On 02 October 2007, UNPO organised a gathering to commemorate the first International Day of Non-violence. The clouds rested to give UNPO the chance to meet at the Gandhi monument (Hobbemaplein) in The Hague. The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and the United Network of Young Peacebuilders were amongst the participants. Speeches, declarations and quotes were read aloud around the statue (see pdf attachment), where pictures of prominent human right activists and flowers were set up. UNPO collaborators took the opportunity to read the declaration that His Holiness the Dalai Lama had written for this special day. Mrs. Tsering Jampa, from the ICT, moreover offered a touching testimony on the ongoing struggle for human rights in Tibet. Additionally she pronounced a traditional Tibetan account of peace and nonviolence. The successful event concluded with a solemn minute of silence in memory of those who lost their lives in the pursuit of freedom, justice and peace and for those who continue to endeavor in that pursuit.

Press Release:

The Hague, 28 September 2007 – 02 October will mark the birth anniversary of Human Rights Activist, Mahatma Gandhi. For the first time, the United Nations officially proclaimed this day to be the International Day of Nonviolence. 

The name of Gandhi echoes with pacifist values. Throughout his life, Gandhi has been a spiritual leader for millions in his native India and all over the world. Gandhi led the way to the independence of his country through principles of nonviolence, peace, and truth. Today, these values are considered to be universal in part due to Gandhi’s nonviolent activism.

In the spirit of human rights and of Gandhi’s contribution to its promotion, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) will organise an event to commemorate the values Gandhi defended.

On 02 October 2007, from 11:30 to 13:00, UNPO will organise a nonviolent gathering around the Gandhi monument (Hobbemaplein) in The Hague, the Netherlands. Flowers and posters of prominent human rights defenders will be set up around the statue. Moreover, speeches and special declarations will be read out loud. Following this, a solemn minute of silence will be held.

Moreover, this day will be marked by a collective fasting, in order to pay tribute to all those who have died or continue to suffer from the abuse of human rights and violent persecution.

This event will be held in parallel to another nonviolent demonstration which will take place the day before. Indeed, on 01 October from 12:00 until 14:30, UNPO and the East Turkistan Foundation will host a “die-in” in front of the Dutch Parliament (Tweede Kamer, Plein). To protest against the violation of human rights in the regions in China where minorities live, such as East Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, a solidarity march to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China will follow. 

UNPO Secretary General, Mr. Marino Busdachin, stated in prevision of the events that: “through [these events] the Netherlands as well as the world will have an occasion to re-state their allegiance to universal human rights, such as the respect of cultural differences and nonviolence”.

Statement by His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

The United Nations’ recognition of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday as an International Day of Non Violence is a very positive development at a time when, wherever we look, people continue to try to resolve their problems through force and violence.

Many people pay lip-service to the idea of peace and non-violence, what distinguished Gandhi was that he showed how non-violence could be successful in practice in providing an effective approach to the resolution of conflict. His principled stand on the absolute necessity for non-violence during India’s freedom struggle and its ultimate success moved me deeply even as a young boy.

As long as human beings exist there will be disagreements and problems. However, the only way to resolve to violence may, at best, provide a temporary solution, but will be detrimental in the long run. As can be seen from current developments in many different parts of the world, violence always gives rise to misery and thus is essentially counter-productive.

The past century was in many ways a century of war and bloodshed. A great number of human beings were killed in two world wars. Since then there has been a tremendous increase in defense spending in most countries of the world. People and governments continue to turn to violence almost as a first resort in their attempts to resolve religious, political, and economic disputes. Therefore, while passage of a UN resolution supporting non-violence marks a very good beginning, what is much more important is that leaders of the UN’s member states start to take concrete steps to put this powerful idea into practice.

How can we help this come about? I believe we each have a responsibility to encourage non-violence in our world. We must first work on cultivating a sense of inner disarmament before turning our focus to physical disarmament. By inner disarmament I mean ridding ourselves of the negative emotions that result in violence and cultivating their opposites, feelings like love, compassion and forgiveness. Physical disarmament includes the abolition of weapons of mass destruction, starting with nuclear weapons, but should lead ultimately a far-reaching demilitarization of the world. I believe we human beings have the capacity to meet this challenge, and that it is in our interests to do so.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama 

September 29, 2007 

Statement by UNPO General Secretary: 

For thousands of years the history of mankind has been marked heavily and regrettably by violence, exterminations, wars and genocide. The twentieth century has without a doubt experienced incredible levels of cruelty and violence. More than one hundred million people have been killed, tortured and devastated by wars, religious and ethnic conflicts. And a nightmare of icons such as Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot left disastrous marks on the course of humanity. Crimes of war, crimes against humanity, genocide and armed aggression became common words and an unfortunate routine.

But the last century also brought an alternative revolutionary proposal of action: nonviolence. From Mahatma Gandhi to Martin Luther King and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, they all expressed totally different ideas and actions which marked our history. 

When Gandhi entered into politics in the 1920s he pointed out the crucial ingredient: politics could be the grounds to develop nonviolence. Shortly thereafter Ahimsa, Satyagraha and fasting became popular forms of political action, as individuals called for the respect of their human, civil and political rights.

UNPO was founded in 1991 on the cornerstone of nonviolence - nonviolence as the tool to be utilized by the poor, the oppressed and the outcasts of the world. The nations and peoples of UNPO are deeply committed to celebrating the first International Day of Nonviolence with compassion and, most importantly, with solidarity with all those which are languishing in prison, tortured and being oppressed chiefly on the basis of their political opinions, religious beliefs and the assertion of their rights of self-determination and democracy. 

UNPO is calling for all on this day to participate in a day of fasting to remember the nonviolent activists everywhere in the world which have lost their lives in the pursuit of freedom, justice and peace.

The Hague, 02 October 2007

UNPO would like to extend its appreciation to those flower vendors, including Fa. Niewenburg Bloemen en Planten (Zoetermeer/Leiden), at the Leiden marketplace, who graciously donated flowers for this occassion.