What’s
Going On in Asia?
Burma
Worldwide Solidarity for the 20th
Anniversary of 8888 Uprising in Burma
While the opening of Beijing Olympics
caught the attention of the world, 8 August 2008 also
marked the 20th anniversary of the
“8888 Uprising” in Burma, where hundreds of
thousands students, working class, monks and others
took to the streets to demand for democracy in 1988.
Since the military regime’s coup in
1962, under the dictatorship and bad management of
the junta, people in Burma have lived in extreme
poverty and been denied fundamental freedoms and
human rights. Outraged by the demonetization of
several kinds of banknotes in 1987, as well as
violent suppression of the student movement, people
in Rangoon, the then-capital city of Burma, and other
parts of the country demanded multi-party
democracy on 8 August 1988.
Despite the clampdown of the democratic
movement, which resulted in 10,000 deaths, the spirit
of “8888 Uprising” is still burning.
The commitment for democratic change is proven by the
1990 election results, the Saffron Revolution in 2007
and continuous efforts by activists inside Burma and
in exile.
The Hong Kong Coalition for a Free Burma,
of which the Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples
(ACPP) is a member, established to extend Hong Kong
NGOs’ and people’s concern for Burma after
the Saffron Revolution, in which hundreds of
thousands of Buddhist monks spearheaded massive
demonstrations against the military regime.
Photo exhibitions, seminars and protests were
organized by the Coalition as an echo of
international efforts to call for justice for
the people in Burma. A prominent Burmese
activist in exile, Mr. Nyo Ohn Myint, visited Hong
Kong as a guest speaker and to meet with NGOs to plan
for further actions. In the seminar, he
highlighted the political background, current
situation in Burma and also stressed the role of the
Chinese government in politics in Burma, especially
in investments, the arms trade and international
affairs protection.
In order to show solidarity with the
people in Burma, international groups set 8 August
2008 as “Global Day of Action for Burma”.
Protests took place in many countries.
Activists in Australia, Hong Kong, India,
Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, South
Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand organized protests and
activities against the Burmese military junta in
Asia-Pacific region. ACPP also issued an urgent
appeal to demand the military regime to alleviate
economic hardships, release political prisoners and
restore democracy. You are welcome to show your
support by responding to the appeal. (http://www.acpp.org/uappeals/2008/08080705.htm)
Source: ACPP
Cyclone Nargis and Manmade Disaster
“For decades the poor of Myanmar
(Burma) suffered in various ways and now nature has
joined in.” Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon
lamented.
Cyclone Nargis which hit Burma on 2-3 May
took away the lives of over 84,530 people,
while 53,836 are still reported missing. It
caused massive destruction in the affected area and
intensified economic hardship of the people. It
is estimated that 2.4 million people continue to be
seriously affected. Houses were destroyed; over
600,000 hectares of agricultural land flooded;
half of all draught animal died. Three quarters of
health facilities and 60% of public schools were
damaged. Over 40% of the people lost their food
stock and nearly half of the victims only have enough
food for up to a week.
The sluggish relief effort of the
military regime intensified resentment of many people
in Burma to the regime. While millions of
people are suffering from the catastrophe, the regime
showed no attempt to postpone the referendum
scheduled on 10 May which aimed at sustaining its
power. Even worse was the regime’s
obstruction of aid delivery by both international
groups and local people, while there are credible
claims that they hoarded aid donated by foreign
countries. From May to June, around 20 local
people, including prominent comedian Zargana, were
arrested because of aid delivery. In addition,
victims who sought refuge in government shelters only
have very limited food and necessities and were
forced to return home even if everything there was
destroyed. In August, UN humanitarian chief,
John Holmes stated that USD1.56 million was lost due
to the new exchange rate of the regime after the
cyclone. All these have proven that the regime
simply does not care about the lives of the people.
Sources: Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; Department
of Public Information, UN, Irrawaddy, Sunday Examiner
Fiji
From “Street Beat Update”
The JPW network welcomed for the first
time a representative of Fiji in the
Pacific. The participant, Bro. Gerald Warbrooke
MSC, gave a glimpse of his work for the poor and
marginalized, through his sharing during the JPW
meeting in Manila, as well as through his regular
newsletter from the Sacred Heart House.
Fiji is an island of 900,000
people. According to the Street Beat Update
newsletter of 10 July 2008, “a total of 18
beggars had been rounded up during a joint operation
between the police and the Social Welfare
Department” (Fiji Times, 5 July 2008).
Meanwhile on the streets of Suva, Bro. Gerald and his
colleagues and volunteers continue to provide their
services, providing food and other basic necessities,
such as farming tools for unemployed families.
Prison visitation is also part of Bro.
Gerald’s ministry. In July, he accompanied
missionaries and students to the women’s and
men’s prison for a pastoral visit. The
community of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred
Heart is a regular volunteer to the Women’s
Prison.
Bro. Gerald is also a representative of
the Ecumenical Center for Research, Education and
Advocacy (ECREA) which responds to different issues
through their programmes, like Economic Justice,
peace and development, social empowerment and
organizational development. ECREA’s
mission is to strengthen relationships between people
of all faiths, and empower them to respond to
challenges towards a compassionate, just and
inclusive society.
Main issues of concern in the country
are: struggle for restoration of democracy; poverty;
marginalization; and unemployment. Unemployment
is mainly caused by the decline of the sugar
industry, which leads to an increasing number of
street children and “street families” in
the country.
Sources: Street Beat
Update, local sources
Hong Kong
Prayer for
Olympics
The Justice and Peace Commission of the
Hong Kong Catholic Diocese (HKJP) has prepared and
published a “Prayer for the Olympic Games”
which was shared with its network in Hong Kong and
other countries, ahead of the opening of the Beijing
Olympic Games.
The Justice and Peace Commission of the
Hong Kong Catholic Diocese (HKJP) published a
“Prayer for the Olympic Games” which was
shared with its network in Hong Kong and other
countries, ahead of the opening of the Beijing
Olympic Games.
The prayer started with an appreciation
of God’s work in the strength, potential and
skill bestowed upon the human body that reflects in
the excellence of athletic performance. It also
touched on the spirit of fairness in the context of
each competitor’s dignity, and the spirit of
unity and mutual appreciation among all as a single
Olympic community interacting across boundaries of
culture, language and social systems. Using
sports as a common language, the prayer reminds that
the shared dream of the world is “for the
crooked to stand straight, the weak to be
strengthened, the oppressed freed and the poor have a
share in the common wealth.” Finally, it
anticipates God’s justice in the “equality
of the Olympic spirit.”
The prayer, both Chinese and
English versions, is available at the HKJP’s web
site (http://www.hkjp.org/english/enfocus/olympia_prayer.htm).
In
the Chinese version, the 5 “Olympic rings”
are referred to as:
Democracy, Human Rights, Rule of Law,
Justice and Peace.
Source: HKJP
HKJP Statement on Race Discrimination
Bill
Before the passing of the Race
Discrimination Bill, HKJP issued a statement at the
end of June to appeal for the support of all
Legislative Council members to make the suggested
appropriate amendments before the resumption of the
second reading of the Bill.
In its statement, the Commission
expressed concern over the exemption of the
government and public bodies in providing language
services for ethnic minorities, particularly on
essential services, such as medical & health,
education, vocational training, social welfare, legal
aid, housing, labour, immigration and police.
HKJP also requested that the bill should also protect
new immigrants from mainland China, who can be
distinguished by accents, appearances, habits and
social status.
The Bill was passed by the Legislative
Council on 10 July 2008 with the government’s
exemptions for language discrimination being struck
out.
Sources: HKJP, South
China Morning Post
India
Recent Orissa Violence
At least 9 people were reported to have
been killed in unabated violence from 24 to 28 August
in the Kandhamal district of Orissa and surrounding
areas. However, other "reliable
sources" presented by a Christian activist
claimed to have "at least 100 dead".
In response to the violence against
Christian minorities and institutions in Orissa - a
backlash to the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on 23
August 2008 - the National Commission for Justice,
Peace and Development (NCJPD) sent an SOS request to
their network and collaborators in various parts of
the country and overseas. Sample letters
complete with contact details of concerned
authorities, updated list of the damage done and
statements of major Church leaders also accompanied
the SOS.
NCJPD urged the network to send faxes and
emails immediately in hope of stopping the violence
that continues to escalate.
At the international level, the
Commission also circulated information to Justice and
Peace Commissions of other Episcopal Conferences
through the Pontifical Justice and Peace Commission,
Pax Christi International, Franciscans International
and ACPP-Hotline Asia. The Franciscans
International has already agreed to present the issue
to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The issue of violence against minorities,
especially Christians, whom hard-line Hindus accuse
of trying to convert Hindu villagers by luring them
with free education and medical care, has a long
history in the Orissa state. It is further
complicated by the political climate in the state,
where the ruling parties are supported by Hindu
fundamentalist groups.
For more information about the current
situation and possible actions to stop violence,
please refer to SUA080828(4) in ACPP's web site www.acpp.org. Other
statements and further information are also available
upon request. Please contact hotline@acpp.org.
Sources: NCJPD,
AsiaNews
Social Justice Sunday 2008
Justice Sunday is celebrated annually by
the Church in India, usually on the second or third
Sunday of August, and this year, the theme is
“Empowerment of Women in the Church and
Society.” With materials such as a message
and liturgy prepared by the NCJPD, as well as a
poster on “Ten Commandments on the Empowerment
of Women”, the Commission emphasized that it is
everyone’s obligation to work towards building
up a new society where dignity of women is
upheld. Contents of the “Ten
Commandments” are derived from the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) General Body
Statement of 2008.
The Commission distributed the materials
to its national network, encouraging them to
celebrate the day with group discussions, peace
marches, and special inter-religious meetings to
raise awareness on social justice, particularly
highlighting on the dignity of women and the duty of
empowering them in families.
The Justice Sunday
Message, liturgical guide, and poster can be
downloaded through ACPP’s web site: www.acpp.org or
requested from the NCJPD.
Source: NCJPD
Indian Churches to Take up Sri Lankan
Issues
The National Council of Churches in India
(NCCI) and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India
(CBCI) have decided to educate their congregation
about the situation in neighboring Sri Lanka, as a
first step to respond to problems faced by minorities
there.
On 17 July 2008, the Protestant Church of
North India (CNI) organized a meeting in New Delhi at
which Sri Lankan Protestant Church officials updated
some CBCI and NCCI representatives about the
situation in their country. Santha Fernando,
executive secretary of the National Christian Council
of Sri Lanka’s Commission for justice and peace,
pleaded for help from the Indian Church.
Fernando wanted Church groups in India to
make their people aware of issues in Sri Lanka so
that they can raise these issues in national and
international forums. It is also hoped that
Indians can press their government to intervene on
behalf of the ethnic Tamils on the island.
Tamils form about 18% of Sri Lanka’s
nearly 21 million people, while Muslims (considered
to be a separate ethnic and religious community)
comprises about 8% of the population. The
majority Sinhalese account for around 74 %.
According to Fernando, Tamils and Muslims in Sri
Lanka are caught in a war between government forces
and groups that want to divide the country. Ordinary
Tamils are the most affected but are too weak to
respond.
CNI general secretary Reverend Enos
Pradhan, who also represents the Council for World
Mission in South Asia, hoped Churches in the
south Asian region could come together to help the
people who have been suffering from the 25-year-old
conflict that claimed an estimated 70,000 lives.
As Church in Asia, there is moral duty to
extend solidarity and prayers and the need to ignore
denominational differences to lobby and strengthen
groups already working for peace in Sri Lanka.
It was also pointed out that Indians have special
bond with Sri Lankans through geographical proximity,
historical ties, religious and cultural affinities.
The NCJPD under CBCI is working on the
possible intervention of the Indian government in the
Sri Lankan ethnic issue on humanitarian
grounds. It could involve meeting with the
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and later,
lobbying parliamentarians of India, in the hope
that the issue could be raised in the mid-December
Parliamentary Session.
Source: Union of
Catholic Asian News (UCAN), NCJPD
Japan
Statement from the Global Article Nine
Conference to G-8 Laders
The Global Article Nine Conference to
Abolish War issued a statement to world leaders
attending the G-8 summit on the island nation’s
northern island of Hokkaido in July this year.
It appealed to them to “put an end to the
open-ended US-led war on terror that generates fear
and repression and promotes hatred and violence;
leaders should instead address the root causes of
terrorism through international cooperation, using
international law and respecting human rights.
Bishop Michael Matsuura Goro, head of the
Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace and
convener of the conference said, “In recent
years the Council has engaged in communicating the
meaning of Article Nine to Asia and America.
Now, through involvement in this conference, we have
begun to work together with groups of citizens
seeking to preserve Article Nine. The Council
is now able to exercise its role even within
citizen’s groups. I see us moving more and
more in this direction.”
Source: Sunday
Examiner
Pakistan
Intervention in the Human Rights
Council
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a
new procedure for reviewing the human rights
situation of every country which was introduced in
the UN Human Rights Council this year. On
8 May, the human rights situation of Pakistan was
discussed, where the government delegation of
Pakistan and its permanent mission at the UN defended
its record regarding human rights violations in the
country.
The civil society delegation and Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights added some
important issues in their reports, like the
restoration of deposed judges, imposition of
emergency, illegal detentions, curbs on media, etc.,
to enable these matters to be discussed. In the
session they also presented recommendations, like
repealing discriminatory laws against women and
minorities, abolition of the death penalty in
Pakistan and the establishment of national institutes
for human rights.
A record 68 countries made interventions
while the delegation of government of Pakistan made
attempts to ward off questions.
Mr. Peter Jacob, Executive Secretary of
National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP)
Pakistan was a part of the civil society delegation
from Pakistan.
Source:
NCJP-Pakistan
NCJP’s Statement on the
Constitutional Arrangements
In a joint statement on 1 June 2008,
Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha and Mr. Peter
Jacob, Chairperson and Executive Secretary of NCJP,
urged for concrete constitutional arrangements to
deal with religious intolerance and to establish
equality of citizens in the law. They warned
that the proposal to increase the number of reserved
seats in the parliament, would not necessarily mean a
change in the socio-economic conditions of religious
minorities in Pakistan.
In the wake of the constitutional package
(amendment), NCJP pointed out that to make it a
useful document to guide peace and inter-religious
harmony, the religious biases and discriminatory
sections in the present constitution need to be
amended.
NCJP’s statement also said that both
the use and abuse of badly drafted blasphemy laws and
incompatible personal laws have lead to human rights
violations, destruction of places of worship and
properties of religious minorities. Therefore,
constitutional safeguards about religious freedom and
non-discrimination need reinforcement through
amendments in Articles 20 and 27, and
incorporation of implementation mechanism for
Articles 36 and 37 dealing with social justice and
protection of minorities.
The full text of the statement is
available upon request at ncjp@wol.net.pk
Source:
NCJP-Pakistan
Orientation Workshop on
”Peace Education”
The NCJP organized a three-day training
workshop on "Peace Education" on 25–27
April 2008 at Caritas Pakistan, Lahore. Fr. Emmanuel
Yousaf, National Director of NCJP, officially
launched the project and emphasized on working for
peace.
The training was focused on the
introduction to philosophies of peace and
non-violence to individuals of different faiths and
walks of life, including journalists, school teachers
and NGO workers. Participants were invited to
devote themselves to the promotion of peace and
tolerance involving the communities and to explore
non-violent actions for the conflict resolution.
Around 34 persons, including 24 men and
10 women, both Christians and Muslims, participated
in the training. They came from 16 districts of
three provinces (North Western Frontier Province or
NWFP, Punjab and Sindh.)
The programme aimed to identify causes of
disharmony and to mobilize masses on tolerance by
weeding out biases either in the policies, laws or
provisions in the constitution. Eight training
workshops on Peace Education, 10 seminars, 10 theater
performances for Peace and Art competitions and
exhibitions will be organized in sixteen districts
under this project within one year.
Source:
NCJP-Pakistan
10th Anniversary of Bishop John
Joseph's Self Sacrifice in Pakistan
Christians in different parts of Pakistan
commemorated the sacrifice and dedicated service of
the late Bishop John Joseph, the Catholic Bishop of
Faisalabad. After a dedicated involvement in
the literary, ecclesial, justice and peace, and
interfaith dialogue, the Bishop offered his
self-sacrifice on 6 May 1998 in front of a court that
awarded the death sentence to Ayub Masih, a Christian
youth charged with insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Different organizations in Punjab and
North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) held
gatherings in his honour. The National Commission for
Justice and Peace Faisalabad held another seminar in
Chak No. 7, Faisalabad to mark the day. The
Kohat Parish, located near the troubled Afghan
border, organized a gathering and a film showing of a
documentary on the life of Bishop John Joseph,
followed by a faith reflection and situational
analysis.
NCJP in Lahore organized a similar film
show at Sheikhupura in a settlement called Kad Lathi,
where houses of brick kiln labourers had been
demolished by some local influential people in
November 1986. In solidarity with the poor
families, Bishop John Joseph then went and stayed
with these families through freezing nights under the
open sky. He had also provided them shelter and
legal aid. The labourers who have their own
houses now, remembered the late Bishop John Joseph
with fondness when they took the floor to express
their view on the documentary film.
Christians in Pakistan, irrespective of
their denominational background, remember the late
Bishop John Joseph and his legacy which is carried
forward by activists who are still involved in the
struggle to repeal the blasphemy and other
discriminatory laws. They are part and parcel
of the current civil society movement for rule of
law, restoration judges, human rights and true
democracy.
Source:
NCJP-Pakistan
Philippines
Destruction by Typhoon Frank
Shortly after cyclone Nargis in Burma,
the Philippines became the next victim of a
typhoon. Typhoon Frank, or Fengshen, lashed the
Philippines on 21 June, claimed lives of hundreds of
people and caused massive destruction. Pope
Benedict XVI was deeply concerned about the tragedy
and prayed for the typhoon victims on 22 June.
The National Disaster Coordinating
Council reported that 557 people died from the
typhoon, as of 9 July. The figure did not
include over eight hundred of passengers and crew who
died or are missing from the sunken ferry Princess of
Stars near Sibuyan Island. According to a joint
report of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the
National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA),
301,642 houses were destroyed in the typhoon; 718,457
families or 3,662,958 persons were affected. It is
estimated that the damage to agriculture amounted to
USD 1 billion.
The CRS and NASSA delivered aid for
50,000 people in six provinces across Western Visayas
and Mindanao.
Sources: National
Philippines Caritas, AsiaNews, Sunday Examiner
Peasants Appeal for Food and Seeds
In the wake of typhoon Frank, there were
great losses for farmers and fisher folk. It
was estimated that damage in agriculture in
Aklan was PHP 488,544,008 (USD 10,437,860).
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas
(KMP), a prominent national peasant organization,
called for solidarity with thousands of people,
mostly farmers and fisher folk, affected by
typhoon Frank.
KMP launched a fundraising campaign in
order to offer assistance to peasant and fisher folk
communities, for their relief and rehabilitation in
the affected regions. Food, drinking water and
seeds are still in need.
Please refer to the following website for
more details of the fundraising campaign: http://www.foodsov.org/html/takeaction20.htm.
Sources:
People’s Coalition of Food Sovereignty; Relief
Web
Sri Lanka
International Day in Support of
Victims of Torture, 26 June
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
joined 5 human rights entities and experts in a
statement marking the UN International Day in Support
of Victims of Torture on 26 June.
The statement
laments that six decades after the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in which
Article 5 states that “No one shall be subjected
to torture of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
of punishment” there is still much to be done to
ensure that everybody is free from this
scourge. They called upon states to reaffirm
their resolve to ensure torture protection for women
in a gender-specific manner, a broader scope of
prevention, protection, justice and reparation for
victims, as well as to give attention to providing
measures to provide persons with disabilities who
find themselves excluded from the protection under
international instruments.
The statement also paid tribute to all
governments, civil society organizations, national
human rights institutions and individuals engaged in
activities aimed at preventing torture, punishing it
and ensuring that all victims obtain redress.
One such organization is the Human Rights
Office in Kandy, which marked this special day with
victims of torture, their families, parents and
family members of the disappeared. The
celebration was held at the Pushpadana Hall, Kandy in
the morning, followed by a press conference in the
afternoon.
Among the special guests were the senior
superintendent of the Kandy police, the assistant
superintendent of police, the chief jailor of
Bogambara prison and the Episcopal Vicar of Kandy
diocese.
The programme commenced with the lighting
of lamps by the victims of rape and torture,
religious and lay guests, special guests and
representatives of the disappeared group. As
the wife of the late Gerald Perera lighted the lamp,
the audience stood up to pay respects to the
late human rights activist who was assassinated
by the police in 2004 a few days before he was
scheduled to give evidence on his torture case.
Religious rites and an introduction to
the history and occurrence of torture in the country
followed. The speaker, lawyer Supun Tarnayake
explained how the practice of torture continued from
the time of the monarchy and developed
systematically, while a short visual presentation
“Victim Centred activity” was made by the
Human Rights Office. This was followed by
presentations on the latest dangerous methods of
torture adopted by law enforcing agencies and a
presentation on international campaigning and
lobbying. Some of the survivors also shared
their stories, including the wife of the late Gerald
Perera.
Thirteen media personnel from the print
and electronic media were present at the press
conference with the theme: “Need of Protection
to Victims and Witnesses.” The panel
represented sectors of religious, lawyers and
survivors/parents. They explained the present
human rights situation in the country, particularly
the collapse of the rule of law, expressing concern
over the serious human rights abuses and continuous
denial by the government. The lawyers pointed
out the need to get the witness and victim protection
bill passed in the parliament to convert it into an
Act. Threats to media personnel also led to the
call for a protective umbrella. It was
also pointed out that it is the duty of the media to
expose brutality and human rights abuses to the civil
society and a call was made to the media for their
collective action in bringing about a culture of
human rights.
Sources: Human
Rights Office Kandy, World Organization Against
Torture (OMCT)