|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS
E-Newsletter
Vol.1 No.26
December 6, 1999
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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.
HUNGER STRIKE
BY PRIESTS FOR JUSTICE
and the REPEAL OF NATIONAL
SECURITY LAW.
An URGENT APPEAL: of
Democratic Power of South Korea to Peace and Human Rights
Defenders Worldwide
Pan-National Solidarity Committee for the abolition of the NSL
MYONG-DONG Catholic Cathedral 1-2ga myong-dong
joong-gu Seoul South Korea (100-022)
TEL : 82-0347-795-5518 FAX : 82-0347-792-9779
E-mail address :
wstun@hotmail.com
Pan-National Committee
for Abolishing the National Security Law composed of 152 Korean
NGOs including democratic religious organizations such as
Catholic, Christian, and Buddhist groups was established in
September of this year aiming at elimination of the NSL. Hunger
strike of Priests for Justice for 25 days from 5 of September led
to peoples rally held every second week, signature campaign,
shaving-hairs sit-in, other hunger strikes and now upcoming
Pan-National Culture Festival for abolishing the NSL on 4 of
December.
National Security Law
born in cold war and shacking freedom of thoughts and conscience
until now was used as a main method to protect only security of
power not to protect neither national security nor human rights
of people for 51 years.
Under the Law which has
infamous provisions vaguely defined, quite a few human rights
defenders, members of trade union, and dissidents were arrested
and served long term in prison and occasionally went through
cruel torture.
From the inauguration of
President Kim Dae-jung where he promised to improve human rights
situation in South Korea, almost all Korean NGOs expected that
the NSL could be dramatically changed or abolished and the
struggles against the NSL was heated. However, the Grand National
Party, the main opposition party opposed even any debates on
amendment or elimination of the NSL and considered persons
fighting against the NSL communists benefiting enemy, North
Korea.
National Congress, the
ruling party made a draft for the amendment to the NSL but its
partial change cannot make sure protection of human rights from
arbitrary application of the NSL at the satisfactory level.
The UN Human Rights
Committee considered the periodic human rights report of the
Korean government in its 67th session and urged the Korean
government to phase out the NSL. Please send your appeal letters
to the Korean government and National Congress, the ruling party
in an effort to support struggles for the elimination of the NSL.
Mail to:
Korea government - www.bluehouse.go.kr(E-mail to president)
Nationnal Congress - www.new97.or.kr (E-mail), FAX :
82-02-784-6070
E-mail address : ncnp@ncnp.or.kr
Your support letter are
also essential to promote peoples struggle against the NSL.
Please send your solidarity message to Pan-National Culture
Festival for Abolishing the NSL via Internet.
(Email address:
wsyun@hotmail.com
)
FREEING BONDED
CHILD LABOURERS
Congratulations
to International Justice Mission
INDIA: Child
"Tobacco Slaves" Used For US Fad ( Courtesy: UN Wire
Service Foundation)
Inexpensive,
sweet-flavored Indian cigarettes known as "bidis" that
have become a fad among young people in the United States are
often hand-rolled by child "tobacco slaves," reported
CBS's 60 Minutes II. Sold in US convenience stores, tobacco shops
and even health food stores, "they are a fad for the class
of 2000, created by children living by 18th century rules."
"We've had children
from the age 5, 6, 7, 10, 12" sold into servitude to roll
bidis, said Special Commissioner P.W.C. Davidar, an Indian
government official fighting bonded labor in Tamil Nadu.
"It's all ages. As soon as you can ... and you know how to
roll bidis, you are an eligible candidate."
In remote India, bonded
servitude is common practice, and some observers estimate that at
least 10 million people are bonded laborers, many of them
children, according to 60 Minutes II.
Poor families, desperate
for money, sometimes sell their children to money lenders. The
average price for a child is to , and length of service
can last from a few years to a lifetime, according to Gary
Haugen, a US attorney working to rescue children from illegal
bondage. "[T]his is one of the places where you can still
find children sold into slavery," Haugen said.
Once in charge of the
UN's investigation of war crimes in Rwanda, Haugen has set up a
nonprofit group of investigators he calls the International
Justice Mission. They go door to door searching for bonded
children, and document each case with a sworn affidavit. Indian
courts will free children who can prove they were sold for labor.
Over the past 18 months, the group has freed more than 200
children.
Haugen said the girls
produced bidis specifically for Mangalore Ganesh Bidi Works, a
principal exporter of the cigarettes to the United States. After
60 Minutes II showed its footage to US Customs Commissioner Ray
Kelly, he said the pictures provided enough evidence to legally
bar the company's imports. The customs detention order against
the company went into effect 24 November (Scott Pelley, CBS 60
Minutes II, 23 Nov).
EAST TIMOR
UPDATE : JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN EAST TIMOR
EAST TIMOR: RISING FROM
THE ASHES: Courtesy of Jesuit Refugee Services -JRS
Mona Laczo reports
following a visit to Timor: "East Timor is now seemingly
peaceful. Interfet troops have secured most areas and all major
roads have been declared safe for travel. The East Timorese
return to a destroyed land. Indiscriminate looting and violence
by anti-independence militias and Indonesian military following
the 30 August vote for independence have devastated East Timor.
Not even the poorest were spared. Some regions, such as Los Palos
where JRS is now present, have been almost completely ruined.
'These people were very poor and now they have lost even the
little they had,' said Jub Phoktavi, a JRS team member in Luro.
However, despite their losses, the people of Luro and other
surrounding villages have began to rebuild their community.
Schools have also begun to operate although books, pens and even
desks and chairs for students are scarce. Inadequate food
supplies and transport to outlying areas continue to cause major
problems. People returning to East Timor are often forced to wait
for days to return to their villages due to lack of transport. On
30 November, OCHA reported that 719 returnees at the Don Bosco
transit centre in Dili awaited secondary movement to their home
destinations. 'There is a shortage of trucks to transport those
who are returning from West Timor. Also, rice and other supplies
do not get to the needy because there are no trucks to deliver
them,' said Peter Hosking SJ, JRS East Timor assistant director.
A lack of building
materials is also causing concern as most buildings need
extensive or total repair. The rainy season has already arrived
in East Timor and this will greatly hinder the rebuilding process
and fuel the disappointment of those who remain without reliable
shelter."
Job Opportunities:
PASTORAL AND OUTREACH WORKERS (East Timor); Experienced Primary
And Secondary School Teachers (East Timor); TEACHER; TRAINERS
(East Timor); * Experienced TEACHERS OF ADULT LITERACY (East
Timor); *NURSES/MIDWIVES (East Timor); * Experienced TEACHERS OF
PORTUGUESE AND ENGLISH (East Timor); * People with training and
experience in AGRIULTURAL AND VETERINARY SERVICES (East Timor);
*COMMUNITY OUTREACH WORKERS (East Timor); EDUCATION RESOURCE
WORKERS (East Timor); PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS (East Timor); A
HUMAN RIGHTS WORKER (East Timor)
Send a blank e-mail to
recruitment@info.jesref.org for full details about these job
Opportunities; other
inquiries to bema.solis@jesref.org or fax +39-06 6879283.
MALAYSIA
: BIG BANYAN
TREE THAT WOULD ALLOW ONLY PATERNALISM TO GROW
While the ruling party
scored a comfortable victory, there are a number of questions
raised about the performance of the main stream media. It needs a
lot of soul searching after its disgraceful behavior of allowing
itself to be so prostituted by the party in power for a few
crumbs falling from the table of the master.
Sadly it mistook the
voice of the people to be the voice of the party, created no
space for alternative thinking or expression, stifled all
dissenting voices and competed with each to get the maximum
admiration from the much predicted winner. In fact their
performance amounted to mental intimidation, effectively
preventing free thought and the formation of unbiased (free)
opinion, consequently the free choice of candidates, which can
tantamount to a violation of the right to free expression.
The election of the
incumbent Prime Minister for a fifth term can also be indicative
of the absence of emerging leaders, alternatives forms of
governance, the elimination of potential leaders and the creation
of a subservient civil society created by coercive powers.
Perpetuation of such a system can not only degenerate into worse
forms of violence but also to the generation of various
fundamentalist trends.
We would like to cite
here the concluding remarks made by the ASIAN NETWORK FOR FREE
ELECTIONS – ANFREL in their press release: "Although
the elections were conducted relatively peacefully, it is
difficult to conclude that the electoral process and the polling
are free and fair due to the discrepancies in the handling of the
voter registration, fair play in the campaigning, and the absence
of independent monitoring agencies. Not all political parties
were able to carry out their message to the public and the media
coverage were often bias, unbalance and at times
misleading".
Posted on 1999-12-06
remarks:1 |
