and the names of the people who have supported them, as soon as possible.

FROM KLIMENT TO NEW YORK

Kliment is a small village with 2,000 inhabitants in north-east Bulgaria. It is very difficult to find on the map.

Even so, dozens of people here in Kliment, many of whom are unemployed - they may be poor but not in spirit - led by Radical Party members Ihkmet Mehmet (the Mayor) and Margarita Georgieva (the only doctor in the village) went on a hunger strike together with Olivier Dupuis in order to obtain international justice from the United Nations.

Why did they do it?

This may sound like a rhetorical question but it is not: strange though it may seem, they did not go on a hunger strike for material gain, nor to obtain a pension or a job that they badly need.

They did it simply without asking anything in return. They did it to obtain PEACE. Something that can probably also be explained by the fact that those who have less give more.

We are publishing this letter that Carlo Bourlot, member of the Radical Party, received from an Algerian friend.

..., 27 April 1994

Dear Carlo,

I received your letter of 24 June 1993 a long time ago, but, unfortunately, it arrived at a bad moment. I am experiencing serious difficulties because of Esperanto. Every person who familiarizes with any European culture is threatened by the unitarians.

Maybe you have heard about the things that are happening here.

(...)Don't think that I have kept silent for no reason; the situation here is very grim. I could actually be killed at any moment.

This is why I have tried to leave Algeria and seek refuge in a European country but, unluckily, not one of my friends has been able to help me.

I understand, naturally, but I am living a very dangerous situation, and have already lost my job after participating in the "Universala Kongreso" (...) because the inventor of Esperanto is said to have been a Jew.

Therefore, I am being accused of learning Esperanto; I have even taught the language to some of my compatriots.

I'll say goodbye now.

Maybe you'll have news of me if I manage to survive.

(signed letter)

UKRAINE: RADICAL PARTY HOLDS PUBLIC MEETING IN KIEV

Kiev, 11 May 1994 - Ninety-four members and supporters of the Radical Party of the region and city of Kiev took part in the meeting held at the Cinema House. It began with everyone rising to their feet in memory of Andrea Tamburi, the member of the Secretariat of the Radical Party who was killed in Moscow on 27 February this year.

The main subject addressed by the assembly was the organization in the Ukraine of the campaign for the institution of the permanent International Tribunal. The meeting was chaired by Natalja Vasiljuk.

Radical speakers (Evgen Pascenko, President of the "Ukraine-Croatia" Association; Vladislav Stafijchuk and others) explored the legal and political problems connected with the International Tribunal, as well as the practical aspects of the campaign for its institution. The assembly set itself the goal of collecting a minimum of 1,700 signatures on a petition addressed to the International Law Commission by the end of May. All the people who attended the meeting, therefore, should collect signatures and send the forms to the Kiev office.

Ten new members joined the Radical Party during the meeting.

"THE CASE FOR ANTI-PROHIBITIONISM"

Zagreb, 16 May 1994 - A conference on anti-prohibitionism with regard to drugs, in which Sandro Ottoni, member of the Secretariat of the Radical Party, and Marijana Stefanic, General Councillor of the Radical Party, participated, was held in the Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Medicine. During the lively debate that followed, many students and some professors declared themselves in favour of the immediate legalization of the so-called soft drugs in Croatia while expressing a number of reservations concerning the legalization of heroin and other hard drugs; however, they agreed unanimously that it was impossible to realize such a proposal in just one country.The drug phenomen was judged to be extremely serious and one that is continually expanding, also because the police and health authorities have no power to control it.

FREE TIBET - SAVE TIBET

At the UN Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna precisely one year ago, the Dalai Lama was not permitted to take the floor and to describe the dramatic situation that Tibet is experiencing. A group of Radical activists wanted to support the Tibetan cause by holding up a banner with the slogan "Free Tibet" inside the conference hall.

The Dalai Lama's representative, however, pointed out that the Tibetans had already relinquished any hope of being independent of China; therefore, it was a question of trying to save the Tibetan people and their culture from being exterminated. For this reason, the slogan displayed by the Radical activists at the opening of the conference became: Save Tibet.

The Dalai Lama decided to support "Hands Off Cain" - Citizens' and Parliamentarians' Campaign for the Abolition of the Death Penalty Worldwide by the Year 2000, because notwithstanding the terrible forms of violence that his people constantly has to suffer, he still maintains that using violence to deal with violence and other crimes can have the opposite effect to that which is desired.

The Dalai Lama will be coming to Italy next month - during his European visit - but meetings with the President of the Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro and with Foreign Minister Antonio Martino have still not been confirmed.

China has made it known that now it is opening up its markets, the Italian Government's officially welcoming the Dalai Lama would have serious consequences for present and future trade agreements.

MOTION FOR THE PERMANENT INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL

Here is the first batch of signatures on the Motion promoted by the Radical Party for the institution of the permanent International Court.

While we are waiting for the signatures that are arriving from other Parliaments, 82 Romanian parliamentarians and 70 deputies - more than half the Parliament - from the Albanian People's Assembly have already signed.

ROMANIA

Civic Alliance Party (PAC):

Gheorghe GORUN;

Rom Democratic Party:

Gheorghe RADUCANU;

Democratic

Party (PD):

Ionel AICHIMOAIE

Constantin BERECHET

Vasile BRAN

Dumitru CALANCEA

Aristotel CANCESCU

Ion GURAU

Vasile NISTOR

Cristian RADULESCU

George STANCOV

Dan Constantin VASILIU

Adrian VIDEANU;

Social Democratic Party of Romania (PDSR):

Petre BANITA

Ionel BONDARIU

Dumitru BRANEANU

Anatolie COSTIN

Ion COSTIN

Vasile CRISTEA

Ion DANILESCU

Florica DUMITRESCU

Adrian DUTA

Sabin GHILEA

Ion Catalin IAMANDI

Nicolae LAZAR

Mircea LEONTE

Constantin MARDARE

Liviu MLADIN

Dumitru MOCANU

Corneliu MONORANU

Octavian OPRIS

Octav PINTILIE

O. Aurelian POPESCU

Gheorghe ROMAN

Mihai TEODORESCU

Spiridon TUDORACHI

Dionisie VITCU;

Green Party of Romania (PER):

Otto WEBER;

National Liberal Democratic Convention (PNLCD):

Horia Radu PASCU;

National Farmworkers Party - Christian Democrats (PNTCD):

Nistor BADICEANU

Ion BERCIU

Emilian BRATUMihail BUCUR

Ion DINU

Petru DUGULESCU

Tudor DUNCA

Radu LIVEZEANU

Vasile LUPU

George STANESCU;

Greater Romania Party (PRM):

Viorel BURLAU

Ioan MARINESCU

Ion MOCIOI

Marcel MOLDOVEANU

Ioan MURESAN

Corneliu Dan VRABIE;

Party for National Unity (PUNR):

Vasile SUTA;

Bulgarian Union of Romania (UBR):

Matei IVANCIOV;

Magyar Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR):

Marton ARPAD

Elek BARNA

Laszlo BORBELY

Peter BUCHWALD

Jozsef CSAPO

Seres DENES

Tokay GYORGY

Vida GYULA

Nemeth JANOS

Kerekes KAROLY

Sandor KONYA

Lajos MAGYARI

Jenos MATIS

Ferenc PECSI

Lajos RAKOCZI

Istvan SINKO

Ervin SZEKELY

Szilagy ZOLTAN

Laszlo ZSIGMOND

Fekete ZSOLT

Szilagy ZSOLT;

Hellenic Union of Romania (UER):

Anton NICOLAU;

Polish Union:

Iohan Peter BABIAS;

Independents:

Petru BURCA

Ion HRISTU.

ALBANIA

Democratic Party Group:

Liri ABAZI

Gezim AGASTRA

Tonin ALIMEHILL

Sabaudin BALLA

Sadik BEJKO

Bari BREGU

Uran BUTKA

Agim CUFI

Mitro ELA

Nevruz ELA

Fadil EPELE

Hasan OBA

Esat OKU

Mendu DAUTI

Peri DISHNICA

Abedin ELMAZI

Ismet FERIZAJ

Ndue GJIKA

Kujtim GJINA

Rushen GOLEMI

Shefqet HAKIU

Emanuel HEBA

Agim HOXHA

Mira KAURI

Hajrije KRUJA

Arben LIKA

Gezim LULI

Pellumb MALAJ

Arben MECE

Gezim MEMA

Shaban MEMIA

Robert NDRENIKA

Ahmet OSJA

Ferdinand PETRELA

Tefik PEZA

Lindita PRIFTI

Simon PUTA

Galip RAMODHI

Gaqo ROTA

Daim RRAPAJ

Vedat SAZANI

Halit SHAMATA

Izet SHEHU

Natasha SHEHU

Luan SKUQI

Kole TONAJ

Lazar TOTO

Ibrahim VASIARI

Ismet VEIZAJ;

Social Democratic Party Group:

Gaqo APOSTOLI

Paskal MILO

Ruzhdi PULAHA;

Socialist Party Group:

Bardhyl AGASI

Tefik AJAZI

Ibrahim BAI

Theodor BEJ

Zabit BROKAJ

Bashkim CAKA

Shkelqim CANI

Miri HOTI

Bashkim KOI

Halil LALAJ

Pandeli MAJKO

Ermelinda MEKSI

Vladimir METANI

Alfred PALOKA

Lush PERPALI

Ethem RUKA

Moikom ZEQO

Adem ZYBERI.