|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS
E-Newsletter
Vol.2 No.45
November 6, 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.
PEACEFUL PROTEST AGAINST ELECTION VIOLENCE SUMMARY REPORT
A Peaceful Protest was carried out at George E. De. Silva
Park, Kandy, Sri Lanka on 30th October 2000, organized by the
Commission for Justice, Peace & Human Development Secretariat
of Kandy Diocese, to denounce the malpractices and violation of
the voters rights at the recent Parliamentary Election, very
especially in the Central Province.
Very Rev. Dr. Vianney Fernando Bishop of Kandy, Rev. Fr.
Cletus C. Perera O.S.B. the Vicar General, Rev. Fr. Nandana
Manatunga - Director JP & HD Secretariat Kandy, a vast number
of Priests of the Diocese, members of the Religious
congregations, Priests , Sisters, Brothers and Seminarians were
present. Several members of the Buddhist clergy participated in
the Protest. People from the Parishes of the Diocese came in
numbers. There were also many people of other religions.
Representatives of various organizations that took an active part
in working for a free and fair Election joined the protest. The
participants numbering over 1000, Religious and Laity gathered by
3.45 p.m. on 30th October and lined up along the pavement
bordering the park in Peaceful Silent Protest. The protestors
displayed Banners and Posters with slogans such as " WE
DEPLORE VERY STRONGLY THE INTIMIDATION OF THE UNARMED CIVIL
PEOPLE OF THE CENTRAL PROVINCE TO DEPRIVE THEM OF THE RIGHT TO
VOTE"
This silent yet effective demonstration was from 4.00p.m. to
4.30 p.m. on 30th October 20000 in Kandy.
Rev. Fr. Nandana Manatunga
Director : JP & HD Secretariat
2. A PRAYER FOR
GOOD GOVERNMENT
By Bruce van Voorhis, Editor, Human Rights Solidarity
(The following prayer is based on my recent role as an
election monitor of the parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka on
Oct. 10 and my involvement with a network of primarily Filipino
migrant organizations in Hong Kong who have come together to seek
the resignation of President Joseph Estrada of the Philippines
because of allegations that he has received millions of dollars
in kickbacks from illegal gambling proceeds and from the
country's tobacco tax.)
O, Lord, we pray for good government in Asia and elsewhere in
the world. We are particularly saddened by the violence and
vote-rigging that have tainted the parliamentary elections in Sri
Lanka in October and the ongoing scandal of corruption that has
been revealed in the Philippines involving President Estrada. We
pray for government leaders who will seek to use their positions
of power to serve their people instead of themselves; for without
your presence in their hearts, Lord, the poverty of your people
in Asia and in too many other places in today's global village
cannot be alleviated. We thus pray, Lord, that good government
based on compassion and justice will replace today's bad
government based on greed and oppression, that government leaders
will come to see and know the power and joy of your love instead
of mistakenly chasing after misguided and unfulfilling temporal
power rooted in money and violence. Amen.
3.
CATHOLIC CHURCH COMING OUT IN FULL FORCE FOR NOV. 4 RALLY
2/2/00 from Enews
Preparations for the Nov. 4 prayer rallies calling for the
resignation of President Estrada are in full swing, with the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines in close
coordination with all 77 dioceses nationwide. An official at the
CBCP headquarters in Manila said that programs of action
involving the 1 p.m. simultaneous prayer rallies had been
discussed as early as Oct. 31, and that 100-percent compliance by
all the dioceses was expected.
The CBCP said that in these "critical times," not
only the dead needed prayers.
"This is the time of the year when we pause to remember
and pray specifically for our dear departed. But we must not
forget that these are also critical times for our country, and we
are also called upon to pray for the living," said CBCP
spokesperson Msgr. Hernando Coronel.
Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin will lead the rally at
the Edsa Shrine, where former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel
Ramos, Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and members of the
"United Opposition" and of civic and cause-oriented
groups are expected to attend.
In the Vatican, Filipino priests in the Vatican have joined
their fellow clergy in asking the President to step down.
"We, the priests and religious of the Pontificio Collegio
Filippino in Rome, express our solidarity with our countrymen. We
believe President Joseph Estrada has lost the moral ascendancy to
lead our people," Msgr. Ruperto Santos said in a statement
sent to the CBCP.
The college is widely recognized as the organization of
Filipino clergy in Rome.
"We call for a thorough investigation of the accusations
hurled against the President. But without preempting the results
of such an inquiry, we also call on President Estrada to
relinquish his position," Santos said. "Many
Filipinos have been deeply disturbed by the recent developments
in our country," Santos said. "The culture of gambling
and corruption has become so pervasive in our country that even
the highest public official in our land stands accused of morally
reprehensible acts."
Starting at 1 p.m. on Nov. 4, bishops will gather the faithful
in churches in their dioceses for prayers, including recitations
of the rosary and of the Stations of the Cross, for peace in the
country.
Coronel reiterated Quevedo's call to "pray for our
leaders that they may place the common good above private and
partisan interests, and that they may soon be open to God's
enlightenment."
In his circular calling for the simultaneous prayer rallies,
Quevedo said: "Our people need pastoral assistance to
reflect on the present situation, especially on the relationship
between their daily lives and national problems such as the
accelerating collapse of the peso or the serious loss of
confidence in the President."
Mr. Estrada is under heavy pressure to resign because of
allegations that he received over P400 million in payoffs from
jueteng operators and took a P130 million cut from tobacco taxes.
Estranged presidential drinking buddy Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis
"Chavit" Singson, who made the allegations, said he
played high-stakes mah-jongg games with Mr. Estrada at the
Boracay mansion. It was also there where Mr. Estrada once
met with an alleged jueteng lord, Rodolfo "Bong"
Pineda, to discuss the "future" of the illegal numbers
game, Singson said.
4.
BINDUNUWEWA MASSACRE A CONSPIRACY TO CAUSE COMMUNAL RIOTS
Tuesday 31, October 2000
Following is from a press statement from the Sri Lankan Inter
Religious Alliance for National Unity. "We as the clergy
belonging to religions in this country are profoundly grieved and
saddened by the situation that has arisen in the upcountry estate
areas. We express our sorrow for those who have been the victims
of the Bindunuwewa incident and of other incidents that took
place in those areas thereafter. When we look at these incidents
we see that there has been a conspiracy to cause communal riots
as in 1983 destroying the unity in the southern parts of the
country. The rivers of blood that flowed and the mountains of
corpses that heaped in his country owing to communal disturbances
is amply enough. That situation should not be allowed to develop
again. It is the bounden duty of the politicians of the upcountry
areas to settle this situation that arose there. We urge the
political leaders to activate themselves forthwith to unite the
people at this moment shedding narrow differences. We appeal to
all the people of Sri Lanka to desist from emotional acts not
being misled by conspirational elements in the name of the
supreme religious teachers who preached on the nobility of peace,
unity and humanity and to allow the authorities to protect law
and order."
Signed by Ven. Watinapaha Somananda Thera on behalf of
co-convenors of Inter Religious Alliance for National Unity, Ven.
Professor Kumburugamuwe Vajira Thera, Ven. Watinapaha Somananda
Thera, Rt. Rev. Dr. Bishop Malcolm Ranjith and Rt. Rev. Bishop
Kenneth Fernando.
5. NEWS IN BRIEF...
(A) INDIA:
DEATHS IN SECTARIAN CLASH
Monday, 6 November, 2000, BBC World Service
At least 11 people are reported to have been killed and 25
wounded in clashes between rival Muslim communities in the
northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Activists of the Shia and Sunni communities in the town of
Mubarakpur, 700km south-east of Delhi, attacked each other at a
local market on Sunday evening with crude bombs and home-made
weapons. Police have sealed off the market trapping hundreds of
shoppers inside.
All roads leading to the town were reported to be blocked by
patrolling troops and telephone services had been cut. Similar
clashes took place in the town last year over a disputed place of
worship, but the causes of the current clashes are unknown.
(B)
THAILAND: A WOMAN SEXUALLY ABUSED EVERY HOUR IN 1999
UN Wire November 3
A woman was raped, assaulted or suffered some form of sexual
abuse every hour last year in Thailand, said Supatra Masdit, a
minister attached to the office of the prime minister. In
addition, two girls under age 15 were raped each day. Supatra
told a seminar on the media's role in preventing violence against
women that relatives and acquaintances were involved in 60% of
cases. Male dominance is largely to blame, she said, urging the
media to discourage toleration of gender violence. According to
Supatra, media reporting on cases could backfire by encouraging
imitation, but she added that news reports can also serve as
warnings.
Supatra said Thailand will launch a campaign this month
targeting violence against women. A similar UN drive is set for
late November and early December (Bangkok Nation, 2 Nov).
(C)
INDIA: MINISTER SAYS WTO AGREEMENTS COULD HURT HEALTH SECTOR
UN Wire November 3
Global trade agreements could hurt developing nations' health
sectors, Indian Minister of Health and Family Welfare C.P. Thakur
said Wednesday.
Two agreements -- the Trade-Related Aspects Of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement and the General Agreement on
Trade in Services -- "are going to have profound
implications for the health sector in developing countries, as
they are highly intrusive, leaving little room for maneuvering by
nation states," Thakur told a global symposium on health and
welfare systems development in Kobe, Japan (Times of India, 2
Nov).
Posted on 2000-11-06
remarks:1 |
