International Cronology of Transnational Radical Party: 2001

17 January - Italy: Rome - Death Penalty
A demonstration is organised outside the seat of the Palestinian Delegation by the Radical association Hands off Cain and by the Radical Party itself, against the death sentence for treason handed down by a Palestinian military court against two young men: Hussameddin Mousa Aslini (aged 19) and Mohammed Khatib (aged 29). Their trial lasted just two hours and the counsel for the defence appointed by the court was given only half an hour to present his request for clemency. Concerning the public executions, the reported summary executions and dozens of arrests and the existence of a list with 97 names of suspected collaborators, in Palestine, the Secretary of Hands off Cain, Sergio D'Elia, opines that: "A moratorium on executions must be introduced urgently in Palestine. (...) If the PLO is not in a position to guarantee fair trials, the death penalty should not be inflicted".

17 January - Italy: Florence; Milan - Tibet
The Regional Council of Tuscany unanimously approves a motion inspired by the Tuscan Radicals, asking the Italian Parliament to enforce immediately the resolution passed by the European Parliament on 6 July 2000 which calls upon EU Member States to recognise the Tibetan Government in Exile as the legitimate representative of the Tibetan people, in the event that the Chinese and Tibetans are unable to reach an agreement in their negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations within three years. A Tibetan flag is displayed alongside the gonfalon of Tuscany. In February a similar motion, signed by all group leaders, was to be unanimously approved, on the initiative of the Radical councillors, by the Regional Council of Lombardy and the Tibetan flag raised with the Lombardy flag.

24 January - Belgium: Brussels - Public Financing
Radical MEPs address an open letter to the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and demonstrate outside the Breydel Palace in protest against the approval of a project designed to regulate the public financing received by European political parties. The project, which had been placed on the agenda of the weekly meeting of the European Commission, would increase the generous sums already assigned "unconditionally" to political groups by the EP.

25 January - European Parliament - Drugs
Following the resignation of Michael Von de Schulenburg, Director for Division Operations and Analysis of the UNCPD (the UN agency for the fight against drug-trafficking headed by Pino Arlacchi, the man responsible for devolving huge sums to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan), after he had denounced the irresponsible management of the Agency's human and financial resources as well as its evident incapacity to propose and implement policies within its sphere of competence, Maurizio Turco, leader of the Radical deputies at the EP, sends a letter to the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, requesting that the funds destined for the UNDCP be frozen and that a thorough investigation be carried out concerning the use of the financing already assigned. Prodi replies that, in the light of available information, he does not deem the suspension of cooperation activities with the UN Agency opportune. "The European Union does not see, does not hear and does not speak," is Maurizio Turco's comment.

Luca Coscioni

30 January - European Parliament - Israel
Radical MEPs begin collecting signatures at the European Parliament for the immediate preparation of a draft agreement to secure the State of Israel's full participation in the European Union. The proposal (presented by Marco Pannella and Emma Bonino) affirms that an isolated State of Israel - an island of democracy among Arab States - cannot guarantee the legality and freedom of its citizens, the Middle East and the Mediterranean world of which it is part, and ensure its own security and that of others. The many signatories include: Willi De Clerq, Christoph Beazley, François Zimeray, Jas Cawronski, Antonio Di Pietro, Pietro Mennea, Reinhold Messner, Claudio Martelli, Gianfranco Fini, Franco Marini.

February - Italy - Cloning for Therapeutic Purposes
Luca Coscioni, a candidate on the Bonino ticket for the Italian elections who has suffered from lateral amyotrophic sclerosis for five years, sends an open letter to Nobel laureates and scientists asking them for a message of support for the campaign he is conducting with the Radicals for freedom of research and scientific practice and against the interference and vetoes of the Catholic Church, particularly with regard to experimentation with frozen embryos and cloning for therapeutic purposes (which could offer hundreds of thousands of sick people in Italy a real chance of recovery). Fifty Nobel laureates and over 400 scientists from all over the world respond to his letter and support his candidacy. José Saramago, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature, writes expressing the hope that "the light of reason and of human respect will illuminate the dark souls of those who still believe that our destiny is, and will always be, in their hands. We had been waiting a long time for the dawn of a new day, we were tired of waiting, but suddenly the courage of a man struck dumb by a terrible illness has given us new strength".

1 February - European Parliament - Former Yugoslavia
Olivier Dupuis presents an oral question to the Council, concerning the case of over 2000 Kosovars who were seized in the spring of 1999 by the military forces of Belgrade. Since their ongoing detention can be defined as kidnapping under international law, Dupuis asks which initiatives the Council intends to undertake to ensure that the prisoners are handed over to the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the only institution that can legally hear any charges against them.

20-22 February - Sierra Leone: Freetown - Human Rights
On the initiative of the Radical association No Peace Without Justice, and with contributions from the Canadian Government, European Union and Open Society Institute, a conference is held in Freetown to analyse jurisdictional mechanisms for bringing to trial those who committed atrocities during the Sierra Leone conflict.

21-23 February - Ghana: Accra - International Criminal Court (ICC)
A conference on the "Domestic Implementation of the Rome Statute"- sponsored by the European Union, the Open Society Institute and the Department for Foreign Affairs and International Commerce of Canada and organised in association with the International Coalition of NGOs for the International Criminal Court and GHAFFOMP, the Ghanian organisation of former MPs - is held in Accra. At the end of the conference delegates from 15 African countries adopt a declaration in which they engage themselves to accelerate the ratification of the Statute of the International Criminal Court by their respective States.

28 February - Italy - Former Yugoslavia: Telekom Serbia "Affair"
Apropos of the financing funnelled by the Italian Government into Milosovic's regime, and with particular reference to the share in Telekom Serbia acquired by an Italian public company, STET - an affair denounced by the Radicals in 1997, which has only now hit the headlines in Italy following an inquiry published by the daily newspaper La Repubblica -, Foreign Under-Secretary Umberto Ranieri responds to a question by Radical Senator Piero Milio. Radical MEPs Benedetto Della Vedova and Gianfranco Dell'Alba consider his reply - the first in a series of responses to questions about this affair put by the Radicals - to be "hypocritical and evasive". On 6 March MEP Della Vedova, Radical regional councillor Carmelo Palma and Giulio Manfredi ask for an audience with the Public Prosecutor of Turin, as "persons informed of the facts" concerning the Telekom Serbia affair.

6 March - Italy: Rome - Human Rights, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
A conference on the scourge of female genital mutilation, entitled "Stop alle MGF: proposte per un cambiamento" (Stop FGM: Proposals for Change) is held in the Sala Marini at the Italian Chamber of Deputies. The event, organised by Radical MEPs and by the Associazione Italiana Donne per lo Sviluppo (Italian Association of Women for Development) (AIDOS), in which African and European leaders of the anti-mutilation movement as well as representatives of the United Nations and of voluntary organisations participate, is part of a campaign that aims to have FGM placed on the agenda of the 2002 UN General Assembly as a top priority human rights issue. Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato speaks at the conference.

Kady Koita, Emma Bonino, Rita Levi Montalcini

9 March - Italy: Rome - Demonstrations
Radicals demonstrate when the book Fra Casa Bianca e Botteghe Oscure (Between the White House and Botteghe Oscure (the name of the street in Rome where the Communist headquarters were located - Ed's note) by Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini, is presented, holding up three banners: "Milosevic to The Hague; and Dini?"; Dini, Five Years of Crimes and Deals"; "Dini: the Truth about Antonio Russo (a Radical journalist found murdered in the republic of Georgia)". Among other things, the Radicals accuse Lamberto Dini of having blocked all forms of political, economic and military action against Milosevic's regime and of having opposed the nomination of Emma Bonino as UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

10 March - European Parliament - Afghanistan, Human Rights
Radical MEPs deposit at the European Parliament a draft resolution against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The text of the resolution calls upon the European Council and the Commission to coordinate their actions with those of democratic States - starting with the United States and India - and of all anti-Taliban forces, with the aim of liberating the Afghan civilian population from that regime of terror, and installing a democratic government.

15 March - Italy: Death Penalty
The association Hands off Cain and Nexta.com (a media company with ten entertainment websites) launch the first international on-line campaign to collect signatures for the moratorium on executions at the UN. 4,000 signatures arrive in twenty-four hours.

28 March - Italy - Telekom Serbia
Radical regional councillor Carmelo Palma and Radical MEP Benedetto Della Vedova express their satisfaction concerning the arrest of Milosevic's Foreign Minster and request that the Turin Public Prosecutors apply for an international warrant to question him about the Telekom Serbia affair.

31 March - 1 April - Italy: Ischia - International Criminal Court
The association No Peace Without Justice, in collaboration with the Centro Euromediterraneo per gli Studi Giuridici e i Diritti Umani (CESDU) and on the occasion of the inauguration of its seat in the Municipality of Forio, organises on the island of Ischia an international conference to develop the political strategy for a task force to support the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

April - Geneva: UN - China, Human Rights
On behalf of the Transnational Radical Party, Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng takes the floor twice at the Commission on Human Rights, to denounce the fact that Chinese citizens are deprived of fundamental human rights, particularly by their corrupt administrative authorities, and to cite the damage caused by politics that promote economic development without introducing democratic reforms.

3 April - Geneva: UN - Justice, Italy
During the 57th session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva - in which the RP will participate also in 2002 - Olivier Dupuis denounces the Italian justice system (as Emma Bonino did the previous year), referring in particular to the political jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court, the violation of the right of Italian citizens to make informed decisions and the legal authorities' "de facto" authorisation of the presentation of lists and candidacies underwritten by false signatures that have been collected unlawfully.

6 April - Geneva: UN - Human Rights, Chechnya
Chechen Health Minister Oumar Khambiev takes the floor, on behalf of the Transnational Radical Party, at the Commission on Human Rights. His speech, focusing on the tragic humanitarian situation in Chechnya and on the torture inflicted on him and on other people that he took care of at the hospital in Grozny, is interrupted repeatedly by the delegate from the Russian Federation, until it is finally suspended at the request of that delegation.

10 April - Geneva: UN - Human Rights, Homosexuality
Within the sphere of the Commission on Human Rights, the RP organises, in association with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Committee (IGLHRC), a briefing entitled "Gender, Gender Identity and Human Rights". Participants include Lohana Berkins, founder of the Asociation Lucha por la Identidad Travesti y Transexual (ALITT), Argentina; Widney Brown, director of the activities of the women's rights division of Human Rights Watch, USA; Alejandra Sard, a IGLHRC.researcher for the Caribbean and Latin America.

13 April - Russia: Moscow - Antimilitarism
While activists from the Associazione Radicale Antimilitarista (ARA) are "picketing" the commissariat where conscientious objectors Andrej Rodionov and Alexej Kirgan are presenting their requests for civilian service, a TNN television cameraman and a photographer from the newspaper Isvestia, are attacked by an army officer, who tries to seize the videocamera and camera.
Other callers at the commissariat, who have nothing to do with the demonstration, are also victims of the attack.

14 April - Russia: Moscow - Chechnya, Human Rights
An Easter vigil against the war in Chechnya is organised in the heart of Moscow by the RP, the ARA and the Mothers of Soldiers Committee. During the protest 200 postcards bearing the words: "The war in Chechnya is a disgrace to my country" are distributed. They are to be sent to President Putin, and call on him to immediately start negotiations with the Chechen President Maskhadov.

19 April - Geneva: UN - Death Penalty
In parallel to the activities of the Commission on Human Rights, the Photographer Oliviero Toscani and Sergio D'Elia of Hands off Cain hold a briefing on the campaign for the moratorium on executions.

7 May - Italy: Euthanasia
Marco Pannella publishes an open letter concerning the case of Emilio Vesce, member of the General Council of the Transnational Radical Party. After going into an irreversible coma following a heart attack, Vesce has been kept alive artificially for six months by a form of treatment that Pannella considers "extreme violence" as opposed to intensive therapy. Pannella declares that he is "determined to try and 'put an end to it' one way or another, with euthanasia or any other means that can be classified as such". This is not necessary, however, because Vesce dies shortly afterwards, on 12 May.

Emilio Vesce, Marco Pannella (1987)

18 May - Italy: Rome - China, Human Rights
A press conference, organised by Hands off Cain, is held at the Radical Party headquarters, when Erping Zhang, the international spokesperson for the Falun Gong movement, visits Italy. Zhang denounces the fact that Falun Gong - an esoteric Chinese discipline founded on the values of truth, compassion and tolerance, and practised in over 40 countries - is harshly repressed in China, where 50,000 of its followers have been arrested, 10,000 sent to forced labour camps or mental hospitals, and 208 tortured to death.

Erping Zhang, Sergio D'Elia, Marco Pannella

31 May - European Parliament - Human Rights, Egypt
Over 80 MEPs agreed to join the Committee of Support for Nawal Saadawi, organised by Emma Bonino and Olivier Dupuis. An Egyptian feminist writer whose works have been translated into 18 languages, Nawal Saadawi is accused of "non-compliance with religions" and has to appear before a criminal court in Cairo that will try her for "heresy". She risks prison and compulsory divorce. An appeal signed by the MEPs calls upon the Egyptian authorities not "to endorse these medieval procedures" and protests "vehemently against putting ideas on trial".

Nawal Saadawi

6 June - Italy: Turin - China, Human Rights
A demonstration is held by Radical activists and Radical regional councillors to coincide with the meeting between the President of the Piedmont Regional Council, Roberto Cota, and the Consul General, Gao Shumao. The protest has a twofold aim: to mark the anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre, and to remind the Piedmont Region of its commitment to adopting two agendas with respect to the Tibetan situation.

6 June - Vietnam: Saigon - Demonstrations, Human Rights
To protest against the persecution of so-called "unrecognised" religious communities in Vietnam (including Catholic ones), of the Patriarch of the United Buddhist Church Thich Huyen Quang and of that Church's second highest official Thich Quang Do (both of whom were incarcerated for many years and are now under house arrest), Radicals Olivier Dupuis and Martin Schulthes demonstrate at Ho Chi Min Ville (Saigon), holding up a placard asking for the release of the two leaders and for religious freedom in Vietnam. The protest takes place in front of the Than Minh pagoda where Quang Do, who is conducting a nonviolent struggle for democracy in Vietnam, is under house arrest. Many cyclists and motorcyclists read the placard before the two demonstrators are arrested, interrogated for five hours, and expelled from Vietnam by the authorities. On 5 July the EP was to pass an emergency resolution on freedom of worship in Vietnam, denouncing the persecution of leaders of "unrecognised" religious communities.

11 June - Italy: Rome - Death Penalty
A demonstration is held by Hands off Cain outside the American Embassy to protest against the execution of Timothy McVeigh, convicted of the Oklahoma bombing. During the days leading up to his execution, Hands off Cain had addressed an appeal signed by many Nobel laureates and leading figures in the world of culture to President George Bush, asking him not to revoke the moratorium on federal executions in place for 38 years.

11 June - European Parliament - Israel, European Union
During the Conference of Presidents, Olivier Dupuis puts a question to Israel's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, concerning the Radical proposal in favour of Israel's becoming a full member of the EU, to which Peres replies: "We would be happy to become a member of the European Union". Dupuis comments: "The European Parliament cannot continue to hide behind false arguments, be they geographical or otherwise, in order to dismiss the only political proposal that would make it possible to find a solution not only to Israel's more than legitimate fears concerning its own security, but also to the immense frustrations of the Palestinians".

12 June - Italy: Turin - Telekom Serbia
A demonstration was held on the occasion of the annual meeting of Telecom Italia shareholders to request that the acquisition of a part of Telekom Serbia in 1997 be fully explained. Radical MEPs Benedetto Della Vedova and Gianfranco Dell'Alba intervene at the meeting, in the guise of minor shareholders.

19 June - European Parliament - Information
A report by Radical MEP Marco Cappato on the draft directive issued by the Commission regarding the treatment of personal data in telecommunications is presented at the EP Civil Liberties Committee. In particular, the report recommends following the general directive on telecommunications privacy issued in 1995, in order to limit the exceptions made by Commission for state authorities and to avoid introducing a body of norms that are too specific and sector-oriented. "The carte blanche given to Member States (especially with regard to monitoring and to the retention of personal data) actually creates 'two-track' EU legislation: on the one hand, it is extremely rigid (and often difficult to apply), particularly where commercial enterprises are concerned; on the other, it grants complete exemption to state authorities", explains Cappato. The report was to be approved on 13 November by the EP Plenary Assembly, with 339 votes in favour, 92 against and 89 abstentions.

22 June - Italy: Milan - Homosexuality
The Transnational Radical Party, the Italian Radicals Committee, Radical MEPs and Radical regional councillors support National Gay Pride, in Milan. MEP Gianfranco Dell'Alba attends Gay Pride in Catania.

23-24 June - Russia: Moscow - Congresses, Chechnya.
The Associazione Radicale Antimilitarista (ARA) holds its third Congress. The final motion, presented by outgoing secretary Nikolaj Khramov, defines the struggle to stop the colonial crimes in Chechnya as the association's top priority. The Congress supports the proposal to place the Chechnya issue on the agenda of the UN committee for decolonisation. It also intends to organise a campaign for immediate negotiations between the Russian Federation and the lawfully-elected authorities of the Republic of Chechnya. Andrej Rodionov is elected as secretary.

30 June - Italy: Bologna - March, Tibet
Olivier Dupuis participates in the inauguration of the march from Bologna to Florence, for the freedom of Tibet.

4 July - European Parliament - Privacy
Radical MEP Maurizio Turco, member of the Echelon Commission, presents a minority opinion (which was to be annexed to the Commission's final resolution) in which he calls to order the majority - who have stressed the probable but undocumented existence of the Anglo-Saxon system Echelon - for having censured Germany and Holland for possessing and using the same technology (systematic and generalised monitoring through filtering search engines).

5 July - European Parliament - Human Rights
The Cornillet report on human rights within the European Union incorporates suggestions presented at the Commission by Radical MEPs, concerning the state of democracy and legality in Italy, particularly with regard to the excessive length of trials; the abuse of detention pending trial; and the need to introduce the principle of equal time during elections, which would give all competing lists equal access to television. The report incorporates a number of Radical amendments, one of which recommends that Member States suppress all restrictions that prevent the free circulation of citizens in their own country, with specific reference to the question of the return to Italy of the Savoys (the former royal family).

6 July - USA: Washington - Russia, China, Human Rights
The Russian Embassy in Washington refuses to issue Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng with a visa to enter Moscow where he has been invited by the Radical Party and by the Tibet Bureau to participate in a press conference to protest against the candidacy of Beijing as host of the 2008 Olympics. Olivier Dupuis comments: "There is every reason to suspect that President Putin and the dictator Jang Zemin have tacitly agreed to ignore the issues of Tibet and Chechnya respectively, and Wei Jingsheng's being denied a visa confirms this".

7 July - Tunisia: Tunis - Human Rights
Olivier Dupuis and two other MEPs, Harlem Désir (ESP, France) and Roselyne Vachetta (GUE, France), go to Tunis to request that the authorities refrain from carrying out the proceedings and the arrests with which the activists of the Tunisian democratic movement have been threatened. Désir and Dupuis try to arrange a meeting with Sihem Bensedrine, spokesperson of the Conseil National pour le Libertés de la Tunisie (CNLT), and Mohamed Moadda, President of the Mouvement Démocratique Socialist (MDS), both of whom are in prison; but the authorities deny them permission.

13 July - Russia: Moscow - China, Human Rights
The Moscow police arrest the RP's Russian coordinator Nikolaj Khramov, along with 11 others, during a nonviolent demonstration against Beijing hosting the 2008 Olympics. Those arrested include: a Buddhist monk, two journalists from Reporters Sans Frontières and former Soviet dissident Alexander Podradiniek, now head of the Prima News Agency. Everyone was released after a few hours.

Nikolaj Khramov

14 July - Italy: Rome - Radicali Italiani (Italian Radicals)
Radicali Italiani, a "liberal, laissez-faire, libertarian movement affiliated with the Transnational Radical Party" is founded. Daniele Capezzone is elected secretary; Danilo Quinto, treasurer. Rita Bernardini, Luca Coscioni and Benedetto Della Vedova are nominated presidents. Angiolo Bandinelli, Marco Beltrandi, Massimo Bordin, Michele De Lucia, Antonella Spolaor, Sergio Stanzani and Valter Vecellio are appointed to the Executive.

28-29 July - California - Vietnam, Human Rights
A ceremony-cum-happening in honour of Vo Van Ai, Penelope Faulkner and Olivier Dupuis, takes place in Little Saigon (the Vietnamese quarter in Westminster, California, following their action of civil disobedience in Vietnam) in June. Members of the Vietnamese community flock to the event organised by the Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam, and Dupuis is presented with the keys of the city and a diploma from the Senate during the ceremony.

Little Saigon - Penelope Faulkner, Olivier Dupuis, Vo Van Ai

30 July - Italy: Rome - Demonstration, the Internet
Radicali Italiani demonstrates outside the Senate to support Dmitri Sklyarov, a Russian programmer who, having discovered how to disable the protection of the Adobe ebook reader (one of the most well-known formats for "electronic books") was arrested in America by the FBI at Adobe's request, and risks five years in prison and a fine of one billion lira.

30 July-17 August - Geneva: UN - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Human Rights
At the 53rd session of the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Prof. Ahmed Siauddin takes the floor on behalf of the Radical Party, to denounce the violation of human rights in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as does Kok Ksor, who testifies to the persecution of the Christian Montagnards by the Vietnamese authorities.

3 August - Italy: Rome - Palestine
The RP stages a protest outside Palazzo Chigi, the seat of government, on occasion of the meeting between Yasser Arafat and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. They hold up a banner reading: "Israel in the European Union/Freedom and Democracy in Palestine".

5 August - Russia: Moscow - North Korea
Russian Radicals demonstrate outside the North Korean Embassy in Moscow on occasion of the North-Korean dictator Kim Jong II's visit to the capital. They wave banners with English and Russian slogans: "For the Salvation and Freedom of 22,000,000 North Koreans"; "Put North Korea Under International Surveillance Now"; "Stop the Sale of Arms to the Pyongyang Regime". Eight demonstrators are stopped by the police. The request to hold the demonstration was turned down by the Moscovite authorities on the pretext that it would have interfered with "antiterrorist activities".

15 August - Italy: Rome - Cloning for Therapeutic Purposes
A demonstration for the freedom of scientific research is organised in St. Peter's Square by Radicali Italiani and the Transnational Radical Party. Banners read: "Cloning for Therapeutic Purposes? We're All For It"; "Freedom of Research, Science and Conscience".

28 August - European Parliament - Human Rights, Pakistan
Marco Pannella deposits a written priority question with the Commission, regarding the death sentence for blasphemy handed down in Pakistan to Dr. Yunis Shaikh and, more generally, the considerable increase in convictions for this crime and in the undermining of fundamental human rights.

31 August - European Parliament - Chechnya
The TRP begins collecting signatures on an appeal entitled "Cecenia basta!" (No More Chechnya!), addressed to the highest authorities of the European Union and requesting that they "demand that President Putin open negotiations at the earliest with the legitimate President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Aslan Maskhadov" and "proceed with having Chechnya recognised internationally". First signatories include: Adriano Sofri, André Glucksmann, Elena Bonner Sakharov, Marco Boato, Vladimir Bukovsky, Samdhong Rinpoche, Ismail Kadaré.

4 September - South Africa: Durban - Israel
Commenting on the fact that the Israeli and American delegations abandoned the UN conference against racism due to repeated attacks on Israel and on Zionism that labelled the former a racist state and the latter a racist ideology, Emma Bonino describes as "grotesque and infamous (...) the smear campaign depicting the only democratic state in that area as the oppressor, indeed the sole oppressor, of human rights, as racist and as the perpetrator of ethnic cleansing and genocide"; a smear campaign taken up by the "worst dictatorships, which crush the human rights of their own citizens, and, in many cases, are truly racist". Bonino makes a "heartfelt appeal" to European governments, and the Italian government in particular, to walk out of the conference. Drawing inspiration from this, Marco Pannella proposes that the Nobel Peace Prize be awarded to the Syrian Nizar Nayyouf, "a true hero of democracy for the Syrian people and for all peoples and individuals on Earth".

6 September - European Parliament - Tunisia, Human Rights
On the initiative of Harlem Désir (PSE), Olivier Dupuis, Hélène Flautre (Greens), Cecilia Malmstrom (ELDR) and Roselyne Vachetta (GUE), forty or so MEPs deposit Sihem Bensedrine's candidacy for the 2001 Sakharov Prize. A journalist, publisher and former Vice-President of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, Sihem Bensedrine is the spokesperson for the Conseil National pour le Libertés de la Tunisie (CNLT), which is not recognised by the authorities. An untiring activist for freedoms and human rights, Bensedrine has been persecuted by the Tunisian police for years. She was recently released after being held in prison for 47 days, and, still under investigation, risks being sentenced to several years' imprisonment.

11 September - United States
Following the air terror attacks in the United States, Olivier Dupuis comments: "Behind this tragedy without precedent in Manhattan, behind the thousands and probably tens of thousands of innocent victims, there are, as far as this concerns us directly, the deeply racist, anti-Arab and anti-Islamic culture and politics that Europe and the West have cultivated and promoted for decades by constantly supporting the worst dictatorships in the Arab and Islamic worlds. This racism is designed to deprive the Arabs and, more generally, the inhabitants of Muslim countries, of the right to democracy, the rule of law, and freedom".

13 September - Russia: Moscow - United States
In support of the United States, Radicals participate in the demonstrations held outside the American embassies in Moscow, Rome and Brussels, observing three minutes' silence in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks.

18-19 September - European Parliament: Brussels - Freedom of Scientific Research
In view of the report on human genetics that the EP is scheduled to vote on in November, the Transnational Radical Party, together with Radical MEPs and Radicali Italiani, organises at the European Parliament a conference entitled "Stem Cells: For Freedom of Research in Europe", in which many experts and MEPs participate.

20 September - European Parliament: Brussels - Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
The EP approves by a large majority the report by Spanish socialist MEP Elena Valenciano on female genital mutilation which, among other things, proposes granting the right to asylum in the territory of the European Union to African children and girls who risk mutilation if they returned to their native countries. The main proposals put forward in the Valenciano Report (including the creation of an ad hoc budget to combat the atrocious practice of FGM in Europe and Africa) were taken from a draft resolution presented in 2000 by Radical MEPs and signed by an absolute majority of MEPs. The report is presented to the press by Valenciano, Emma Bonino and several African personalities who spearhead the campaign against FGM.

25 September - Italy: Rome - China, Human Rights
To denounce the persecution of the Falun Gong movement by the Chinese authorities - which has recently been stepped up, exploiting the outrage against terrorism that exploded after the attacks against the USA and the consequent "distraction" of Western and international media - the association Hands off Cain and the Radical Party, together with the Falun Gong movement, organise a march from Piazza Trinità dei Monti to the Chinese Embassy. The march is preceded by a press conference outside the Italian Parliament in which Erping Zhang (international spokesperson for Falun Gong), Sergio D'Elia, Emma Bonino, Marco Pannella, Daniele Capezzone, the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Alfredo Biondi, Gustavo Selva (Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies) and Natale D'Amico, first signatory of a Senate motion on Falun Gong, participate.

25 September - European Parliament - Privacy
During the 23rd International Conference of Commissioners' for Data Protection, Marco Cappato comments: "Giving up freedoms in the name of security is the order of the day for passing new antiterrorism measures in the United States and Europe. (...) In the meantime, pressure is being applied in several areas to lower the level of protection of telecommunications privacy with respect to monitoring by the police. As Rapporteur for the Directive on Telecommunications Privacy I will propose that the European Parliament oppose the attempt to exploit the attacks in the United States to approve norms that violate national Constitutions, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights of the European Union".

15 October - Thailand - International Criminal Court
Emma Bonino meets with Thai Justice Minister, the Hon. Pongthep Thepkanjana, to discuss the possibility of Thailand's swiftly ratifying the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Thepkanjana foresees the ratification of the Statute being placed on the parliamentary agenda in February 2002. Emma Bonino goes on to discuss ratification with the Deputy Head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Treaties of the Thai Foreign Ministry.

16 October - Italy: Turin - Chechnya, Human Rights
A public meeting under the heading: "Chechnya: una guerra dimenticata, un genocidio rimosso" (Chechnya: A Forgotten War, An Unremembered Genocide) is organised by the Associazione Radicale Adelaide Aglietta. Participants include Nikolaj Khramov (coordinator of Radical activities in Russia) and Giampiero Leo (Councillor for Culture of the Piedmont Region) who, as well as delivering the final address, was a signatory, together with 23 other regional councillors, of the Radical Party petition against the violations of human rights by the occupying Russian Army in Chechnya and for the opening of negotiations between President Putin and President Maskhadov of Chechnya.

16 October - Philippines: Manila - International Criminal Court
The "Experts Conference on the International Criminal Court", organised by the Centre for Restorative Justice in Asia in association with No Peace Without Justice and under the patronage of the Supreme Court, the President of the Republic, the Defence, Justice, Foreign and Internal Affairs Ministries and the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, opens in Manila. It is attended by government delegations from: Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Palau, Singapore, Samoa, Philippines, Fiji, Cambodia, Brunei, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vietnam, and by experts sent by various governments in the European Union. In her opening remarks, Emma Bonino points out that 43 states have ratified the Statute of the ICC to date and how important it is for a fair number of Asiatic countries to be among the first sixty to ratify, since they are the ones who will form the Assembly of States Parties that will oversee the effective working of the Court and will appoint the judges. The conference ends on 18 October.

17 October - European Parliament: Brussels - East Turkestan, Human Rights
A conference entitled: "The Situation in East Turkestan after Half a Century of Chinese Occupation", organised by the National Congress of East Turkestan (ETNC) in association with the Transnational Radical Party (TRP), takes place at the European Parliament, despite the unprecedented pressure exerted by the Chinese Communist authorities to prevent it from being held. The proceedings are opened by Enver Can, Chairman of the National Congress of East Turkestan, and Olivier Dupuis. Participants include: Erkin Alptekin, General Secretary of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples' Organisation (UNPO); Peter E. Müller of the International Society for Human Rights; Kelsang Gyalsen, representative of the Tibetan Government in Exile, at the European Union. In its final document, the conference asks, among other things, that the International Community in general and the European Union in particular deal seriously with the tragic situation of the Uighurs who, like the Tibetans, are suffering the dramatic effects of a Chinese policy of genocide implemented through population transfer, which has been carried out since the Chinese invasion and fierce occupation of East Turkestan.

23 October - European Parliament - Egypt, Human Rights, Homosexuality
Concerning the case of 52 Egyptian citizens currently being tried on charges of homosexuality, the EP's Citizen's Rights and Freedoms, Justice and Home Affairs Committee approves an amendment presented by deputies from 4 political groups (first signatories, Radical MEPs Marco Cappato and Maurizio Turco; co-signatories Boumedine Thiery and Buitenweg of the Greens, Di Lello of the Unitarian Left, Cashman, Swiebel, Vattimo and Paciotti of the PSE) on the initiative of Ottavio Marzocchi (member of the Extraordinary Executive of the Radical Party). The amendment asks the Commission to convey to the Egyptian institutions the deep concern that the arrest of 52 Egyptian citizens on the basis of their sexual preferences has aroused throughout the Union; to closely monitor the treatment reserved for these citizens; and to adopt suitable, progressive measures to ensure that the rights of such individuals are respected, in accordance with international human rights legislation. A resolution condemning the arrest of the 52 Egytians was to be passed by the EP on the 29 November; it recommended that European states verify the respect of human rights in Egypt, in view of the agreement between the EU and Egypt. Radicali Italiani stage a demonstration outside the Egyptian Embassy in Rome, in which Arcigay (an Italian gay liberation movement) participates.

25 October - European Parliament - Information, Human Rights
Within the framework of the European Union budget for 2002, the EP adopts an amendment presented by the Radical MEPs, in which they request that the funds assigned for the development and consolidation of democracy and of the rule of law, be used also to "finance the establishment of a radio network that would lead to the creation of a 'Voice of Europe', with a view to producing and broadcasting daily news programmes in countries governed by totalitarian or authoritarian systems. The programmes of such a network should focus on the situation regarding human rights and ethnic minorities as well as activities carried out in this regard by the Union".

26 October - Laos: Vientiane - Human Rights
On the second anniversary of a demonstration in Vientiane for freedom, democracy and the respect of human rights in Laos, after which five Loatian students were arrested and have not been heard of since, Radicals Olivier Dupuis, Nikolaj Khramov, Massimo Lensi, Silvja Manzi and Bruno Mellano stage a similar demonstration in Vientiane, asking for the release of the five students. The Radicals are arrested in their turn and after four days' imprisonment with other inmates - during which they gather dramatic testimonies, such as the one concerning individuals held in prison for 19 years awaiting trial - they are put in solitary confinement. In Europe, the Radicals organise a mass hunger strike in which over 270 citizens participate - including Marco Pannella who also goes on a one-day thirst strike - in order to obtain timely intervention by international institutions and diplomacy. A week later, but only after pressure is exerted by the European Union, the European Parliament (which considered suspending the EU-Laos cooperation agreement) and international diplomacy, the five are allowed to meet with the Belgian, Italian and Russian ambassadors and are granted legal assistance (they are defended by François Zimeray, MEP with the PSE, and Laotian lawyer Phivath Vorachak). After a swift trial, the Radicals are sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment and fined for subversive behaviour and antigovernment propaganda, but are then expelled from the country on 9 November.

9 November - Italy: Rome - USA
Radicali Italiani and the TRP participate in the event organised by Forza Italia (the party led by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi) to support the United States, during which they make the following comment: "From Vientiane to Rome, 'American-style reform' and the World Organisation of Democracies are the goals necessary to defeat all totalitarian regimes and antidemocratic and antiliberal powers".

Third row: Marco Pannella, Nikolaj Khramov, Olivier Dupuis, Bruno Mellano, Massimo Lensi; second row: Sjlvia Manzi, Emma Bonino, Daniele Capezzone; first row: Rita Bernardini, Luca Coscioni

14 November - European Parliament - Afghanistan, Human Rights
While speaking during a debate at the EP on the international political situation, Emma Bonino proposes holding a Satyagraha, a "world day of fasting and nonviolence", with the aim of establishing a new Afghan government in which women are represented; in other words, those who have suffered most from the atrocities inflicted by Taliban totalitarianism. Over 6,000 citizens from 100 countries participate in the day of fasting on 1 December, including many ministers of different nationalities, political leaders, non-governmental organisations and nearly 500 parliamentarians; international personalities such as former UN Secretary General Boutros Ghali, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel laureates Rita Levi Montalcini, Rigoberta Menchu and Benazir Bhutto and French Health Minister Bernard Kouchner; cultural figures like Bernardo Bertolucci and David Grossman; and leading Chinese, Tibetan and Chechen dissidents. Members of the Afghan royal family in exile also participate, including Mostapha Zaher, King Mohammed Zaher Sha's nephew and spokesperson, and Prince Mir Wais Zaher, the monarch's son, who takes part in a press conference held to present the initiative at the Radical headquarters in Rome. Similar press conferences are held in Zagreb, Istanbul and Moscow. Thanks also to the political pressure exerted through the Radical action, two women are included in the new Afghan Government.

Rome - Mir Wais Zaher, Marco Pannella

15 November - European Parliament - Laos, Human Rights
The European Parliament adopts by a very large majority a resolution on the arbitrary arrests and the political situation in Laos, presented by the Foreign Affairs Committee following the arrest and incarceration of Olivier Dupuis and four other Radical activists. After recognising the legitimacy of their action, the EP requests, that the Commission, the Council and Member States do everything in their power to guarantee that the trial of the five leaders of the Laotian student movement who were arrested on 26 October 1999 and have not been heard of since "be held as soon as possible and that it fully respect both international norms and the Constitution of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR)". The Commission is also called upon to request, in accordance with the clauses contained in the cooperation agreement between the European Union and Laos, "that the government of the LPDR guarantee the respect of the civil and political rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and conform with the requests contained in the EP resolution passed on 15 February 2001, including the abolition of Article 59 of the Laotian Criminal Code which provides for a sentence of from one to five years' imprisonment for antigovernment propaganda".

21 November - Italy - Nigeria, Human Rights
A protest is staged by Hands off Cain outside the Nigerian Embassy against the sentence of death by stoning handed down by an Islamic tribunal in Northern Nigeria (in a state where Koranic law was reinstated the previous year) to Safiya Hussaini, a pregnant woman of thirty, found guilty of having premarital sex. Hands off Cain also protests against the hundreds of whippings of young women, also for having sex before marriage; and against the amputation of limbs, which is the punishment for stealing. Concerning these atrocities, Olivier Dupuis presents an urgent question to the European Commission and to the Council.

22 November -Italy: Fossano - Tibet
A public conference on the theme "Tibet: l'esilio dei diritti - la forza della nonviolenza" (Tibet: The Banishment of Rights - The Strength of Nonviolence) is organised by the Associazione Radicale Adelaide Aglietta. Speakers include: Olivier Dupuis, Bruno Mellano (Radical regional councillor in Piedmont), provincial councillor Mario Riu, and the Mayor of Fossano Giuseppe Manfredi. The conference is followed by the inauguration of the permanent display of the Tibetan flag in the lobby of the Fossano Town Hall. So far 60 municipalities in Piedmont have decided to publicly display the Tibetan flag until the Chinese Government and the Tibetan Government in Exile begin negotiations for Tibet's autonomy within China.

22 November - Italy: Rome - Tunisia, Human Rights
During a visit to Italy, Sihem Bensedrine (spokesperson for the Conseil National pour le Libertés de la Tunisie, and one of the leading figures of the movement that opposes the dictatorship of Ben Ali) holds a press conference with Marino Busdachin, member of the Executive of the Transnational Radical Party. At the conference, Bensedrine makes public an open letter she sent to Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who had recently visited Tunisia, in which she denounced the serious and systematic violations of human rights in her country, and concluded with: "Mr. President, I am not sure that the Mediterranean can be united - as you augured in your statement - especially when those countries on the northern side think that democracy is a luxury for those on the southern side".

Sihem Bensedrine, Marino Busdachin

29 November - European Parliament - Cloning for Therapeutic Purposes
During the parliamentary debate concerning the Fiori report on biogenetics - a report with a "prohibitionist" bias (advocating, among other things, a ban on the use of the stem cells of frozen embryos for therapeutic purposes) - Radical MEP Gianfranco Dell'Alba comments: "The choice we Radicals have to make this morning is clear: no to the Fiori Report as it stands; yes to the majority of the amendments presented for the freedom of scientific research, yes to all the types of research for therapeutic purposes that can prolong, and not kill, existing life but not that which exists only in doctrine and which today is lying in the freezers of laboratories waiting to be destroyed". The EP rejects the report, despite the fact that the Commission of Bishops of the European Community sought its approval.

6 December - Brussels - Demonstration, Justice
To coincide with the "Justice and Home Affairs" session of the European Council of Ministers, the President of the Radical deputies at the EP Maurizio Turco and Radical MEP Marco Cappato organise a demonstration outside the EU Council to affirm the European Parliament's power to make decisions and directly control matters concerning justice and home affairs; and to prevent the fight against terrorism being waged to the cost of democracy and the principles of the rule of law.

7-8 December - Czech Republic: Prague - International Criminal Court (ICC)
A Regional Intergovernmental Conference on the International Criminal Court is organised in Prague by the Czech Foreign Ministry and the Radical association No Peace Without Justice, under the patronage of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union. Fifteen countries from Central Europe and the Balkans participate in the conference, with a view to speeding up procedures necessary for the ratification of the Rome Statute.

13 December - European Parliament - Drugs
The EP passes an amendment, presented on the initiative of Radical MEPs, which reduces by approximately two-thirds, ie 3 million euro, the financing destined for the United Nations programme for the fight against drugs (PNUCID). The vote severely condemns the activities of the programme and its director, Pino Arlacchi, who has been denounced repeatedly by the Radicals.

13 December - Rome - Globalisation
Radicali Italiani present their "Pro-Global" manifesto outside MacDonalds in Piazza del Pantheon. Pierluigi Diaco (opinion-maker and DJ) and the director Giulio Base participate, together with Daniele Capezzone, Secretary of Radicali Italiani. The manifesto, which opposes anti-globalisation theories, proposes, among other things, extending the globalisation of international business to the advantage of developing countries, and extending the reach of democracy in every region of the world.

Pierluigi Diaco, Daniele Capezzone, Giulio Base

18 December - Italy: Milan - Nigeria, Human Rights
On the initiative of the Radicals a motion, signed by all the groups, is presented at the Regional Council of Lombardy to urge Nigeria not to carry out the sentence of death by stoning against Safiya Husseina, convicted of having premarital sex.

19 December - Italy: Rome - Death Penalty, Islam
During a press conference to present the campaign "Hands off Bin Laden" promoted by Hands off Cain, the Secretary of the association Sergio D'Elia comments: "We are against the death penalty in all cases, for anyone who has committed a crime and therefore also terrorists and Osama Bin Laden". Carla Del Ponte (Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunal for crimes committed in the Former Yugoslavia) is one of the speakers at the conference.

Elisabetta Zamparutti, Sergio D'Elia, Carla Del Ponte, Oliviero Toscani, Marco Pannella

20 December - England: Stockport - Drugs
As an act of solidarity towards their colleague Chris Davies - MEP with the ELDR Group (Liberal Democrat) - who carried out an act of civil disobedience (he went to the police in Stockport and told them he possessed a small amount of cannabis, to protest against the arrest of the owner of a coffee shop run on the lines of the Dutch model), MEPs Marco Cappato and Maurizio Turco go to the Stockport lawcourts. The same day Marco Cappato goes to the police station, confessing that he too has some cannabis. After being arrested for one night and after appearing briefly before the Magistrates' Court (a court with minor civil and criminal jurisdiction), his trial is remitted to the Crown Court, where, together with Davies, he risks heavier criminal and administrative sanctions, but where it will be possible to juridically contest the merits of the charges and of the law.

Chries Davies, Maurizio Turco, Marco Cappato

28 December - Russia: Moscow - Antimilitarism
The ARA holds a "non-authorised" demonstration outside the recruiting office of the Russian military to denounce the serious irregularities in the Army's enlistment procedure, in particular the actual "press-ganging" of conscientious objectors and young recruits who are not interviewed by the selection board and are sent by military commissariats to unknown centres.