Štiri nove resolucije

Na kongresu v Indiji, 2018, so bile sprejete štiri resolucije Odbora pisatelji za mir: o Madžarski, Izraelu, o denuklerlarizaciji in o prenehanju uporabe kemijskega orožja.

RESOLUTION #5 ON DENUCLEARISATION

Proposed by PEN INTERNATIONAL WRITERS FOR PEACE COMMITTEE, SLOVENIAN AND JAPANESE PEN

We, the writers assembled at the 48^th PEN International Congress in Pune, note with apprehension:

That while in the past decades the risks of a large scale nuclear war may have declined we are mindful of unacceptable suffering of human, cultural and environmental resources caused by the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the disproportional impact on women, children and the indigenous people the use of such weapons had during and long after the end of the WW2.

That, together with the present threats of the fast changing climate, human inequality and the postcolonial misuse of the human and natural resources, the nuclear liability presents a continuous and an ever present danger to the mankind regardless of the country, region and the continent of its provenance.

That the nuclear threat apart from being a military and political issue of the utmost concern represents a huge social issue in all the countries involved in procurement, development and maintaining their nuclear capability. While the vast resources the rich states spend on improving their nuclear deterrent could be used for far more beneficial causes at home and overseas, economically vulnerable countries can only afford such arms by severely infringing on the welfare of their peoples and at great expense to their civil liberties and basic human rights.

We are convinced that all peoples have a right to peace and that this right should be recognised by the United Nations as a universal human right and are therefore alarmed by the danger of wide-spread proliferation of nuclear capabilities. Such policies, attitudes and positions threaten to accelerate the nuclear arms race instead of diminishing it and are set to endanger world peace in the short term and long into the future.

Therefore the writers of PEN International call on:

-          The UN Security Council to use all necessary means to de-escalate international tension and facilitate the peace efforts.

-          The United Nations to reaffirm in their policies the commitment to non-proliferation treaties and to the moratorium on nuclear testing as well as set a biding target of achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.

-          We call on our members to use their own words to re-engage in developing a PEN culture of disarmament, sadly lacking in agility when – in the words of UN General Secretary António Guterres – ‘the world is more connected, yet societies are becoming more fragmented’ as we speak, and they do so even more if we don’t.

Resolution #26 on the Use of Chemical and Other Indiscriminate Weapons

Proposed by PEN INTERNATIONAL WRITERS FOR PEACE COMMITTEE

We, the members of PEN Intl. Peace Committee, assembled in Bled, Slovenia, on April 17. 2018 recognise the terrible legacy of the battlefield use of poisonous gasses that the Great War of the 20th century (1914-1918) has put on the shoulders of today’s world. 

We are also aware that the Geneva Protocol, which prohibited the use of chemical weapons in warfare, was signed in 1925. Nevertheless, the gas was again used during World War II in the Holocaust in Nazi concentration camps and in Asia.

We note that during the Cold War period an estimated 25 states were developing chemical weapons capabilities, and that after 12 years of negotiations, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was adopted by the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on 3 September 1992. With the entry-into-force of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on 29 April 1997 the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was formally established. Currently over 190 nations have ratified the convention.

We note with frustration the limited terms of the 1980 UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which fails to control adequately the deployment of aerial bombing and heavy artillery resulting in destruction of vast areas outside the immediate zones of conflict and a large number of civilian deaths.

With the above in mind we are resolved that:

·                     Since the UN Chemical Weapons Convention came into force in 1997 their persistent use cannot be justified by any party to conflict.

·                     Stockpiles and development facilities of chemical, biological and other indiscriminative weapons must be eradicated, as agreed under the CWC convention.

·                     While we note the continuing deployment of bombs and heavy artillery in the Middle East and in other undeclared theatres of war, we remain concerned at the potential of governments to ignore or sidestep international treaties on all weapons systems. We call on the UN to seek to further strengthen the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons to give greatly increased protection to civilians and demand of the United Nations Security Council to live up to the hopes placed upon it by citizens and discharge its obligation to preserve peace with determination and a sense of urgency.

·                     We contend that the increasing tendency of governments to advance extreme interpretations of national interest and sovereignty is a serious threat to peace. Governments must respect and follow international law, and must not use national policy as a cloak for their own authoritarianism. We urge all governments to show restraint, mature and conciliatory leadership and to refrain from belligerent action, whether against individuals, their own citizens or other nations. We implore them to take non-discriminatory measures to provide generous help to refugees and all those whose lives are disrupted by conflicts and, especially, to protect and give shelter to minors isolated from accompanying adults.

RESOLUTION ON HUNGARY

Proposed by the Writers for Peace Committee and seconded by French PEN

The Assembly of Delegates of PEN International, meeting at its 84^th annual Congress in Pune, India from 25-29 September 2018

We would like to express our profound concern about allegations of foul play related to the capture of the media landscape[1] in the Hungarian elections of 8 April 2018 that saw Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who champions nativism and has made ‘illiberal democracy’ a tenant of his political ideology, re-elected for a third consecutive term.

Although, in recent years, we have seen rising levels of hate speech before and during election processes in other countries, and a rise to power of some political parties that made use of it, the situation in Hungary stands out.  The apparent landslide victory and consecutive political success of one such party in Hungary - Fidesz – is a cause for concern because of their overt targeting and hateful rhetoric towards immigrants, Roma people, Jewish people, LGBTI individuals, and academics and NGOs critical of the regime.

There were allegations that the press coverage of the campaign and election was highly polarised and lacked critical debate as the consequence of Orbán’s extensive reshaping of the media landscape over the past six years. In a report by the OSCE[2] the elections were characterized ‘by a pervasive overlap between state and ruling party resources, undermining contestants’ ability to compete on an equal basis’.

PEN International is appalled by the findings of the OSCE, as well as the reported racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism by Orbán and other members of his Fidesz party and other right-wing parties which marred the election campaign. In a speech commemorating the 170^th anniversary of the 1848 revolution on 15 March 2018, Orbán reportedly said that ‘we must fight against an opponent which is different from us … they are not national, but international; they do not believe in work, but speculate with money; they have no homeland, but feel that the whole world is theirs’. His rhetoric pits different groups in society against each other, stating that ‘we, the millions with national feelings, are on one side; the elite ‘citizens of the world’ are on the other side … on one side, national and democratic forces; and, on the other side, supranational and anti-democratic forces’.[3]

Typically, Orbán presents George Soros as the leader of this alleged international conspiracy, ‘we are up against media outlets maintained by foreign concerns and domestic oligarchs, professional hired activists, troublemaking protest organisers, and a chain of NGOs financed by an international speculator, summed up and embodied in the name George Soros’.[4]

In his reported speeches, Orbán identifies migration as the key threat to Hungary. Although tied to religious and cultural identity, there is a strong racist undertone, maintaining for instance that ‘Hungarians are an endangered species’. Allegedly, on 8 February, he told a gathering of Hungarian mayors that ‘we do not want to be multi-coloured by being mixed … with others’.[5]

Orbán’s policies that deal with these purported threats have repeatedly violated the country’s international obligations.[6] For one, Hungary’s stance on refugees, including attempts to prevent those seeking international protection from traveling through their borders and the use of draconian measures that entail the treatment of refugees and migrants as criminals, is in breach of international human rights law and refugee law, as well as EU directives. In addition, as documented by PEN International and others, Orbán’s administration has in the past and continues to curtail space for civil society and academic freedom thus limiting dissent. Furthermore, PEN International has documented attempts to politicise also the cultural field, hindering the expression of unfettered artistic freedom.

In view of these concerns highlighted at the 50^th meeting of the Writers for Peace Committee in Bled in 2018, the PEN community reiterates its concern in relation to respect for the rights to freedom of expression and non-discrimination in Hungary.

The Assembly of Delegates of PEN International calls on the government of Hungary to:

·         Investigate and prosecute all racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic crimes, as well as acts that amount to incitement to violence against immigrants, Jewish people and other minority groups

·         End its campaign against dissenting voices, independent civil society groups and certain parts of critical academia and instead publicly recognize the value of these actors in promoting and protecting an open, transparent and tolerant society;

·         End the propagation of xenophobic ideology and instead, take all possible measures to combat xenophobia and anti-refugee sentiment;

·         Repeal all laws that discriminate against or target foreign-funded NGOs.