PHOTO OF THE MONTH – Brussels, 23 October 2020: sit-in by activists of the Cambodian opposition in Europe and the Nonviolent Radical Party Transnational Tranaparty in front of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
Dear friend,
the monthly newsletter of the Global Committee for the Rule of Law “Marco Pannella” is back with a full range of news and initiatives carried out over the last few months, in particular our key campaign for the recognition of the Right to Know, which continues at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe where we are working on a background report with the invaluable of help of Helen Darbishire of Access Info.
We talked about it on 16 September in a conference in the Senate organized to illustrate the next steps in Strasbourg. The conference was held exactly on the 20th anniversary of the murder of Radio Radicale journalist, Antonio Russo. The publication of the speeches at the conference are dedicated to his memory.
Changing subject, on 29 October the association Liberi Cittadini (LC) and the Nonviolent Radical Party Transnational Transparty (NRPTT) organized a roundtable discussion entitled “Cambodia and the Murdering of a Democracy” to look at the situation in Cambodia as the Thai protests unfold. Participants shed a light on the crackdown of rule of law and opposition rights in Cambodia. Participants included our Honorary member Sam Rainsy and Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch Phil Robertson.
Furthermore, our President Giulio Terzi analyzes the developments in the Middle East with a focus on Iran and took part in a press conference we organized with Tibetan friends in Rome in support of Chinese minorities on the 71st anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.
Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s most pro-democracy newspaper founded and directed by Jimmy Lai, will host a bimonthly Opinion by Laura Harth. In her second article, Laura describes our initiative on the right to know. Laura also wrote a piece on the Chinese influence in Italy for Formiche.net.
On 11th October, Jianli Yang spoke at a UN Watch press conference and invited all Member States of the UN Human Rights Council not to vote in favor of China, which was eventually elected anyway. “If it were an election for a ‘Council for Human Rights Violators’, it would be more than appropriate to vote for China”, said Jianli.
Great contributions coming from our researchers Lorenzo Domizi and Alessia Schiavon who interviewed respectively Kimmo Hakonen, Finnish Intelligence Ombudsman and Adam J. Foss former US Deputy District Attorney on a proposal to reform the justice system aimed at reducing the use of criminal law.
Last but not least, Senator Roberto Rampi and myself went to Krakow, Poland, to meet judge Dariusz Mazur, on the frontline against the reform of the judicial system which has already brought about a dangerous government influence in tribunals, including the Country’s top courts.
I guess that’s all for now. Please, visit our website and our Facebook and Twitter pages to catch up with our latest news. If you wish to support us, you can make a donation through this page. Thank you very much.
All the best
Matteo Angioli