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RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS
E-Newsletter
Vol.1 No.13
September 6, 1999
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Religious Perspectives on Human Rights is now available online at: http://www.rghr.net
Religious Perspectives on Human Rights is a weekly e-newsletter issued by Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic and Christian Groups on Human Rights, initiated by the Asian Human Rights Commission.
EAST
TIMOR - AN APPEAL
East Timor : THE NEED OF THE HOUR IS
SOLIDARITY
"East Timor belongs to those with goodwill
and who are willing to work for a future
which is peaceful and democratic".Bishop Belo
The people of East Timor are being congratulated by the
international community for its brave commitment for
peace and democracy. The intimidations, killings and massacres
did not deter them from expressing their deepest aspiration for
peace and freedom. This perhaps confirms the perception that the
attempts at suppressing the deep seated desires of persons
or groups can have the opposite effect of their
reconfirmation and flaming the yearnings for struggle to express
them.
"Forget the bitter lives and days of sorrow. Let us have
a future full of promise, hope and challenge. Let us hold arms
together in an eternal brotherhood for the common good", is
the appeal made by the Nobel Peace laureat Bishop Belo. This
perhaps is the hour for the international community that has
yearned so much for peace and democracy for the troubled island,
to express its deep solidarity by supporting the appeal made by
the Bishop for peace and reconciliation.
What You May Do;
Wrtite to the Secretary General of the United Nations and the
President of Indonesia requesting that immediate action be taken
to ensure peace and order.
-------- Suggested Letter --------------------------
Mr. Kofi Annan
United Nations Secretary-General
New York, NY 10017 USA
Fax to: 1-212-963-2155
Email: <ecu@un.org>, <webadmin.hchr@unog.ch>
Dear Mr. Kofi Annan,
The Asian Human Rights Commission appeals to the United
Nations to send effective Peace Keeping Personnel immediately to
Dili and other areas in East Timor. We congratulate the
United Nations for providing the opportunity for the people of
East Timor to determine through the ballot whether they want
independence or autonomy from Indonesia. In that ballot, 78.5 per
cent of East Timorese voted for Independence. The UN has an
obligation to see the process through and take immediate
supportive action to prevent further "genocide". East
Timorese have voted overwhelmingly for independence from
Indonesia.
The Indonesia People's Consultative Assembly convenes in
October 1999 tratify the ballot results. The May 5 agreement
signed by the United Nations, Portugal and Indonesia does not
provide clear arrangements for a possible rejection by the
Assembly. The United Nations has assume transitional authority in
November 1999 until a new government is elected in East Timor.
As such we believe that confidence building measure is the key
to a peaceful solution. Thus we urge the followings steps be
taken immediately:
- United Nations to assume transitional authority until a
new government is elected in East Timor;
- urge during the transition period the presence of an
UN backed international security forces' to maintain
peace and the security of all East Timorese people to
prevent the imminent dangers of "genocide";
- to take action to guarantee the safety of all East
Timorese;
- to take immediate action to disarm and disband
pro-integration militias;
- to withdrawal all Indonesian army personnel in stages
from East Timor by November 1999.
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SEND COPIES TO;
President B.J. Habibie
Office of the President
Presidential Palace, Jakarta
Indonesia
Fax: 62 21 360 517
62 21 345 4438
Email: President B.J. Habibie
<habibie@ristek.go.id>
THE
ATTACKS ON MINORITIES
United Christian Forum for Human Rights
CBCI Centre, Ashoka Place, New Delhi 110 001
President: Archbishop Alan de Lastic
National Coordinators: Archbishop Vincent Concessao, Bishop Karam
Masih, Dr Richard Howell
National Convenor: John Dayal
Address for Correspondence: 505 Media Apartments
Link society, 18 IP Extension, Delhi 110092
Ph 2722262, 2726582, 3715581 Fax 91-11-3350491
Email: johndayal@vsnl.com
New Delhi, 2nd September 1999
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY SHOCKED AT MURDER OF CATHOLIC PRIEST TODAY
IN THE REGION WHERE GRAHAM STAINES AND HIS SONS WERE BURNT ALIVE
IN JANUARY 1999
Strong protest to Prime minister; Central leadership
cannot escape responsibility in unabated hate and terror
campaign against minority communities
The following statement was release to the media tonight by
John Dayal, National Convenor, UCFHR
New Delhi: United Christian Forum for Human rights president
Archbishop Alan de Lastic and National Covenor John Dayal have
protested with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the
unabated terror campaign against the Christian community in
Orissa, which led to the brutal slaying of Roman Catholic Priest
Fr Arul Doss in Keonjhar, Orissa, this morning.
The murder, in the same region where Australian missionary
Graham Stuart Staines and his sons Timothy and Philip were burnt
alive by Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh in January this year,
comes a day after the government announced that Pope John Paul II
will pay a state visit to India in November this year. The
murder comes within days of the killing, allegedly by Dara Singh,
of a Muslim trader also in the same region of the state.
Fr Arul Dass was attacked as he slept in the Koenjahar forest
area. A group assaulterd the sleeping priest and his companion
with bows and arrows and other arms. Doss was killed on the spot
and his companion seriously injured. the assailants escaped.
The brutality of the priest's murder and injuries to his
companion have shocked not only the Christian community but
minority communities across the nation, and specially in the
tribal belt which seems to be the special target of communal and
fundamentalist elements in recent months.
In the telegram to Prime Minister Vajpayee, the United
Christian Forum for Human Rights said: `We are distressed that
such crime continues to occur despite assurances by both Central
and State governments that adequate steps are being taken to
ensure the safety and security of minority communities, and
specially of religious persons.
`We call on the governments of India and the state of Orissa
to take urgent steps to apprehend the guilty and restore public
confidence so that there is no recurrence of such macabre
violence which seems designed to intimidate the peaceful minority
communities engaged in development work among the most deprived
and marginalised segments of society.' The telegram was
signed by Archbishop Alan de Lastic, Archbishop of Delhi and
President, United Christian Forum for Human Rights. Similar
telegrammes have been sent to the State chief minister and the
Union home minister, Mr. L K Advani.
UCFHR rights National Convenor John Dayal in his statement
pointed out that the Christian community had been pressing on the
Central Government, which controls the Central Bureau of
Investigations, to take urgent steps to arrest proclaimed killer
Dara Singh and others responsible for the reign of terror in
India's tribal belt. Mr. Dayal said instead of catching the
criminals, central leaders were trying to capitalise on the
report of the Justice Wadhwa commission of enquiry, to exonerate
murderous gangs of the Sangh parivar terrorising innocent tribals
in Orissa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and
Maharashtra. Mr. Dayal said it was not just the Christians
who were the target of this communal conspiracy but all
minorities. The government of India and the state
government could not shrug off their responsibility.
SR.
MARIANI : A PATHFINDER
SR.MARIANI CUEVA DIMARANAN,SFIC: A SEASONED FIGHTER NEVER
GIVES UP
Sr.Mariani was 27 when she ran away from home to become a nun.
Her father would have been content in seeing her teaching Math
and Pilipino, but Mariani was sure about what she wanted. She
wanted to serve her God. The headstrong, not your typical silent
laid-back religious, believed that what a person said is what a
person did, and because she had vowed to be one with God’s
children that was exactly what she was going to do.
Her work among the poorest of the poor and making a stand on
the country’s politics during martial law caught the ire of
Marcos and his minions. Eventually, she was arrested right in
convent grounds in October 20,1973 without any warrant of arrest,
and before being locked up in Fort Bonifacio she was kept in Camp
Crame, Quezon City incommunicando, for interrogators to work
over, sometime for six straight hours at a time.
Sr. Mariani became the chairperson of the Task Force Detainees
of the Philippines (TFDP) from 1975 to 1996. She was a Spartan
worker, kept long hours, did not distinguish night from day, took
the jeep. Throughout the 70s and 80s, when TFD grew to 60 offices
nationwide, she continued crisscrossing the country and visited
all without a whimper. She called on prison officials,
visited prisoners or held meetings with relatives, or with
military officials.
Criticism from all fronts, including some from the church did
not perturb her enthusiasm. She would always say: " for me,
it does not matter if a person is a political prisoner. A human
being is to be fed. We are not here to judge them. We should
respect what they stand for, so that they will also respect us.
So everybody has freedom in whatever he/she believes in."
Before her most serious stroke last January, Sr. Mariani
attended the Human Rights Defenders Summit in Paris in December
1998. In March 1996, she was a participant to the Human Rights
and Spiritualty Workshop organized by the Asian Human Rights
Commission (AHRC) . Seeing the value of that workshop to others
in the Philippines, she arranged another workshop with AHRC in
October 1997 in Bagio City that was attended by 35 people.
Then a third one in Tagaytay City in November of the same year,
again through the partnership of Sr. Mariani and the AHRC.
Today, at 73 of age and after a stroke, Sr. Mariani as TFDP’s
chair emeritus, still attends the Board of Trustees meetings.
Likewise, she also participates and attends forums, conferences
and campaigns for the release of political prisoners and
activities undertaken by the Association of Major Religious
Superiors in the Philippines(AMRSP), of which TFDP is a mission
partner. And of course, Sr.Mariani was among the 80,000 people
who joined the Anti Charter Change rally last August 20 to oppose
the attempt of Estrada administration to water down the
progressive provision of the Constitution including press freedom
and human rights.
Source: Philippine Human Rights Update
Posted on 1999-09-06
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