We have a right to peace!

The ………. Town (City, Province or Regional) Council

concerned by the continuing outbreaks of war and violent conflict in many parts of the world, not least in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Asia and Africa;

considering the ground-breaking initiative undertaken by the UN Human Rights Council concerning the drafting of a United Nations Declaration on the right to peace as a fundamental right of peoples and individuals;

sharing Pope Francis’ hope that “there will be an effective application in international law of the right to peace as a fundamental human right and a necessary prerequisite for every other right”;

determined to ensure that the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War kick-starts a broad-based mobilisation aiming to eliminate the fateful right of states to make war (ius ad bellum) and usher in the era of the right to positive peace (ius ad pacem);

convinced that disarmament, human development and international cooperation are essential to tackling the current economic crisis while respecting the principles of social justice and the indivisible, interdependent and interrelated nature of all human rights, be they economic, social, civil, political or cultural;

whereas, once adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Declaration on the Right to Peace will:

• render states’ obligations more visible and non-deferrable, starting from real disarmament and increasing the power and democratisation of the United Nations and the other legitimate multi-lateral institutions;
• boost further initiatives promoting the respect of all human rights for all people, the rule of law, the welfare state and democratic principles;
• contribute to the development of a universal culture of human rights through the running of special education and training programmes, particularly for young people, on peace, human rights, democratic citizenship and inter-cultural dialogue;

bearing in mind that social peace and international peace are interdependent and indissolubly linked, as stated in article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized”;

acknowledging the international campaign for the recognition of the human right to peace, promoted by the Italian Coordination of Local Authorities for Peace and Human Rights, by the University Human Rights Centre and the UNESCO Chair in Human Rights, Democracy and Peace at the University of Padua and by the Network of the Perugia-Assisi Peace March, which aims, among other things, to contribute to the final shaping of the text of the Declaration through proposals to be submitted to the special Working Group of the Human Rights Council;

welcoming the meeting that took place in Geneva at the headquarters of the United Nations, on June 23, 2014, when a delegation of the Italian Coordination of Local Authorities for Peace and Human Rights, jointly with the Human Rights Centre and the UNESCO Chair of the University of Padua, and the Sacred Convent of St. Francis of Assisi submitted the dossier containing the first hundred petitionary motions adopted by Italian municipalities, provinces and regions, to the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Working Group, the Permanent Representative of Italy, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as to some non-governmental organisations;

convinced that the following meeting at the Italian Senate, on July 3, 2014, with the President of the Commission for Human Rights and the President of the Senate, to whom a delegation of mayors submitted the mentioned dossier containing the hundred petitionary motions, represents a first significant commitment of the Italian Parliament toward the international recognition of the human right to peace;

hoping that the current city diplomacy initiative for peace and human rights continues with ever greater conviction and participation of local authorities and associations in Italy as well as in other countries;

sharing the contents of the draft Declaration on the right to peace, as prepared by the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council, commending, in particular, its vision of a world order and the interconnection between human rights and peoples’ rights;

acting in conformity with articles 2 and 11 of the Italian Constitution and with the relevant rules and principles of international human rights law;

recalling article _____ of the Town (City, Province or Regional) Council Statute wherein it is stated that (quote the article of the statute in which the right to peace is recognised)

recalling also the provisions of article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, ratified by Italy in 1977: “Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law”;

firmly determined to implement the aforementioned rules fully and consistently, and fully aware of the responsibilities incumbent on the local authorities as the fundamental pole of subsidiarity and the primary supplier of essential services to their citizens;

reaffirming therefore the right of the Town (City. County, Regional) Council to participate in the international decision-making processes which are most closely connected to the fundamental rights of the person and of peoples, as legitimised by the Town (City, County or Regional) Statute and by the 1999 United Nations Declaration “on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”;

acting as spokespersons for the citizens’ aspirations for timely progress in the building of a world order that is peaceful, just, nonviolent, and democratic;

recalling the General Assembly of the United Nations’ Resolution 67/173 of 22 March 2013 entitled “Promotion of Peace as a vital requirement for the full enjoyment of all human rights by all”, which reaffirms “the duty of all States, in accordance with the principles of the Charter, to use peaceful means to settle any dispute to which they are parties and the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, as a vital requirement for the promotion and protection of all human rights of everyone and all peoples”;

the Town (City, Province or Regional) Council of ...

welcomes and supports the initiative of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the recognition of peace as a fundamental human right of the human person and of peoples;

calls upon the Italian Parliament and Government to actively participate in the finalisation of the text of the Declaration, first and foremost with a view to acknowledging Article 1 of the draft Declaration prepared by the aforementioned Advisory Committee, the text of which reads as follows:
1. Individuals and peoples have a right to peace. This right shall be implemented without any distinction or discrimination for reasons of race, descent, national, ethnic or social origin, colour, gender, sexual orientation, age, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, economic situation or heritage, diverse physical or mental functionality, civil status, birth or any other condition.
2. States, severally and jointly, or as part of multilateral organizations, are the principal duty-holders of the right to peace.
3. The right to peace is universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.
4. States shall abide by the legal obligation to renounce the use or threat of use of force in international relations.
5. All States, in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, shall use peaceful means to settle any dispute to which they are parties.
6. All States shall promote the establishment, maintenance and strengthening of international peace in an international system based on respect for the principles enshrined in the Charter and the promotion of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development and the right of peoples to self-determination.

also calls upon Parliament and the Government to press the institutions of the European Union (Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2012) and the governments of the member states to adopt a common position in line with the values declared in the Lisbon Treaty and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and to make active and constructive contributions to the drafting of the Declaration on the Right to Peace;

invites the Human Rights Commission of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies to adopt the present petitionary motion;

supports and commits itself to active participation in the international campaign for the recognition of the human right to peace promoted by the Italian Coordination of Local Authorities for Peace and Human Rights, by the University Human Rights Centre and the UNESCO Chair in Human Rights, Democracy and Peace at the University of Padua and by the Network of the Perugia-Assisi Peace March.