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RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS

E-Newsletter
Vol.3 No.29
July 16, 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) PAKISTAN: RIGHT TO LIFE RESTORED
2) EU SUPPORT FOR ADDRESSING CASTE AT WCAR
3) UN, CHURCHES CRITICIZE AUSTRALIAN REFUGEE POLICY
4) PRAY FOR A FRIEND IN EAST TIMOR
5) CATHOLIC PRIEST STARTS INDEFINITE FAST FOR FISHERFOLK'S RIGHTS
6) NEWS IN BRIEF
7) AHRC HOME NEWS

1) PAKISTAN: RIGHT TO LIFE RESTORED

On 5 July, The Asian Human Rights Commission sent out an Urgent Appeal regarding a young woman in Pakistan who had been sentenced to death.
Ms. Robina Khan (22) was to be put to death by hanging on 17th July. She is the mother of a 7 year-old girl, and has been convicted for murder. She was pregnant at the time of her arrest but the pregnancy terminated, reportedly due to police torture while in custody. Ms. Khan's husband divorced her during the trial, leaving her with no means to continue her defense. Thus she had to rely on court-appointed lawyers for the remainder of the trial and the appeal process.
We are very happy to inform you that the death sentence of Ms. Khan has been cancelled by President Musharraf and the Supreme Court. We thank you for your urgent action to help save this young mother's life and restore the most basic right of all - the right to life.

2) EU SUPPORT FOR ADDRESSING CASTE AT THE WCAR

The European Parliament has included two paragraphs on Caste Discrimination and the World Conference Against Racism in its recent Human Rights report (see http://www.europarl.eu.int/plenary/default_en.htm#reports - Document A5-0193/2001):

"114. Urges the EU and its Member States to voice its concern regarding caste discrimination and to formulate strategies to counter this widespread practice, which is affecting 260 million people in India, with countries in South Asia and elsewhere, and in particular in the context of the World Conference Against Racism, to urge that caste discrimination and the dehumanising practice of "untouchability" be incorporated into the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference Against Racism;

115. Calls upon the EU to investigate to what extent its policies contribute to the abolition of caste-discrimination and the practice of untouchability in India"

3) UN, CHURCHES CRITICIZE AUSTRALIAN POLICY

UNHCR information officer Rupert Colville indirectly criticized Australia and, in particular, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock for that country's immigration policies. Colville said Australians often refer to immigrants as a "tide" or a "flood" but that "compared to most European countries, a more appropriate word might be a trickle." Implicitly disapproving of the Australian practice of detaining refugees upon arrival, the information officer said UNHCR guidelines prohibit such detentions "except in exceptional circumstances." He also called the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, which Ruddock has said cannot survive, "the bedrock of the international system for protecting refugees" (Paul McGeough, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 Jul).

The World Council of Churches Friday blasted the Australian detentions, calling the policy "mean-spirited" (Reuters/MSNBC.com, 6 Jul).

Ruddock said Sunday that countries need to better identify "genuine" refugees and called for changing the UN convention to prevent refugees from jumping from one safe haven to another in search of better benefits. The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the minister's stances are drawing anger and contempt from around the world, fueled by fears that Australia will contribute to sinking the convention. Critics at the United Nations, the newspaper reported, said Australia has drummed up a refugee crisis for domestic political reasons (McGeough, Sydney Morning Herald II, 9 Jul).

- UN Wire

4) PRAY FOR A FRIEND IN EAST TIMOR

Father Ric, a 37 year old Claretian in East Timor for 8 years and based in Fohorem, is dangerously ill in the military hospital there with cerebral malaria and dengue. He has been in a coma for over a week and the outlook is not good. He needs dialysis but there is none available there, and he cannot be moved yet. The other priests and friends are all camped, night and day, outside the hospital, and Timorese are coming down from the mountains to pray at his bedside. The Claretians are asking for your prayers.

5) CATHOLIC PRIEST STARTS INDEFINITE FAST FOR FISHERFOLK'S RIGHTS

AHMEDABAD, India (UCAN) - A Catholic priest has begun an indefinite fast in western India to push the federal government to implement a charter of demands for fisherfolk's rights.

Redemptorist Father Thomas Xavier Kocherry started fasting July 10 in Umergaon, Maharashtra state, where a protest against a US4 million commercial harbor that threatens thousands of fishermen has his support. The priest, who has campaigned for fisherfolk's rights for three decades, said his "Fishers Storm Again" fast will continue until the government implements eight demands to which it agreed earlier.

The charter he has drawn up includes subsidized fuel for fishermen, a ban on foreign vessels and trawling July-September, the monsoon months, and extending relief aid for fishermen to cover fisherwomen and inland fisherfolk. He also wants the government to press for the release of fishermen held in jails in Pakistan for fishing in its territorial waters.

Father Kocherry is also calling for an adherence to a Supreme Court order to scrap all non-traditional aqua-farms and for inclusion of traditional fishermen in a proposed government committee to look into the implementation of a 24-point plan devised by an earlier committee.

His other two charter demands are a check on the import of fish, and the scrapping of the Umergaon port project and arrest of those responsible for the death of anti-port activist Pratap Save, who died in police custody in 1999.

These are "simple" requests, said the priest, who claimed that the government had agreed to them, among demands presented by the National Fish Workers Forum (NFWF), during his earlier protest in January.

Father Kocherry told UCA News July 11 that the government has ignored fisherfolk, who he said face increasing exploitation in the name of development and globalization.

The Redemptorist priest who formed the NFWF and the World Forum of Fisher Peoples has organized fisherfolk to fight for their rights since the 1970s. He has won several national and international awards, including the Sophie Prize in 1999, for his fight for human rights and environmental protection.

At Father Kocherry's fast-shed in Umergaon, some 180 kilometers north of Mumbai, some 500 people gather every evening to express solidarity with him. Nathalal Ramjibhai Dhanjibhai of neighboring Valsad town said that the involvement of an internationally famous person has helped local fishermen. "I am least bothered whether he is a Christian or Muslim, but what makes us happy is his commitment to our cause," Dhanjibhai told UCA News. He and other fisherfolk say their demands are for "basic rights and not privileges" and that they will fight until these rights are upheld. Fisherfolk are planning to hold meetings and demonstrations in New Delhi, the western coastal city of Mumbai and southern cities of Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram.

6) NEWS IN BRIEF
6.1) MORE BODIES FOUND IN ACEH

The bodies of 29 people bearing marks showing they had died violent deaths have been found in a mountain gorge in Indonesia's Aceh province, humanitarian workers said on 7 July.

The find follows the discovery of four corpses in the same area on 5 July, and brings to more than 1,000 the number of people killed this year as a result of the conflict between the Indonesian military and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels fighting for an independent Islamic state, according to an unofficial count.
Around three in four of the reported victims have been civilians.

- Agence France Presse

6.2) EAST TIMOR: POPULATION FELL 60,000 AFTER 1999 VIOLENCE

A new census reveals the population of East Timor dropped by about 60,000 following violence in the former Indonesian territory in 1999, the United Nations said last week. The population in East Timor is now 737,811. Two years ago, about 1,000 people were killed by Indonesian-backed militias and many thousands fled. Of those counted, 380,000 people over the age of 17 will be eligible to vote next month for a constitutional assembly (Seth Mydans, New York Times, 6 Jul).

- UN Wire

6.3) PAKISTAN: WFP LAUNCHES PROGRAM FORWOMEN, GIRLS

The UN World Food Program today launched a million program in Pakistan to improve access to education and health services for women and girls. "This country program will help empower girls and women in the rural areas socially and economically," said WFP program adviser for Pakistan Daniela Owen.

Of the estimated 8.2 million Pakistani children not attending primary school, 6 million are girls. The WFP says many poor Pakistani families must spend a large part of their income on food, and generally only 2% of their income goes to education and health care. "With the existing bias for male education, there is almost nothing left for the girl child, even if the family wanted to educate her," the WFP said. In addition, many expectant mothers are denied basic health care because of poverty.
The WFP has provided edible oil to families who send their daughters to school regularly. Last year, the agency distributed about 1,250 tons of edible oil to 50,000 girls going to 900 schools in Balochistan, Northwest Frontier, Punjab and Sindh provinces. The new program allocates .8 million for girls' primary education.

The WFP also aims to help women in rural areas start their own businesses and improve community assets, such as water supply, roads, health centers and schools (Xinhua News Agency, 11 Jul).

- UN Wire

7) AHRC HOME NEWS

Urgent Appeals:

UPDATE (PAKISTAN): Young mother's death sentence cancelled - 10.7.2001
UPDATE: The Sixth Open Letter on the Issues Regarding Fr. Pallath's Case - 10.7.2001
INDIA: Police kill adivasis, arrest activist for protesting rape - 9.7.2001