Brussels 1999
True and lasting democracy can only be built on the foundations of civic society, where the position of liberal forces in the democratic centre is strong. There can be no justification for terrorism nor for violence where citizens can participate through democratic means in the determination of their future.
Stable democracy is more than an armistice between the extremes. Liberal International fully supports international military peace keeping forces such as SFOR/IFOR or within the UN framework.
War, political instability and persistent violations of political and human rights are among the main causes of an increasing stream of refugees in many parts of the world, particularly Africa and South East Europe. The Liberal International supports the work of the UNHCR and the governments that shelter refugees and underlines the refugees right to seek asylum according to the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees. Liberal International supports the work of the OSCE.
Liberal International calls for specific attention to the situation of refugees resulting from violations of minority rights.
As regards the Northern Ireland peace agreements Liberal International endorses the efforts made by the British and Irish Governments and by democratic parties in both countries to reach a settlement in Northern Ireland which will allow not only the nationalist minority and the unionist majority but indeed all sections of the community to live on terms of mutual respect.
Liberal International recalls the fact that Kosovo, which has a 90% Albanianspeaking population, was an autonomous region of former Yugoslavia with the rights of a federal unit, which has since 1989 suffered under the systematic violence of the Serbian regime of President Milosevic, under which virtually all fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to life, have been violated. We believe that the continuing problems in Kosovo can only be solved through the establishment of autonomy for Kosovo which will be accepted by the Albanian majority in the region, one which enforces their civic and national interests and respects the similar interests of other ethnic groups.
Liberal International Congress expresses its disappointment with the lack of progress in the peace process in the Middle East. While reiterating our concern at the growing danger of fundamentalist terrorism and the violation of human rights, we call upon all parties to resume serious negotiations to ensure peace and security for all peoples in the Middle East. The LI calls for the faster implementation of the peace process in the Middle East as defined by the Agreements signed in Oslo and Wye Plantation. LI deplores all forms of terrorism and sees the advancement of the peace process resulting from increased cooperation between the parties.
We call for specific moves toward a UN-Iraq settlement of difficulties concerning the search for nuclear and chemical weapons and the tools for their creation. We endorse our support for the UN mission and wish that Iraq will open its sites, if only to prove their insufficiency to make or store these weapons.
Liberal International stresses the rights of the UN missions in Africa, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Burundi and Rwanda to investigate the reports of serious infringements of human rights. Furthermore, special attention should be given to the situation in Sierra Leone and Liberia. We stress the necessity of the governments of these nations to restrict their actions to the confines of the international laws on human rights.
Liberal International reiterates its support for a free and fair referendum in the Western Sahara.
For more than two decades of division in Cyprus no progress has been achieved in the search for a just and viable solution of the Cyprus problem and the status quo on Cyprus is unacceptable. All parties involved in the Cyprus question are urged to demonstrate goodwill and work actively towards a lasting and peaceful solution based on tolerance and mutual respect between the communities. Liberal International expresses its strong support for the efforts of the United Nations Secretary General to resolve the Cyprus problem in a just and viable manner at the earliest possible time.
A decision on the future status of Gibraltar must involve the Gibraltarians.
Political instability, particularly caused by the breakdown of the Soviet empire, has resulted in increased nuclear insecurity. This Congress calls upon the nuclear powers and the UN Security Council to tighten restrictions and controls on nuclear proliferation. We also express our concern over the safety risks involved in the operation and decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Central and Eastern Europe and elsewhere, and we call for an increased role for the IAEA in safeguarding these processes, in particular in relation to the millennium problem.
Horrified by extraordinarily high levels of civilian casualties in contemporary wars and by the destruction wrought by conventional weapons, we call upon the UN member states to strengthen the UN Register of Conventional Armaments so as to work towards a more effective international regulation of the arms trade, and to ban land mines and a new generation of laser weapons. We also call upon the UN member states to work for disarmament and to cease all nuclear tests and the production of any sort of chemical and biological weapon. We call on all signatories of nuclear non-proliferation not to flinch from their responsibilities.
