The Transnational Radical Party (TRP) is the evolution of a Gandhian non-violent international political organization founded in Italy in 1955. The TRP is a membership-based organization to which anybody can be a member regardless of gender, race or philosophical and political orientation. Members include everyday citizens as well as elected officials, both from Parliaments and Governments of different countries and different political affiliations. All members pay their dues on an annual basis. The amount is set for 1% of the member’s residence country’s per capita GDP.

Since its affiliation with the Economic and Social Council in 1995, the TRP has participated in several United Nations fora and focused its United Nations-related work on the promotion and ascertainment of civil and political rights; support for all bilateral and multilateral actions to promote democracy worldwide; support of the activities of the United Nations ad hoc and special Tribunals and for the establishment of an International Criminal Court; the support of the adoption of a universal moratorium of capital executions by the United Nations General Assembly; support for a reform of the United Nations Conventions on Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances; support for use of Internet Technologies the world over to foster civil liberties and democracy; as well as support for freedom of scientific research and for a civilian conversion of military expenses and linguistic rights.

 

 

For the four years, the TRP has sent delegations to the high level segments of the substantive sessions of the Economic and Social Council. The TRP has sent delegations to the 59th , 60th  and 61st  sessions of the Commission on Human Rights and to the 1st and 2nd session of the UN Human Rights Council delivering statements on civil, political and economic, social and cultural rights; women’s, children’s as well as indigenous rights. In addition, the TRP has organized, in collaboration with other United Nations-affiliated NGOs, briefings for delegations as well as meetings with the press at the United Nations in Geneva on the issues of the role of the community of democracies in the human rights reform, religious freedom, freedom of scientific research, the moratorium of death penalty.

The TRP also participated in the 3rd Session of the Human Rights Council, 29 November to 8 December 2006 with a joint written statement on the disappearance of the Panchen Lama.

 

The TRP has sent delegations to the 55th and 56th sessions of the Sub-Commission on Human Rights, delivering statements on racial discrimination, economic social, cultural and indigenous rights as well as administration of justice. The TRP has organized briefings for delegations as well as meetings with the press at the United Nations in Geneva.

The TRP has sent delegations to the 46th, 47th, 48th and 49th sessions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs delivering statements on treatment for addicts, drug-related prison sentences, supply reduction, and to introduce licensed opium production in Afghanistan for pharmaceutical painkillers. In addition a delegation attended the 2003 Ministerial Segment of the Commission participating in the activities organized by the Vienna NGO Committee on Alcohol and Substance Abuse at the United Nations in Vienna.

The TRP has sent delegations to the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 at the United Nations Headquarter in New York, participating in several interacting sessions.

The TRP has sent delegations to the 56th, 57th, 58th and 59th Annual Department of Public Information/NGO Conference at the United Nations Headquarter in New York.

 From 10 to 12 December 2003, the TRP has sent delegates to the Preparatory Committee for the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and its inter-sessional meetings from 15 to 18 July 2003 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. TRP’s position papers have been formally submitted to the WSIS and can be retrieved at the Summit’s site http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/md/03/wsispc3/c/S03-WSISPC3-C-0045!!PDF-E.pdf. The TRP sent a delegation to the Summit in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003, where, together with the World Federalist Movement, it organized a briefing on “Democracy and the Digital Divide”.

From September 8 to 12, 2003, the TRP sent a delegation to the United Nations Development Programme 5th International Conference of New or Restored Democracies held in Mongolia and to its Civil Society Forum. A TRP member was accredited by the Italian Government to the Conference as the NGO person on the Italian delegation.

The TRP participated in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in two phases: the first one in Geneva, hosted by the Government of Switzerland from 10 to 12 December 2003, and the second one in Tunis hosted by the Government of Tunisia, from 16 to 18 November 2005, where it organized a briefing entitled “P2P File-Sharing, Digital Rights, and e-Democracy” to stress the importance guaranteeing freedom of expression and communication through the Internet.

 In 10-21 May 2004 and 15-26 May 2006, the TRP has sent a delegation to the 3rd and 5th Sessions of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York and organized a side event with organizations affiliated with the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

In March 2005, the TRP sent a delegation to the 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York (28 February-11 March 2005) and held meetings with its members.

 

 

Over the years, the TRP has participated in the activities of several NGO Committees and coalitions such as the NGO Committee on Alcohol and Substance Abuse both in New York and Vienna, the NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court, and the NGO Coalition for an International Auxiliary Language, which it co-founded and the NGO Human Rights Committee in New York. From 2003 to 2006 the TRP continued to be part of a Steering group of NGOs that promotes activities concerning the reform of the United Nations Human Rights system. For eight years the TRP has been a member of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organization in Consultative Status (CONGO).

In June 2006, the TRP, jointly with the organization Hands Off Cain, launched the campaign “Hands off Saddam” with the goal of a suspension of the execution of Saddam Hussein. A campaign endorsed by dozens of Nobel Laureates, hundreds of parliamentarians and supported by public opinion worldwide.

 

 

A delegation of the TRP has participated in the Third Ministerial Meeting of Community of Democracies (COD) in Santiago, Chile from April 28th to April 30th 2005. The TRP was part of a group of leaders of human rights and pro-democracy organizations that issued a call for action to the newly created United Nations Democracy Caucus. The Caucus was mandated by the Community of Democracies’ (COD) process, a global coalition of over 100 democratic and democratizing nations committed to the promotion and strengthening of democracy and human rights. The group appealed in a letter to the foreign ministers of the Convening Group countries of the COD to ensure that the Democracy Caucus would have taken a lead role in Geneva to censuring some of the world's worst human rights violations. The TRP has participated in sessions of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in New York and the Hague.

The TRP maintains a web site at www.radicalparty.org where press releases, action alerts as well as a variety of United Nations-related position papers can be found. It also publishes a free of charge electronic newsletter English, French, Spanish, Italian and Esperanto called Radical Fax, which contains updates on its United Nations-related activities.

 

 

In addition to participating in ad hoc meetings concerning the role and possible developments of the United Nations system, several TRP members have issued public statements and published commentaries in major newspapers on the subject of the United Nations. In particular, a worldwide mobilization was launched in January 2003, to gather support for a non-violent resolution of the Iraqi crisis and to urge a prominent role of the United Nations in the nation building process of that country. Thousands of citizens from over 160 countries endorsed the idea as well as some 600 Parliamentarians from a dozen countries.

Also, in 2006, the TRP, jointly with Hands Off Cain, re-launched its campaign to promote the adoption by the United Nations of a resolution to call on United Nations member states to adopt a moratorium on capital executions, focusing on the leadership role that the United Nations can play in the advancement of international law and human rights.