|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS
E-Newsletter
Vol.2 No.39
September 25, 2000
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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.
1)
IMPEDIMENTS TO INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE by Hassan
Hanafi
If history is a peripheral concept, the community is an
essential one. The individual is not a nomad living alone but is
a member of a community. This communitarian dimension in the
individual requires the implementation of social justice through
social solidarity and social cohesion, through individual
initiative or through social commitment. The public welfare
precedes the individual private interest. Human solidarity is a
positive value, undeniable by all rational beings.
God created all mankind equal. The only difference is in
virtue and excellence in performance. Poverty is a man-made
phenomena. It can be dealt with through human solidarity.
Ownership is more public than private. Man comes and leaves this
world having only his good deeds with him, not his wealth.
An interfaith co-operation is not only a matter of mutual
understanding, respect and recognition but a matter of common
projects for human survival and public welfare, strugglers
against drought hunger, disease, ignorance, illiteracy and
under-development. These are essential concepts for
inter-religious dialogue, and efficient and productive, away from
brotherly mutual embraces and diplomatic exchanges. (from a Paper
submitted under topic "Science, Belief and Conscience -
Essential and Peripheral Concepts" Hassan Hanafi Professor
of philosophy, Cairo University, Egypt)
2)
DAWN CENTRE LAUNCHED- This project deserves YOUR HELP
The DAWN SHELTER (in the Philippines) for Women and
Children was launched on 22 of September. The Centre aims to
function as:
Seminar/Training Center, Half-way Home , Educational Center,
Livelihood Center, Therapy and Theatre Workshop, Sustainable
Environment and Resource Center. The centre is a further product
of the organisers who have worked very hard since 1996 to deal
with the issues and problems related to migration/overseas
contract workers, specifically of women entertainers to Japan.
They have carried out an advocacy and networking program to
ensure public awareness of the plight of migrant women workers
and Japanese-Filipino children (JFC); and have generated support
for their cause. The present venture is a further extension of
their work.
The touching opening ceremony was marked by plays and songs
from the migrant workers children and women. The songs, a drama
and a video told the plight of migrant women who go as
entertainers to Japan. A sad story of exploitation including
sexual exploitation, was told in a pathos that generated
resentment, anger and sympathy. Several children of the Filipino-
Japanese parentage were present. Some of them have been able to
find their fathers with the help of DAWN.
Addressing the gathering, Mr.Basil Fernando, the Executive
Director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, congratulated DAWN
for its brave, courageous, daring and self -sacrificing work. He
urged the Governments, community organisations including the
churches to respond to the issue of migrant workers in general
and issue of the migrant workers children in particular. Several
persons spoke at the meeting and one congregation of Sisters
donated 10,000 Pesos as a contribution to the project.
The project, which plans to provide shelter for migrant women
that need help in counseling would also solicit your support. You
may obtain further details from - "Dawn Philippines"
<dawnphil@i-next.net>
3)
The debate about the sovereignty of State Vs the People: ANY
COMMENTS?
UN AFFAIRS:UN NOTEBOOK: Does Reform Debate Challenge The UN
Charter? There is probably no section of the UN charter that is
causing as much disagreement these days as the one that sets in
stone a member nation's sovereign rights: "Nothing contained
in the present charter shall authorize the United Nations to
intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic
jurisdiction of any state or shall require the members to submit
such matters to settlement under the present charter; but this
principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement
measures under Chapter VII."
The charter was written at the outset of the Cold War and
served the organization during that entire epoch. With the Cold
War's end, however, the charter is looking more and more
outdated. Some of it may begin to crumble like the Berlin
Wall.
When NATO countries decided to intervene in Kosovo, a province
within a sovereign nation, Russia and China blocked any hope of
Security Council approval. Though the charter passage says
sovereignty does not prejudice actions taken under Chapter Seven
(which gives the Council authority to use military force), some
nations are clinging to the principle of sovereignty against a
growing conviction that the international community cannot stand
by during civil war massacres. It has become the UN's greatest
dilemma.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy last week
launched an international commission to call on countries to
rethink their views of national interest and state sovereignty to
better deal with the spread of post-Cold War civil conflicts.
Axworthy told the General Assembly there is growing support for
the "Annan Doctrine," which calls for UN intervention
in a nation's affairs when populations are threatened.
"Nothing so threatens the UN's very future as this
apparent contradiction between principle and power, between
people's security and governments' interests, between -- in short
-- humanitarian intervention and state sovereignty,"
Axworthy said. The commission will solicit views from government
leaders, nongovernmental organizations, academics, humanitarian
workers and lawyers from around the world. It will report to the
General Assembly in 12 months.
"Its purpose is to contribute to building a broader
understanding of the issue, and to foster a global political
consensus on how to move forward," Axworthy said.
The co-chairs are former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth
Evans and Mohammed Sahnoun, head of the UN's Somalia mission in
1994. "Some would have us believe that the United
Nations Charter was written only to protect states and state
interests -- that 'intervening in civil conflicts takes the UN a
step too far,'" said
Axworthy. "I say that in the face of egregious human
suffering, it is a step in the right direction."
He added: "Where states are unable, or unwilling, to
protect their citizens, the UN -- and in particular the Security
Council -- has a special responsibility to act."
"If humanitarian intervention is an unacceptable assault
on sovereignty, how should we respond to a Rwanda, to a
Srebrenica?"
Annan wrote last April. "Surely no legal principle -- not
even sovereignty -- can ever shield crimes against humanity.
Armed intervention must always remain the option of last resort,
but in the face of mass murder, it is an option that cannot be
relinquished."
There is obviously no easy solution. "This is perhaps the
most difficult and divisive issue on the international
agenda," said Axworthy. "We want an open and active
debate with governments and civil groups about something that
strikes at the heart of their interests. One of the sacred tenets
around the UN building is that sovereignty is supreme. And yet so
are people. That is the interesting balance in the Charter of the
United Nations."
4)
THE ORAL STATEMENT SUBMITTED AT THE SUB-COMMISSION ON THE
PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUAMN RIGHTS by the Lutheran
World Federation
Discrimination on the basis of CASTE affects many millions of
people in south Asia and in parts of Africa. It consists of a
complex combination of violations of both key civil and political
rights and many economic, social and cultural rights, and
represents a fundamental obstacle to the realization of the right
to development for the affected communities. Numerically and
qualitatively, it represents perhaps the most serious human
rights challenge of its type.
Accordingly, the Lutheran World Federation would like to
encourage the Sub-Commission to undertake a study process on the
issue of discrimination based on caste or descent, with a view to
identifying affected communities, analyzing the key human rights
violations experienced by those communities, and proposing
concrete measures, both legislative and practical, for the
amelioration of their lives.
5)
Any softening of the attitude of the Church in the use of
condoms!
HIV/AIDS II: Vatican Article Indicates New Policy On
Condoms
In what appears to be a reversal of the Catholic Church's
policy on condoms, the official Vatican newspaper said condom use
may be permissible for preventing the spread of HIV. The article
does not endorse condoms, but tolerates their use as part of a
comprehensive HIV/AIDS education program that primarily
emphasizes moral behavior. The April article, (in L'Osservato
Romano) "Prophylactics or Family Values? Stopping the Spread
of HIV/AIDS," is written by Monsignor Jacques Suaudeau of
the Pontifical Council for the Family and calls condom use a
"lesser evil" than the spread of AIDS. (Raphael Lewis,
17 Sep).
6) NEWS IN BRIEF
a) Military Leaders Say They Don't Control West Timor
Meanwhile, senior Indonesian military officers say they do not
control West Timor, and that is has become a haven for rogue
militias. One diplomat called West Timor a "bandit
country" that is only nominally under Jakarta's rule.
"If the people don't feel secure, the process of running
a transitional administration will not be successful," said
East Timor's independence leader Xanana Gusmao (Ian Timberlake,
Washington Times, 21 Sep).
b) Fears Mount For Refugees
Father Alex, a Catholic priest at a church in Atambua, said he
fears for the refugees in West Timor, who are more vulnerable
than ever with the withdrawal of the UN and other international
aid organizations. He said militiamen are still active, without
any interference from the military, and some are extorting food
and street money from vehicles on the. "As of today, I have
not seen any evidence of the security forces disarming the
militia," he said. "I fear more violence because the
refugees would do anything, including rampaging on the church or
government offices or commercial warehouses where food and
supplies are located" (Calvin Sims, New York Times, 21
Sep).
Posted on 2000-09-25
remarks:1 |
