On Wednesday 20 June 2018, during the 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Nonviolent Radical Party Transnational Transparty (NRPTT) and the Global Committee for the Rule of Law “Marco Pannella” (GCRL) in collaboration with the Permanent Representation of Italy to the International Institutions in Geneva, held the conference “S.O.S. Rule of Law”.
Speakers included Italian Amb. Massimo Bellelli, the head of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Gianni Magazzeni, Prof. Oreste Foppiani, Associate of History and International Policy at the Webster University in Geneva, GCRL Secretary General Matteo Angioli who read the speech by GCRL President Amb. Giulio Terzi and the UN Representative of the PRNTT Laura Harth.
The discussion kicked off with a message by Ben Ferencz, Chief Prosecutor of the United States in the Einsatzgruppen case at the Nuremberg Trials. The conference took place the day after the announcement by US Amb. Nikki Haley of the withdrawal of the USA from the UN Human Rights Council.
NRPTT and GCRL had early sent an SOS on the overall condition of the rule of law on 13 May 2016, just a few days before the death of Marco Pannella. So, on 20 June we returned to the UN honored and excited to have been able to open the discussion with an inspiring speech by an American citizen such as Ben Ferencz who took the opportunity to reiterate the warning of President Dwight Eisenhower in 1961, on the dangers posed by the military-industrial complex.
The debate highlighted the most pressing and disturbing situations afflicting various areas of the world, which the Radical Party is following closely: from the Middle Eastern with the role played by Iran to the Syrian tragedy, from the tremendous repression in Venezuela to the slightly less violent one in Cambodia, from environmental protection to the promotion of the right to know in the UN system.
We are grateful for the active support of the Italian Permanent Representation and for the encouragement expressed by Mr. Magazzeni who illustrated the positive results produced by the UPR and the steps to be taken in terms of implementing the recommendations issued. We hope this positive collaboration with all the actors involved will continue under the guidance of excellent teachers like Marco Pannella, Cherif Bassiouni and, last but not least, Ben Ferencz.
The video of the conference is available (in English) at this page