Statement of Religious Delegation to Honduras

August 18-25, 2009

We are the sixth international delegation that has come to Honduras since the coup d’état of June 28, 2009. We have come from Panama and the United States as people of faith – Catholic Christians -- to accompany the pain of the Honduran people and to understand more clearly the reality they are living. We represent the Justice Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and Pax Christi International.

We have been in Honduras from August 18-25, visiting Tegucigalpa, Progreso, San Pedro Sula, Santa Rosa de Copan and Santa Barbara. What we have seen and heard here has broken our hearts and evoked in us deep concern.

It also has given us hope as we met with many sectors of Honduran society that demonstrate amazing courage and capacity to organize a diverse and strong popular resistance to the coup and subsequent repression. Clearly, Hondurans have enduring hope for a country that promotes the common good, justice and human rights.

We have heard first-hand from victims of horrific human rights violations inflicted by Honduran military and police forces upon ordinary people peacefully exercising basic rights guaranteed by the Honduran Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These abuses, including beatings, rape, harassment and intimidation, arbitrary arrest, disappearances and even death, have been well documented by the Honduran Human Rights organization, COFADEH, and in recent reports from Amnesty International and by the InterAmerican Human Rights Commission, also present in Honduras this week.

We are alarmed to see people and patterns of abuse re-emerging from the shadows of repression in earlier decades. Impunity in the past for criminals and violators of human rights has left Hondurans vulnerable to a painful repeat of history. Militarization, disinformation, extreme attempts to control the civilian population and a terrible polarization of the citizenry have far-reaching ramifications for a people yearning for a just end to poverty and exclusion.

We are distressed by the implications for the region and beyond of what we have seen in Honduras. We are convinced that the conflict here is not only about Mel Zelaya, although the return of the legitimate president to office is imperative, but about the abuse of political and military, and especially of economic, power. That does not bode well for the future of the hemisphere or for any country in the world where the basic rights of citizens to a decent life, to a healthy environment, and to participate in important decisions that affect their lives challenge the privileges and power of a few – be they individuals, institutions or business interests.

We are heartened by the strong response of the international community to events on June 28th. The United Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union, and many individual countries around the world have denounced the coup and have taken strong measures to isolate the illegitimate government.

We are concerned, however, by what we believe is an inadequate public response of the U.S. government to the coup and to the ensuing repression. We were encouraged by the initial U.S. response, but, caught in the controversy over constitutional technicalities, subsequent actions were neither timely nor sufficiently strong.

We urge the U.S. government
- to be unequivocal and very public in denouncing the brutal human rights violations committed by Honduran military and police forces;
- to cancel diplomatic as well as tourist and business visas for a broader group of those implicated in orchestrating or leading the coup;
- to freeze the accounts in U.S. banks of these same coup leaders; and
- to follow the example of other nations by recalling Ambassador Llorens until the legitimate president of Honduras is restored to office.

Although the process hosted by Nobel laureate Oscar Arias may facilitate the return to Honduras of President Zelaya, long term peace will depend on ensuring that the poor and marginalized sectors of society be included in the economic and political life of the country.

One of our deepest preoccupations, however, is about the profound divisions in and animosity surrounding the vibrant Honduran Catholic community, when the rich resources of our faith tradition should be guiding the nation toward a just resolution to this intolerable situation.

We have heard from many people about the deep hurt, anger and loss of credibility occasioned by the July 3rd statement of the Honduran Bishops’ Conference. Despite our attempts, we were unable to secure a meeting with Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB to hear his perspective on this and try to understand his words and actions that have created such an intense reaction from the Honduran people.

The Gospel and Catholic social teaching clearly articulate the values, principles and priorities that should offer a framework for the Church’s engagement with Honduran society at this painful moment. In particular, the preferential option for the poor, which is one of the distinguishing features of the Latin American and Caribbean church (Aparecida #391), and the virtue of solidarity should place the Church clearly on the side of Hondurans whose basic dignity is now being abused.

We met courageous priests, women religious and lay women and men who accompany people from all walks of life whose human rights are being violated. Many of these pastoral workers have been threatened and attacked as well. We had a long conversation with the bishop of Santa Rosa de Copan and heard clearly his commitment to the poor and his perspectives on the influence of economic interests in facilitating the coup. That analysis we heard repeated many times over in our visits throughout the country. We pray that the official Catholic Church in Honduras will listen with care to the pain of those who feel abandoned and assume a role of speaking out forcefully for an end to the pattern of intimidation and official abuse against those non-violently expressing their opposition to the coup.

We also urge the Catholic community worldwide and all people of good will to strengthen international solidarity with the Honduran people, accompanying those whose basic human rights are being violated, advocating for a just and enduring resolution to this crisis, and addressing the many ways in which international greed for minerals and markets, wealth, power and control provide fertile ground for the suffering in Honduras. Long-term peace and stability depend on ensuring that the poor and marginalized sectors of society be included in the economic and political life of the country.

We believe that Hondurans – including civil society, the Catholic Church and all communities of faith, the military and police, the private sector, organized labour, politicians, scholars, lawyers – can come together to create a just society and end the crisis they are now living. To move in that direction will require a return to legitimate government of and for ordinary people, an end to the abuse of power that characterizes the Honduras we have visited in these days and a deep commitment to honest and broadly participative dialogue across the differences that now divide Honduran society.

We commit ourselves to supporting this endeavour and to helping to animate action in solidarity with the people of Honduras in the international networks of religious communities and people of faith of which we are a part.

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas-Justice Team:
Sister Diane Guerin, Justice Minister, Mid-Atlantic Community
Sister Edie Lopez, Justice Minister, Central and South America Community
Jean Stokan, Director, Institute Justice Team

Marie Dennis, Co-President, Pax Christi International and Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

2009-0628-en-am-HR

YOUTH PARLIAMENTARIANS DEBATE FOR PEACE AT PARLIAMENT HOUSE

MEDIA RELEASE

Acting Minister for Youth
The Hon. Linda Burney MP

Wednesday, 12 August 2009

Around 100 young people from NSW have gathered at Parliament House today to debate peace in politics at the inaugural Youth Peace Parliament, said Acting Minister for Youth, Linda Burney.

Minister Burney officially opened the event that was organised by the Ministry for Peace, a non-profit organisation calling on the Australian Federal Government to establish a Department of Peace.

“Today’s marks the first time that the future generation of NSW have met at Parliament House to discuss the role of peace in democracy,” said Ms Burney.

“More than 90 young people were in attendance at the Youth Peace Parliament and they represented 23 schools from around NSW, including areas such as Broken Hill, Berrigan Shire, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga.

“The young people, from grades nine to 12, became members of parliament for the day, including splitting into political parties and electing leaders.

“Prior to the event, they studied how the parliamentary process worked so they could put what they learnt at school into practice at Parliament House,” said Ms Burney.

In addition to electing a leader, the young people elected a deputy leader and a party whip. They then held party meetings to decide on bills to put forward in Parliament. The three parties were named Blue Peace, White Peace and Aqua Peace.

“The Youth Peace Parliament was a great opportunity for young people to understand how parliament works, debate issues of concern to them, and understand how laws are passed in NSW,” said Ms Burney.

Ms Burney also presented 16 young people with Ministry for Peace ‘Youth Ambassador’ certificates.

“The Ministry for Peace now has 62 official youth ambassadors. They represent the ministry, and act as official ambassadors of peace in their schools and in their communities.

“The role of youth ambassador is an important responsibility, particularly leading up to and on the day of the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, celebrated annually on September 21.”

Ministry for Peace Chair, Biannca Pace, said the Youth Peace Parliament was an opportunity for young people to review parliamentary procedures and processes.

“By being part of Youth Peace Parliament at Parliament House, young people had first-hand experience of parliamentary processes.


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“They provided feedback on how parliament can improve, which we will keep and present to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd next year, after the second Youth Peace Parliament.

“In addition, I gave out two awards to young people. The first was a ‘Peace Pioneer’ award given to the most original and applicable motion put forward. The second was the ‘Advocate of Peace’ award given to a young person who demonstrated passion and commitment to peace through their public speaking and actions throughout the day,” said Ms Pace.

Ms Burney said, “Youth Peace Parliament is a great program to engage young people in the state’s political system.

“I congratulate the Ministry for Peace for organising the event, and teachers and parents for supporting the program and actively educating young people on parliamentary processes.”

About the Ministry for Peace
The Ministry for Peace is a non-profit organisation part of a global initiative calling on world governments to establish Ministries and Departments of Peace worldwide. The Ministry believes the Australian Federal Government must support the peace initiatives of the United Nations, and urges Australians to write letters and place phone calls to Canberra, local members, State Government and local government to show support for the creation of a Department of Peace.

For more information, go to www.ministryforpeace.org.au

Media contact: Phyllis Sakinofsky 9228 4455 / 0406 164 034

Australian National Imams Council: Media Release

مجلس الأئمة الفدرالي الاسترالي

5th of August 2009

The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) and the Muslim religious leaders it represents categorically denounce any form of terrorist activity on both Australian and overseas soil.

Like other Australian citizens we are equally astonished by the arrests of “alleged terrorists” in Victoria yesterday, and the Australian Muslim Community will support police investigations into these allegations as we are strongly against violence and vehemently discourage it.

The Muslim community is a law abiding active member of the Australian society. The Australian legal system is built on a presumption of innocence, which we are confident, will be upheld throughout this legal process.

In view of these serious allegations, and given that this matter is currently under police investigation and before the courts, we trust that the Police and other relevant authorities will perform its proper duties in this investigation so as to ensure that all aspects of the investigation is thorough and just.

We also appeal to all media outlets to exercise responsibility and diligence in their reporting and to respect the privacy of the families of those who are currently under investigation.

Thank you,

Imam Mohamad Nawas

Public Relations Officer

Contact details;

Phone No: 0433 924 197

Email:
info@anic.org.au

Kind Regards,

The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC)


Ph: 1300 765 940

Fax: 1300 765 964

Email: info@anic.org.au

Web: www.anic.org.au

Postal Address: P. O. Box 145 , Lakemba NSW 2195 Australia

Civilian Death Toll Soaring In Afghanistan

By James Cogan

WSWS.org August 3, 2009

A report issued late last month by the Human Rights Unit of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) sheds light on the rising number of innocent Afghan men, women and children who are being killed in order for the US and its allies to consolidate their neo-colonial occupation of the country.

The UNAMA report contrasted the number of officially recorded civilian deaths for the first six months of 2009 with the number in previous years. From January 1 to June 30, it registered 1,013 civilian fatalities, ‘compared with 818 for the same period in 2008, and 684 in 2007’. In other words, as the Obama administration has escalated the war and sent thousands of additional troops and aircraft to Afghanistan, the number of civilian deaths has soared by 24 percent.

The military activities of both the Taliban-led insurgency, dubbed in the report ‘Anti Government Elements (AGEs), and the operations of the so-called Pro Government Forces (PGFs)—foreign troops and Afghan government security forces—contributed to the body count.

Insurgent roadside bombings and suicide bombings were blamed for 595 deaths or 59 percent of the casualties. In many cases, civilians were killed during attacks on occupation military targets. American and NATO forces drive convoys through residential areas and have established bases inside Afghan towns and villages in order to prevent them coming under the direct control of the Taliban.

Included in the number of civilian deaths caused by the insurgency are also a number of pro-occupation government officials and employees who were assassinated.

The occupation forces killed 310 of the civilian deaths recorded by UNAMA, or 30.5 percent. ‘Unknown’ or unconfirmed parties were held responsible for the remaining 108 fatalities, or 10.5 percent.

Air strikes were the main cause of fatalities inflicted by the US and allied forces. UNAMA recorded 40 air attacks that, combined, caused 200 deaths. In June alone, six air strikes killed 51 people, suggesting that the rate is climbing despite proclamations by American generals that greater care is being taken to avoid what the military still calls ‘collateral damage’.

UNAMA’s assessment of the impact of air strikes would be challenged by many in Afghanistan. The report accepted, for example, the official figure that 63 civilians died in the hours-long May 4 aerial assault on the village of Bala Baluk, in the western province of Farah. Locals continue to insist that the number who died was at least 144. It also accepted that the hundreds of alleged Taliban killed in remote areas of the country by air strikes were in fact combatants.

According to a tally compiled by Associated Press, American and NATO forces claimed to have killed more than 2,310 Taliban this year. In 2008, the tally was over 3,800. With the scale of fighting escalating, the new commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, ordered occupation forces in mid-June to stop giving any estimates on alleged Taliban casualties.

The air strike figure also does not count the hundreds of men, women and children who have been killed this year by missile strikes launched from unmanned US Predator drones over the border in the tribal agencies of Pakistan. The anti-occupation insurgency is supported by the ethnic Pashtun population of the region. In retaliation, the US military is waging a systematic campaign of killings and terror against them.

On June 23, a single US attack on a funeral procession in South Waziristan killed over 80 people. In just two days in July, Predator strikes killed another 80.

Other civilian deaths that may not have been counted, or been falsely reported as Taliban fatalities, are those inflicted during the regular raids conducted by special forces’ units on the homes of suspected insurgent leaders, fighters or financiers.

The report noted: ‘Implementation of search and seizure operations (including night time raids) are also of concern, and there have been reports of a number of joint Afghan and international military forces operations in which excessive use of force has allegedly resulted in civilian deaths.’ Agencies such as UNAMA rarely have the ability to independently verify who, and how many, are killed in such actions.

Overall, the UNAMA report makes a pessimistic estimate of the situation facing the US-led occupation in Afghanistan. Far from Obama’s surge curbing Afghan resistance to the presence of foreign troops, the Taliban and other insurgents are gaining support and expanding the territory in which they operate.

UNAMA noted: ‘As the conflict has widened and deepened throughout 2007, 2008 and into 2009, almost a third of the country is now directly affected by insurgent activities with differing intensity. Armed conflict is particularly prevalent in the South, South-East, East, Central, and Western regions of the country. It is also spreading into areas formerly relatively tranquil, such as the North and North-East.’

The occupation forces, in response, are ‘attempting to quell the insurgency and responding to insurgent activity within civilian areas, [and] are also conducting more operations in areas where civilians reside. These factors have resulted in a rising toll in terms of civilian deaths and injuries and destruction of infrastructure, including homes and assets, which are essential for survival and the maintenance of livelihoods.’

The result will be greater numbers of Afghan civilians losing their lives, particularly in the continuing air strikes against alleged Taliban targets. On July 30, the Los Angeles Times reported that McChrystal had instructed that the Predator drones previously used for hunting for Al Qaeda leaders in remote mountainous areas of the country be focused instead on operations in ‘major insurgent strongholds’—i.e., areas with large civilian populations.

McChrystal has also requested that at least another dozen of the unmanned aircraft be dispatched from the US to Afghanistan. Central Command has further ordered the redeployment of U2 spy aircraft, combat engineer units, road-clearance teams and helicopters from Iraq to the burgeoning war in Afghanistan.

Underscoring again the fraudulent character of the ‘war against terrorism’, an unnamed official told the Los Angeles Times: ‘We might still be too focused on Bin Laden. We should probably reassess our priorities.’

McChrystal himself declared in a recent interview: ‘I don’t think there is enough focus on counter-insurgency. I am not in a position to criticise counter-terrorism, but at this point in the war, in Afghanistan, it is most important to focus on almost classic counter-insurgency.’

Far from being against terrorism, the war is against the Afghan people. The consequence of the rising death toll among both civilians and insurgents will be wider hostility toward the occupation forces and greater sympathy for the armed resistance to their presence.

At the same time, the surge is leading to a rise in US and NATO casualties. In July, foreign occupation forces in Afghanistan suffered their worst casualties of nearly eight years of war, with 75 losing their lives. In just the first two days of August, nine US and NATO troops have been killed—a rate as high as the worst days of fighting in Iraq.

The UNAMA report predicted that a sharp upsurge in violence would take place over the next several weeks, as the Obama administration and its allies attempted to hold a stage-managed presidential election in the country—including in areas controlled by the Taliban, where Afghan President Hamid Karzai is viewed with contempt.

O'Brien's talk should re-energize church disarmament drive

Written by Dave Robinson Pax Christi USA Executive Director


In a bold move to reenergize the U.S. Catholic church’s decades-old quest for a nuclear weapons free world, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent an unlikely messenger [1] into the very heart of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex—Strategic Command’s (STRATCOM) Omaha headquarters.

The venue was the ‘2009 Deterrence Symposium’ organized by STRATCOM Commander General Kevin Chilton. STRATCOM oversees the operational end of the U.S. nuclear deterrent—thousands of nuclear bombs on missiles, bombers and submarines, poised on hair trigger alert, and capable of bringing cataclysmic destruction anywhere on the planet. The messenger was Baltimore Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, a Vietnam Veteran and formerly the Archbishop of the Military Services.

O’Brien’s unique familiarity and credibility with the military signals the seriousness the U.S. Catholic church is bringing to the complex and urgent matter of nuclear disarmament.

The speech entitled, Nuclear Weapons and Moral Questions: The Path to Zero, was the concluding keynote of the first day of the Symposium, a gathering of the key civilian and military leaders charged with developing and implementing U.S. policy on the use and future of U.S. nuclear weapons.

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Catholics in Alliance adds its voice of praise for O'Brien speech