To the President of the Council
of Ministers, Massimo D'Alema
To the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Lamberto Dini
To the Minister for Equal Opportunities,
Laura Balbo
To the President of the United
States, William Clinton
To the Secretary General of Nato,
Javier Solana
To the Presidency of the Council
of the European Union
To the Presidenccy of the European
Commission
To the Equal Opportunities Section
of Directorate General V, European Commission, Soledad Blanco
1) The 'Hannah Arendt School of Politics' during the course of an international seminar entitled 'Presence: Women in the Public Sphere', mindful of the complexity of the historical and political circumstances and of the necessity that entire peoples, women and children among them, should be protected from an ethnocratic regime and its policies of ethnic cleansing, has engaged in a painful and searching debate over the legitimacy and effectiveness of the war currently being waged in Serbia-Montenegro and Kosovo.
2) The bypassing of the United Nations by the United States and its President, the choice of European countries not to develop an independent foreign policy consistent with the values of peace and coexistence expressed in the founding articles of the Union, the overextension of aims and territorial scope implicit in Nato's actions, the forcing of the legal limits set by the Italian Constitution with respect to the waging of war, all indicate a climate of illegality and the affirmation of a militaristic culture which has been largely accepted, and which has gained the upper hand in the debate over the new principles and rules of international law.
3) This makes recourse to the use of force appear the only and exclusive option, whereas in fact there have existed for years alternative procedures, such as those developed by women, in civic society and by international organisations which research and experiment with non-violent means of conflict resolution. This experience has been ignored in the process of negotiation, with the result that we are continually faced with the dilemma of either allowing the violation of men and women's human rights or resorting to war. This situation corresponds to the interest of the economically, politically and militarily strong powers, but takes little account of the basic needs and desire to live together of the majority. Moreover, it has been clear since the Bosnian war that unless timely support was provided to the democratic opposition in Serbia and Kosovo, the outcome would be repressive and bloody.
4) In the tragic times in which we now live, women in Serbia, who belong to groups which have voiced feminist and pacifist sentiments, other women in Kosovo, who have been forced to hide from the repression of the Yugoslav army, attempt to maintain relations both among themselves and with us, women who come from a Western world which they have now come to fear. Often the opportunities for public debate which they have created during the years of interminable wars in the Balkans, have been among the few in which democratic practices have had a chance to flourish.
5) We should therefore pay urgent attention to the recommendations, made at the Beijing Platform of Action, that responsible and competent female figures, with experience in non-violent conflict resolution should take part in the negotiations which decide the fate of entire populations. To these women, indeed, the link between violence towards women and militarism is clear; it is clear to them that negotiations must lead to solutions which recognise the grounds for conflict of each party. We ask for the immediate cessation of the bombardment and violence. We also ask that competent women, active in the society and institutions concerned, be included in the process of negotiation.
6) We recognise that whoever wishes to build a just and effective alternative to the symmetric logic of human rights violations and military action must dramatically improve the existing situation and achieve a wider consensus. It is a radical task which awaits us. However, in opposing our voices, vision and actions to the choices made by President Clinton, the governments of Europe, Nato, Milosevic and the forces of nationalism we are fulfilling a duty which cannot be neglected.
On behalf of the 'Hannah Arendt School of Politics': Associazione di donne "Orlando", Centro interculturale delle donne "Almaterra", Associazione di ricerca, cooperazione e formazione interculturale tra donne "Crinali", Cooperativa di ricerche statistiche e sociali "Prospecta", "ONDA - Organizzazione Nazionale Donne Autonome", Osservatorio sul lavoro delle donne di Milano, Donatella Barazzetti, Maria Grazia Ruggerini (Cooperativa di studi e ricerche sociali "Le Nove"), Gabriella Rossetti (Università di Ferrara), Lidia Menapace, Chiara Sebastiani.
Assents Bernadette Rigaud, Anna Draghetti, Maria Merelli, Paola Vinay, Sandro Cittadini, Rivista Mare (Monica Lanfranco), Tina Capone, Stefania Doglioli, Scuola di Lenor (an) Marisa Saracinelli, Adriana Perrotta Rabissi (MI), Foglio il paese delle donne redazione di Firenze Milly Mazzei, Libreria delle Donne di Firenze, Mili Romano, Arcilesbica (PD) Elisabetta Torresin, Ass. Casa della donna (PI) Cristina Calasso, Elisabetta Campus, Angila Falconetti, Maria Blanco Facal, "Trame di Terre" Ass. Donne Native e Migranti-Imola, "Commissione pari Oppurtunita'" (AN), Sara Gandini Ist. Europeo di Oncologia (MI), Cristina Cecchini consigliera regionale Marche, Donne che militano nella Ass. "Rinnovare la Sinistra"(Pesaro),Liana Chiappa insegnnte di Osimo, Silvana Amati Presidente Consiglio Regionale Marche, Lidia Licari John Hopkins University Bo, Osservatorio delle Donne Trevigiane "La Panchina", Maria Assunta Vecchi Storia e Sociologia, Monica Naldi Arcilesbica "Zami" Milano Desiderandae (Bari),Gabriella Grasso, Centro Documentazione Donne di Bari,Antonietta Pastore di Torino.
