To Mr. Enver Can
President of the East Turkestan (Uyghuristan) National Congress
Member of the General Council of the TRP

To the friends of the
United General Assembly of East Turkestan National Congress

Message by the President of the Transnational Radical Party Mr. Sergio Stanzani

Rome, April 15, 2004

Mr. President, Delegates to the Assembly
dear Enver,

I am most thankful to all of you and to Enver Can in particular, for having allowed me to address such an important meeting today. The Transnational Radical Party - to which Enver and many within the Uyghur community living outside Easter Turkestan belong - owes you a sign of gratitude for your membership.

Moreover, let me also thank warmly Enver for his support to the struggle for legality carried out by Marco Pannella last week. He was the first non Italian to show his solidarity to Pannella's thirst strike.

Within the system of the United Nations and at the European Parliament, thanks to Enver Can, we have been able to raise the issue of the Uyghurs when Chinese violations of human rights were discussed. It has not been an easy task, but we have started to break a wall of silence. Now we need to address indifference and inaction.

With Enver Can, for months, we have also tried to work out a joint event, where we could discuss non-violence trying to devise ways to assist the Uyghur struggle for freedom and peace. Nonviolence is a method of action that is, possibly, the most complex and demanding among all those that humans have been able to develop.

Despite our good intentions, we have not been able to finalize such an event. I regret that and would like to take this opportunity also to apologize with Enver, and through him to all of you, for having failed to make that conference happen; we have been bombarded by a series of urgent mobilizations that forced us to postpone the gathering.

The decisions that you have been convened to take are of utmost importance for your people but also, allow me to say it, to the Mongols, the Tibetans, the Taiwanese the rest of the Chinese population as well as for the rest of the Asian continent. Freedom for the Uyghurs can only happen if we are able to trigger a democratic revolution in the whole of China, if we are able to urge different groups to work together on a specific objective.

I do not necessarily believe that unity is strength per se, but I believe that through political discussions, debates and joint initiatives, clear and obtainable objectives can be set and reached. The core business of nonviolence is engaging the other in a process that can lead the interlocutor to do what is within the law and within its power.

But how can China respond to nonviolence?

I am afraid that given the authoritarian and totalitarian nation of the Chinese regime, we will have to target democratic nations in our actions asking them not to sacrifice their principles - that are the principles of the United Nations - on the altar of trade and economic development. Only if democratic governments will be able to apply the principle of legality, the respect of their own laws – that oblige them not to invest money where human rights are violated – there is the hope that countries like China will open up to reform.

Soon, the Transnational Radical Party will hold a meeting of its General Council where I hope we will be able to address those issues. I hope that we will be able to strengthen our work also through the conclusions of your deliberations and count on Enver – who is a member of the TRP General Council - to keep us updated on your decisions.

In thanking you once again for having allowed me to address your assembly, let me wish you, on behalf of the Transnational Radical Party a fruitful meeting.


Sergio Stanzani
President
Transnational Radical Party