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RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS
E-Newsletter
Vol.1 No.20
October 25, 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.
CHALLENGES TO
THE CHURCHES AND THE DEMOCRATIC FORCES IN INDONESIA.
Now more than ever
before the democratic forces within and outside of the country
need to take a critical supportive stand vis a vis the new
President, the Vice President and the Parliament. The Indonesian
parliament acted with utmost maturity not only in the election of
the new leadership but also in chalking out the agenda for the
new government.
High in the agenda have
been;
- revoking the decree
claiming sovereignty over E. Timor,
- decision to confer
special autonomy to the provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya
and investigate human rights abuses,
- resolve the carnage
in the Maluku Islands and Ambon where religious and
communal killings have claimed hundreds of lives,
- to establish a
clean legal system, good governance and recovery from
economic crisis,
- foreign loans to be
decreased and the repayment to be restructured ( approval
from parliament required before negotiating new foreign
borrowings),
- legislate to
eliminate corruption, collusion and nepotism,
- the 38 seats
reserved to the military officers to be abolished during
the next five years.
They certainly look
monumental seen in the context of a long and protracted
authoritarian regime, mounting pressure from the fundamentalist
groups, the strong presence of the armed forces, rising
aspirations often conflictual from the various segments of the
population. These decisions will have to be translated into
action if Indonesia is to come out of the present morass and it
is here that the commitment of the Churches –Muslim,
Buddhist, Christian, and others - and the democratic forces
become quite crucial. Passing on this vital information to their
constituencies so that the people are in a position not only to
collaborate in their implementation but also to monitor their
progress. Besides it is up to them to create institutions and
processes that can ensure their speedy implementation as well as
their ongoing assessment This certainly would be one of the
effective ways of allowing democracy to take roots.
The decision, for
instance regarding the establishment of a clean legal system and
good governance would require a quite a number of responses on
the part of the people who are least familiar with such systems
and structures in a democratic setup. This would demand not only
education on basic human rights but also the training on the due
process where collaboration between the NGOs and the government
become important. Formation of genuine leadership in and through
various economic activities, which might also contribute to the
alleviation of poverty, is another area where the Churches can
come in. In fact the credibility of the churches as well as of
the Ngos will in future be tied to what they can contribute
constructively and creatively for the nurturing of democracy in
the country.
THE AFFIRMATION MADE
BY THE YOUTH
AT THE END OF THE CAMP ON HUMAN RIGHTS.
Hundred youths
representing over twenty countries met in Bangkok from 9-19
October to reflect, share experiences, and charter a course in
the fields of Human Rights, Democratization and Peace made the
following affirmation at the end of their camp, a part of it is
reproduced here. This perhaps could be studied when the youths
assemble for various occasions with concrete steps adopted for
their implementation.
We affirmed the
following:
- We will work to
establish universal human rights, rooted in human
dignity, which transcend differences in race,
nationality, gender, sexual orientation, religion,
ideology, and socioeconomic status.
- We strive to
understand and expose the social, economic, political and
religious forces which attempt to divide humankind.
- We believe that all
peoples, including Asians, have a right and obligation to
speak freely for themselves about their experiences,
practices, and histories, unhindered by government
constraints and intimidation.
- We recognize and
respect indigenous peoples’ values, wisdom,
heritage, and methods of cultivation and production,
which protect ecological balance.
- We support the
struggle for self-determination of all people in the
world.
- We will fight
unequal distribution of power, wealth, natural resources,
and status between rich and poor, men and women, and
ethnic groups.
- We call on
governments to ensure access to high-quality health care
and traditional and alternative education.
- We believe that the
people should have full access to all forms of modern
communications, including broadcast media and the
Internet, and that these media should serve the interests
of the people.
- We demand that
governments do not use military force against their own
peoples.
- We demand that
militaries separate themselves from the political
functions of government.
- We condemn those
governments which use the rhetoric of human rights and
democracy as a justification for exploiting and
oppressing their own and other peoples.
- We are gravely
concerned about those governments which use their legal
systems as instruments for oppressing their people, and
we condemn those persons who act to reduce and eliminate
the ability of legal systems to protect human rights.
THE FINDINGS
OF THE PEOPLES TRIBUNAL
ON FOOD SCARCITY AND
MILITARISATION.
The Asian Human Rights
Commission just released the "Voice of the Hungry
Nation", a 170 page report containing evidence, findings and
conclusions of the People's Tribunal on Food Scarcity and
Militarization in Burma.
Concerned by reports of
widespread hunger due to military rule in Burma (Myanmar), in
1997 AHRC began preparing for The People's Tribunal. The Tribunal
was created to investigate and expose human rights violations in
a nation where legal recourse does not exist. Its purpose was to
highlight militarization's devastating effects on Burma's silent,
often forgotten rural population. Sitting on the Tribunal were
three prominent members of Asia's human rights movement: Justice
H. Suresh (India), Professor Mark Tamthai (Thailand) and Dr. Lao
Mong Hay (Cambodia)). Throughout 1999 this panel reviewed
evidence, took depositions, and deliberated its findings and
recommendations.
Voice of the Hungry
Nation
In the "Voice of
the Hungry Nation" the Tribunal details how Burma's ongoing
civil war and militarized economy are gradually starving not only
the nation's rice farmers, but even the urban middle class.
Scores of witnesses relate how forty years of military rule have
eroded agrarian life and played havoc with the economy.
In the name of
counter-insurgency, the Burmese government stands guilty of
denying all rights and freedoms, including the most basic human
right for food. The resulting picture is a grim portrayal of
human suffering. Displaced peasants whose villages and crops have
been burnt flee into eastern Burma's rugged jungles, hiding from
marauding soldiers in army-declared "free fire" zones.
Without food or health care, children die from malnutrition and
simple disease, thousands of villages have been strategically
relocated, leaving innumerable persons without land, work or a
secure future.
Meanwhile, in central
and lower Burma the government's army-first agricultural policy
denies rice to the very farmers who grow it. The government
enforces an exorbitant paddy quota, collecting rice for the army
and civil service regardless of hunger in the rice-producing
heartland. Burmese rice procured at gunpoint or under threat of
land confiscation is then offered up for sale on the world
market, feeding hard currency into a state which spends 40% of
its budget on the army.
Recommendations
By focusing global
attention on basic economic rights, the Tribunal hopes to promote
the needs and interests of rural Burma in the international
discourse on human rights and democratization. Thus raising
awareness about people's fundamental rights to benefit from their
local natural resource for food, employment social security and
cultural identity. It then makes recommendations to the Burmese
government, opposition political and military groups, the UN and
the NGOs.
Tribunal's report: Voice
of the Hungry Nation is available on-line at
www.hrschool.org/tribunal
PATH FINDERS
Bishop John Joseph is
QUI YUAN of South Asia.
Chinese people are proud
of QUI YUAN, who lived in 200 B.C. The manner of his life and
death has made him such an important person in the Chinese folk
history that he is celebrated every year by a holiday arid by
Dragon Boat festival. In fact he is the symbol of
the Chinese spirit of protest for all times,
Qui Yuan was an
advisor to the emperor and is known as one clear headed man in a
very confused country at a difficult time. Qui Yuan knowing his
people gave a set of advise to the emperor; so as to some things
and to make the lives of the people better. The emperor ignored
his advice. To stress the importance of his advise, Qui Yuan
drowned himself' in a river. His protest drew the attention of
the people.
He is celebrated in many
ways in post revolutionary China too. At Wuhan in Hubei
province, one of the largest gardens has his statute at the
entrance.
Bishop John Joseph of
Pakistan is not an Ancient hero hut a Modern one. He too was a
very clear headed man living in a confused country. His country's
blindness came from religious fundamentalism. Under the blasphemy
law persons were condemned to death. After protesting against
this for a long time, the Bishop realized the depth of the
problem, when mobs encouraged by fanatical clerics killed one of
his people in front of the court. A short time later, the Bishop
after promising that he will sacrifice his life to stop this from
happening, shot himself to death in front of the same court. His
death shocked whole of Pakistan.
Bishop John Joseph thus
represents the great spirit of protest not only for the people of
Pakistan but also for South Asia in general This needs to be
celebrated and the cause far which he gave his life needs to be
pursued with courage and dedication.
Basil Fernando writing
from Wuhan, China
Posted on 1999-10-25
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