What’s
Going On in Asia?
Hong Kong
Imprinted in Our Minds and Hearts -
June Fourth Massacre 1989-2009
The Union of Hong Kong Catholic
Organizations in Support of the Patriotic and
Democratic Movement in China (Union), in which the
Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong
Catholic Diocese plays a leading role, is going to
launch a series of activities to commemorate the 20th
anniversary of the June Fourth Massacre, where the
Chinese government used tanks and guns to suppress
the 1989 democracy movement on 4 June. The
Union was founded in 1989 and has been calling on the
consciences of Catholics in Hong Kong for 20
years. The activities this year include:
Seminars and Prayer Meetings: The
Union and the local Christian groups are
co-organizing a seminar on 19 May to reflect on the
1989 democracy movement in Beijing. At the same
time, like in past years, the Union will hold prayer
meetings, photo exhibitions, and book fairs on
Chinese issues in different parishes in mid-May.
Publications and Workshops: As the
mainstream media has been diluting the June Fourth
Massacre, many people tend to forget the tragedy and
many young people have never learned about the bloody
history. With the aim of arousing awareness
among and educating Catholics, especially youth, on
the 1989 democracy movement, the Union will produce
some publications, including a special feature on Kung
Kao Po, the diocesan Catholic weekly in Hong
Kong, and organize a series workshops for youth and
students.
Hunger Strike and Black Cloth
Campaign: To commemorate the mass hunger strike
of the students in the 1989 Democracy Movement who
started a timeless hunger strike to plead for
dialogue on 13 May 1989, the Union will launch a
20-hour hunger strike on the same day this
year. Also, the Union urges the public, to
dress in black on 4 June in solidarity with the
victims in the Massacre.
Art Exhibition and Audio Materials:
In collaboration with the Tiananmen Mothers Campaign,
a support group of the families of victims of the
Massacre, art exhibitions and a cultural performance
on the June Fourth Massacre will be held in
May. The Union is also producing a short film
documenting views and memories about the Massacre.
These activities are more than just a
commemoration, they are part of the campaign to
demand justice for the victims who were killed or
wounded in the June Fourth Massacre. The Union
believes that China will not have genuine development
if crimes of the past are not rectified.
Source:
Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong
Catholic Diocese
Support for Charter 08 and the Call
for Release of Dissidents
On the eve of International Human Rights
Day 2008, Charter 08 was published to call for
political and constitutional reform in China.
The Charter champions the values of freedom, human
rights, equality, republicanism, democracy and
constitutionalism, and 19 specific standpoints and
proposal on political systems, civil rights and
social development are raised in the document.
An initial group of 303 Chinese citizens have
co-signed the Charter, which has grown to more than
8,000 endorsements.
Before Charter 08 was officially
launched, one of the signatories, Dr. Liu Xiaobo, was
arrested on 8 December 2008, and at the time of his
arrest he and his family were not formally notified
about the reason. He is now under residential
surveillance away from his home, which is a breach of
law as a person subjected to residential surveillance
ought to be kept at his/her home but not other
places.
Several Hong Kong NGOs, including the
Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong
Catholic Diocese, Hong Kong Alliance in Support of
Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, China Human
Rights Lawyers Concern Group, and Christians for Hong
Kong Society, have been raising concern among Hong
Kong people through statements, petitions, prayer
meetings and protests to voice their support for the
Charter and call for the release of Dr. Liu and all
other political prisoners. To emphisise the
cause, ACPP also issued an urgent
appeal in December 2008. The Sunday
Examiner, a Hong Kong-based Catholic weekly, also
publicized the work of these groups on Charter 08.
Sources: ACPP;
UCAN
Bishop Zen Reviewing His Episcopacy
The
outspoken bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen
Ze-kiun, is going to leave his position in
April. He was ordained as a bishop 12 years ago
and has been the head of the diocese for six-and-a
half years. In 2006, he was made a
Cardinal. After retirement, he will involve
himself in work for the Church in China, being
assigned by Pope Benedict XVI to serve the Chinese
community.
In an interview with Sunday Examiner,
the English Catholic weekly, Card. Zen commended the
spirituality of Hong Kong Catholics. He said
local Catholics are diligent and are concerned about
their faith, which reveals the grace of God.
Nevertheless, he regrets that not many Catholics have
a religious vocation. Another regret is that
only half of the parishes have successfully set up
social concern groups.
Reviewing his episcopacy, Card. Zen
shared about several remarkable events. One of
the tough issues was about child abuse by priests of
the diocese which had a deep impact on the life of
the Church in Hong Kong. Other sensitive issues
include seeking an exemption for Catholic schools
from the Education (Amendment) Ordinance, and his
comments on the recent Domestic Violence Ordinance.
Card. Zen has always spoken in a
prophetic voice on sensitive issues, for example, he
has stood with the children who were born in Mainland
China whose parents are Hong Kong citizens and
defended their right of abode in Hong Kong.
Another sensitive issue was the protest of Korean
farmers in Hong Kong during the World Trade
Organization Ministerial Conference in 2005.
Although the majority of the society condemned the
violence used by the Korean protestors, Card. Zen
supported their cause to demand economic
justice. He also criticized ill-treatment to
the detained protestors, including Catholic sisters,
by the police.
Card. Zen always acted according to his
principles, but he humbly said that he was ready to
admit mistakes. His principles have gained
respect from the civil society, even among the
non-Catholics.
After Card. Zen’s retirement, Bishop
John Tong Hon will succeed him.
Source: Sunday
Examiner (English Catholic weekly in Hong Kong)
India
Recent Activities of NCJPD
Response to Anti Christian Violence in
Orissa
The National Commission for Justice,
Peace and Development (NCJPD) of the Catholic Bishops
Conference of India (CBCI) took a special initiative
in the anti-Christian violence in the state of Orissa
in which more than 100 people have been killed,
burned alive, violently attacked, and around 50,000
were rendered homeless and displaced. More than
4,000 houses were burned or destroyed; school
children lost all their documents. This new
wave of violence started on 23 August 2008 when a
Hindu leader was killed by a group of Maoist
Naxalites who claimed responsibility, but Hindu
extremists and fundamentalist groups put the blame on
Christians.
Mr. Antony Arulraj, the Social Advocacy
officer/Extension Worker of NCJPD/Hotline Delhi,
together with Fr. Nithiya Sagayam, Executive
Secretary of the NCJPD, went to the spot in
mid-September. Through the NCJPD, a series of
meetings and consultations were held with local
people, the five bishops of Orissa, and religious and
the laity of the region. This led to various
strategies to respond through relief, rehabilitation,
reconstruction, lobbying and social advocacy.
Some examples:
- Use of Right to Information
Act: The NCJPD used the Right to Information
(RTI) act to get all the official and valuable
documents from the government pertaining to Orissa
– from the President’s and Prime
Minister’s Offices, External Ministry, Home
ministry, etc. Fr. Nithiya along with Most Rev.
Vincent, Archbishop of Delhi and Fr. Cosmon of CBCI
met the Home Minister to ask for protection of the
people from further attacks.
- Trauma Counseling:
Thousands of people live in trauma. Hence the
NCJPD provided training to 30 local men and women to
help counsel people through the use of Neuro
Linguistic Programming (NLP). Since this
training which started in January, the participants
have spent time with the affected people and
counseled around 850 of them.
Advocacy for Dalit Christians
The NCJPD plays a vital role in bringing
justice to the marginalized. More than 70% of
Christians in India are either tribals or Dalits, and
are marginalized in various ways by a society that
looks down upon them. Within the Church, upper
caste Christians also look down upon them and in many
places, such as in cemeteries, there are separate
areas for high caste and low caste Christians.
At the government level, even the special favours
given to Dalits do not apply to the Christians of
Dalit origin. The NCJPD jointly organized a
national seminar on Dalit empwerment in Bangalore on
5-8 March 2009 to address this multiple
discrimination and to plan for the future.
Right to Food Campaign
Every third person in India lives below
the poverty line (BPL). Even though the Indian
economy is growing rapidly, the poorest people have
not benefitted from it. Hence the NCJPD is
engaged in a series of empowerment sessions at
national and regional levels, to lobby and campaign
for the rights of people over food schemes of the
government, such as an old age pension, and the
special rights for the physically and mentally
challenged, as well as rights of pregnant and
lactating women. NCJPD’s program focuses
on the rights of the Dalit and Tribal people who are
mostly not aware of these rights. Sr. Mariola
who has undergone the Rights-Based Approach (RBA)
training organized by ACPP and NCJPD in 2004,
is the National Coordinator for this right to food
project. The NCJPD also networks with the
Supreme Court advisors in this initiative.
Campaign for Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)
Even though the government focuses on
various forms of development in society, a big chunk
of the budget is diverted to militarization and the
nuclear arms race in the name of defense. Due
to this, money for the welfare of the poor and the
marginalized goes missing. As many countries
are not sincere about proper dealings on arms, there
is a need to pressure them to sign the Arms Trade
Treaty so that governments will be obligated to be
honest and transparent in dealing with arms
production and distribution. Fr. Nithiya of the
NCJPD is a member of the ATT campaigning team at the
United Nations (UN). Through his participation
at two UN sessions, he has succeeded in influencing
many ambassadors from Asian countries. In the
near future, he will organize a South Asian
Consultation on ATT.
Contributions at the WSF-09
The World Social Forum (WSF) gives an
opportunity for social and peace activists to come
together and network towards their dream:
“Another world is possible”. The
NCJPD continues to contribute its share in making a
prophetic cry for social justice, human rights and
peace in accordance with the Catholic Social
Teaching. This year, three delegates
participated in WSF-09 in Belem, Brazil in the last
week of January. Sr. Mariola spoke at the
assembly on the rights of women. Mr. Antony
spoke on human rights, while Fr. Nithiya addressed
peace and disarmament. Their contributions
became part of the final statement of the General
Assembly of the WSF.
Source: NCJPD
Waste Management for Sustainable
Environment – towards Community Initiatives
While municipal corporations have been
trying to find large-scale centralized technological
solutions for the growing problem of waste
management, waste has been piling up in most cities,
creating severe health and environmental problems.
These municipal plans depend on carrying
the waste outside the city, processing and disposing
them, but fail to bring solutions. Such
centralized plans also ignore the fact that much of
the waste can be reused and recycled into new
products at the community level, conserving materials
and the environment and keeping local areas
clean. Waste can be converted into value-added
products and also into compost or natural manure,
reducing the use of environmentally harmful chemical
fertilizers. However, this requires sustained
environmental education and creation of awareness
among citizens and communities, as well as the
involvement of communities. Housing societies,
educational institutions and local communities should
take responsibility in managing their waste in an
environmentally-sound way. There is also a need
to minimize waste in the first place.
Two community-level meetings on
environmental sustainability and waste management
were organized by the Institute for Community
Organization Research (ICOR) in January.
The first meeting on 17 January was held
in Bhayander, and participated in by community
leaders in the Mira -Bhayander area where open
waste-dumping operations by the local municipal
corporation created health and environmental
problems. There was an increase in cases of
allergy, respiratory and skin problems. At the
end of the meeting, participants decided to carry out
a campaign against open dumping and to pressure the
corporation to eliminate the dumping operation.
The participants also stressed the need to take care
of their own waste so as to minimize the waste going
to the grounds. Members of some housing
societies attending the meeting said that they would
undertake management and composting in their
societies, but would need some training and awareness
programmes.
The second meeting on 22 January was held
at St. Pius College in Goregaon (East) for
communities in Mumbai’s western suburbs, to
discuss environmentally-sound local-level waste
management systems, including conversion of waste
into useful products. While the participants
emphasized the need to reduce waste, they also hoped
for awareness-raising and advocacy programmes in
their housing societies, slum areas, schools and
parishes, which they hope will lead to concrete
action and some solutions through consultation with
different parties.
Participants at both meetings agreed that
technology alone cannot solve the problem, and
citizens need to get actively involved. It was
an ethical imperative that they “preserve the
environment and pass it on in good condition” to
the next generation. Towards this end, it was
necessary to develop a holistic perspective to nature
and environment.
Source: Justice
and Peace Commission - Mumbai
Japan
Letter to President Obama
In November/December 2007, an “Asia
Inter-religious Conference on Article 9 and Peace in
Asia” was held in Tokyo, to study, discuss and
commit to action plans relating to promoting Article
9 of the Japanese Constitution, as well as
“Peace and Non-violence.” In October
2008, the follow-up working group from the Conference
met again in Tokyo and prepared a letter to the
newly-elected President Barack Obama of USA in
December. It was delivered by Jean Stockan of
Pax Christi USA.
Signed by 18 religious organizations of
the interfaith coalition of churches in Japan, the
letter began with the new President’s promise of
“change” which is much needed by American
people, as well as the entire humankind. The US
military transformation of the Asia Pacific poses a
threat to stability in the region, especially in
pressuring Japan to revise Article 9 of the
Constitution. The signatories emphasized that
Article 9 articulates the Japanese people’s
commitment to non-violence as the constitutional
structure of Japan. They believe Article 9 is a
model that the world needs at the time of violence
and “war on terror”.
The promise to change the present
unilateral domination strategy into one of dialogue
and collaboration, as well as replacement of the
military strategy imposed on the Asia Pacific region
by a more humble and realistic foreign/military
policy is most welcome, and the group expressed their
willingness to dialogue with the administration on
these matters.
Under the Bush administration, Japan had
been pushed into a US-led military strategy which had
little to do with the peace and stability of Japan
and Asia. For example:
- in 2005-2006, Japan’s Self-Defense
Forces (SDF) were placed under US command through a
series of agreements and became a highly important
support structure of the “war on terror”;
- in December 2007, the First
Headquarters of the US Armed Forces was transferred
from Seattle to Camp Zama near Tokyo, where the
Headquarters of Japan’s SDF Central Readiness
Forces will soon be deployed; and
- in Okinawa, the construction of a new
US offshore base continues despite the protests of a
broad-based people’s coalition. In
Yokosuka, Iwakuni, Zama and Yokota, the US military
presence met strong protest form the local residents
supported by national and international people’s
networks against bases.
The Bush administration has been
directing Japan’s defense policy, which is a
blatant interference that presses Japan to revise
Article 9 and the way they choose to defend their own
country. Also that tax money should not be
spent to finance the billion-dollar plan of
transforming the Anderson Naval Base in Guam into a
huge Marine Base to serve the global military
strategy implemented by the US government.
Moreover, the move jeopardized the peace and security
of the Asia Pacific region as it intensifies the arms
race with China.
The following are some of the requests to
President Obama:
- review and freeze the US-Japan
agreement of 15 February 2005 on “US-Japan
Alliance: Transformation and Realignment for the
Future” and re-orient the on-going plan of
consolidation of the US bases towards non-military
US-Japan agreement.
- review and suspend the construction
plan of a new base in Okinawa and study the US
presence, as well as possible withdrawal from Okinawa
- stop pressurizing the Japanese
government to revise Article 9, but adopt a new
multilateral policy that will guarantee peace and
stability in East Asia and the withdrawal of the US
forces.
- promote the vision of Nuclear Free East
Asia.
Signatories include Pax Christi USA,
Catholic Peace Movement, Japan Catholic Council for
Justice and Peace, and some Christian, Muslim and
Buddhist organizations based in Japan.
Source: letter
of the interfaith coalition in Japan
Pakistan
Restoration of Judges Avoided Chaos
Prime Minister Raza Gilani announced the
re-instatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and
other judges removed by ex-President Pervez Musharaf
in November 2007. The announcement was made on
16 March in line with a promise made by the ruling
government, to meet the demand of political parties
and the legal community. It also came in time
to end tension and clashes resulting from the recent
ban on protests and the “long march”
protest organized by Nawaz Sharif, leader of
opposition Pakistan Muslim League—Nawaz.
Recent clashes with police in Punjab and Sindh
resulted in over 400 arrests.
Justice Iftikhar Chardhry will replace
Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar at the Supreme Court when
he retires on 21 March. To accommodate the
re-instated judges, the number of judges for the apex
court has been increased.
Among other announcements made, the
federal government will file a review petition to the
Supreme Court seeking reversal of the ban on Nawaz
Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif from becoming involved in
public life. Prime Minister Gilani also asked
provincial governments to lift the ban on protests
intended to avoid demonstrations reaching Hyderabad
and Islamabad, and ordered the release of persons
arrested recently in relation to the “long
march” indented to call for the re-instatement
of the judges.
President Ali Zardari had promised to
re-instate Chaudhry during his electoral campaign in
2008, but delayed the decision until mid-March 2009.
Source:
AsiaNews
Philippines
Computerized Polling Poses Challenges
to Free and Fair Election
Computerized poll automation vote casting
system will be used for the presidential election in
May 2010. Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Auxiliary
Bishop of Manila, opposes the introduction of the new
vote casting system and urges a to return to manual
vote casting.
Bishops raised several questions about
the computerized system, such as the cost of setting
up the Optical Mark Recognition system, higher risk
of manipulation, and mechanical glitches. They
argued the old manual system would be easier for the
public to scrutinize the legitimacy of votes.
The worries of the bishops are understandable with
the woeful record of misconduct at the polling
booths. And they do not believe that automation is
the answer to it. The new system may pose new
challenges to the transparency of the election.
There is also worry that first time users will be
misled by dishonest officials.
Source: Sunday
Examiner
Sri Lanka
Human Rights Award Ceremony 2008
Around 1,000 people turned up in the
Human Rights Award Ceremony hosted by the Human
Rights office of Kandy, Sri Lanka, on 18 December
2008. Bishop Vianney Fernando of the Central
Province, Bishop Cletus Perera of Sabaragamuwa
Province, the Deputy Inspector General of the central
range and Mr Pujitha Jayasundara were invited as
guests of honour. The ceremony began with
interfaith prayer led by Buddhist, Christian and
Muslim representatives. The oil lamp was
lighted by the guests of honour, survivors and
parents of the victims of involuntary disappearance.
In the ceremony, family members of the
victims of involuntary disappearance were given
momentos as an expression of support and
solidarity. Human Rights awards were also
presented to survivors and activists.
Fr. Ried Shelton Fernando, Rukshan
Fernando, Sr. Jeevani Martinus, Dr. Clotilda Perera
and Dr. Hilary Suraweera, were given awards for their
commitment to the defense of human rights.
Bp. Vianney Fernando shared that the
Church has to follow the teaching of Christ to
struggle for justice. He advocated that even if
injustice cannot be eliminated, little by little we
can make a difference.
Another guest of honour, Mr Pujitha
Jayasundara, encouraged different religions to go
outside their worship places to work in the
communities. Concerning the civil war in
northern Sri Lanka, he pointed out that tackling
terrorism should not sacrifice innocent people.
Source: Human
Rights Office, Sri Lanka
Church Urges Protection for Civilians
It is estimated that civil war between
the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been raging since
1983 has claimed the lives of 80,000 people.
The recently intensified armed conflict sparked a new
wave of humanitarian abuse, in which 200,000 people
were trapped in the war zone under the control of the
LTTE. The United Nations, the International Red
Cross, Churches, religious organizations and other
groups have been urging both sides to stop attacking
civilians.
Churches and other aid groups are
delivering humanitarian aid to civilians in the war
zone. However, they are not spared from the
attacks, which are a breach of international
humanitarian law. On 29 January, a local
Caritas office was attacked and relief goods valued
60 million rupees (US$525,624) were destroyed.
To respond to the atrocities, the Justice and Peace
Commission of Jaffna diocese and the local Caritas
branch, Human Development Centre, sent a letter on 31
January to Sri Lankan government and the LTTE calling
for a halt in attacks on civilians.
Churches began a protest fast in late
January. On 4 February, at his weekly general
audience, Pope Benedict XVI urged the warring parties
to “respect humanitarian law and people’s
freedom of movement” and requested the LTTE to
guarantee assistance to the injured and to civilians.
Sources: UCAN,
Sunday Examiner
Thailand
Reflection on Society of Violence in
2008
Below is a summary of a personal sharing
from a JPW contact in Thailand regarding the
events in her country last year. A full version
of the sharing is available on request.
In 2006, yellow was the colour of the
King of Thailand, but at the time of political
change, wearing a yellow shirt became a model of
identity created by various organizations.
In the past three years, Thai society had
gradually been opening up to the political reality
and started to monitor the administration and become
critical of politics. Analytical information on
the politics of money and its impact on the popular
sector was being exposed to the public. In
fact, the mobilization and seizure of important
places in 2008, by the yellow alliance, called
People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), started
with the platform of disseminating news and
information, which was able to reveal facts which the
public media was not able to.
When the executive branch joined with the
military to stage a coup in September 2006, instead
of eliminating the disputed leader, the new
government was like a new branch growing where an old
one had been cut off. Problems of corruption,
manipulation of people through various policies
re-emerged and worsened. Business people took
turns at being government ministers and were
enthusiastic in initiating new projects for personal
benefit from the people’s tax. This
situation accelerated a new mobilization of the
popular sector (the yellow colour) while the
monitoring of government performance was more
intensive. Political tension then burst into
violence and accelerated the conflict further.
At the beginning of 2008, another new
government was elected but it was composed of only a
few active ministers form the whole cabinet.
During the 193 days of demonstrations, each leader of
the PAD had used his/her personality and provocative
words to agitate the emotion of the audience which
sat attentively at the demonstration ground,
listening to repeated words that penetrated their
conscience. These are also coupled with the
fashion of collecting T-shirts, scarves or badges as
part of the symbol of intentional side-taking.
In the end, there was no need for any more reasons
and people were able to be mobilized, especially
women who were the majority in the demonstration.
Le Bon, a French social scientist and
author of “The Crowd” described how
demonstrators from different occupational
backgrounds, education levels, personality or social
status joined the demonstration and underwent a
change in the new environment as the mobilizers
united them into one spirit and emotion. He
explained that provocation and leadership during a
demonstration can lead to an individual losing
his/her own reasoning and create a “collective
mind” to such an extent that in the end, they
agreed to follow the instructions of the leader.
In the later stages, the leaders spoke
bad, rude, impolite and aggressive words and cursed
the opposite side, comparing them with different
types of animals. This kind of provocation and
disrespect is a serious violation of human dignity
and against the teaching of any religion, for
example, the first precept in Buddhism teaches human
beings to respect the rights and body of other
people; and Christianity also teaches love of
neighbour.
Although there was no physical violence,
it created the wound of hatred in the hearts of the
other side. This in turn became the drive for
mobilization of the opposition, such as the
Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD), to
protest against the demonstration led by PAD.
During this conflict, the grassroots suffered most as
they became the instruments in a complex fight
between two between the polarised monarchism and
bureaucracy against neo-capitalism, both manipulating
the masses.
Undoubtedly, this political change
contributed significantly and provided an opportunity
for several groups to understand their role in
political participation—individuals were
courageous in monitoring rather than entrusting this
task to parliamentary representatives. It was
also found that transition is a struggle of
differences in the ideologies professed by each
group. There was a level of unequal access,
knowledge and understanding of information and news,
which was also coupled with questions regarding
nationalism and regionalism. Furthermore, mass
media also intensely accelerated the conflict and
division as they repeatedly presented news on the
conflict or only from the angle of prejudice of one
side against the other, benefiting from the
advertising income while spreading hatred.
Ideology and opinion and power struggle has destroyed
unity among the faithful of different religions.
What should be the authentic action of
faith according to religious teaching? Pope
Benedict XVI’s teaching on political
participation in the modern era challenges Thai
society. Christians should analyze the
situation to find out the reasons behind the
phenomenon of conflict, such as who benefited most or
lost from it, how the grassroots people were used as
instruments and what would be the long term
effects. How did we, as the audience of various
media, use our intellect and wisdom to search for
truth among the news we heard or watched? Did
we make our own critical judgments, or did we just
follow our emotions which had been manipulated by
“the crowd”?
Source: sharing
by “Triple S”