Dakar 2003
Liberal International welcomes the inauguration on 16 June 2003 of the first Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. At the same time, LI condemns the pressure of the current US Administration against countries that refuse to weaken their commitment to the ICC in order to prevent this crucial instrument of international justice from building up the strength it needs to do its work successfully. LI supports all efforts which are made in order to create the conditions which make it possible to welcome the United States of America as a party to the ICC.
The Congress of Liberal International notes that sometime after the international armed conflict in Afghanistan more than 600 combatants and non-combatants, including a number of children, are being held in Guantanamo Bay (Cuba). LI is concerned for the conditions of detention of these persons and believes that, as they are defined “unlawful combatants” – a definition that is not contemplated in international law – their detention is unlawful. LI believes that children should only be detained as a last resort and that the detention of these young people constitutes a flagrant breach of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Fundamental human rights should be upheld also in the war against terrorism.
LI urges the United States of America to bring conditions of detention in Guantanamo Bay into conformity with internationally recognised legal standards, to uphold article 4 and 5 of the Third Geneva Convention and to release those noncombatants who are not charged with crimes immediately.
The Congress of Liberal International condemns the recent crackdown on democracy in Cuba, particularly apparent in the arrest of around 80 democracy workers across Cuba, and the extremely harsh sentences they were given following unfair trials under the Law of Protection of National Independence and Economy of Cuba or the Cuban penal code.
Liberal International demands that the Cuban government respects the strong opinion shown by 24,000 signatures asking for a referendum on basic human liberties in accordance with the Cuban constitution.
LI believes the heavy sentences imposed against non-violent Cuban dissidents – whose sole crime is to hold opinions that differ from the government’s and to have contacts with American diplomats – are unjustified and draconian. These arrests are deplorable, and we insist that the Cuban government releases these dissidents immediately. Unless corrected, the recent actions of the Cuban government will only undermine efforts to expand contacts between Cuba and the international community.
Liberal International is also deeply concerned about the violation of the three-year de facto moratorium on the death penalty, which marks a serious erosion of Cuban human rights. There is no justification for the inhuman, cruel, disproportionate and shocking summary executions of the three ferry hijackers.
Liberal International welcomes the recent vote in the upper house of Argentina’s parliament to abolish amnesty laws, which protect members of the former military governments of Argentina from prosecution for human rights abuses. This vote opens the way for charges to be brought against hundreds of security officials suspected of murder and torture during the military dictatorship.
Liberal International is gravely concerned by the continuing violence in Colombia, largely funded by organised crime and insists that combating this requires not only international cooperation amongst police in the democratic world, but also economic policies to make the Colombian poor less dependent on the sale of harmful drugs.
Congress welcomes the new generation of leaders in Latin America, acknowledges the great challenges facing the continent, and urges continued democratic and cross border solutions.
Liberal International welcomes the move towards progressive economic and social reform in Brazil.
LI notes the democratic protests and petition signed by over 2.5 million people in Venezuela, calling for a referendum on the presidency of Mr Chavez, notes with concern the reports of discrimination against signatories of the petition, and urges recognition of the democratic processes.
