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RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS

E-Newsletter
Vol.3 No.25
June 18, 2001


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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.

1) SALUTE TO JUDGE AND JUDGMENT
2)"WE ARE NOW UNDER VIOLENT ATTACK FROM THE GROWING NATIONALIST..."
3) MORAL AND HUMAN RIGHT CONCERNS FOR OUR INVOLVEMENT
4) SEVENTY MOSQUES, MADARASAS ORDERED TO BE DESTROYED IN NORTH ARAKAN
5) EUROPE: PROTECT THOSE IN DANGER, URGE CHRISTIAN NGOS JRS-Dispatches
6) NEPAL: VERIFICATION CRAWLING AHEAD
7) "PEACE & NATIONAL SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE"
8) Organised Crime and Human Trafficking
9) AHRC : HOME NEWS

1) SALUTE TO JUDGE AND JUDGMENT

30 May 2001 will be remembered in Malaysian history as a day when the people's long suppressed hopes for justice were rekindled by a judge whose refusal to accept the Internal Security Act (ISA) struck at the very heart of repressive rule in this country.
On 30 May 2001, Jusice Mohd Hishmudin Mohd Yunus, in the Shah Alam High Court, ruled that the detention of two Parti Keadilan Nasional leaders, N Gobalakrishnan and Abdul Ghani Haroon, under ISA was unlawful. Justice Mohd Hishmudin ordered the Police to release then immediately.
Aliran Monthly 21 Page 40

2)"WE ARE NOW UNDER VIOLENT ATTACK FROM THE GROWING NATIONALIST..."

Dear friends,

We, VAWW-NET Japan was one of three NGOs which held the Asian Solidarity Conference to prevent the adoption of the history textbook edited by the right wing in Japan. We have just published a booklet to criticize such terrible textbooks. We are now under violent attack from the growing nationalist and revisionist forces as anti-Japanese traitors. However, we are determined to continue our struggle against them. Please distribute the following declaration as widely as possible through your networks.

In sisterhood and solidarity,

Yayori Matsui
Chairperson of VAWW-NET Japan

Declaration of the Asian Solidarity Conference on the textbook issue in Japan m: Yayori Matsui yayori@jca.apc.org

No! To the Distorted History Textbook

"The dangerous nationalism, however, spreads and provokes conflicts and violence all over the world as a counteraction of globalization. We need to stop this occurrence in Asia. To this end, we need to examine history in our own countries, to bring education back to people from the power of the nation and to promote history education for peace."

(The complete text is available on request - the editor)

WE ALSO LIKE TO THANK ALL THOSE THAT SIGNED THE ON-LINE PETITION, editor

3) MORAL AND HUMAN RIGHT CONCERNS FOR OUR INVOLVEMENT

An Open Letter to Rev. Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach , the Superior General

THIRD OPEN LETTER RE: Physical assault, slander through gutter press, filing of fabricated criminal cases, denial of right to livelihood and other matters relating to Fr. Pallath J. Joseph Request for Inquiry.

Dear Rev. Fr. General,

In the first and second open letters to you, AHRC raised some concerns from a moral and human rights point of view regarding all the episodes relating to the case of Fr. Pallath J. Joseph, of which you are aware. While it is not our intention to interfere with the affairs of your order, there are matters of public interest about which many persons, including our commission, are quite concerned. They are as follows:

1. Physical assault of Fr. Pallath J. Joseph by two members of your order, together with several other hired thugs.
2. The throwing of the body of Fr. Pallath over the wall of Jesuit premises and onto the road while he was in an unconscious or semi-conscious state.
3. Slander of Fr. Pallath by some members of your order using a gutter magazine called 'Crime Star'.
4. Filing of fabricated criminal complaints against Fr. Pallath with a view to securing his arrest and preventing him from entering a Jesuit house.
5. The failure of the Jesuit Superiors to respect an agreement entered into between Fr. Pallath and the Jesuits in Kerala with the mediation of the Bishop of Calicut.
6. Failure to provide for the livelihood of Fr. Pallath after 33 years of service.

THEME OF THIRD OPEN LETTER: Why a Human Rights organization is interested in this issue.

This is my third open letter to you. Your silence is no deterrence to us, though your words may have made matters easier. In this letter I wish to clarify our interest as a human rights organization in this matter.

HUMAN RIGHTS CAN BE ROOTED IN A CULTURE ONLY WHEN THE ETHICAL AND MORAL FOUNDATIONS OF THAT SOCIETY ARE COMPATIBLE WITH HUMAN RIGHTS CONCEPTS, NORMS AND STANDARDS. The religions play a significant role in the formation of the ethical and moral foundation of all societies. Religion can play either a positive or a negative role in making the ethical and moral norms of society compatible with human rights.
It is not possible to establish a sound public opinion on human rights in a country if the religious organisations flout human rights. In the case of Fr. Pallath, the violations by Jesuit superiors in Kerala are not only blatant and open, but also criminal. The connivance by Jesuit authorities in such actions is even more surprising.
Thus, what we as a human rights organisation are doing is to challenge the ethical and moral basis of your actions. You are not creating sound public opinion to promote human rights, instead you are obstructing it. This debate is thus necessary. Thus we have also to say: "Here we stand. We cannot do otherwise."
We participated in the international campaign relating to the excommunication of Fr. Tissa Balasuriya of Sri Lanka in the same sprit. Such involvement to hold religions accountable for their human rights record is unavoidable if human rights are to become a reality and not just something we pay lip service to.
Basil Fernando

4) SEVENTY MOSQUES AND MADARASAS ORDERED TO BE DESTROYED IN NORTH ARAKAN : Rohingya Solidarity Organisation Date: 12 June 2001

Several places of worship have been desecrating and destroying by military junta since it took power. The newly formed military regional command (Da Sa Ka) issued an order last month by its commander Brig. Phon Swe to destroy 70 more mosques and madarasas under Hashurata area in 14 villages north of Maungdaw township, about 120 km north of Akyab, capital of Arakan State. Earlier the military junta officials have already demolished 15 mosques in April 2001 under Maungdaw township. It is part of the on-going programme of the military junta to clear Islamic signs from the soil of Arakan.

5) EUROPE: PROTECT THOSE IN DANGER, URGE CHRISTIAN NGOS JRS-Dispatches

On 28 May, JRS Europe and six partner organisations issued a press release announcing the publication of two papers on the future of asylum and immigration in Europe. They underlined the importance of making Europe a "welcoming society". In the statement, JRS and its partners emphasised that it is vital that those forced to flee their countries under threat of persecution have access to a country where they can apply for asylum. They warned that measures taken to prevent irregular migration, such as fines for airlines carrying undocumented passengers, create a real risk of people being sent back into situations of danger. No one should risk being punished for helping someone to escape to a place of safety, although current EU proposals threaten to do just that.

The seven organisations noted their concern that flaws in current procedures were a significant factor in asylum systems failing to recognise those they were designed to help.

The organisations also called on EU states to help irregular migrants, who are often deprived of the most basic human rights, and hugely vulnerable to exploitation. They added: "Human dignity is fundamental and has to be respected regardless of whether someone has documents or not."

(The press release may be read in full on the JRS web site)

6) NEPAL: VERIFICATION CRAWLING AHEAD

JRS Nepal director, PS Amalraj SJ, reported on 9 June: "Since the start of the verification process on 26 March by the Joint Verification Team (JVT), 461 families have been covered, 2,899 refugees have been interviewed. An average of 10 families has been interviewed per day. In Khudunabari camp, where the verification is under way, there are still 1,496 families (9,601 individuals) left to be interviewed, another estimated 150 days.

On 21 May, the Bhutanese Refugee Representative Repatriation Committee (BRRRC) appealed to the leaders of the JVT to notify their respective governments of the need to review and work out strategies to accelerate the ongoing verification."

The JVT is composed of representatives of the Nepal and Bhutan governments, whose bilateral talks about the future of the Bhutanese refugees resulted in the decision to launch a verification process. The refugees were expelled from Bhutan over 10 years ago because they are of Nepalese origin. JRS dispatches

7) "PEACE & NATIONAL SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE"

The 3rd Death Anniversary of Bishop Dr. John Joseph was celebrated by thousands of people from all over the country and abroad. It was organized by National Commission for Justice & Peace Mehboob Ahmed Khan advocate while paying tribute to the sacrifice of Bishop Dr. John Joseph, said that he sacrificed his life to diminish the discriminatory laws as all the subjects are equal and deserve equal rights as a citizen. He further said that people are using the blasphemy law to gain their own interests. Personal obstinacy or enmity is declared as an accuser of uttering derogatory remarks in the reverence of Hazarat Muhammad (PBHU) which is entirely a tyrannical attitude against minorities.

NASEEM NAYYAR,

8)Organised Crime and Human Trafficking

By Thanh-Dam Truong :Truong@iss.nl

(forthcoming late summer early autumn 2001 in a volume edited by Professor Emilio Veriano, American Unievrsity Washington DC, Publisher Ashgate)

Abstract

Human trafficking or the illicit transnational movement of people through organised criminal networks may take several forms. These include a) the trafficking of migrants in search for work, b) the trafficking of asylum seekers in search for a safe refuge, c) the trafficking of women and children for the purpose of prostitution, d) the trafficking of human materials for medical purposes. The emergence of these forms of human trafficking in the last decades cutting across issues of migration, political persecution as well as exploitation of the body in prostitution or health care raise questions about effectiveness of crime control as well as threat to human dignity and security. The situation calls for a new research agenda and forms of analysis that can relate the problem of human trafficking with major changes in the global economy, of which the emergence of organised crime as an economic actor constitutes an important feature.

(For the full text you may either write to us or to the author- the editor)

9) AHRC : HOME NEWS

URGENT APPEAL ISSUED This Week

1) ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM: Activists and political leaders detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA)

UPDATE : Four ISA detainees served two years detention order

2) Glad to welcome Ms. Maya Ileto from USA for a two month internship.