The Guardian 14 June, 2006
"For a world order of peace and justice"
Communiqué of the
Executive Committee of the World Peace Council
The Executive Committee of the World Peace Council (WPC) concluded its meeting last month in Brasilia. The following is the statement from the Executive Committee meeting:
The WPC is welcoming today the developments taking place on this continent, we could thus say that the heart of progressive humankind, and therefore the heart of the peace movement, the WPC, beats in Latin America — in Cuba, in Venezuela, in Bolivia, where their peoples, defying imperialist intimidation, are finding and blazing new paths to the peoples’ benefit.
The attention of the world is currently focused on Iran, which we cannot examine in isolation from general developments. To a great degree it is linked to the overall imperialist policy, first and foremost by the USA, which is trying in many ways to impose global domination, to control the wealth — producing resources of the planet and to subjugate any country or people that put up resistance.
The immediate and essential task of the peace movements, the peoples’ movements and naturally the WPC, is to mobilise the peoples [against] the policy of pre-emptive war and thus to stop a new war, deeply linked with the demand for immediate withdrawal of all occupation forces from Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. Today it becomes even more urgent to denounce and fight back the nuclear blackmail and threats of the US administration, which could end in a total disaster with unending consequences.
The WPC reiterates its demands for the abolition of all nuclear weapons, and to stop the creation of new ones. The WPC rejects and condemns the pre-emptive war doctrine of the US administration in this context.
The USA is trying to use the United Nations as an instrument for legitimating their plans for domination. However it faces difficulties and contradictions. In cases where the US cannot impose its will on the UN, "willing allies" appear prepared to violate international law and UN principles. The WPC is underlining the urgency to fight plans to incorporate NATO into the UN system.
The WPC will promote a campaign to rally broader forces around the struggle against war — for a world order of peace and justice based on the founding charter of the UN.
At the same time we are witnessing a further militarisation of the European Union, whereas its major forces are competing with other imperialist forces for control of markets and resources around the world. In total discordance with the will of the peoples in Europe, the reactionary content of the EU constitution is being applied step by step in all spheres of life, despite the "NO" in the French and Dutch referenda.
The WPC will strengthen its cooperation with other social and peoples’ movements against neo-liberal policies. Over the past year widespread privatisations and the deregulation of services have been promoted with growing urgency and pressure in order that conditions might be created for the multinational corporations to engage in yet greater plunder of social wealth. Common actions and initiatives for cuts in military budgets are becoming more and more important as a common ground in the struggle for peace.
Likewise the US and its allies are challenging even the will of peoples expressed in elections or referenda. The WPC denounces all interventions such as in Palestine, Belarus, Cyprus and Zimbabwe.
Africa is the target of new economic and political interference and exploitation by old and neo-colonial rulers, aiming to further plunder its resources and at the same time lay the ground for new markets. The WPC denounces the imperialist imposition of economic sanctions on countries which do not comply with the demands of the powerful, using the pretext of lack of democracy and violation of "human rights", and underlines the sovereign rights of each people for self-determination. In this context we demand the lifting of the economic sanctions by the USA and the EU against the Zimbabwean people and for its right to determine its own future.
The WPC views also with concern the deteriorating situation in Sudan and expresses its support for a sustainable solution of peace, without any foreign military intervention.
The WPC congratulates Angola for the achievement of peace and calls upon all to support the consolidation and reconstruction of Angola.
The WPC supports the peaceful and independent reunification of the Korean peninsula and expresses its solidarity with the Korean people in their fight against the military presence of US troops on their soil. The WPC firmly opposes the acceleration of the integration of Japan in the military plans of the US and the reinforcement of the US bases in Japan.
The Executive Committee expresses its profound solidarity with the Palestinian people, in their ongoing suffering from the Western-backed Israeli occupation. We reaffirm our support of the only possible solution of the conflict with the establishment of an independent State of Palestine in the borders prior to Israel’s June 1967 invasion and occupation, and with East Jerusalem as its capital. We demand the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and the release of all political prisoners.
Despite the negative tendencies and contradictions, the WPC is expressing its strong will and optimism that the situations described above can be resolved.