A Silent Moment
Nelson Mandela's Presidential Inauguration Speech

What’s Going On in Asia?
AUSTRALIA:		ACSJC Calls for Natural Justice for Guantanamo Detainees; Periodic Report to CERD
INDIA:		Hotline Extension Work Expands;
		All India Lawyers Forum for Justice and Peace
INDONESIA:		Moluccas Civil Emergency Lifted, Weapons Surrendered
MALAYSIA:	:	Irene Fernandez Convicted
PAKISTAN:		Democratic Education Program;
		JPW Gathering in Pakistan, February 2005;
		The Martyrs of the Committee for Justice and Peace, Karachi Remembered;
		NCJP Urges Government to Abolish all Discriminatory Laws & Policies
PHILIPPINES:		NASSA Speaks out Against Impeachment
SOUTH KOREA:		Tji Hak-soon Award for Hotline Asia

Issues of Concern
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Resources
End the Use of Children as Soldiers
In Defence of our Sister Water

Events
25th International Human Rights Training Program, Québec, Canada, June 13 - July 2, 2004Nominations for Oak FellowshipJustice & Peace Workers Networking Meeting, 6 - 10 October 2003, Sri Lanka

A Silent Moment

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people will not feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us;
it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people the permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela
extract from his Presidential Inauguration Speech

What’s Going On in Asia?

AUSTRALIA

ACSJC Calls for Natural Justice for Guantanamo Detainees

Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (ACSJC) Chairman, Bishop Christopher Saunders, has written to the Attorney-General calling on the Federal Government to do more to secure natural justice for the two Australians detained by U.S. Authorities at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

He said, "David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib have been detained for two years. They have not been charged with any crime. They have yet to be brought before any court. They have been denied contact with their families and have had no legal representation. Reports from reputable human rights agencies such as Amnesty International and the International Red Cross have raised concerns about the conditions in which they are being held - apparently indefinitely."

Bishop Saunders urged the Government to use its close ties with the United States to end the legal limbo which has meant that two Australian nationals are being denied their most basic legal and human rights.

Periodic Report to CERD

Australia's combined 13th and 14th Periodic Report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was tabled in Federal Parliament in November and was to be transmitted to the Committee by the Australian mission in Geneva shortly therafter. The report details Australia's compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and is an update of activities since Australia's previous appearance before the Committee in March 2000.

The report is available online from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website at: www.dfat.gov.au/reports/cerd.

INDIA

Hotline Extension Work Expands

A second Hotline Extension Worker for India, began work on 1 November. Antony will be based at the office of the National Commission for Justice, Peace and Development in Delhi. We hope that this initiative will improve Hotline's ability to serve the vast country of India.

All India Lawyers Forum for Justice and Peace

The All India Lawyers Forum for Justice and Peace is an initiative of the National Commission for Justice, Peace and Development of the CBCI. It is a response to the growing need for a coordinated effort by lawyers on issues of injustice, human rights violations and conflicts in the society.

A group of lawyers gathered on 9th September to inaugurate the Forum and to plan its future. Fr. Nithiya, the National Secretary of the Commission for Justice, Peace and Development, stressed the resources and potential of dedicated lawyers around the country and the need to network together. The Forum can provide a collective voice for the lawyers on issues of human rights and injustices, and the issues of minorities and Christians in particular. Minorities are presently anxious about taking up human rights issues and injustices because they are liable to be misinterpreted as anti national activities. In such situations, the lawyers could provide legal guidance and take up the issues with the authorities.

INDONESIA

Moluccas Civil Emergency Lifted, Weapons Surrendered

The Civil Emergency for the Moluccas was lifted on 15 September. Since then, 77 firearms and 94 homemade bombs, and a large assortment of traditional weaponry, have been surrendered by civilians to either the police or the military authorities. This has been confirmed by Police Chief Brig.Gen. Bambang Sutrisno. The latest hand-over of bombs, an impressive total of 27 bombs, was made by a minibus driver and his companion, who had found them in a house in Rumahtiga, while cleaning it up for rehabitation. Both were awarded with 1 million Rupiahs (about Eur 100).

MALAYSIA

Irene Fernandez Convicted
Irene Fernandez, who was charged under Section 8A(2) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 for maliciously publishing false news, has been convicted despite the overwhelming evidence of the treatment of migrant workers, whose plight Irene publicised, presented during the course of her trial.

The submission date was brought forward to a time when Irene's lead lawyer, M Purvalen, was abroad. An appeal is now being prepared.

For more information see the ALIRAN website: http://www.aliran.com/

PAKISTAN

Democratic Education Program
Although a civilian government has been in place since November 2002, establishing democracy and the transfer of power to the elected representatives remains the core human rights issue in Pakistan. In order to build democracy from the grass roots, the National Commission for Justice and Peace Pakistan is engaged in a "Democratic Education Program" in 17 districts of Punjab, the most populated province of Pakistan. This program focuses on people's participation in democratic processes, values education and the accountability of elected representatives.

An orientation workshop was organized in August 2003 for 85 volunteers from 17 districts including men and women from different sects and religions. The ongoing field activities involve:
· Corner meetings in each district to encourage people to acquire their National Identity Cards and to register as voters
· Seminars at district level (1 in each district), highlighting political, economic, social and cultural rights.
· Meetings with parliamentarians to discuss the implementation of human rights
· Monitoring the performance of elected representatives with the help of a performer to popularize the concept of accountability.

Welcome to Pakistan in February 2005
The Executive Committee of National Commission for Justice and Peace, meeting on 29 October, welcomed the decision of the Justice & Peace Workers Network to hold their next meeting in Pakistan in February 2005.

The Martyrs of the Committee for Justice and Peace, Karachi Remembered
The Executive Committee of NCJP, headed by Chairperson Archbishop Lawrence J. Saldanha, met in Lahore on 29 October, 2003. The Committee passed a resolution, demanding the arrest of the culprits and an impartial inquiry into the murder of seven staff of Idara-Amno-Insaf, Karachi (Committee for Justice and Peace) in September 2002.

The Committee expressed its solidarity with the families and vowed to continue the struggle for the marginalized section for which their colleagues had laid down their lives.

NCJP Urges Government to Abolish all Discriminatory Laws & Policies
An NCJP delegation composed of National Director Fr. Emmanuel Yousuf Mani and Executive Secretary Peter Jacob participated in a meeting on 15 October, 2003 with the Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights of Pakistan.

The delegation urged the government to take serious measures for the abolition of all discriminatory laws and policies as a principal step to eliminate violence, and promote peace and harmony in the country. The NCJP delegation presented a memorandum of recommendation to the Parliamentary Commission.

PHILIPPINES

NASSA Speaks out Against Impeachment
NASSA denounced the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, as a matter of political expediency that had the potential to subvert democracy.

They said: "The dynamics governing the impeachment complaint is a clear sign of an established truth: that political convenience is the element that defines government. It shows the malignance of a disease with no fast remedy in sight. The impeachment complaint is a circus orchestrated by politicians and their patrons. To advance their careers, politicians become the pawns of kingmakers. To protect selfish interests, these kingmakers audaciously exploit politicians who are promised access to campaign resources.

By seeking to demolish Chief Justice Davide, who in his official capacity has consistently upheld democracy, forces behind the impeachment complaint are weakening our democratic system."

SOUTH KOREA

Tji Hak-soon Award for Hotline Asia
The Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Award has been awarded annually from 1997 to a person or organization without any distinction of nationality, race or religion, in recognition of their efforts towards promoting peace, racial equality, harmony and enlarging the scope of freedom and enriching the human rights. The 7th Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Award has been granted to the Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples for its Hotline Asia Project.

The Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Foundation's announcement of the award notes that:
"The selection committee for the award recognized ACPP's steadfast and longstanding international solidarity efforts in difficult situations, expressed mainly through the Hotline-Asia project which has been running for more than 20 years. Born in 1979, the ACPP started its main project Hotline Asia a year later and since then the organization and the project have assisted networking among Asian organizations addressing crucial issues concerning human rights in Asia."

"As well as linking the peace and justice groups, ACPP has served the purpose of directing awareness among the minority Catholic communities in Asia to the social responsibility of the church and its organizations for more focused action to redeem societies of their sufferings. We especially thank all former and present board members and coordinators of ACPP who tried to mobilize international solidarity. This has been extremely difficult work in difficult situations across Asia. "

The award ceremony this year will be held in Myong-dong Cathedral, Seoul, South Korea on December 9th, one day before International Human Rights Day.

For further information visit www.justice.or.kr or contact reginapy@empal.com.
ACPP extends its thanks and congratulations to everyone who has supported the Hotline Asia project over the years. This award belongs to all of you, and to all those who do the difficult and dangerous work of human rights at the local level.

Issues of Concern

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Dignity International reports that on 21 November Members of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights held a discussion with the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, on the organization of a workshop on follow-up procedures, mechanisms for the implementation of conclusions at the national level, and the draft optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The Committee is working with UNESCO to address the issue of education from the right-based perspective.

It was suggested that a workshop on the follow-up procedure should be organized in the Asian region where no such programme had been held in the past. The workshop would assist States parties in their implementation of the Committee's concluding observations and recommendations, as well as the provisions of the Covenant.

For full details, see http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/E62E1AB26E1ACEFBC12
56DE80033E89D?opendocument

Resources

End the Use of Children as Soldiers
The Asian Regional Resource Center for Human Rights Education launched an education campaign: 'End the Use of Children as Soldiers' on 11 November 2003 in Bangkok. This campaign is sponsored by the Terre des Hommes Germany Co-ordination for South East Asia.

It is intended to support human rights groups and civil society in generating active responses towards ending the use of child soldiers in Burma / Myanmar, and respecting children as zones of peace. Burma is reported to be the country with the highest number of child soldiers, recently estimated to be over 70,000 in number.

The material for this education campaign comprises a poster cum calendar depicting the sad reality of being a child soldier; a drawing by a child-artist in a refugee camp; and a primer which covers the situation of children and their communities in Burma, responses to the situation of child soldiers, finding solutions, international standards, recommendations for the State Peace and Development Council - non-state armed groups - civil society stakeholders, and children as partners for peace.

If you are interested in advocating an end to the use of children as soldiers, please write to ARRC for the campaign materials at: PO Box 26 Bungthonglang, Bangkok 10242, Thailand, Tel: 662.377-5641, 731-0829, Fax: 662.731-0829, e-mail: arrc@ksc.th.com

In Defence of our Sister Water
The Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation promoters from the religious orders have produced a new resource "Water- in defence of our sister water". It can be downloaded in many languages for free at www.ofm-jpic.org/aqua

Events

25th International Human Rights Training Program, Québec, Canada, June 13 - July 2, 2004
The Canadian Human Rights Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation established in 1967. It is dedicated to the promotion of human rights through education, in Canada and around the world. It helps organisations build their capacity to engage in human rights education, promotion and democratic development. One activity of the Foundation is the International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP).

The goal of the IHRTP is to strengthen the capacity of human rights organisations to undertake human rights education aimed at building a global culture of human rights. Specifically, the objectives of the IHRTP are to enable participants to:
· Analyze the issues and situations encountered in the work of their organisations using a framework based on internationally accepted human rights values and principles;
· Explore ways in which human rights education can increase the effectiveness of their human rights work;
· Increase their capacity to use their learning within their organisations and their society; and
· Facilitate networking and partnership activities essential to furthering the cause of human rights.

The Application Form can be downloaded from www.chrf.ca and the deadline for applications is January 28, 2004.

For more information, contact Mr. Frédéric Hareau, the IHRTP Program Officer (IHRTP@chrf.ca).


Nominations for Oak Fellowship
The Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights annually hosts a Human Rights Fellow to teach and conduct research while in residence in the College and organizes lectures and other events centered on the fellow's area of expertise. The fellowship offers an opportunity for prominent practitioners in international human rights to take a sabbatical leave from their work and spend a period of up to a semester as a scholar-in-residence at the College. This provides the Fellow time for reflection, research, and writing.

The Fellow will receive a stipend and College fringe benefits, plus round-trip transportation from the fellow's home site, housing for a family, use of a car, and meals on campus. The Fellow will also receive research support, including office space, secretarial support, computer and library facilities, and a student assistant.

The Fellowship is awarded for the fall semester (Sept.-Dec.) each year. Following the period of the award, the fellow is expected to return to her or his human rights work. The search for the Fall 2004 Oak Fellowship will focus on a human rights practitioner doing human rights work in East or Southeast Asia. More information and application forms are available from http://www.colby.edu/oak or oakhr@colby.edu .

Justice & Peace Workers Networking Meeting, 6 - 10 October 2003, Sri Lanka
The 5th Justice and Peace Workers (JPW) Networking Meeting was held from 6 to 10 October 2003, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 25 participants from 10 countries attended.. The meeting was hosted by SEDEC-Caritas Sri Lanka and was organised by a co-organising team appointed by the 4th meeting in 2001.

The theme for the meeting was 'Respect: the Way to Tolerance and Non-discrimination', and the programme was divided into three sections; Sri Lanka's realities and present situation; input and sharing on the meeting theme;and JPW matters.

Some joint action was planned in relation to: peacebuilding in Northeast Asia; South Asian Peace Initiative; solidarity with Pakistan; migrant workers in Singapore; and using regional UN mechanisms.

The 6th JPW networking meeting will be held in Lahore, Pakistan, in February 2005. The new co-organising team is composed of Sr. Filo Hirota (Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace - JCCJP), Mr. Peter Jacob (Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace - Pakistan), Mr. Sinapan Samydorai (Parish Social Concern Team - Singapore), and Ms. Linda Noche (Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples - ACPP-Hotline Asia).