What’s
Going On in Asia?
India
National
Kandhamal Day
To mark the National Kandhamal Day, an
inter-denominational prayer meeting was held on 23
August 2009 to bring reconciliation from the
Christian principle of forgiveness and to move
towards a strong and integrated civil society. The
Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) has
appealed to all the Catholic dioceses in the country
to pray for peace, healing and reconciliation.
Leaders of all major denominations and church groups,
including the CBCI, the National Council of Churches,
the Evangelical Fellowship of India and the All India
Christian Council attended the meeting and government
officials were also invited. The meeting was held at
the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi.
A year
ago, violence broke out after the assassination of
the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Swami Laxmanananda
Saraswati, in Kandhmal on 23 August 2008. While the
government held Maoists responsible for the killings,
the Hindu fundamentalist groups blamed Christians for
the incident. To date, the situation of Christians in
Orissa's Kandhamal district is still precarious and
they are still living under the tension of religious
conflict. The Hindu extremists who inflicted the
violence last year have warned those displaced
Christians who have returned from refugee camps to
withdraw the cases filed against them. Meanwhile, in
some places, Christians were threatened to be
converted to Hinduism. Even those who have returned
home were denied access to water, firewood and other
daily necessities.
Sources:
Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, All India
Christian Council
Seminar on “Rights of Minorities-with
special focus on Baha'is in Iran”
On 16 July 2009, Justice and Peace Commission- Mumbai
(JPC-Mumbai) co-organized a seminar with the Local
Spiritual Assembly of Baha'i's office at New Marine
Lines, Mumbai. With the theme of “Rights of
Minorities-with Special Focus on Baha'is in
Iran”, the seminar addressed the gross human
rights violations, wherein seven Baha'i leaders in
Iran were arbitrarily arrested in 2008 for upholding
and practicing the Baha'i faith.
Professor Theodore Orlin of Utica University in
U.S.A. and President of the International Human
Rights Education Consortium said, "Human rights
education is not merely a university subject but an
event based on the principle of universality."
He also added that, both the abuser and the abused
deserve human rights and that we should strive hard
to bring back the rule of law.
 |
|
 |
| Prof. Theodore
Orlin |
|
Fr. Allwyn D'Silva |
Fr. Allwyn D'Silva, the Chairperson of JPC-Mumbai,
traced the role of the Commission and ACPP-Hotline
Asia in co-organizing this seminar and shared about
the Urgent Appeal issued by ACPP on the predicament
of the Baha'i community in Iran.
Sources: Justice
and Peace Commission - Mumbai, DNA (Daily News &
Analysis)
NCJPD's Right to Food Campaign
While the people at large cried aloud that India is
rich, the National Commission for Justice, Peace and
Development (NCJPD) of the Catholic Bishops'
Conference of India (CBCI) continued to raise her
voice for the one third of the population below
poverty line. As the cry of the marginalized,
especially Dalits, tribals, slum dwellers and rural
people, are not heard enough, the struggles of these
“poorest of the poor” are hence the target
of the Commission. The NCJPD is particularly
concerned about the escalating poverty due to
structural exploitations and strategic removal of the
poor from the mainstream society, thus the main focus
in response is the Right to Food (RTF) Campaign.
The right to food can be seen as an implication of
the fundamental “right to life”, enshrined
in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Indeed, the
Supreme Court has explicitly stated several times
that the right to life should be interpreted as a
right to “live with human dignity”, which
includes the right to food and other basic
necessities.
The NCJPD launched the RTF Campaign in March 2008.
It is initiated in all the regions of India, although
as of now, few regions/states have taken up RTF in a
great level. The main objective of this campaign is
to create awareness among the people regarding the
accessibility to food for all. The NCJPD networks
with the RTF Campaign groups at the national level.
Collin Gonsalves, the Advocate who presents the right
to food case in the Supreme court and Biraj Patnaik,
the Principal Advisor for the right to food case, and
all other campaign groups work together to alleviate
hunger in India.
During the year, two training programmes on the
Food/Employment schemes were conducted in the
regions. Each Region has come out with a concrete
action plan out of which two specific schemes were
taken up according to the capacity of their network.
Every week the regions send their weekly report of
the work undertaken in their areas. The target group
of NCJPD on RTF is Dalits, tribals, slum dwellers and
the rural poor.
The Campaign is committed to foster this process
through all democratic means. Certain micro and macro
strategies have been taken up by different states in
collaboration with RTF Campaigners, RTF State
Advisors and the Human Rights Law network together
with NGOs in the area. The activities includes
situation analysis, data collection, campaign
coordination, media advocacy, starvation,
malnutrition and deaths investigation, support to the
Supreme Court cases and mass mobilization.
RTF units in different states work in coordination
with the Right to Information Centres, Food
Department, Department of Rural Development and
Ministry of Mother and Child Welfare. It is essential
that all parties come together to ensure the
availability of fundamental right to food socially,
economically and politically.
Source: National
Commission for Justice, Peace and Development-Right
to Food Campaign
Retrieval of Documentation in Orissa
Responding to the need of the people affected by the
violence in Kandhamal, Orissa, the National
Commission for Justice, Peace and Development (NCJPD)
conducted a training on Neuro Linguistic Programming
(NLP). Fifteen participants initially participated in
three phases of training and then met more than 1,000
other affected people to help them overcome their
traumatic experiences, pain and insecurity.
The NCJPD was also involved in retrieving the
documentation of the victims of violence in
Kandhamal. Through lobbying with the government,
efforts are made to retrieve documents like Voter
IDs, Ration Cards, School Certificates, Land Records,
Bank Pass Books, Driving Licenses, Job Cards and
other materials necessary as the resident proof.
Field visits are conducted to monitor whether the
eligible persons have received Government
compensation.
Various NGOs in Kandhamal also participated in
NCJPD's Right to Food Training Programme in order to
join hands in conviction that people need to monitor
these food schemes themselves.
Source: National
Commission for Justice, Peace and Development
Japan
Peace
Period 2009
August is a busy month for the Japan Catholic
Council for Justice and Peace (JCCJP) as they observe
and commemorate the Peace Period, which runs from 6
to 15 August every year to mark the period from the
Hiroshima Day to the day when the Japanese military
government formally surrendered in the Second World
War. This Peace Period is one of the most important
national events for all the Japanese people,
particularly for Catholics, because it was decided by
the Bishops' Conference since 1981, when Pope John
Paul II made his Peace Appeal in Hiroshima.
Source:
Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace
Pakistan
Laws
and Policy Against Religious Minorities
On 6 May 2009, Harmony Foundation commemorated the
11th anniversary of the death of the late Bishop John
Joseph, who sacrificed his life to protest against
the Blasphemy Laws. Bishop John Joseph had been
deeply involved in the struggle for religious freedom
and against fundamentalism and religious intolerance
in the country. On 6 May 1998, to demonstrate a
vigorous condemnation of the Blasphemy Laws, he shot
himself outside the court of Sahiwal, where the trial
of Ayub Masih, a Catholic accused of blasphemy and
sentenced to death, was heard.
However,
to date, few improvements can be seen in the
situation of religious minorities in Pakistan. Since
this March, there were continuous attacks on
Christian communities. A joint statement by
Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha, of Lahore and Mr.
Peter Jacob, the Executive Secretary of the Episcopal
National Commission of Justice and Peace (NCJP),
claimed that successive governments have failed to
take a serious notice of the misuse of the Blasphemy
Laws; the procedural amendments to registration of
cases have failed too. They urged the parliament to
repeal the Blasphemy Laws since they are source of
promotion of religious intolerance and disharmony
among the citizens.
Apart
from the legal system, the education policy was also
found to be discriminatory against the religious
minorities. According to the source, textbooks and
curriculum of state-run schools promote religious
extremism. For instance, in certain textbooks,
Pakistan was portrayed as a state built on the basis
of Islam. There were also some extreme themes found
in those textbooks, like “Pakistan is for
Muslims alone”, “Muslims are urged to fight
jihad against the infidels”, etc. While the
ninth grade ethics textbook, which is approved and
published by Punjab Textbook Board (PTB), includes
detailed chapters on Islam and the Holy Prophet,
Judaism and the Prophet Moses, Buddha and Buddhism,
there are no chapters to cover Christianity and
Jesus. In the tenth grade English book, a paragraph
on the festivals celebrated by the minorities was
removed after the revision by PTB. Only with rare
exceptions, students were taught to read the text
critically. It is worrying that students generated
from this education system tend to convey to the next
generation a biased message.
To
ensure the harmony within the country, it is
important for the Pakistani government to overhaul
both the legal and education system.
Source:
National Commission of Justice and
Peace-Pakistan, Mirror Updates, Minorities Concern
South Korea
Peace-maker of South Korea, Rest
in Peace
The first Catholic President of South Korea, Kim
Dea-jung, passed away on 18 August. Kim was the first
Korean Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and had dedicated
his life to promoting human rights and the
democratization of South Korea, as well as working
for peace on the divided Korean Peninsula.
President Kim started his political
life when the Syngman Rhee Administration (a regime
in the time of 1948-1960) was getting dictatorial.
Kim demonstrated his vision for Korean society and
moral courage by giving an address at an outdoor
rally against the constitutional revision, by which
the then President Park Chung-hee intended to extend
his term. In the 1970s, President Park imposed
martial law, banned all political activities and
rammed the so-called Yushin (revitalizing reform)
Constitution through the National Assembly. Kim
Dae-jung strenuously objected to these extra-legal
measures and led campaigns against Park's regime in
U.S.A. and Japan, hence irritating the regime. In
1972, he was arrested by the Korean Central
Intelligent Agency in Japan, then placed under house
arrest. In 1980, he was accused of treason and thrown
into prison. He first received death sentence which
was later commuted to 20 years imprisonment. He was
finally freed in 1982, under the pressure from the
international community, including Pope John Paul II.
However, he was forced to leave his country again and
asked for asylum in U.S.A. As soon as he returned
home in 1985, he was put under house arrest, but this
intensified the pro-democracy movement in the
country. In 1987, he was cleared of all the charges
and elected as president in 1997 and served until
2003.
Despite his turbulent political life,
Kim believed that, “With the knowledge that
Jesus was crucified for humanity, I could overcome
all hardships and trials.”
After President Kim Dae-jung took
office, he decided to recover the country's economy
and pursue a policy of engagement with North Korea.
With North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, they worked
together on a joint declaration in 2000.
Regarding President Kim's hard trials
in the past, he said, “I have had a lifelong
pilgrimage towards freedom. Along the journey,
certain forces have sustained me. The first is the
Christ I believed in. He gave his life on the holy
cross; he taught us how to be free in spirit. The
cross was my training towards freedom.” Kim has
set a good model of discipleship by his striving for
freedom and spirit of self-sacrifice.
Sources: Sunday
Examiner, nobelprize.org
Sri
Lanka
International Torture Day
Observed in Sri Lanka
Focusing on helping torture victims and ending
torture, the United Nations International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture is observed every year
on 26 June. To echo with this event, a programme
themed as “Say No to Torture” was organized
by the Human Rights Office, Kandy (HRO, Kandy) and
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), on 27 June
2009, in Sri Lanka. The keynote speeches were given
by Mr Amitha Ariyaratne, a lawyer, in Singhalese
while another lawyer, Mr Padmadaksa, addressed the
gathering in Tamil. They said that torture in police
custody and detention centers have become common in
Sri-Lanka, although the Convention against Torture
and Cruel and Inhuman Treatment or Punishment Act,
No. 22, was enforced in 1994. They said the main
reason for the prevalent torture is that the majority
of society still considers torture as one of the
efficient means to get information. The keynote
speakers emphasized that no one should be tortured
for any reason at any circumstances, even during war.
Moreover, it is not only the police who should
refrain from acts of torture but any state officer
who commit acts of torture should be liable for
prosecution.
Besides the keynote speeches, participants were
divided into four discussion groups with topics of
Children Rights, Security Laws, Justice System and
its delivery and Torture. Finally, the statement
prepared by the HRO, Kandy and the AHRC for Torture
Day 2009 was released. The full version of the
statement can be found at < http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2009statements/2103/
>
Fr. Nandana Manatunga, the Director of the HRO,
Kandy, explained that the purpose of the Torture Day
is to remind torture survivors that their struggle
for justice is supported by the civil society; and to
assure that the campaign against torture and inhuman
treatment and punishment, continue throughout the
year.
Sources:
Human Rights Office, Kandy, Asian Human Rights
Commission
Human Rights Workshop for Lawyers
The Workshop on Custodial Torture and Violence
organized by the Human Rights Office of Kandy (HRO,
Kandy), in Sri Lanka, was held in Fatima Retreat
House, Lewella, Kandy, from 21 to 23 July 2009. The
input and discussion were focused on security laws,
torture, inhuman treatment and the Convention against
Torture. During the workshop, 14 lawyers shared their
experiences in following the “folk school”
method and explained the constraints in their works
due to the defects of the judicial system. Setback in
filing cases of human rights violations, common
policy in supporting police prosecutors, touting by
the lawyers, undue delay of processing cases of
torture and witness protection were also discussed.
In spite of the difficulties in practicing their
profession and ethics, the lawyers were encouraged to
be compassionate toward the poor and to live out
their talents. Participants expressed that it was
important to meet once in a while and strengthen the
network of human rights lawyers as a safeguard and
for communal support.
Source: Human
Rights Office, Kandy
Vietnam
Catholic Websites Blocked by Vietnamese Government
After the news of limiting Catholic websites emerged
in Vietnam, the government moved forward to block
those websites, with the excuse of preventing the
country from the impact of pornographic information.
The affected websites include Catholic World News and
AsiaNews.
Source: Kung
Kao Po (Hong Kong based Catholic Weekly)