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RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS

E-Newsletter
Vol.3 No.15
April 9, 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) RELIGIOUS GROUPS MAKE COMMON CAUSE: Muslim Clerics Preach HIV/AIDS Awareness in their Sermons.
2) CHINA: Rolling in Renminbi
3) SITUATION IN MOLUCCAS - AN UPDATE
4) IRAN: President Criticises Arrest of Activists
5) A PRAYER FOR PALM SUNDAY

1) RELIGIOUS GROPS MAKE COMMON CAUSE : Muslim Clerics Preach HIV/AIDS Awareness in their Sermons.

"The call to prayer rings out through the loud speakers as the faithful wend their way along the streets to the mosque, prayer mats over their shoulders. It is Friday, the Islamic day of religious observance, when mosques throughout Indonesia often fill to capacity as millions fulfil their religious obligations.

In this predominantly Islamic nation, an innovative AIDS prevention tool is being tested : mobilising religious networks in several Indonesian provinces to educate the community about AIDS prevention.

Islamic scholars held workshop recently to review Islamic literature and identify principles that support prevention of HIV/AIDS and STDs. They prepared a document urging the teaching of HIV/AIDS awareness, promoting responsible, safe sexual behavior and advocating tolerance of and compassion for affected people.

Muslim clerics preach HIV/AIDS awareness in their sermons and provide education in mosques, schools and community halls.

In largely Christian West Timor, Flores and surrounding islands similar sentiments prevail.

Reverend Mesach Beeh, general secretary of GMIT, a Protestant church organisation based in Kupang spoke of a "moral obligation to address the issue" (Ausaid Magazine 8 focus December 2000)

2) CHINA: Rolling in Renminbi

by Mark O'Neill, March, 27, 2001

Zhao Huaiyu, who runs her own trading business in the central city of Wuhan, is one of China's super-rich. She goes to a beauty salon in Hong Kong because she does not like the ones at home, and drives a Lexus that cost one million yuan. "I do not wear the same outfit two days running. My favourite is a spring dress by a Japanese designer that costs 8,000 yuan [about HK,500]. I buy my clothes in Hong Kong and Macau or the Printemps department store in Shanghai. I recently spent 20,000 yuan for an operation to lose weight. "Whenever I go to Hong Kong, I spend ,000 for half a kilogram of swallow's nest. I eat a little each morning for my health, and it lasts about two months."

Ms Zhao belongs to the elite that sits atop the pyramid Chinese society has become. They are the beneficiaries of a widening wealth gap that emerged as a major topic at the annual meetings earlier this month of the National People's Congress and its advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Delegates said the poor were revolted by the conspicuous consumption of the rich and that this was threatening social order. "In Henan province, more than 90 per cent of village officials receive no wages," said Lin Yinghai, the chairman of the province's CPPCC. "Their official wages are only 100 yuan to 500 yuan a month." The wealthiest 10 per cent of 150,000 urban residents surveyed in 1999 - those earning at least 30,000 yuan a year, more than four times the urban average of 6,300 yuan and 13 times the rural average of 2,250 yuan. It found the richest three per cent earn more than 500,000 yuan a year, with the top 0.8 per cent earning more than one million.

Like their cousins in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the rich and powerful on the mainland want an insurance policy against instability and confiscation of their assets, so they send their spouses or children abroad to obtain an education and a passport and to park some assets. Last year, for example, 36,000 mainlanders emigrated to Canada.

This was 16 per cent of Canada's immigrant intake for the year and the largest number from a single country in nearly 10 years.

[Source: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong]

3) SITUATION IN MOLUCCAS - AN UPDATE

DELEGATION LEFT FOR EUROPE - The catholic bishop of Amboina, Msgr. P.C.Mandagi, together with Mr. John Titaley (protestant) and Mr. Yusuf Eli (moslem) today left for Europe. Msgr. Mandagi explained to the local press that they are scheduled to have meetings in Brussels, London and Geneva. Principal purpose is to explain the actual situation in the Moluccas and how the people of the Moluccas have become victims of political provocation by certain groups, on both local and national level. The delegation will also plead for help in matters of reconciliation and in physical and psychical rehabilitation. Help is also needed in the fields of politics, economics, social issues and culture. The delegation is expected to return on April 12

[CRISIS CENTRE]

4) IRAN: President Criticises Arrest of Activists

The Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, has strongly criticised a new wave of arrests of liberal activists and intellectuals by agents of the ultra-conservative Revolutionary Court. "I do not see such measures as benefiting the (Islamic) system and people... I cannot help feeling regret," the reformist president said. The BBC's Tehran correspondent Jim Muir says it is rare for Mr Khatami to make such a direct comment on the judicial crackdown on reformists.

More than 40 people were detained in a series of raids in Tehran and other cities. They were accused of attempting to overthrow the Islamic regime. "Boosting the climate of intolerance in society will dishearten intellectuals... Our nation desires nothing more than freedom, progress and guaranteed rights," state television quoted Mr Khatami as saying. He said the most serious threat to the country's political system was a situation where its rulers could not justify their conduct to the people. Those detained are said to be connected with the Freedom Movement - an opposition group which is formally banned, but was until recently largely tolerated. It was the second big round-up of liberal reformists in less than a month, and comes ahead of a presidential election in June. President Khatami has indicated he will only run again if he can implement his promises of reform.

Those arrested are reported to include the son-in-law and the nephew of the late Mehdi Bazar Gan, who founded the Freedom Movement. He was briefly the country's first prime minister after the revolution in 1979. Another prominent figure said to have been arrested was Hashem Sabaghian. He headed the committee which welcomed Ayatollah Khamenei back from exile in 1979, and was interior minister in the first revolutionary government. Iran's biggest reformist party, the Participation Front, also strongly condemned the arrests. It said they ran counter to the spirit of freedom, justice and legality.

But the head of the Revolutionary Court criticised those who condemned them, saying they were ignorant of the facts. He repeated the accusation that some of those detained were in touch with violent opposition groups outside the country which were bent on overthrowing the Islamic regime. The judiciary has said that people arrested a month ago from the same group would be accused of plotting against the system - a charge which could carry the death penalty.

More than 20 liberal opposition figures were detained in Tehran a month ago. Some have since been released. Amid rising tension ahead of the presidential elections, the arrests are seen by reformists as part of a campaign by hardline conservatives to undermine and discredit then.

The judiciary is widely seen as a stronghold of the hardliners. Since last year, dozens of reformist newspapers have been summarily shut down, and numerous reformist figures have been prosecuted and jailed.

[Source: BBC World Service, 8 April 2001]

5) A PRAYER FOR PALM SUNDAY

This prayer is from a Catholic parish in Hong Kong during a Palm Sunday service to commemorate the torture and death of Jesus Christ, 8th April:

Please help us to see in each person suffering from war, hunger, oppression, torture and inhuman treatment the face of Christ as he suffered on this day. Help us to work to restore the dignity of these people. LORD, HELP US TO BE TRUE TO YOUR WAY OF LIFE.