What’s
Going On in Asia?
Hong Kong
Memorial Mass for the Victims of the
Tiananmen Massacre
Twenty years ago, students in Beijing, China, led
a movement against corruption and for democracy. The
movement gained support nationwide and from Chinese
communities around the world. Disheartingly, the
passion and vision of students was brutally crushed
by the government on 4 June 1989. Now, how many were
killed is still an unknown. Tears are still in the
eyes and pain is still in the hearts of many Chinese
people after 20 years. To commemorate the deceased in
the Massacre and to inherit the spirit of the 1989
Pro-democracy Movement, different sectors in Hong
Kong organized activities prior to the anniversary.
Within the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, the former
bishop of Hong Kong, Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, led
a special Mass for the commemoration of the Tiananmen
Massacre on 29 May. About 500 people attended. During
the Mass, Cardinal Zen stressed that, the demand for
vindication does not come out of revenge. Indeed, it
is a call for the non-repetition of tragedy and the
end of a culture of corruption and deception, which
was the cause of the Pro-democracy Movement in 1989.
“The martyrs of Tiananmen died with Jesus Christ
on the cross. They are with Jesus in the glory of the
kingdom of heaven. Today, our mourning is also a
hymn. At the resurrection we shall see their ever
glorious youth,” Cardinal Zen said.
Cardinal Zen also borrowed from the Gospel of St.
Matthew, saying, “The king says to us: I have
laid down my life at Tiananmen and have handed on to
you the mission. Have you taken up the banner from
the hands of the martyrs and gone forward bravely to
continue the struggle for democracy for the renewal
of our country?”
He concluded that “every martyr of Tiananmen is
a whole world for God, for the Blessed Mother Mary
and for their parents. We have to honour them, not
forget and not let them die in vain.”
Source: Sunday Examiner
(English Catholic weekly in Hong Kong)
India
Ten Commandments for the Indian
Voters
In view of the elections in April, the Commission for
Justice, Peace and Development of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) in Dehli has
prepared the “Ten Commandments for the Indian
Voters” and encouraged its partners and networks
to distribute it widely, as well as translate it into
local languages.
The “Ten Commandments” is a useful resource
for citizens to exercise their right to vote and
suggests guidelines for voting wisely. The 10 points
include:
- a reminder to ensure voters’ names are on the
Electoral Roll, and to help ensure the poor,
marginalized and unprivileged people also have their
names there;
- advice on how to vote justly, such as the need to
scrutinize the “Election Manifestos” of the
political parties by ascertaining that their stand is
in favour of vulnerable groups, and not to accept any
bribe during the election;
- advice to cast votes early, bringing any valid
government ID with photo, insist on Tendered Vote
even if someone else has already voted in their
names, and reminder that voters have the electoral
right to abstain if no candidates are found
satisfactory to vote for; and
- in case of complaints, such as bribery, bogus
voting and any serious concerns like
disenfranchisement of a whole community, voters are
urged to report them immediately in writing to the
relevant Electoral Officer at the state or the
national level.
This is an important and practical initiative towards
justice and peace in a society, as the right to vote
is a basic assurance for a democratic system with
true representation in the government.
Source: National Commission
for Justice, Peace and Development (NCJPD)
National Consultation on Advocacy and
Networking
The Consultation, hosted by the Justice and Peace
Commission—Mumbai at Sarvodaya, St Pius College,
Mumbai, was held on 9-10 February. The idea was
conceptualized by the Hotline India Local Advisory
Committee at its meeting in April 2008, where
advisors agreed to review the work of Hotline India
(HL India) and proposed to have a meeting of persons
involved in advocacy in the country to strengthen
their networking to make a sustainable impact. The
focus was on economic and social marginalization of
people through social customs, religious practices
and government policies, such as issues on Special
Economic Zones (SEZ), intolerance against Dalits and
discrimination against tribals and indigenous
peoples.
Mr. Gordon D'Souza of Bombay Catholic Sabha gave the
input on the issue of SEZ as a land-grab conspiracy
depriving home and livelihood from people without
provision for rehabilitation. In the group
discussions that followed, it was noted that the
problem in Orissa is about land-related conflict and
that there seems to be a link between the forces of
globalization and religio-politics.
The issue of Dalit Christians was exposed as being a
prejudiced practice by both Hindus and Christians.
Dr. Kumar Prashant, Mr. Kamal Digal and Ms Sara Naik,
spoke about the situation in Kandhamal—where the
latest wave of violence against Christians in Orissa
started in August 2008. Ninety percent of the
Christians killed are Dalits, and the inaction and
apathy of the Church has encouraged the Hindutva
forces to terrorize Christians, who may have turned
to the Maoists for protection.
Fr. Bosco, SJ shared about the plight of Dalits in
Eraiyur in the Pondicherry-Cuddalore Archdiocese,
where the Church is complicit in perpetuating caste
distinctions, while Mr. Franklin Thomas outlined
details of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed
in the Supreme Court demanding equal rights for Dalit
Christians, and requested the organizer to place the
liberation of Dalit Christians on its agenda.
The struggle of the Adivasi (indigenous peoples in
India) was explained by Mr. C.R. Bijoy, an activist
with extensive experience with tribal issues, tracing
the origins of the problem, analyzing government
policies and presenting viable responses for the
restoration and protection of the dignity and rights
of the Adivasi.
At the close of the proceedings, Fr. Allwyn
D’Silva, member of HL India Advisory Committee
and supervisor of HL-Mumbai, addressed the
participants about strengthening and expanding the
network of HL India, so as to make its social
advocacy more effective. It was resolved that the
core groups, consisting of participants from
different regions and acting in an individual
capacity, would be formed to work further on issues
discussed, in collaboration with HL India in Mumbai,
Delhi and Wayanad (Kerala).
Source:
South Asian Peoples' Initiatives
People’s
Manifesto 2009
In order to raise their concerns with political
parties before the elections, hundreds of grassroot
workers and activists worked for three days in Delhi
to formulate a People’s Manifesto, which they
plan to send to different political party offices and
leaders. The South Asian Peoples' Initiatives (SAPI),
a Jesuit people’s forum in India which has been
taking up national concerns, coordinated this
initiative.
The Manifesto, which was endorsed initially by 43
organizations across India, talks about the current
situation in which poor and mariginalized communities
have become victims of the narrow interests of
political parties, and face historical and systematic
injustice. In view of the unsustainable development
reflected in the widening gap between the rich and
poor, failure to ensure equitable development, etc.,
which may lead to social unrest and derail the reform
process itself, as well as the new liberal policy
which leads to the increased contractualization,
informalization, and casualization of work,
dispossessing people of their livelihood, a new
paradigm of development which is inclusive, holistic,
sustainable and environmentally-friendly is very much
needed.
The secular, democratic and social organizations and
various people’s movements from all parts of the
country, therefore, voiced their concern and demanded
action and commitment for the protection of human
rights and pro-poor development. Below some of their
urgent and non-negotiable demands are listed:
1. protection of life and security:
including freedom from fear of violence, peaceful
co-existence, promotion of food security, enactment
of old age and pension schemes, and cut of defense
budget;
2. promotion of peace and harmony through human
rights: protection from arbitrary arrest and
illegal detention, repeal of all draconian laws, stop
using anti-terror laws against the poor, minorities
and human rights movements;
3. guarantee of basic necessities for all:
free and compulsory elementary education,
establishment of a mechanism to assess quality of
education, normative curriculum for all categories of
schools, ensure safe drinking water for all,
provision of low cost housing;
4. expansion of livelihood opportunities:
enact national minimum wage policy, promote rural
development, repeal Special Economic Zones Act,
ensure minimum support prices for agricultural
produce;
5. protection of Dalits, Adivasi and indigenous
peoples: enact comprehensive National Dalit
Policy and National Tribal Policy, stop
development-induced displacement, abolition of manual
scavenging, ensure Adivasi access to forest and
non-timber forest products, restore all alienated
lands of tribals and other sections;
6. gender justice: implement the 33%
reservation to women in assemblies and Parliament,
enforce equal wage for equal work, enact domestic
workers law to ensure their rights, dignity and
protection from exploitation by agencies, prevent
large-scale trafficking of women and children;
7. freedom of religion and minority rights:
enact Communal Violence Act, ensure equal rights to
Dalit Christians and Muslims, adequate compensation
to victims of Bhopal gas tragedy, Gujarat victims and
Kandamal victims;
8. promotion of transparent governance,
accountability and people’s participation:
effectively implement Right to Information in private
and public sectors, speed up the judicial reforms to
give justice to the poor; and
9. preservation of environment and promote
sustainable development: no development project
should be sanctioned at the cost of environmental
damage, strictly implement environmental protection
laws.
As they embark on this long and challenging journey,
they also invite others in the country to join their
move towards an egalitarian, inclusive, secular,
democratic and cultural-pluralistic India.
Source:
South Asian Peoples' Initiatives
Japan
Public Forum on
the Peace Constitution Forum in the Philippines
A round-table discussion about Article 9 of the
Japanese Constitution was carried out in the Public
Forum on the Peace Constitution, organized by the
Ecumenical Bishops Forum and the National Council of
Churches in the Philippines, in partnership with the
Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan.
Representatives of different churches gathered to
share a common vision of enhancing the character of
Article 9 as “a world treasure” to call for
an end to war culture. From the Catholic Church,
there were Most Rev. Deogracias S. Iñiguez, Jr.,
D.D., co-chairperson of the Ecumenical Bishop Forum,
Most Rev. Broderick S. Pabillo, D.D., Auxiliary
Bishop of Manila, Fr. Francis Fukamizu of the
Catholic Council for Justice and Peace (Japan), and
also Most Rev. Michael Goro Matsuura, D.D. of the
Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan, who joined
several priests from Protestant churches and speakers
from Bayan, a multi-sectoral campaign center in the
Philippines. Bishop Goro Matsuura reported on the
current movements in Japan over Article 9.
To affirm the commitment to international peace and
to halt any alteration of the constitutional
provision of peace, plans for collective actions were
drawn up:
- to propagate the issues of peace and security in
church communities and exchange of stories and
experiences among the people;
- to promote the culture of peace and security in
Asia by speaking out against militarist solutions to
principled dissents and oppose militaristic mindsets
in government, such as the practice of appointing
retired military generals to key civilian positions
in the Philippines;
- to encourage churches to engage and support
parliamentarians and political parties espousing
peace and justice and ecological issues by lobbying;
and
- to promote inter-parliamentary cooperation between
Japan and the Philippines on these issues.
In March, the Japanese government deployed the
Self-Defense Force to combat piracy in Somalia. The
government also presented a draft law to expand the
purposes for which military force could be used,
including the protection of foreign ships. It is
feared that the intention of revision or
re-interpretation of Article 9 will distort its
aspiration for international peace. Instead of the
expansion of army force, a humble and realistic
foreign policy should be developed. The
Communiqué from the Public Forum on the Peace
Constitution stated,
“The future of the world cannot be left in the
hands of politicians and business alone, much less in
the hands of any single country. It also rests on
communities of peoples coming together in mutual
respect, interdependence and co-existence. The church
as a faith community incarnates this vision.”
Sources: The Communiqué
from the Public Forum on the Peace Constitution,
AsiaNews
Pakistan
Meeting on Extremism and Religious
Minorities
The National Commission for Justice and Peace -
Pakistan organized a meeting of Bishops and Church
leaders on “Extremism and Religious Minorities
in Pakistan” in Lahore on 22 May, followed by a
press conference at the Press Club Lahore.
In the press statement, the Christians of Pakistan
expressed concern about the situation of violence in
their country, particularly the situation created by
religious extremists and militants that have resulted
in loss of human life, spread of hatred and confusion
about the democratic system in the country. People of
Pakistan are called to recognize the reality of
hatred, discrimination and injustice propagated in
the name of religion. The government is reminded that
power-sharing and fair distribution of resources have
not been achieved, which is reflected in the
situation of religious minorities which has not
improved.
In response to the situation of the internally
displaced persons in areas with military operations,
Church organizations and individuals are already
lending their support to the victims. However, they
further demand structural, legal and policy reforms
to eliminate religious extremism in the country.
They called on the federal and provincial governments
to:
- remove all undemocratic and discriminatory
statutory laws and practices;
- support one person one vote and joint electorate
irrespective of religious affiliations, which is
hoped to inculcate social justice for the
marginalized sections of the society; and
- remove all biases and discrimination in the school
curriculum.
They also committed to:
- observe a day of prayer and fasting on 30 May for
the restoration of peace and solidarity with
families/people affected by extremism;
- organize rallies throughout the country on 13 June
2009 to call attention to the demands; and
- observe 16 August as a Social Justice Sunday for
all marginalized in Pakistan.
The statement was endorsed by Archbishop Lawrence
Saldanha, Archbishop of Lahore, Moderator of the
Church of Pakistan Salvation Army, and leaders of the
Presbyterian Church Pakistan and National Council of
Churches.
Source: National Commission
for Justice and Peace–Pakistan
Singapore
Commemoration
Event on the “Operation Spectrum”
Concerned Singaporean gathered in Hong Lim Park
on 21 May 2009 to mark the 22nd anniversary of the
“Operation Spectrum”.
The “Operation Spectrum”
“Operation Spectrum” refers to a series of
arrests, from 1987-1988, launched by the Internal
Security Department of Singaporean government. On 21
May 1987, sixteen people were arrested in their homes
or work places, on the charge of being a member of a
“clandestine communist network”. According
to the Internal Security Act (ISA), the arrested were
denied judicial review and detained without trial.
The detainees were treated inhumanely during
interrogation, including beating, sleep deprivation
and imprisonment in freezing cold rooms for long
hours. They were also threatened with the
imprisonment of their beloved ones and being
indefinitely detained. Under the continual physical
and mental torture, their only chance of being
released was to confess as being Marxists in the
public media.
Vincent Cheng, the Secretary of Justice and Peace
Commission in Singapore at that time, recalled in the
book, That We May Dream Again:
“To mitigate the duress, I decided to allow
myself to be abused and bullied into writing tracts
of self-incriminating lies and half-truths. It seemed
less painful to surrender in the interrogation room,
but it was more painful when I was put back in the
cell. There I would shed tears, stemming from my
sense of utter powerlessness, loss of self-esteem,
and constant worry over how my ‘confession’
would harm others.”
Having involuntary confessed, on 20 June 1987, all of
the detainees were sentenced to a detention order of
one to two years. However, six more people were
arrested on the same day.
The political violence which kept people in rueful
and fearful silence through unjust treatment was
intolerable. On 18 April 1988, nine former detainees
released a statement:
- denying the government accusation of being Marxist
conspirators;
- alleging ill-treatment under detention in 1987;
- claiming the government discouraged them from
engaging legal counsel and taking legal action; and
- condemning their coercive TV confessions in 1987,
which any decision about their penalty depended on.
This statement induced the re-arrest and extension of
detention orders in 1988.
In “Operation Spectrum”, a total of 22
people, including social workers, lawyers,
businessmen and theatre practitioners, were arrested.
Most of them were involved in Catholic movements for
social justice and human rights, while the others
were artists from the drama group, the Third Stage,
was concerned with social issues.
Instead of participating in subversive activities,
those detainees acted for justice in a genuine
pursuit of a society without oppression. To translate
their faith into praxis, they strived for the
empowerment of people through repealing unjust
policies and building community through publications
and seminars. Those activities challenged the
authority of the government which eventually decided
to clampdown on the dissidents with explicit
violence.
Commemoration event
Twenty-two years have passed, little improvement in
freedom of expression in Singapore is seen. Nowadays,
the incident is still known as the “Marxist
Conspiracy” among many young Singaporeans.
However oppression can never repress the dream of
people to live out their beliefs and to build a just
society. On 21 May 2009, a group of 50 people
attended the commemoration event in which the
organizers, a group of activists led by
artist-cum-film-maker, Seelan Palay, criticized the
ISA, and the former detainees of “Operation
Spectrum” gave speeches. The poem titled That
We May Dream Again, from a new book with the
same title by former ISA detainees, was read.
Ms Teo Soh Lung, 60, said, “I’m touched
that they remember things from so long ago… I
hope there can be more openness. I hope the ISA will
be abolished.”
The event was mainly organized by young people. They
called for the abolition of the ISA and establishment
of a “truth and reconciliation committee”
to investigate the human rights violations committed
22 years ago. A society with freedom is the dream of
everyone across different generations.
Source: That We May Dream Again
(http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/2095-yes-that-we-may-dream-again ), The Straits Times
Sri Lanka
Survivors
Get-Together at Sri Lankan New Year
A get-together of survivors
of rape/torture and families of missing persons was
held on 8 April in Kandy on the Sinhalese/Tamil New
Year. There were 130 participants with Bishop Vianney
Fernando, Bishop of the central Province, as the
chief guest.
There was a blessing from different religions, and
games were organized for the children, followed by
distribution of New Year gifts. The Bishop expressed
the solidarity of the Catholic Church with all the
victims in their struggle for justice, as he
addressed the gathering. In return, the participants
thanked the Bishop for all the guidance and
assistance given to them in their struggle with the
judicial process since 2001.
Source: Human Rights
Office, Kandy
Situation in the North
On 25 March, leaders of the Anglican and Catholic
Church issued a statement of concern about the
deteriorating plight of civilians trapped in the
Vanni area. The people, especially children,
desperately need food, shelter and physical security.
Although a “no-fire” zone has been declared
by the government and arrangements have been made for
the sick and injured to be transported for treatment,
Church leaders desperately called for the evacuation
of all civilians with the help of religious leaders
and others who are willing to facilitate the effort.
They also called for permission to be given to the
UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and
other reputed organizations for access into Vanni, to
facilitate and monitor the evacuation and other
humanitarian operations.
In April, new safety zones declared by the Sri Lankan
government continued to be attacked by bombs and
cluster shells, injuring many innocent civilians
daily. It was reported that chemical weapons and
internationally-banned white phosphorus were used in
the last offensive against the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to capture the zones not under the
government control. Humanitarian and medical staff in
the area called on the international community to
demand that the government of Sri Lanka to enter into
an immediate ceasefire and allow monitors to ensure
that no chemical weapons are used.
The situation of starvation continued as the
government imposed an economic blockade which
includes a ban on basic necessities, like rice,
vegetables, curry stuffs, milk powder for infants and
lactating mothers, medicines, etc. By mid-May, even
hospitals came under heavy shell attack. At one
point, there were 196,000 internally displaced
persons recorded from Vanni, which is around 40
percent of the total population recorded in November
2008. There is fear that the exact number of civilian
deaths and missing cannot be calculated.
In response, the Catholic Church, through its Human
Development Centre-Caritas Vanni in Jaffna, the
diocese’s social service agency, continues to
assist the displaced, offering church centres,
placing them in camps, and supplying food and other
relief items. Seventeen priests, together with 22
sisters have chosen to remain in the war zone to
assist the refugees. At the end of April, two of the
priests were seriously injured in the bombings, one
of them, Fr. T.R.Vasanthaseelan, was stuck by
artillery shrapnel on 23 April in Valaignarmadam
where he was providing food and shelter to thousands
of people, and suffered severe injuries to both his
legs, one of which had to be amputated. On 8 May, one
of the staff of Caritas Vanni was killed in a shell
attack at Mullivaikal.
Meanwhile, aid workers continue to be threatened,
arrested, abducted and killed. Lawyers and defenders
acting for victims of abuse have also been victims of
attacks, such as Mr. Armitha Ariyaratne,
Attorney-at-law, who was threatened with death by
police officers for representing a family in a
complaint of torture, and Mr. Santha Fernando,
Secretary for Justice and Peace in the National
Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL), who is
particularly involved in the promotion of justice
among the less privileged sections of society, has
been detained since 27 March 2009 in the Terrorism
Investigation Division of the Sri Lankan police. No
specific reason for his arrest or detention has been
given so far. Media workers have also become high
profile targets, being barred from entering conflict
areas and threatened, intimidated and violently
assaulted. Anti-terrorism legislation has also been
used to arrest and detain them.
The attack by the Sri Lankan Army on the LTTE
officially ended on 19 May 2009 after the defeat and
death of the LTTE leader, ending a nearly 30-year
civil war, with over 80,000 killed and millions
displaced. However, the suffering of the people
continued.
During the 11th Special Session of the United Nations
Human Rights Council on “The human rights
situation in Sri Lanka” held on 26-27 May 2009,
the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders presented an oral statement, highlighting
the significant increase in the number of internally
displaced people and human rights violations by all
parties to the conflict in the North of Sri Lanka,
after the abrogation of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement
in January 2008. Serious human rights violations
remain widespread throughout the country, including
enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions,
torture and other ill-treatment, while perpetrators
enjoy complete impunity. Those who denounced those
violations have been facing on-going hostility and
threats.
These events illustrate the situation of insecurity
faced by human rights defenders in Sri Lanka,
exacerbated by the public statement by the
country’s Human Rights Minister discrediting
human rights defenders after Sri Lankan NGOs
denounced human rights violations during the UN Human
Rights Council in March.
Sources: OMCT, Sunday Examiner,
AsiaNews
Thailand
Responding to Climate Change: The
Challenge of Adaptation and Mitigation for Thai
Tourism
While it may boost the economy, the tourism
industry has adverse effects on the environment.
Seeing the need to respond to climate change which
leads to soil erosion, decrease in bio-diversity, and
migration of animals and people, a workshop on
climate change was held by the Catholic Commission
for Justice and Peace - Thailand in September 2008,
in collaboration with the Ecumenical Coalition on
Tourism. The workshop advocated alternative tourism
which could be more environmental-friendly. To
enhance the effect of the workshop, participants were
encouraged to disseminate information about the World
Tourism Day which was marked on 27 September.
Source: Catholic
Commission for Justice and Peace (Thailand)
CCJP Camps on Human Rights
Recognizing the importance of human rights education,
the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace has
been organizing human rights training courses since
2005. On 14 September 2008, a training course on
human rights education was held at Assumption College
Sriracha for teachers, staff and mentors from
kindergarten, primary and secondary schools. The aim
of the programme was to equip educators for human
rights education in mainstream school settings. The
origin of human rights, international human rights
treaties, particularly child rights, were introduced.
The programme attracted 290 participants.
Apart from training for teachers, the human rights
training targetted youth. On 26-28 September 2008, a
human rights camp for youth from ethnic groups was
organized in Chiangmai. Around 50 young people from
six ethnic groups, Karen, Akha, Lahu, Hmong, Mien and
Lawa, participated in the camp. Likewise, the young
people learned about international human rights
treaties, however, with the focus on the rights of
ethnic minorities. Targeting the youth, the programme
was also designed in an interactive way, with games
and exercises to stimulate discussion among
participants. Besides teaching human rights, the
young people were also encouraged to reflect on their
responsibilities towards the rights of others.
Source: Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace
(Thailand)