from 15 July 1993 to 18 March 1995Edited by
Danilo Quinto and
Riccarda Meloni
Translated by
Olga Antonova (Russian),
Antoine de Bernard (French), and
Mark Eaton (English)
RADICAL PARTY - Chronology of activities from July 1993 to March 18, 1995
by Danilo Quinto and Riccarda Meloni
ABSTRACT. Very useful and extremely detailed archive, with each entry including a minute report, discussion topics, list of people involved, documents, etc. The foreword offers full text of the Motion approved by the Party General Council held in Sofia on July 15-19, 1993.
Introduction
Sofia (Bulgaria) 15-19 July 1993
The Radical Party which meets in Sofia in July has almost 5,000 non-Italian members from over 60 countries. These include 17 members of government, 19 members of the European Parliament, 531 members of national parliaments, and 35 members of assemblies of non-recognized states, belonging to a total of over 80 national parties. In Italy there are almost 38,000 members, the result of what has been called "the Italian miracle": in just three weeks, from mid-February to early March 1993, a press and TV publicity campaign made thousands, if not millions, of people aware of the need for the survival of the Radical Party.
The Assembly of Parliamentarians and the General Council of the Radical Party meet in Sofia in the wake of the success of the membership campaign. In her report, the Secretary Emma Bonino underlines this success and sets out proposals for a series of projects and initiatives.
Among the projects (UNITED NATIONS, FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, ENVIRONMENT, DRUGS, AIDS, INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE), some are already in progress (the constitution of the International Criminal Court, which follows the project approved by the UN for an International Criminal Court on crimes against humanity); the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000; the anti-prohibitionist campaign on drugs; the right to language, and in particular the affirmation of Esperanto; the question of Kossovo and Macedonia, and, more generally, of the rights of national minorities). Others are being proposed for the first time (the establishment of a parliamentary organ within the UN; the reform of the role of the UN in peace-keeping and the strengthening of humanitarian intervention; the withdrawal of recognition for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; the Balkan Federation; the campaign for the protection of the environment and for "ecologically sustainable development" in Central and Eastern Europe; approaches to the problem of
Aids and pandemics in general).
As an introduction to this summary (*) of Radical Party initiatives during eighteen months of activity (July 1993 to January 1995), it is worth recalling the motion approved in Sofia by the General Council:
"At its meeting in Sofia held on 17th and 18th of July 1993, the General Council of the Radical Party
welcomes the message sent by the UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, emphasizing in particular the part which reads that "the imperative of peace should become instilled in the consciousness of individuals; the imperative of development is by now perceived as a right of man; democracy is our new imperative".
The General Council also accepts and endorses the UN Security Council "Declaration" passed at the Meeting of the Heads of State and Government held on 31 January 1992 as well as the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro and "Agenda 21" on environmental protection and sustainable development, which warn that the major threats to peace and security are no longer only military, but come also from the growing instability in the humanitarian and environmental spheres.
The General Council points out, however, that these relevant statements of principle are not, as yet, matched by appropriate instruments for specific day-to-day implementation. At the transnational and supranational levels, there are still no positive and explicit legal provisions recognized by nations and individuals. Efficient structures and instruments for their enforcement, for prevention of violations and imposition of relevant sanctions are also lacking. The most important institution with such tasks, the United Nations and the Security Council in particular, lacks the necessary means and resources as well as full democratic legitimacy; therefore, its action fails to acquire the necessary authority, generating frustration and distrust among peoples.
There hardly exists a region in the world where peace and security are not threatened. The borders between the new states in the territory of the former Soviet Union are the object of dispute: human rights are being suppressed from Nagorny Karabakh to Moldavia, and even the most outstanding historic and cultural monuments are subjected to irrational and outrageous destruction. Particularly dangerous are the devastating conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, taking into account the possible consequences for the equilibrium of the whole of Europe. It is necessary to put an end to the military actions of the Yugoslav Federation (Serbia and Montenegro) with its unacceptable claims for territorial expansion through ethnic cleansing and genocide; but it is also necessary to halt the high-handedness and violence towards cultural, ethnic and territorial groups. Likewise, in Somalia it is necessary to undertake and complete a rapid and unswerving process of disarmament of the warring parties and create conditions for de
mocratic state life in response to the aspirations of the majority of the people.
Regrettably, both in the former Yugoslavia and in Somalia, where it has received a mandate, the United Nations is not able to fulfil the role which the conscience and hopes of the men and women of the world ask of this organization.
In order to formulate and attain objectives such as those contained in the message of the UN Secretary-General, the UN Security Council statements, "Agenda 21" and all other documents discussed at supranational level, urgent and resolute efforts are necessary to promote the initiative for unification and mobilization of individuals and nations. A political subject or force is needed to operate firmly and decisively on a transnational level to that end. In the course of the discussion of the General Council of the Transnational Radical Party, this need was spelled out and emphasized, and this task was assigned to the statutory organs. While aware of all the difficulties of this undertaking and of the limited resources available, the General Council believes that the following priority objectives can attract numerous new members and promote powerful initiatives and political struggles with nonviolent Gandhian means:
1) to obtain the respect of the commitments and deadlines for the constitution of an International Tribunal to try the war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia in accordance with the procedures laid down by the United Nations, paying particular attention to the crimes related to the "ethnic cleansing" and genocide currently in progress in Bosnia;
2) to make active efforts in various forums, especially in Parliaments, so that the recognition of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) is linked, as is the case with the other republics, to the establishment or restoration of genuine constitutional and legislative guarantees for the rights of individuals and peoples which are being suppressed in Bosnia and seriously violated in Kosovo and Vojvodina;
3) to take all possible steps within the framework of the campaign to abolish the death penalty by the year 2000 so that in the near future the right of every human being not to be killed by virtue of law may be incorporated in inviolable international law (jus cogens), also through UN resolutions;
4) to co-ordinate and promote initiatives and efforts to denounce or amend international conventions that bind the member states to a policy of drug prohibition, also through the constitution of anti-prohibitionist groups or mixed groups in the various Parliaments for the reform of national and regional drug policies, with the following aims:
a) a new policy to combat crime in order to interrupt the "more police, more drug trafficking" spiral;
b) a policy of harm reduction on the model of the experience of the cities that have endorsed the Frankfurt Resolution;
c) the promotion of the initiatives of the International Anti-Prohibitionist League, affiliated to the Radical Party;
5) to take active steps in Parliaments and international organizations to support the diffusion and gradual formal adoption of the international language Esperanto as a specific instrument to guarantee the right to language, to protect the planet's linguistic and cultural ecosystem, and to develop on a supranational level a common world identity belonging to a single human family.
Despite their shortcomings, the innovative guidelines laid down by the United Nations, the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro, "Agenda 21" and other policy documents introduce profound changes in national and international policies with respect to environmental protection and sustainable development, both in industrial and less developed regions: the environmental problem no longer affects only separate sectors, it is now an essential element of the international system of security, development and democracy which constitutes the major challenge of our time. But on these issues too, declarations of principle are not matched by specific goals, resources, instruments and commitments. Above all, what is inadequate or even entirely absent is the definition of a legal system suitable for the scope of the problem. In this field too, therefore, the Party has to undertake initiatives with precise deadlines in the Parliaments where it has representatives. The Secretary and the Treasurer of the Party will make the necessar
y operational decisions on the priority goals specified, beginning with Central and Eastern Europe: the establishment of a pan-European community of major rivers and waterways; the right to information; campaigns for the rapid closure of dangerous nuclear power plants and for efficient power generation.
In the past, human rights have been entrusted to weak, sectional and poorly co-ordinated institutions and initiatives. The General Council instructs its statutory organs and members, and parliamentarians in particular, to promote the most favourable conditions for undertaking initiatives and strengthening national and supranational institutions for the protection of human rights, including the right to ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious self-determination. Only the establishment of a system such as the European Convention of Human Rights in Strasbourg can bring to the fore the legitimacy of individual action in support of the right to belong to a minority. Likewise, the struggle against the spread of Aids, especially in the African continent, should be reinforced at all levels.
On the basis of the preliminary budget and of the report of the Treasurer
The General Council notes that only a radical change in the system of expenditure through the establishment of self-financed offices in the various countries can avert that same shortage of financial resources which has in the recent past jeopardized the very existence of the party, and which remains the main obstacle to the realization of the Radical political transnational project;
it therefore instructs its statutory organs to undertake all the necessary measures to settle the problem.
The General Council acknowledges the commitment assumed by the Assembly of Parliamentarians of the Radical Party and decides to follow the instructions of the Treasurer with respect to the publication of a parliamentary newsletter and the establishment of the relative facilities in the various Parliaments.
Finally, the General Council instructs the statutory bodies to explore the possibility of creating a planning and research unit to assist party activities, in accordance with the instructions of the Treasurer.
(*) Some events and names may have been omitted.
2 August 93
Buenos Aires Argentina
Anti-prohibitionism
During the Congress on the legal battle against drug trafficking and crime, the Latin American Parliament also discusses legalization. Emma Bonino, invited by Vice-President Eduardo Varela Cid, Argentinian deputy, member of the Congress Organizing Committee, and member of the Radical Party, sets out the reasons for anti-prohibitionism and possible initiatives.
In June 94, the Latin American Parliament will publish the proceedings of the Congress.
15 August 93
Rome Italy
Death Penalty
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
The traditional Radical Party "Ferragosto" petition: together with Radical Party Secretary Emma Bonino, 40 Radical activists collect signatures at the Trevi Fountain on the appeal for the institution of the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia and for the pardon of Texan death-row prisoner Gary Graham.
9 September 93
Rome Italy
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
Launch of petition in support of the appeal to the United Nations for the immediate operation of the International Tribunal on the war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991.
The appeal reads as follows:
"We the undersigned, parliamentarians, members of political groups, men and women from academic, scientific, cultural and religious circles, and citizens from all over the world:
A. Considering that the UN Security Council, in accordance with Clause VII of the Charter, has decided, by passing Resolution no. 827 of 25 May 1993 and on the basis of the report prepared by the Secretary General, to set up the International Tribunal to judge and punish those responsible for serious violations of International Humanitarian Law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia;
B. Considering that it is now necessary to respect the urgent deadline, set by the Security Council, for the actual constitution of the Tribunal; for the appointment of the Public Prosecutor and of the judges, and their taking office in the Hague, where the Tribunal will be set up; and for the conducting of inquiries and investigations prior to the actual trial of the cases;
C. Considering that the rapid commencement of the work of the ad hoc Tribunal constitutes an extremely important step forward in upholding the supremacy of human rights and of the law, and in creating international jurisdiction with an aim to setting up a Permanent Tribunal authorized to judge and punish people who have committed international crimes;
Address a FORMAL APPEAL
To the Secretary General of the UN
To the President and the members of the UN General Assembly
To the President and the members of the UN Security Council
1. calling on each of them to take action, within the sphere of their respective authority and responsibilities:
- to fulfil the necessary conditions and to complete the required technicalities for the International Tribunal on war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia to be set up by December 1993 at the latest;
- to enable the UN General Assembly, during its next Session, to come to the necessary decisions for setting in motion the required procedures for the constitution of a Permanent International Court;
2. We undertake to take the necessary steps, within our own particular sphere, to ensure that our governments take action both on the domestic front and within the United Nations, to achieve the above objectives."
Among those who signed the appeal are the following:
Nobel Prize winners:
Sidney Altman, Oscar Luis Arias Sanchez, Julius Axelrod, Joseph Brodsky, Stanley Cohen, Herbert Hauptman, Jean-Marie Lehn, Vassily Leontiev, Rita Levi Montalcini, Mairead Maguire Corrigan, Naguib Mahfouz, Cweslaw Milosz, Franco Modigliani, Nevill Mott, George Palade, Linus Pauling, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, John Charles Polanyi, Ilya Prigogine, Hamilton Smith, George Wald, Maurice Wilkins.
International figures:
Irina Alberti Ilovskaya, Francisco Arrabal, John Ashberry, Vladimir Bukovsky, Furio Colombo, Diego Cordovez, Lord Ralf Dahrendorf, Adem Demaqui, Lord Desai, Jiri Dienstbier, Umberto Eco, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Arne Fjortoft, Carlos Franqui, Vittorio Gassman, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Goldmark, Giselle Halimi, Marek Halter, Dieter Heinrich, Eugene Ionesco, Alejandro Iodorowsky, Ismail Kadar, Lindsay Kemp, Enes Kisevic, Leszek Kolakowsky, Bernard Kouchner, William Kunstler, Kemal Kurspahic, Henri Laborit, Brice Lallonde, Bernard Laponche, Predrag Matvejevic, Vincent McGee, Maria Claude Mendez-France, Percy S. Mistry, Domenico Modugno, Olivier Mongin, Indro Montanelli, Trevor Mostyn, Peter Michael Muller, Arieh Neier, Yuri Orlov, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Sergio Pininfarina, Leonid Pliusch, Pedro Ramirez, Ibrahim Rugova, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, Fernardo Savater, Arthur Schlessinger, George Soros, Giorgio Strehler, Vo Van Ai, Mario Vargas Llosa, Manuel Vazquez Montalban, Cesar Verduga, Gore Vidal, Wim Wenders, Simon Wie
senthal, Maurice Williams, Antonino Zichichi.
15 September 93
Rome Italy
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
Emma Bonino writes to Boutros Boutros Ghali, Secretary General of the United Nations, requesting a meeting to hand over the petition for the appeal on the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia: to date, those who have signed include 650 parliamentarians from many countries, including countries outside Europe, 14 Nobel Prize winners, and over 500 well-known figures in the world of art, culture and politics.
19 September 93
Barcelona Spain,
Brussels Belgium,
Budapest Hungary,
Kiev Ukraine,
Lisbon Portugal,
Moscow Russia,
Prague Czech Republic,
Zagreb Croatia
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
Radical Party activists set up tables to gather signatures for the appeal calling for the immediate constitution of the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia.
21 September 93
Albania, Montenegro
Massimo Lensi, Secretary of the General Council, and Sandro Ottoni, member of the Secretarial Committee of the Radical Party, visit Albania and Montenegro for a series of meetings with parliamentarians and party officials. They set out the initiatives regarding the issues covered in the motion approved in Sofia by the General Council.
23 September 93
Sarajevo Bosnia
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
In Sarajevo, a city beseiged but hopeful of a return to normality, a Radical delegation led by Sandro Ottoni meets local officials and parliamentarians to present them with the international appeal for the institution of the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia.
Signing the appeal, the Mayor of Sarajevo Muhamed Kresevjakovic states that "the international court should be set up because a great many crimes have been committed in this war and the people who have committed them must be punished. The constitution of a tribunal concerns the whole world, not just Bosnia Hercegovina."
26 September 93
Assisi Italy
Pacifism - Nonviolence
In the following statement, Emma Bonino announces the decision by the Radical Party to take part in the march from Perugia to Assisi: "The Radical Party will be present to continue, here too, its commitment to the constitution by the UN of the international Tribunal against the crimes perpetrated in the former Yugoslavia. This extremely important decision, which we will firmly demand from the United Nations, could be the first step towards the constitution of the international Criminal Court for crimes against humanity."
26 September 93
Moldova
Death penalty
On the eve of the parliamentary debate on the country's new constitution, a substantial number of deputies of the Republic of Moldova, including numerous members of the Radical Party, sign an appeal against the inclusion in the constitution of a clause providing for the application of the death penalty.
30 September 93
Rome Italy
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
The President of the Italian Republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, receives a delegation representing those who have signed the appeal for the immediate institution of the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia. Scalfaro expresses his "firm support" for the battle for the international Tribunal.
24 October 93
Strasbourg France
Environment
An emendment by Gianfraco Dell'Alba, Secretary of the Assembly of Parliamentarians, and Olivier Dupuis, President of the General Council of the Radical Party, presented by Virginio Bettini, member of the European Parliament (Green Party) and of the Radical Party, is approved by the European Parliament and consequently included in the Amaral Report (for the creation of an integrated transport network in the Community). The Amaral Report, which concerns the transport network within the EC, provides for transport links with countries outside the community. In addition to the "Koper-Ljubljana-Maribor-Budapest-Bucharest-Soha-(Saloniki) line, already included in the Amaral Report, the Radical emendment adds the "Brindisi-Durazzo-Tirana-Skope-Sofia-Bucharest-Iasi-Chisinau" line.
In the previous months, an appeal to the EC authorities in support of the trans-Balkan line (a railway service in the Radical plan) had been signed by over 500 parliamentarians from Moldavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and Turkey.
25 October 93
Rome Italy
Communication
Oliviero Toscani, Gavino Sanna Emanuele Pirella, Maurizio D'Adda, Staino and Buchi, among the best-known "creatives" in the Italian advertising business, take part with Emma Bonino in a press conference for the presentation of "1994 - The Radical Daily".
Sixteen issues of the newspaper are sent, in the space of a month, to the almost 40,000 Italian members of the Radical Party.
25 October 93
New York United States
Communication
"Transnational Law and Nonviolence are the most effective and Radical Ways to Build a Better World": the title of the full-page campaign advertisement placed by the Radical Party in the New York Times on the eve of the meeting with the Secretary General of the United Nations.
More than 700 Americans reply to the Radical Party, either by letter or via the Agorà Internet link (details of the link were given in the NYT).
26 October 93
Zagreb Croatia
International Criminal Court
Stipe Mesic, President of the Croatian Parliament, and Mate Cranic, Foreign Minister, meet a Radical Party delegation including Zdravko Tomac, Sandro Ottoni and several Croatian deputies, and give their support to the appeal for the constitution of the International Criminal Court.
30 October 93
New York United States
United Nations
Emma Bonino meets the Vice Secretary General of the United Nations, Gillian Martin Sorensen, co-ordinator of the preparations for the 50th Anniversary of the UN, to be held in 1995.
1 November 93
New York United States
United Nations
A delegation led by Emma Bonino meets the Secretary General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros Ghali, and presents him with the 75,000 signatures collected for the appeals calling for the immediate institution of the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia.
Boutros Ghali, announcing that the Tribunal will take office on 17 November 1993 in the Hague, points out that "without the backing of parliamentary groups, exponents of the world of culture and NGOs, the initiative runs the risk of failure."
The delegation is made up of the following: Hans Janitschek, former Secretary of the Socialist International, Kemal Kurspahic, editor of "Oslobodjenje", Mona Makram Ebeid, Vice-President of Parliamentarians for Global Action, Vincent McGee, former President of Amnesty International in the USA, Walter McLean, Canadian deputy, Izet Muhamedagic, Bosnian deputy, Arieh Neier, President of Open Society Fund Inc., Yuri Orlov, President of the Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Slavko Perovic, President of the Liberal Alliance of Montenegro, Zdravko Tomac, Croatian deputy.
2 November 93
New York United States
Communication
San Francisco Chronicle, Tuesday 2 November 1993, front page: "Global, Online Political Party Takes Mission to UN Leaders", by John Eckhouse:
"Computer-users of the world, unite online. Karl Marx's vision of an international political party beyond national borders which puts pressure on the ruling classes never came to pass, but at that time he didn't know how to use Internet.
Initially funded by the US government, the superinformation highway is in the forefront of the organization of the Radical Party, whose leaders will today meet the Secretary General of the UN, Boutros Boutros Ghali, in New York.
This year over 40,000 people in 75 countries have become members of the party, and each of them puts pressure on local politicians for the adoption of laws to help the expansion of the UN peace-keeping forces, for the abolition of the death penalty, the protection of the environment and the depenalization of the use of drugs. Most of them heard about the Radical Party through traditional means, such as word-of-mouth, leaflets and newspaper articles. But in the first message in the US press (the full-page campaign release in the New York Times, editor's note), the Radical Party invited those who want more details to send e-mail on Internet, currently used by 20 million people.
"We have received 150 requests for information through Internet, and only 100 by letter," said Emma Bonino. "This shows that we are just at the beginning on how to use Internet." Through the network, anyone who has access to a computer and a modem linked to the telephone line can find out about the political campaigns in six languages. Subscribers can also chat, exchange opinions and organize initiatives on the Party's electronic bulletin board called "Agorà", the "square", based in Rome.
Internet, however, cannot be used much in less highly-developed countries where very few people have access to computers. "To link up with Georgia, Moldavia or Macedonia is, frankly, rather difficult," admitted Bonino. "But in the US it is certainly more effective and less costly in this way, rather than taking out full-page advertisements in the New York Times."
The delegation, formed largely of members of the national parliaments of Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Egypt and Canada, yesterday met the Presidents of the Security Council and the General Assembly of the UN. Today they will hand Boutros Ghali the petition for the immediate constitution of an international Court of Justice for the war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia. Although it was formally approved by the UN last May, the judicial Court has not received funds to operate. (...)
4 November 93
Paris France
International Language
The aim of the demonstration organized by the Radical Party, on the occasion of the General Conference of UNESCO, is to obtain the approval of a convention adopting Esperanto in international communication. For the first time one country, Italy, is presenting a resolution asking for commitment from UNESCO on the two previous resolutions in favour of the use of Esperanto. The resolution has the personal support of the Director General of UNESCO.
5 November 93
Croatia
Aids
Anti-prohibitionism
Radical assemblies are held in Zagreb and Split on the issues of Aids and anti-prohibitionism.
7 November 93
Rome Italy
Aids
Anti-prohibitionism
The Radical Anti-prohibitionist Committee (CORA) starts the campaign in Italy for the legalization of soft drugs. A referendum petition is launched for the legalization of soft drugs and for a new policy on Aids.
9 November 93
Tirana Albania
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
A Radical Party delegation led by Massimo Lensi meets the President of the Albanian Parliament, Pjeter Arbnori, who has signed the appeal on the International Tribunal on the war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.
16 November 93
Ankara Turkey,
Bucharest Romania,
Budapest Hungary,
Kiev Ukraine,
London UK,
Madrid Spain,
Moscow Russia, Ouagadougou Burkina Faso,
Oviedo Spain,
Rome Italy,
Strasbourg France,
Subotiza Vojvodina,
Tirana Albania,
Zagreb Croatia
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
On the eve of the official institution of the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia, press conferences are held in 14 countries, chaired by signees and organizers of the appeals, in order to examine the problems remaining with regard to the funding and the operation of the Tribunal.
The Rome press conference was presented by Marco Pannella and Ottavio Lavaggi, with the participation of the Foreign Minister and the Minister of Justice.
17 November 93
Baltimore United States
Anti-prohibitionism
Emma Bonino takes part in the "Transcontinental Conference on the Harm Reduction Policy" organized by the Drug Policy Foundation and European Cities on Drug Policy.
The speech made by the Radical Party Secretary centres on the anti-prohibitionist proposal: the attack on the juridical and institutional instruments which give rise to prohibitionist policies, the Vienna Convention of 1961/1972, the 1971 Convention on psychotropic substances, and the 1988 Convention on drug dealing.
17-20 November 93
Washington United States
Aids
Anti-prohibitionism
Marino Busdachin, a member of the Secretariat of the Radical Party, and Filippo di Robilant, special assistant to the Secretary of the Radical Party, take part in the "Seventh International Conference on Drug Policy Reform" organized by the Drug Policy Foundation. Useful contact is made with leading American experts on the prevention of Aids with relation to drug addiction.
18 November 93
Washington United States
International Criminal Court
Meeting between Filippo di Robilant and the legislative staff of Senator Christopher Dodd, the author of a resolution on the institution of the International Criminal Court, to discuss the possibility of common action in the parliamentray sphere.
19 November 93
Washington United States
Aids
Filippo di Robilant meets Kristine Gebbie, recently appointed by President Clinton as National Aids Policy Co-ordinator, to illustrate the Radical Party project for an institutional campaign. Further meetings take place with a number of American foundations including AMFAR, the American Foundation for Aids Research.
23 November 93
Rome Italy
United Nations
The Defence Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies approves a motion presented by Roberto Cicciomessere calling for peace-keeping operations to be financed by funds from the Defence budget.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies approves a motion presented by Emma Bonino asking for the immediate payment of obligatory contributions to the United Nations.
2 December 93
Brussels European Parliament
International Language
On the initiative of the Radical Esperanto Association (E.R.A.), the President of the European Parliament Commission on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media, Antonio La Pergola, decides to distribute a study on the International Language to the members of the Commission.
11 December 93
Brussels Belgium
Death Penalty
Conclusion of the First World Congress of the international "Hands Off Cain" campaign for the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000. Parliamentarians, jurists, and representatives of human rights organizations from over 40 countries and 4 continents approve a motion that sets out the following objectives:
1. to pursue, in foreign policy and in all the international organizations, especially the United Nations, the affirmation of the principle that the state does not have the right to take the life of persons found guilty of crimes, even the most serious, above all through a moratorium on executions;
2. to support the project for the creation of a permanent Tribunal on international crimes, necessarily excluding any provision for the death penalty;
3. to initiate international legal proceedings against contracting states which apply the death penalty in breach of the restrictions laid down by article 6 of the International Pact on civil and political rights;
4. to formulate objections to the reservations of states which, on ratifying the International Pact on civil and political rights, refuse any of the restrictions laid down in the Pact with regard to the application of the death penalty.
An Honorary Presidential Committee is elected with the following members:
Adelaide Aglietta, co-president of the Green Group of the European Parliament; Giandonato Caggiano, director of the Italian Society for International Organization, professor of International Law; Liliana Cavani, film director; Adem Demaci, president of the Committee for Human Rights in Kosovo, winner of the Sacharov Prize for Peace; François Fejto, writer, France; All Habidou, deputy in the Niger Parliament; Yokuba Minkievicius, Lithuanian philosopher; Marco Pannella, deputy in the Italian and European Parliaments, President of the Radical Party; Antonio Maria Pereira, president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Portuguese Parliament; Zvodimir Separovic, former Croatian Foreign Minister, jurist.
The Executive Council is formed of the following members:
Gaqo Apostoli (Albania), deputy; Igor Bezrukov (Russia), jurist; Alberto Castiel (Brazil), philosopher; Paolo Cesari (Italy), journalist; Ashanti Chimurenga, co-ordinator of the Amnesty International campaign for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States; Markisan Chuchuc (Ukraine), deputy; Sergio D'Elia (Italy), co-ordinator; Maria Teresa Di Lascia (Italy), co-ordinator; Olivier Dupuis (Belgium); Peter Hodgkinson (Great Britain), professor at the University of Westminster; Samir Labidi (Tunisia), jurist; Lisa Lagorza-Maza (Philippines), president of the "Gabriella" organization; Petru Munteanu (Moldavia), deputy; Ibrahim N'doure (Mali), deputy; Cyrill Pillay (South Africa), deputy; Anatolij Pristavkin (Russia), president of the Presidential Committee for Pardon; Olivia Ratti (Italy), co-ordinator; Cesare Salvi (Italy), deputy; William Schabas (Canada), professor of International Law; Emilio Vesce (Italy), member of the Veneto Regional Council.
12-17 December 93
Marrakesh Morocco
Aids
Eighth World Conference on Aids: the Radical Party is represented by Filippo di Robilant. The conference is a useful opportunity to present the Radical project on the battle against Aids and against pandemics in general and to gather support and opinions. An important link is established with the Harvard School of Public Health, and in particular with Daniel Tarantola, a leading expert on the fight against Aids.
15 December 93
Moscow Russia
Death Penalty
A press conference is held to announce the founding Congress of the "Hands Off Cain" campaign, presented by Mamuka Tsagareli, Vice-President of the General Council of the Radical Party, Igor Bezrukov, lawyer, President of the Legislative Committee of the administration of the President of the Russian Federation, Kostantin Kedrov, opinion writer for the daily newspaper "Isvestia", Andrea Tamburi, member of the Secretarial Office of the Radical Party, and Nikolaj Khramov, member of the General Council of the Radical Party.
17 December 93
Rome Italy
United Nations
Emma Bonino takes part in the seminar entitled "New UN strategies for peace", organized by the Italian Society for International Organization, the Institute of International Affairs, and the Peace Watch Committee.
9 January 94
Varna Bulgaria
International Language
Assembly of Radical Party members on the initiatives for the affirmation of the International Language, attended by Michele Boselli, co-ordinator of Radical Party activities in Bulgaria, and Giorgio Pagano, Secretary of the Esperanto Radikala Asocio.
15 January 94
Moscow Russia
Around 80 people take part in the public assembly of Radical activists living and working in Moscow.
24 January 94
Rome Italy
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
Emma Bonino writes to the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Beniamino Andreatta, inviting him to urge the United Nations to give immediate funding for the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia and for the Committee of Experts which is to investigate the crimes, chaired by Radical Party member Cherif Bassiouni.
7 February 94
Rome Italy
Nonviolence
Maurizio Turco, Secretary of the Radical Anti-prohibitionist Committee and member of the Secretariat of the Radical Party, begins a hunger strike addressed to the Italian Minister of Health, Maria Pia Garavaglia.
The aim of the hunger strike, which lasts 18 days, is to allow drug addicts and victims of Aids to have access to all the therapies and medicines available in state and private hospitals, in accordance with the result of the referendum held in Italy in April 1993.
10 February 94
Rome Italy
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
During the debate on the conversion into law of decree no. 544 of 28 December 1993, which contains provisions regarding co-operation with the international Tribunal on serious violations of humanitarian law committed in the territories of the former Yugoslavia, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies approves an emendment presented by Ottavio Lavaggi, Treasurer of the Radical Party, and Emma Bonino, providing for a contribution of 3 billion lire in 1994 towards the activity of the Tribunal.
11 February 94
Sofia Bulgaria
Aids
Anti-prohibitionism
Over one hundred people, including lawyers, doctors and parliamentarians, take part in the Radical Party assembly on the issues of anti-prohibitionism and new strategies in the battle against Aids and other pandemics. The speakers include Michele Boselli and Filippo de Robilant.
18 February 94
Rome Italy
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
The Radical Party takes part in the demonstration called by the Rome City Council in support of the city of Sarajevo, and launches an appeal to the United Nations for the immediate approval of the budget to set up the Tribunal on the war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.
22 February 94
Rome Italy
International Language
Demonstration outside the Ministry of Education to urge the Minister to issue a decree to add the international language Esperanto to the four foreign languages taught in Italian primary schools and, as part of the experimental teaching of a second foreign language in secondary schools, to set up educational experiments that include Esperanto.
26 February 94
Rome Italy
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Court
Emma Bonino launches an international appeal entitled THERE IS NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE.
The Radical Party decides to set up a nonviolent international campaign to uphold the decisions of the United Nations, and calls on all free consciences - with respect for all beliefs, religions, and civil and political positions - to back the campaign to press for the immediate operation of the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia.
This is also the political foundation of the Permanent Court, an instrument of binding international law to punish violations of human rights, the true threat to peace, wherever they occur. This is the warning for Europe and the international community given by the criminal tragedy in the former Yugoslavia: there is no peace without justice.
In order to give absolute priority to the deadlines and the decisions which set into motion the trial of the criminals in the former Yugoslavia, and in support of the establishment of the permanent Court, the Radical Party offers itself as an instrument of political action and nonviolent, civil pressure in order to achieve a number of essential common objectives:
a) to ensure that that Fifth Commission of the UN General Assembly - which meets in New York from 28 February - approves the budget for the ad hoc Tribunal presented by the Secretary General as an integral part of the United Nations budget;
b) to ensure that the Security Council does not evade its duty to appoint a new Public Prosecutor;
c) to ensure that the International Law Commission puts the completion of the statute of the Permanent International Tribunal at the top of the agenda at its next session (May-July 1994) and presents the statute to the General Assembly;
d) to ensure that the General Assembly discusses and approves the statute during its 49th session (September 1994) and decides to convene an international conference for the institution of the permanent Court, under the auspices of the United Nations and on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary.
27 February 94
Moscow Russia
RAI-TV TG1 8 p.m. news:
"He was working in Moscow for the abolition of the death Penalty. He was condemned by a city where human life is worth less and less. Andrea Tamburi, 46, decided two years ago to continue his work for the Radical Party, to which he had already devoted 15 years, in the former Soviet Union.
In Moscow, Kiev and Moldavia, he learned to understand a people whose toughness he was well aware of, but whose "mystic and dreaming religiosity" - to use his words - fascinated him.
On Thursday night he left his home, a stone's throw from the Police Headquarters, to accompany a friend to a taxi. One hour later a police car brought him to Casualty with serious brain hemorrhaging and fractures in both legs, the victim - very probably - of a hit-and-run driver. A small amount of money was missing from his pockets, but not his ID documents. For three days no-one notified the Italian Embassy, which had already reported Tamburi as missing. The Russian authorities would have notified the Embassy tomorrow morning, at the start of the week. Andrea Tamburi died early this morning, desperately alone."
We have chosen to dedicate to Andrea a letter written to him, the day after the news of his death, by Annalucia Leccese:
"Dear Andrea,
What I am doing may be foolish, but it is my last, foolish attempt to establish contact with you. I am writing this letter to you via Agorà which, almost as much as the Radical Party, had become an integral part of your life. Who knows, perhaps with the care and devotion with which you used Agorà you will be able to find a way to get in touch!
I don't know why your death has left me so distraught, because in the ten months I have been working for the Party I had only exchanged a few words with you and hadn't got to know you well. I think, however, that I grasped your true nature when you came over and kissed me on your return from Moscow and when I saw you working obstinately for hours at your notebook computer or when we sat together in that café in Brussels and you gave lessons in politics to your deferential Russian soldiers, a bit like Robin Williams, or when, a few weeks ago, with a tender, melancholic expression, you asked me to follow you on your exhausting adventure in the Russian universe.
Moscow, the city I left two years ago in dismay and sadness, an increasingly schizophrenic and cruel place, for sure, but from the words and the memories of the Russians who knew you and worked with you, broadcast yesterday by Radio Radicale, you cannot fail to be proud of yourself and of them, and of the chance you had to understand the situation there.
Cruel death is unaware that it has has simply put the seal on a season of beautiful moments of love, passion, friendship and hard work experienced with those people who, despite the fact that they are threatened and worn out every day by their precarious situation, have remained the same Russian people I have always loved for the honesty and the depth of their feelings.
So you can consider yourself lucky and put aside your worries: as well as the faithful companions here in Rome, you managed in the cold, far-away Russia to find many friends who are ready, perhaps more than ever, to carry on our civil and political battles, knowing that this is the only real way to keep you alive with them.
A tender kiss, Annalucia"
February 94
International Language
The Esperanto Radikala Asocio presents a project to UNESCO on the use of Esperanto in primary schools. The project is called Fundapax (in the framework of UNESCO's Linguapax project) and has already been approved by the Italian UNESCO Commission.
4 March 94
Rome Italy
Easter March
Support for the campaign for the abolition by the year 2000 of the death penalty and for the suspension of executions, and for the creation of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
These are the objectives of the Easter March, presented during a press conference by Emma Bonino, the Mayor of Sarajevo Muhamed Krasevjakovic, the Mayor of Rome Francesco Rutelli and Sergio D'Elia. The march is organized by the Radical Party, "Hands Off Cain", and the local Caritas.
Emma Bonino points out that funds have still not been given to the Committee of Experts charged with gathering evidence on the crimes in the former Yugoslavia, or to the international Tribunal itself. "33 million dollars have been earmarked in the budget, but the Fifth Permanent Commission of the UN General Assembly has put off the decision regarding funding to 21 March. We are considering a mass hunger strike."
The Mayor of Sarajevo promises full personal support: "I am against the death penalty," he says, "I've had enough of it."
Sergio D'Elia states that "the objectives of the march are contained in an appeal which will be handed to the Pope by an international delegation of Nobel Prize winners, scientists, parliamentarians, and mayors of Italian and European cities."
The slogan for the initiative will be "There is no peace without justice".
10 March 94
Rome Italy
Tibet
On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the bloody repression of the Lhasa rebellion by the Chinese occupying forces, the Radical Party takes part in the demonstration outside the Chinese Embassy, organized by the Italia-Tibet Association.
12 March 94
Sarajevo Bosnia
Easter March
The Mayor of Sarajevo, Muhamed Kresevjakovic, writes to Italian and European mayors to ask them to take part with their city banners in the Easter March.
The letter reads as follows:
"Dear Mayor, dear friend,
allow me to speak to you about my city, Sarajevo. About the death, the massacres, the grenades which rain down on the markets, on the temples of every religion, on the schools and the hospitals, about the hunger and the cold. You know about the daily slaughter of human lives. But the mass media have said very little about the slaughter of international law and justice. But this, too, is the situation in which my fellow citizens have lived for the last two years.
The attack on the market was just the latest in a long line. A massacre which added another 70 victims to the over 10,000 people killed in my city in just 22 months. In sadness, and despite our sadness, we have never lost hope. And for the first time the international community is not just sitting back: although only partially, it has begun to put into effect the resolutions of the United Nations which were ignored for so long.
And it is precisely on this point that I wish to ask for your help. To try and punish the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, with all the necessary authority and solemnity, though without recourse to the death penalty, must be the first step in the affirmation of new international law, so that violations of human rights, in all the Bosnias of the world, will be punished by law.
Dear friend, I am writing to you to ask you to take part in and support the Easter March, which will be held in Rome on 3 April, for the permanent International Court and for a moratorium on executions."
12 March 94
Rome Italy
Nonviolence
Olivier Dupuis, President of the General Council of the Radical Party, sets out the reasons for his hunger strike for dialogue, which will last 28 days, addressed to the members of the Fifth Commission of the General Assembly of the United Nations in order to obtain a decision on the funding of the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia:
"In the context of the campaign which the Radical Party has been running for the institution of the international Tribunal on the war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, the establishment of a permanent international Court and the adoption on the part of the UN of a universal moratorium on capital executions, we have started a nonviolent initiative that should continue in the coming months.
The first step of this Satyagraha, or collective hunger strike for dialogue, aims to press the UN to make a final and, we hope, positive decision on the question of the budget of the international Tribunal on the war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.
The interlocutors of our hunger strike for dialogue are, at this stage, the members of the Fifth Commission of the United Nations, scheduled to meet from 21 to 25 March to decide on the budget of the international Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia.
During the second step of this hunger strike for dialogue, that is between 25 March and 3 April, the date of the Catholic Easter and the day in which we will hold our march from the Capitol to St. Peter's Square, our interlocutor will be Pope John Paul II. In the hope that through his high moral authority he will encourage the campaign for the establishment of a permanent international Court and for a universal moratorium on executions.
Even if the terms of our Satyagraha will need to be further specified as far as the next steps are concerned, we already know that we will need to support the International Law Committee of the United Nations, which is charged with completing, in its coming session in May, the draft statute of the permanent Court. After that we will need to devise actions and initiatives with the following aims:
- to urge the General Assembly to deal with the question of the universal moratorium on executions;
- to urge the General Assembly to approve the statute of the permanent Court in its autumn session.
We hope that this first initiative will pave the way for a real Satyagraha with the participation of hundreds of people in the world in order to lay the foundations of new international law and justice."
Hundreds of people from 21 countries, including 20 parliamentarians, join Olivier Dupuis in his initiative.
Thousands of people give their support, sending faxes and telegrams to New York, repeating the invitation to the Fifth Commission of the UN to approve the funding for the Tribunal as a fixed item on the United Nations budget.
23 March 94
Rome Italy
Communication
"It was between September and October of last year, and I was looking at the papers, especially the Italian papers. I noticed that the war in the fomer Yugoslavia had been relegated to a few lines. I asked myself why no-one really wants to look at this war and assume their responsibilities. This war was a sort of taboo.
I started to try to think of an image which would symbolize the victim that no-one wants to see. At the same time, by chance, I received a letter from a 20-year-old Yugoslavian girl who had taken refuge in Italy. She said I don't know why I am writing to you, but when you take a problem, even if people say you are doing it to sell T-shirts, then the problem gets talked about. And she listed all the problems in her country. After the Benetton advertising office did a bit of research, we received some replies from people willing to collaborate. We chose this boy, and then we received a box, with the remains you can see in the photo. It is a type-written letter from his father. The letter in particular made a big impression on me. It made an impression because I couldn't understand, and then I saw that this symbolized the fact that not only do we often not want to understand, but that we really don't understand, and we have trouble, as a pupil of mine noted, in using a dictionary to understand other people's pr
oblems. And this , maybe, is why I put the father's letter in the picture, because it belonged to this box, to the remains of this known soldier who belonged not to the Serbian race or the Croatian race, but to the human race. As an image it's a bit reminiscent of Magritte, a victim who doesn't exist, the symbol of a victim who doesn't exist, or perhaps of a victim we don't want to see."
This is how Oliviero Toscani, at a press conference held at the Radical Party offices, described his picture. Toscani and Benetton give the picture of the "known soldier", which had been seen all over the world in the previous weeks, and which had been sequestrated by the Italian advertising control board, to the organizers of the Easter March as a means of publicizing their objectives.
27 March 94
New York United States
United Nations
Ambassador Hadid, the President of the Fifth Commission of the United Nations, receives Marino Busdachin to inform him of the situation with regard to the approval of the funding for the Tribunal on the war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.
Ambassador Hadid thanks the Radical Party and the Committee of "There is no peace without justice" for their work in support of the Tribunal, in particular the 300 hunger strikers in contact with him and with the Commission. "I will not disappoint them," says Hadid.
On 6 April, the Fifth Commission of the United Nations approves the budget for the operation of the ad hoc Tribunal for the whole of 1994.
3 April 94
Rome Italy
Easter March
Undeterred by a violent cloudburst, thousands of people take part in the Easter March organized by the Radical Party, the Mayors of Sarajevo and Rome, the local Caritas and "Hands Off Cain", the campaign for the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000.
The Easter March, led by the Mayor of the Bosnian capital and by the banners of the scores of European cities who have given their support to the "There is no peace without justice" Committee, opens and strengthens the campaigns for the institution of the International Criminal Court and for the moratorium on executions.
For the first time, after the request presented by the Esperanto Radikala Asocio and the Radical Party, the Pope includes Esperanto among the languages in which he reads his Easter message.
25 April 94
Rome Italy
Former Yugoslavia
"Free Bosnia at the windows of the Radical Party": no Italian flag, no National Liberation Day, except the liberation of Bosnia.
This is how Emma Bonino explains the action taken on 25 April: "Here in Italy, which is celebrating the Liberation while only a few miles across the border there is genocide and catastrophe, we will not be flying the Italian flag, we will not be celebrating. In the name of those who have died and those who are under siege, many of whom are already cynically written off as virtually dead, we will be flying the "Free Bosnia" flag, for a just peace which will bring back suppressed rights and uphold justice."
25 April 94
Rome Italy
Communication
Publication of the "zero issue" of "Transnational - Radical Party Newsletter", translated into nine languages and sent out to around 6,000 people. The newsletter, aimed at members and supporters of the Radical Party, aims to present the party's initiatives to parliamentarians, members, and non-members.
April 94
International Language
For the first time in an Italian university, and partly thanks to the efforts of the Esperanto Radikala Asocio, a course in Interlinguistics and Esperantology is established at the University of Turin.
2 May 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
"They will kill me in May". In defence of Paul Rougeau, a prisoner held on death-row in Texas for the last sixteen years, "Hands Off Cain" organizes international mobilization to prevent the application of the death penalty. A press conference is held at the Radical Party offices, with the participation of representatives from Amnesty International and the "Do Not Kill" Committee, and a sit-in is held outside the American Embassy.
4 May 94
Strasbourg France
International Language
Scores of people from many countries in Europe take part in the demonstration organized by the Radical Party in support of the emendment to the "Leonardo" project presented by Marco Pannella in the European Parliament. The emendment provides for a common international language for European vocational training.
9 May 94
Rome Italy
International Criminal Court
"To take all the necessary institutional and diplomatic initiatives to ensure that the General Assembly of the United Nations, in its 49th session, clears up the remaining political problems and takes the decision to institute the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity."
This is the content of the parliamentary motion proposed by the Radical Party, which is signed by Parliamentarians in Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Kosovo, Ireland, Romania, and Russia.
11 May 94
Kiev Ukraine
International Criminal Court
Around one hundred members and supporters of the Radical Party from Kiev and the surrounding region take part in the assembly convened to discuss the organization of the campaign for the establishment of the International Criminal Court.
16 May 94
Geneva Switzerland
International Criminal Court
Meeting in Geneva between delegations from the Radical Party, led by Emma Bonino and Filippo di Robilant, and from Parliamentarians for Global Action, led by the Secretary Ken Graham, and the Secretary General of the International Law Commission - an auxiliary United Nations agency charged with drawing up the draft statute of the International Criminal Court - and several members of the Commission.
The objectives of the meeting are to press for the completion of the statute of the International Court by the end of July, to ensure that the statute is discussed by the Sixth Commission of the General Assembly of the United Nations and that the death penalty is excluded, as with the statute of the ad hoc Tribunal on the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, and to study the possible role of parliamentarians in promoting and negotiating the project for the International Criminal Court with their own governments.
16 May 94
Zagreb Croatia
Anti-prohibitionism
Sandro Ottoni takes part in a conference on anti-prohibitionism at the Sociology Department of the Medical University.
18 May 94
Rome Italy
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Court
To promote the activity of the ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia, including the task of representation and of the legal verification of evidence during the proceedings of the trials; to contribute to the institution by the General Assembly of the United Nations of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
These are the immediate objectives of "There is no peace without justice", the international committee of parliamentarians, mayors and citizens founded by Giandonato Caggiano, Director of the Italian Society for International Organization, Filippo di Robilant, and Danilo Quinto, member of the Secretariat of the Radical Party. One of the first people to ensure support for the committee, a few days after it is founded, is Ralf Dahrendorf, one of the fathers of European liberal thought.
"There is no peace without justice" is born of the action of the Radical Party with respect to the creation of a new international jurisdiction and the success obtained by the Easter March, and also aims to promote initiatives in favour of: a) the development and the reform of the international organizations at international and regional level; b) participation in and support for all the initiatives regarding the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations; c) the verification of the application of the human right to fair justice in the legislations of the member states of the United Nations.
26 May 94
Rome Italy
Aids
Anti-prohibitionism
In the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Maurizio Turco, Roberto Spagnoli, Treasurer of the Radical Anti-prohibitionist Committee (CORA), and Elio Vito, a deputy in the "Riformatori" Group, deposit 50,019 authenticated and certified signatures on two referendum proposals on drugs and Aids.
The first referendum proposal aims to obtain a new, anti-prohibitionist policy on drugs, whilst the second calls for new initiatives in the sphere of the prevention and treatment of Aids.
27 May 94
Moscow Russia
Death Penalty
International Criminal Court
Russian Radicals demonstrate outside the Armenian Embassy for the suspension of the execution of Jurij Belechenko and to call for the institution of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
28 May 94
Rome Italy
Anti-prohibitionism
At the end of the international seminar organized by the Radical Party, the International Anti-prohibitionist League (IAL) and the Radical Anti-prohibitionist Committee (CORA) "for the revision of the UN Conventions on drugs", an "International Committee of Parliamentarians and Citizens" is set up to pursue the objectives discussed in the seminar.
The Committee is formed by: Emma Bonino, Marco Taradash, deputy and Secretary of the IAL, Olivier Dupuis, Antonio Escohotado (Spain), historian, Professor Ethan Nadelmann (US), Arnold Trebach (US), President of the Drug Policy Foundation, Gomez Hurtado (Colombia), deputy, Nick Harman, journalist on The Economist, Giandonato Caggiano, Gianfranco Dell'Alba, IAL co-ordinator, Marie Andree Bertrand (Canada), university professor, Joao De Menezes Ferreira (Portugal), deputy, Doru Viorel Ursu (Romania), deputy, Gregorio Lanza (Bolivia), deputy, Elena Poptodorova (Bulgaria), deputy, Maurizio Turco, Antonio Contardo, Treasurer of the IAL, Luiz Yanez Barnuevo (Spain), deputy, Gabor Nagy (Hungary), deputy, Irina Hakamada (Russia), Jean Luc Robert (Belgium), Tiziana Maiolo, President of the Justice Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Luigi Manconi, senator, Tiziana Parenti, deputy, Marco Pannella, deputy in the European Parliament and President of the Radical Party.
The committee aims, through a parliamentary motion on the UN conventions, to persuade governments of the urgent need to modify the conventions. The document, "having noted that drugs circulate freely despite prohibitionism, that governments and local institutions are studying alternatives to repression", and above all considering the fact that national prohibitionist laws "are a translation into national legislation of the provisions of the three UN conventions (the single convention of 1961 on narcotic substances, the 1971 convention on psychotropic substances, and the 1988 Vienna convention against the illegal traffic of drugs), calls on governments "to denounce the 1961 convention in order to bring about the convocation of a conference of the contracting parties on emendments to the convention in favour of the establishment of international legislation of an anti-prohibitionist nature, and of legal regulation of drugs capable of putting an end to drug-trafficking".
1 June 94
Rome Italy
International Criminal Court
The Foreign Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies approves a resolution presented by Emma Bonino on the situation in Rwanda. Among other things, the resolution calls on the government to promote and support the establishment of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity during the 49th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
2 June 94
Rome Italy
Death Penalty
The Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain" organize a demonstration on the steps of the Capitol on the occasion of the visit to Rome by the US President, Bill Clinton. The people of Rome are invited to record a message addressed to Bill Clinton, asking him for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States.
The US President is also presented with one hundred motions from regional, provincial and city councils in Italy which call for a moratorium on executions in the United States as a step towards the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000.
3 June 94
Tbilisi Georgia
International Criminal Court
Edward Shevardnadze, the President of Georgia, writes to the members of the International Law Commission, calling on them to discuss and approve as soon as possible the statute of the International Criminal Court, and expressing the hope that the 49th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations will approve the establishment of this new international court.
3 June 94
Rome Italy
Nonviolence
On the fifth anniversary of the Tien An Men massacre, Radical activists of various nationalities take part in a silent demonstration to remember the thousands of victims in China and in the rest of the world in the last five years.
3 June 94
New York United States
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Court
Emma Bonino, co-ordinator of the Parliamentarians for Global Action programme on international law and human rights, chairs the meeting of the organization, a network of parliamentarians concerned with issues of international politics. The subject of the debate is the situation of the international tribunals, both the ad hoc Tribunal on the war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
6 June 94
New York United States
United Nations
Report by Emma Bonino to the United Nations on "World audiences for development". The Radical Party Secretary, nominated by the Italian government, reports "as an expert witness and in consideration of her wide knowledge of the subject".
7 June 94
Rome Italy
Anti-prohibitionism
Human rights
United Nations
The "coalition contract" signed by the President of the Council, Silvio Berlusconi, and the leader of the "Club Pannella-Riformatori", Marco Pannella, commits the Italian government to a number of points approved in the motion of the General Council of the Radical Party held in Sofia in 1993.
The President of the Italian government, in fact, as well as pledging support for the reform of the electoral system in the direction of the British first-past-the-post system, undertakes:
a) to convene an international public conference on the social costs and benefits of the current international drug policies and on the project for a revision of the UN conventions of 1961 and 1963 on the battle against drug addiction;
b) to meet the Dalai Lama on the occasion of his coming visit to Italy;
c) to call in the UN for the establishment of an International Criminal Court to try crimes against humanity. To take all suitable actions to ensure that the International Law Commission concludes its proceedings by the end of July and presents the draft statute of the Court to the General Assembly. The Italian government will make strenuous efforts to press the General Assembly to approve the statute during its 49th session, which will be held from September to December 1994, and to convene an international conference for the establishment of the International Criminal Court. To this end the government appoints Emma Bonino to express the Italian position in the meetings of the Assembly devoted, during the coming session, to this subject. At the same time Italy will take all possible steps within the UN for the appointment of the Public Prosecutor of the ad hoc International Tribunal on the war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.
10 June 94
Rome Italy
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
"There is no peace without justice" organizes the first showing in Italy of the film "Bosna", directed by Bernard Henry Levi. At the end of the film, Cherif Bassiouni, President of the Committee of Experts for the investigation of the crimes committed in the territories of the former Yugoslavia, takes part in a press conference via radio from New York, illustrating the report on the crimes and the genocide committed in the former Yugoslavia. A few days later, the report is approved by the Secretary General of the United Nations.
16 June 94
Rome Italy
Nonviolence
A guest of the Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain", Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama and winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize for Peace, holds a press conference at the Radical Party offices together with Emma Bonino, Sergio D'Elia and Marco Pannella.
The Dalai Lama, who had given his support to the "Hands Off Cain" campaign on the occasion of the Vienna Conference on human rights in June 1993, speaks about the power of nonviolence, tolerance, and dialogue, and about the situation in Tibet.
The Dalai Lama is received in Italy by the President of the Republic and the President of the Council.
22 June 94
Prague Czech Republic
Environment
Press conference held by Paolo Pietrosanti and the Czech Environment Minister to present the Czech edition of Al Gore's book "Earth in the Balance", sponsored in Czechoslovakia by the Radical Party and the American Embassy. The introduction to the book begins with a quotation from Emma Bonino.
23 June 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
On the initiative of "Hands Off Cain", a motion for a moratorium on executions is presented in the Italian Senate. The motion, presented simultaneously in other parliaments, is signed by one hundred senators including the parliamentary party leaders Cesare Salvi (Progressisti), Nicola Mancini (Popolari), Enrico La Loggia (Forza Italia), Francesco Tabladini (Lega Nord), Ersilia Salvato (Rifondazione Comunista), Edo Ronchi (Green Party/Rete), and Michele Selliti (PSI). Among the first signees are Francesa Scopelliti (Riformatori), Luigi Manconi (Green Party), and Antonio Guerra (Alleanza Nazionale), President of the Justice Committee.
29 June 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
Over one hundred Italian deputies sign the motion calling for a moratorium on executions.
9 July 94
Moscow Russia
The meeting of the members of the General Council of the Radical Party who reside in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic states is attended by: Ottavio Lavaggi; Olivier Dupuis; Antonio Stango, member of the Secretariat of the Radical Party; Mamuka Tsagareli, Vice President of the General Council; Jokabas Minkievicius, member of the Lithuanian Academy; Lev Razgon, Russian author; Arif Ragim-zade, deputy in Azerbaijan; Valentin Oskotski, Russian author; Nikolay Kramov (Russia), Fedor Chub (Russia), Samvel Shaginjan (Armenia) and Sergei Sheboldaev (Russia), members of the General Council; Radicals activists Olga Antonova, Julia Kalinina, Anna Morozova, Vladimir Grishkin, Vasily Bank, Elena Kosheleva, Andrei Jurov, Dmitri Chub and Igor Evgrafov (Russia); Aleksandr Kostritski, Natalia Vasiljuk, Andrei Priscenko, Evgen Pascenko, Oksana Kurnosenko and Sergei Starostin (Ukraine); Zenjnal Ibragimov and Anar Kadyrov (Azerbaijan); Anait Allahverdian (Armenia); Petr Kotovodov (Bielorussia); Vjacheslav
Kovylov (Latvia).
11 July 94
New York United States
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
Supreme Court judge Richard J. Goldstone, formerly responsible for investigations into violations of human rights in South Africa, is appointed by the Security Council of the United Nations as Public Prosecutor for the International Tribunal charged with trying the war crimes committed in the territories of the former Yugoslavia.
"With this appointment," states Emma Bonino, "there will finally be an international instrument to bring about justice and reinstate the rights which have been suppressed in such a barbarous manner." The day after, the President of the Tribunal, Antonio Cassese, writes to Emma Bonino to thank her for "her generous support and unswerving efforts" and to assure her that "the first trials will take place very soon".
In the previous days, the Secretariat of the Radical Party and the "There is no peace without justice" Committee had taken all the necessary steps to ensure, also in consideration of the G7 summit in Naples, that agreement was reached on the appointment of the Public Prosecutor, thus allowing the Secretary General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros Ghali, to put the matter to the vote of the Security Council.
20 July 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
International Criminal Court
The Italian Chamber of Deputies, with a unanimous vote, approves a motion committing the government to support a moratorium on executions in the United Nations.
Supported by "Hands Off Cain" and the Radical Party, presented in the Chamber by Emma Bonino and signed by 120 deputies and 110 senators, the motion also commits the Italian government to urge the UN Security Council to impose a moratorium on death penalties in the eventuality of coups d'état or civil wars, and to support and promote the establishment by the General Assembly of the United Nations of the International Criminal Court on crimes against humanity.
In order to comply with the motion, the Italian government must present a resolution on the moratorium on executions by 20 August, so that the issue can be discussed during the 49th session of the General Assembly which meets in New York from September to December 1994.
22 July 94
Brussels European Parliament
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
In the resolution on the conclusions of the European Council in Corfu, the European Parliament approves the emendment presented by the Radical Group (ARE), endorsed by the Liberal Group (LDE), the Green Group and the Popular Party Group (PPE), on the ad hoc Tribunal on the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.
The emendment reads:
"The European Parliament holds that there can be no peace without justice and in this respect welcomes the appointment of the Public Prosecutor and the consequent removal of the last obstacle in the way of the effective commencement of the proceedings of the ad hoc international Tribunal on the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia; it also insists that the Tribunal should not restrict its actions to those who carried out the crimes but should also deal with the issue of political responsibility.
26 July 94
Kiev Ukraine, Moscow Russia, Rome Italy, Sofia Bulgaria
Human rights
Radical activists demonstrate outside the Cuban Embassies to call for the immediate release of a group of Cuban political prisoners, well-known for their activity in support of human rights, who symbolically represent all other political prisoners; and, in particular, for the release of Francisco Chiviano Gonzales, a member of the Radical Party and President of the National Council for Civil Rights.
13 August 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
"Hands Off Cain" launches a "petition" of signatures to be sent by fax, letter or telegram to the Italian Prime Minister, urging him to ensure that the government fulfills the commitments agreed on the moratorium on executions.
15 August 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
Petition table at the Trevi Fountain.
More than 500 people, from Rome and from all over the world, sign the appeal. In the evening, a fax measuring over 20 metres is sent to the Italian Prime Minister.
18 August 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
The Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain" organize a sit-in, with the participation of members of the African community in Rome, outside Palazzo Chigi, to say "No More Executions" and to call on the Italian government to present a draft resolution to the General Assembly of the United Nations inviting member states which have not already done so to abolish the death penalty.
19 August 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Martino, accepts the motions of both branches of parliament, supported by the Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain", which bind the Italian government to present a draft resolution to the General Assembly of the United Nations calling for a moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000.
2 September 94
Zagreb Croatia
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
Well-known political and cultural figures from Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia, all members of the Radical Party, hold a press conference at the European House of Culture in order to publicize a letter-appeal written to the Pope on the occasion of his visit to Zagreb.
The letter-appeal asks the Pope to "express the hope that the International Tribunal charged with sitting trial on the crimes committed in the territories of the former Yugoslavia will be the first step towards the International Criminal Court responsible for restoring the human rights that have been suppressed in much of the world and upholding them as the essential pillars of a new international jurisdiction".
4 September 94
Cairo Egypt
United Nations
Emma Bonino takes part in the Conference on Development and Population.
10 September 94
Rome Italy
Mariateresa Di Lascia, a companion in life and in politics who devoted her energies to the Radical Party for over fifteen years, dies in Rome
A former member of the Secretariat of the Radical Party and a former deputy of the Italian parliament, and a member of the General Council elected by the last Congress, Mariateresa had supported and co-ordinated the "Hands Off Cain" campaign for the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000. A few months before her death, she had organized the Easter March in Rome, attended by hundreds of mayors from all over Europe and thousands of citizens, for the moratorium on executions and for the creation of the International Court.
Adriano Sofri wrote the following lines, published by "Cuore" on 17 September 1994, in memory of Mariateresa:
"Mariateresa Di Lascia has died in Rome at the age of forty. She always found in the Radical Party a place where she could dedicate herself to good causes, both big and small. With her comrade and partner Sergio D'Elia, she was the most admirable promoter of the League against capital punishment. Friends of "Cuore" may have met her at parties organized by the weekly for this cause. I can't count the people all over the world who have been helped by Mariateresa when they needed it. She helped them quickly, with passion and in her gruff way. In Sarajevo, there are kids going around proud of their colourful Swatches, and they don't know that it was Mariateresa who gave them to them. It wasn't long ago that she took sick, and it was only very recently that she found out she had cancer. A few days ago she told me: "I do everything very well". Mariateresa knew and was known by many people. She had been a member of Parliament. But she also had a precious secret which she kept carefully hidden. She was a writer, a g
reat writer. One of her novels was due to come out in a few months. It was to be the first time she achieved recognition outside a small circle of friends. It is a long and self-assured novel, which is not afraid to talk about things that need to be addressed. It speaks of glory and the fall, of love between cousins, of sorcery and lies. Mariateresa was dominated by a mysterious sense of intuition, the secret side of her effectiveness and timeliness for good deeds, both political and private. Her novel is very fine, and is written with the strength of feeling, words and style that distinguishes writers who are not seeking recognition in other people's eyes, or from public opinion. Mariateresa's spirit as a narrator was guided only by her own conscience. On the other hand, as happens with many other great writers, the only thing she expected from her writing was for other people to know her better and love her. She didn't have time to see the results. These few lines are a tribute to express my personal grati
tude and give recognition to a very special person."
12 September 94
Rome Italy
International Criminal Court
The Radical Party publishes an appeal addressed to the Secretary General, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the 6th Commission of the General Assembly and the representatives of the member states of the United Nations, calling on the 49th session of the General Assembly to discuss the draft statute of the International Criminal Court drawn up by the International Law Commission, and to convene a United Nations Conference in 1995 for the approval of the Treaty regarding the institution and operation of the Court.
28 September 94
New York United States
Communication
"Mayday, Mayday America" is the title of the two-page insertion placed by the Radical Party in the New York Times.
The initiative is timed to coincide with the commencement of the proceedings of the 49th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and with the appoitment of Emma Bonino by the Italian government to represent the country in the discussion on the International Criminal Court.
28 September 94
New York United States
International Criminal Court
In her position as the representative of the Italian government for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, Emma Bonino meets the President of the Security Council of the United Nations, Luis Barnuevo.
29 September 94
Rome Italy
Operation "New York, New York"
The Radical Party and the "Hands Off Cain" Association demonstrate outside the Italian parliament to support the final abrogation of the articles of the military code which provide for the death penalty, and to support a large-scale fund-raising campaign entitled "New York, New York". The aim of the campaign is the publication in the New York Times of the appeal on the International Criminal Court and the Italian resolution on the moratorium on executions, to be timed to coincide with the commencement of the discussion on these two issues in the General Assembly of the United Nations.
4 October 94
Brussels Belgium
Death penalty
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe approves a resolution calling on the 32 member states to "cancel the death penalty from penal and military codes". Rapporteur for the resolution is Hans Franck (Sweden), a member of "Hands Off Cain".
5 October 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
The Italian Chamber of Deputies approves the final abolition of the death penalty in the military code of war. Thanks partly to pressure from the Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain", Italy becomes the 54th country in the world to have abolished the death penalty.
13 October 94
Rome Italy
International Criminal Court
7 Nobel Prize winners, 165 leading figures, 610 parliamentarians and 272 regional councillors from 30 countries around the world have so far signed the appeal sent out by the Radical Party for the immediate establishment of the International Criminal Court.
18 October 94
Rome Italy
International Criminal Court
A delegation from the Radical Party and the Italian parliament, led by Emma Bonino, meets the chargé d'affaires of the American Embassy in Rome, James Creagan.
During the previous week the government of the United States had defined the decision to establish the International Criminal Court as "premature".
21 October 94
Rome Italy
Operation "New York, New York"
Together with parliamentarians from a number of parties, Emma Bonino and Sergio D'Elia, the Secretary of "Hands Off Cain", hold a press conference to present Operation "New York, New York": an international information campaign addressed to the UN, in support of the International Court and the moratorium on executions.
25 October 94
New York United States
International Criminal Court
Emma Bonino, appointed by the government to express the Italian position on the establishment of the International Criminal Court, speaks during the debate of the 6th Commission of the General Assembly.
"Allow me to express our firm support for the draft statute of the International Criminal Court, which the International Law Commission has drawn up during the proceedings of an ad hoc group. The statute has been completed and the 49th session of the General Assembly can now set out the procedure for the establishment of the Court by convening an international Conference in 1995 for the adoption of the Treaty of Institution. The Italian government will be happy to host the Conference."
26 October 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
By overwhelming majority, the Italian Chamber of Deputies approves the 2nd International Protocol on the abolition of the death penalty, adopted by the UN Assembly on 15 December 1989.
26 October 94
New York United States
Human rights
Emma Bonino gives a lecture at the Institute of Italian Culture on the subject of the International Criminal Court and violations of human rights.
26 October 94
New York United States
Death penalty
The Italian Ambassador to the United Nations, Francesco Paolo Fulci, together with the ambassadors of Malta, Guinea Bissau, Honduras and Cambodia, sends a note to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros Ghali, calling for the question of the death penalty to be included in the agenda of the 49th session of the General Assembly.
28 October 94
Rome Italy
European Union
The Italian government appoints Emma Bonino as Commissioner of the European Union.
"I am grateful to the President of the Council, Silvio Berlusconi, for honouring me with this appointment," declares Emma Bonino. "I will devote the utmost commitment to the job, in the service of the country and of the European institution to which I now belong, and of the values and the ideals of the Radical Party, the transnational transparty."
28 October 94
New York United States
Communication
Thanks to funds raised in Italy from citizens and parliamentarians by means of Operation "New York, New York", the appeal to the United Nations for the establishment of the International Criminal Court is published in the New York Times. Among the main contributors are Bernardo Bertolucci, Piero Dorazio, and Bruno Zevi.
29 October 94
Zagreb Croatia
International Criminal Court
Death Penalty
A Radical Party delegation meets the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman to illustrate the Radical initiatives on the establishment of the International Criminal Court and the moratorium on executions.
8 November 94
New York United States
Death penalty
With 17 votes in favour and 3 abstentions, the Presidency of the General Assembly decides to include the debate on the death penalty on the agenda of the General Assembly.
11 November 94
Sarajevo Bosnia
International Criminal Court
Death penalty
Radicals Adnan Kemura, a member of the Committee for Solidarity with Bosnia, and Sandro Ottoni, a member of the Secretariat of the Radical Party, hold a series of meetings in Sarajevo to illustrate the initiatives for the establishment of the International Criminal Court and the moratorium on executions.
14 November 94
New York United States
Death penalty
With 70 votes for, 24 against and 42 abstentions, the General Assembly of the United Nations decides to include the question of the death penalty on its agenda.
18 November 94
New York United States
Ad hoc Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia
"There is no peace without justice", together with the Center for the Study of Human Rights and the Human Rights Law Review, organizes a seminar at Colombia University with the President of the ad hoc Tribunal on the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, Antonio Cassese.
23 November 94
Rome Italy
International Criminal Court
Death penalty
A delegation of parliamentarians, mayors, leading figures and citizens who have signed the appeal for the establishment of the International Criminal Court and for the moratorium on executions and who support the "New York, New York" campaign, led by Emma Bonino, meets the Secretary General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros Ghali.
The Radical Party presents the Secretary General with the 6,000 signatures (including those of 7 Nobel Prize winners, 700 parliamentarians and 150 mayors from 30 countries) on the appeal calling for the General Assembly to convene the Conference for the institution of the Court as soon as possible.
"There is something revolutionary here," says Boutros Ghali. "Thanks for your initiatives. Thanks for your action. Carry on seeking dialogue with the United Nations. The United Nations needs your action, it needs this direct contact with the peoples of the world."
26 November 94
Rome Italy
Death penalty
The Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain" invite deputies and leading figures from the countries of Latin America, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia to send fax messages to their representatives at the UN calling for support for the proposed moratorium on executions.
27 November 94
Rome Italy
Operation "New York, New York"
Hundreds of messages asking the UN for a moratorium on executions are recorded by citizens on the answering machine set up for the purpose by the Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain".
29 November 94
New York United States
International Criminal Court
The 6th Commission of the General Assembly approves a draft resolution on the establishment of the International Criminal Court.
The resolution, which will be ratified by the General Assembly on 9 December, provides for the creation of an ad hoc Committee open to all the member states of the United Nations, which will meet twice during 1995 to examine the draft statute drawn up by the International Law Commission and to reach an agreement on the convocation of an international Conference for the ratification of the Treaty of Institution.
"The United Nations vote," declares Emma Bonino, "is an important acknowledgement of the initiatives carried out by the Radical Party and by thousands of parliamentarians, mayors and citizens from all over the world to ensure that those responsible for massacres and genocide do not go unpunished."
1 December 94
New York United States
Communication
Thanks to the Italian citizens who have contributed to Operation "New York, New York", the Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain" publish a full-page message in the New York Times to support the abolition of the death penalty. As well as some of the names of those who have funded the initiative, the message also includes the names of many of the leading figures who have signed the appeal for the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000. These include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the President of the Italian Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, the President of Hungary, Arpad Goncz, the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, and the Nobel Prize winners Mairead Corrigan McGuire, Franco Modigliani, Abdus Salam, George Wald and Elie Wiesel.
The campaign message also announces a large-scale Conference for the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000 to be held in the United States in 1995.
4 December 94
New York United States
Death penalty
The Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain" give their support to the special performance by the Living Theatre, in Times Square, against the execution in Texas of George Cordova.
7 December 94
New York United States
Death penalty
With 65 votes for, 74 against, and 20 abstentions, the 3rd Commission of the United Nations rejects the no action motion presented by Singapore with the intention of preventing the vote on the Italian resolution calling for a moratorium on executions and the affirmation of the principle of the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000, co-sponsored by 50 countries.
On the occasion of the United Nations vote, a torch-lit vigil is held in Rome in Campo de' Fiori (historically a place of executions), where those present follow the development of the debate and the vote on the moratorium on executions broadcast live by Radio Radicale.
9 December 94
New York United States
Death penalty
With 36 votes for, 44 against and 74 abstentions, the 3rd Commission of the United Nations rejects the draft resolution presented by the Italian government, supported by the Radical Party and by "Hands Off Cain", on the worldwide moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty by the year 2000. The final vote is the outcome of an emendment presented by Singapore, approved by the Commission, which "upholds the sovereign right of States to decide on the legal measures and penalties appropriate to their society, in order to fight serious crime effectively". The emendment, in fact, makes no reference to International Law or to the Charter of the United Nations. Despite the fact that it has been distorted, Italy believes that the Resolution is still valid by virtue of the high juridical and political significance of the clause which invites "all member states which have still not abolished the death penalty to consider the possibility of establishing a moratorium on executions pending in order to
ensure the affirmation throughout the world, by the year 2000, of the principle that no state can dispose of the life of a human being". Prior to the final vote, the draft resolution comes through a second no action motion, this time presented by Egypt.
14 December 94
Brussels Belgium
Former Yugoslavia
With 198 votes for, 198 against, and 14 abstentions, the European Parliament rejects the emendment presented by Marco Pannella and others for the non-confirmation by the European Parliament of agreements based on partition.
The emendment reads: "The European Parliament will not confirm any political agreement based on the partition of the Republic of Bosnia Hercegovina, recognized at international level and therefore on the juridical acknowledgement of the result of ethnic cleansing, by whomsoever it is sponsored."
20 December 94
Rome Italy
"Not just Italy"
Whilst Italy witnesses the tribal rites of party-politics, the Radical Party demonstrates outside Montecitorio on the occasion of the debate in parliament. The Radicals invite parliamentarians of all parties to join the Radical Party, which has allowed Italy to bring the creation of instruments of international justice and the moratorium on executions to the attention of the international community.
22 December 94
Rome Italy
Human rights
"Romania: Revolt and Illusion" is the title of an exhibition of photos which opens at the Radical Party offices in Rome on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the fall of the Ceausescu regime.
30 December 94
Rome Italy
Membership campaign
Emma Bonino holds a press conference on the Radical Party membership campaign for 1995.
31 December 94
Rome Italy
Former Yugoslavia
The Radical Party collects thousands of signatures, especially in Spain, Bulgaria and Italy, on an appeal by the people of Sarajevo for an end to the siege and against the ethnic partition of Bosnia.
1 January 95
Rome Italy
Human rights
An open letter signed by Emma Bonino, Marco Pannella, Olivier Dupuis, Antonio Stango, Mamuka Tsagareli and Nikolay Khramov is sent to the Russian President Boris Yeltsin to call for a political solution to the crisis in Chechnya. The Radicals also ask to be invited to Chechnya as observers, declaring that they "will not accept any objection regarding their own personal safety".
10 January 95
Rome Italy, Moscow Russia
Human rights
In response to an appeal from numerous Russian organizations, including the "Mothers of Soldiers" Committee and the deputies in "Choice of Russia", the Radical Party organizes marches in Rome and in Moscow, with the picture of Ghandhi and a banner declaring "Stop the massacre in Chechnya". The aim of the demonstrations is to press for an immediate end to the massacre in Chechnya and for the respect of human and civil rights throughout Russia.
11 January 95
Grozny Chechnya
Human rights
Antonio Stango and Nikolay Khramov travel to Chechnya, as part of Radical Party actions, to carry out independent observation of the situation, to increase collaboration with Russian parliamentarians and the human rights groups working for the respect of life and rights, and to improve the links between these groups and the international institutions.
The Chechnya "Mission" - which will last over a week - is partly funded by the contributions of Italian citizens.
12 January 95
Brussels Belgium
European Union
Emma Bonino's audition in the European Parliament.
Emma Bonino, whose portfolio in the new EU executive consists of Humanitarian Aid, Consumer Policy and Fishing, passes her audition with flying colours. During the audition she announces that in the coming weeks she will visit Sarajevo, Rwanda and Chechnya, in order to make the humanitarian presence of the European Union more "visible".
25 January 1995
Moscow Russia
Anti-militarism
The Radicals, together with the Mothers of Soldiers and the Young Anti-militarists, hold a demonstration, during which they place a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in memory of the Russian soldiers who have died as the result of militarism.
26-29 January 1995
Sarajevo Bosnia Hercegovina
Sandro Ottoni, a member of the Secretariat, persuades leading Bosnian politicans to join the Radical Party: these include a member of the cabinet, the government secretary, two ministers, a vice-minister, the president of the municipal council, the consul in Milan, and many other Bosnian citizens.
February 1995
Russia
Chechnya
During the whole of February, Radical militants hold a number of demonstrations against the war in Chechnya.
14 February 1995
Italy
Human Rights
On the occasion of the 6th anniversary of the "fatwa" - the death sentence placed on Salman Rushdie by Ayatollah Khomeini - the Radical Party and "Hands Off Cain" make efforts to persuade Italian cities to award honorary citizenship to the writer.
14 February 1995
Vojvodina
16 members of the Executive of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Voivodina (VMDK), including the President Andras Agoston, join the Radical Party.
14 February 1995
Russia
Conscientious objection
Russian Radicals launch an appeal to the Duma, the Council of the Federation and the President "For the right to refuse military service and against militarism".
23 February 1995
Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Germany, France, United Kingdom
Chechnya
Demonstrations outside the Ministry of Defence in Moscow and outside the Russian Embassies in the other European cities. During the demonstrations, the participants lie on the ground in silence to represent the victims of the war in Chechnya.
28 February 1995
Rome Italy
International Language
The Radical Party and the Radical Esperanto Association organize a masked demonstration outside the Ministry of Education, under a banner reading "Minister, drop the mask from Esperanto", calling on the government to set up a study on the introduction of Esperanto-teaching in Italian schools.
4-9 March 1995
Sarajevo Bosnia Hercegovina
Olivier Dupuis and Sandro Ottoni meet the Prime Minister, three members of the cabinet, and the President of the Parliament.
6-10 March 1995
Italy, Belgium, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, USA, Canada, Russia, Ukraine...
Tibet
Nonviolence
Week of nonviolent action in support of the Tibetan cause, organized by the Radical Party, "Italia Tibet", and the associations of exiled Tibetans. 500 people go on a hunger strike, and demonstrations are held in dozens of cities outside the Chinese Embassies. The objective of the action is the convocation of a Sino-Tibetan conference, to be held under the aegis of the United Nations. On 10 March, the 36th anniversary of the Lhasa uprising which was repressed by Chinese troops, at the same time as the nonviolent march by Tibetans from Dharamsala to the Indian capital New Delhi, single-file marches are held in Rome and other cities in support of Tibet, the roof of the world occupied by China, and of democracy in China.
The initiative is a forerunner of the world Satyagraha of 1996, proposed by Marco Pannella to the Dalai Lama, partly in response to the nonviolence with which the Dalai Lama defends and upholds his people's struggle for liberation.
9 March 1995
Rome Italy
Death penalty
Following the decision to bring back the death penalty in New York, the Radical Party, "Hands Off Cain" and "There is No Peace Without Justice" organize a demonstration of parliamentarians outside the Chamber of Deputies. During the demonstration, parliamentarians from all parties sign a motion calling on the Italian government to press within the United Nations for the moratorium on executions and the institution of the International Criminal Court.
18 March 1995
Moscow Russia
The Radical Party organizes a public assembly on the anti-militarist campaign, the campaign for Tibet, and the preparation of the conference for the abolition of the death penalty.
