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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editor's
Comments
What Are You Up To?
Ongoing
Activities
Upcoming
Events
World
Developments
Media Notes
Reports and
Announcements
Articles
Letters: Dialoging
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Vol. XX, No.3
Spring 2006
Nonviolent Change Journal helps to network the peace community: providing
dialoguing, exchanges of ideas, articles, reviews, reports and announcements
of the activities of peace related groups and meetings, reviews of world
developments relating to nonviolent change and resource information
concerning the development of human relations on the basis of mutual respect.
Ongoing
Activities
Compiled
by Steve Sachs
Codepink:
Women for Peace (codepink@democracyinaction.org) went to Mali and Venezuela for the World Social
Forum. "There, we were inspired to see how deeply the world supports
peace. Prominent personalities, women's organizations and even Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez signed on to our latest campaign to end the war in Iraq,
Women Say No To War http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=79124908&url_num=3&url=http://www.womensaynotowar.org/
On
Tuesday night, February 7, during President Bush's State of the Union
address, CODEPINK joined numerous
organizations, including United
for Peace (www.unitedforpeace.org)
and the American Friends Service
Committee (bpingue@afsc,org) in protests around the country and Cindy
Sheehan was arrested inside the Capitol for simply wearing an anti-war
t-shirt, and the wife of a Republican Congressman was escorted out of the
Capitol for wearing a T-shirt saying "support the troops." the
Capital Police Chief apologized for both actions, the next day.
CODEPINK and Global Exchange organized an
end the war tour of the U.S.
in March, with five Iraqi women sharing their first hand experiences of the
war. (There were to be seven Iraqi women participating, but the U.S. State
Department denied Visas to two who had lost their entire families in the
conflagration, on the grounds that they no longer have strong family ties to
Iraq and might try to stay in the U.S.).
Major
demonstrations took place on International Women’s Day on March 8th and the
three-year anniversary of the Iraq war on March 20th (For more information on
antiwar activity by many groups go to: http://www.unitedforpeace.org).
On March 8, the group attempted to present a petition to the U.S. U.N.
mission in New York, calling for a U.S.
withdrawal and the U.N. to send peacekeeping forces. However, several of the
peaceful petitioners were arrested, including Cindy Sheehan. For more
information go to: http://www.codepinkalert.org/. On several dates, but
particularly on the anniversary of the war, in March, major demonstrations calling for its end took place in cities
around the world.
Top
Representatives of the 34 U.S. members
of World Council of Churches, at the largest gathering of Christian
churches in nearly a decade, In late February,
sharply denounced the U.S.-led war in Iraq, accusing Washington of
"raining down terror," and apologizing to other nations for
"the violence, degradation and poverty our nation has sown." The statement, also warned that the United States was pushing the
world toward environmental catastrophe with a "culture of
consumption" and its refusal to back international accords seeking to
battle global warming. The World Council of Churches includes more than 350
mainstream Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox churches. The U.S. groups in the WCC include the Episcopal
Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist
Church, several
Orthodox churches and Baptist denominations.
The Peace and Justice Studies Association
(PJSA) Committee on Academic Freedom is concerned with any external
efforts to restrict or interfere with the content of academic peace studies
programs, including the kinds of questions and methodologies pursued in
classrooms and research. "Our
concerns cover a wide range of issues:
actual or potential cuts in program funding; threats to tenure,
retention, and promotion; and various kinds of pressures that can lead
to faculty self-censorship." The committee is collecting information on
such threats and pressures, and requests input from those experiencing them.
"By collecting information and disseminating it to our membership, we
seek to prevent isolation, share successful strategies, and cultivate institutional
and community environments in which our work can flourish". Andrew Moss
(Cal Poly Pomona), and Stephen Zunes (University of San Francisco). Please send information and queries to
Andrew Moss, committee chair, at aimoss@csupomona.edu.
The Israeli peace organization Gush Shalom published the following public statement, on March
17. "There is a
choice! There is a solution! We all long for an end to the
conflict, for the termination of the bloodshed and a life in peace, in a
state of which we can be proud. We will not be able to realize this by means
of "Reassembling", "Disengagement", the Apartheid Wall,
the unilateral fixing of the "Permanent Borders" (in agreement with
the settlers) and all the other patent medicines and Fata Morganas. All these
have already been tried and have already failed. There is only one real way:
1. The elected Government
of Israel will invite the elected Government of Palestine to direct
negotiations, on the basis of equality and mutual respect, for the
implementation of the "Two States for Two Peoples" solution.
2. The opening of the
negotiations will constitute the mutual recognition of the right to existence
of the two states within the borders that will be determined by the
negotiations.
3. Neither of the two parties
will be asked to give up its religious and spiritual affinity with all the
territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan
River, irrespective of the division of political sovereignty.
4. The permanent borders
between the two states will be based on the Green Line. The final route will
be fixed by negotiation, with the possibility of agreed exchanges of
territory.
5. The Jewish quarters of
Jerusalem, together with the Western Wall,
will belong to Israel.
The Arab quarters of Jerusalem, together with
the compound of the mosques, will belong to Palestine.
6. All the other
questions, such as security arrangements, refugees, economic relations and
water, will be resolved by mutual agreement.
7. The negotiations will
be completed in no more than three years.
8. An armistice (hudnah)
will come into force for the duration of the negotiations. Each of the two
governments will be responsible for a complete cessation of violence by its
military forces as well as by all armed factions, groups and individuals.
There will be no building activity in the existing settlements, nor will new
settlements be set up.
9. A neutral
international committee, with the participation of international
personalities acceptable to both sides, will oversee the implementation.
We call upon all the
voters of the Peace Camp to vote for a party that is close to these
principles".
Top
As Israel continues to build the security
fence and allow settlement expansion, Israeli and Palestinian Peace Groups
have continued to protest the harsh difficulties created for Palestinians by
those developments. For example, members of the Olive Harvest Coalition went
to the Palestinian lands at Kaffin, cutoff from the rest of Palestinian
territory by the security fence, to do something about the loss of olive
trees uprooted by the wall construction and destroyed by Jewish settlers.
There, Israeli companies have illegally dumped garbage and waste, and nothing
has been done by the government through months of protest. When fires swept
through the area, burning remaining trees, the security forces did not permit
the fire brigade access to the area. So
the coalition planting thousands of saplings, and have tended them when the
Palestinian villagers have been barred from going there to do the work. For
more information contact Gush Shalom, pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033,
Israel, info@gush-shalom.org, www.gush-shalom.org, Peace Now (in Hebrew
and English): http://www.peacenow.org.il/site/he/, Rabbis For Human Rights:
info@rhr.israel.net, The Other Israel, pob 2542, Holon 58125, Israel, ph/fx:
+972-3-5565804, otherisr@actcom.co.il,
http://www.geocities.com/toi_billboard. In December, members of American Friends Service Committee
joined other internationals and Palestinians and Israelis for an international conference, Celebrating
Nonviolent Resistance, in Bethlehem, Palestine, that included peaceful demonstrations
promoting a just solution to the Holy Land
conflict, and calling for an end of abuses, including building the security
wall. For information contact Noab Merrill at Southeastern New England AFSC,
nmerrill@afsc.org.
For 8 days in December Eliyahu
McLean, Director of Jerusalem Peacemakers, and Director Ibrahim
Abuelhawa hosted a delegation of Sikhs who came to pray for peace in the Holy Land. The week encompassed dialogue and prayer
amongst the major faith traditions of Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Druze and
Bahai. For more information contact Eliyahu
McLean, Jerusalem Peacemakers, PO Box 2427, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6
8XX, England, eliyahu@jerusalempeacemakers.org, or
Andrea Blanch, 520 Ralph St, Sarasota, FL 34242.
The joint Israeli-Palestinian soccer "peace team,"
sponsored by the Shimon Peres Centre
for Peace, played Spain's
leading team in Barcelona,
in November. The team was jointly coached by Israeli national team coach Dror
Kashtan and Palestinian coach Jamal Hadeideh of Tul Karm. The Peres centre
also has soccer and basketball
coaching program for Israeli and Palestinian youth, which are among the
few joint Israeli and Palestinian sporting activities. In the Umm al-Fahm,
the biggest Arab town in Israel,
the Umm al-Fahm art gallery, showing Arab and Israeli Art, recently opened as
a meeting place between Israelis and Arabs, Jews and Muslims. The owner, Mr.
Said, hopes "that in some small way, art can provide a bridge between
the two communities." Breaking
the Ice, which brings together peoples in conflict for extreme sports
adventures, brought together a group of Middle Eastern Muslims and Jewish
Israelis ,earlier this year, to learn desert survival and conflict resolution
skills at an unnamed location in Jordan,
before proceeding with a 5,500 kilometer desert crossing of the Sahara
to Tripoli, Libya. In 2004, Breaking the Ice
began its operation with eight Israelis and Palestinians in an Antarctica adventure.
"Seriously
Joking," a new Palestinian soap opera co-produced by Search for Common Ground (SFCG),
unlike other programming on Palestinian TV, focuses on everyday life. It also
shatters Palestinians' stereotypes about themselves, in the course of looking
at social issues including early marriage and young Palestinians falling in
and out of love, high unemployment, the impact of nepotism and corruption and
the decision to emigrate in search of a better life. In addition, since
August, SFCG has co-produced, with the Ma'an Network a twice-weekly TV
magazine series for Palestinian viewers. The segments, which are produced by
the network's ten local TV stations, tell stories that convey the positive,
human-interest side of Palestinian society, such as a profile the gold market
in Tulkarem, tobacco cultivation in Jenin, a look at Bethlehem
University, and a portrait of a
disabled man in Nablus
who lives a wholly self-sufficient life. Commencing at the same time, SFCG
has joined, Daoud Kuttab, a leading Palestinian journalist, the Ma'an
Network, and Al Quds Educational TV in restarting C-Spanlike coverage of the
sessions of the Palestinian Legislative Council, including discussions of
alleged corruption, that were stopped by the Palestinian Authority in 1997,
with Daoud being detained in prison for 8 days. It is hoped that this
coverage will promote transparency and non-violence in the Palestinian
political process.
Search for Common
Ground continues to be active in many places. The organization's President
John Marks, commented in SFCG's winter 2005-2006 newsletter, "Despite
the precarious state of the world, there is much to be thankful for. Here at
SFCG, we are overwhelmingly optimistic. Our hope for 2006 is that many more
people - and nations - will realize that everyone on the planet shares common
humanity and that all of us can do much better in resolving problems
peacefully".
Top
Marks believes there
is reason for optimism in Burundi.
SFCG began work there in 1995, after genocide swept through neighboring Rwanda,
with a multi-pronged effort to help defuse violence. The radio program, Studio Ijambo, employing Hutus
and Tutsis continues to produce programs (including the organization's first
radio soap opera) to counter hate radio and promote reconciliation, with 15
hours a week of original programming on five Burundian radio stations. The Women's
Peace Center mobilizes women as peacemakers, working with thousands of
women's associations in organizing training, facilitating interethnic
dialogue, providing information about women's legal rights, and supporting
resettlement of internally displaced people (IDPs). In 2005, Léonie
Barakomeza and Yvonne Ryakiye, along with eight other Burundian women, were
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their work building peace in Busoro.
They met through the Women's Peace
Center, in 1996, and
began to work together. Unlike most of their neighbors, they were willing to
cross the river. They were accused of being spies and traitors, but they
persisted. Other women followed their example, and links grew. The two
created a women's association, whose name translates as We Want Peace. They urged people to return home. Despite meager
means, the women pooled their resources and built 40 brick houses for both
Tutsi and Hutu families. The Women's Peace Center
has trained hundreds of Burundian women to be facilitators in reuniting
divided communities. In 2004, one facilitator was invited to Rusengo, where
many ethnic killings had occurred. The community had reached the point where
it wanted the violence to end and asked us to facilitate a reconciliation
process. A meeting was convened, and the facilitator formed those present
into two lines: on one side were the perpetrators; on the other were the
families of dead victims. One by one, those in the first group stepped
forward to admit guilt. Then, those in the second group took the hand of the
person who had confessed and granted pardon. The session ended with a young
man, who had stood with the victims and had just taken the hand of someone
who had murdered one of his family, suddenly crossing the space between the
lines, joining the perpetrators, and reaching across to take the hand of a
woman whose husband he had killed. He was forgiven.
The Victims of Torture Project brings together the
expertise of organizations working in peace-building, traumatic medicine,
community organizing, and human rights advocacy. It promotes psychological
healing, furnishes legal assistance, and aids in reintegration of victims. Domestic
Shuttle Diplomacy is carried out by Jan van Eck, a former South African
ANC Member of Parliament, to promote dialogue and help solve problems among
leaders of conflicting parties, including groups outside official talks. The Working with Killers youth project
provides young militia members with alternatives to violence, with activities
including sponsoring soccer tournaments, training youth in conflict
resolution, and widely distributing comic books that deplore violence. In addition, SFCG has organized a national
dance competition, along with singing and drumming festivals and produces music for peace radio programs, and
enlisting reggae star Ziggy Marley to record public service announcements.
All of this has helped Burundi
move back from the brink of genocide. A top-level mediation process led by
Nelson Mandela resulted in a political settlement, national elections, and
interethnic power sharing. Unfortunately, one rebel group continues armed
conflict; many political leaders refuse to abandon their zero-sum approach;
and "Burundi
remains fragile. But compared to ten years ago, there has been extraordinary
progress, and we are proud to have played a positive role."
SFCG's Burundi
program celebrated its tenth birthday, last year, as its daily radio soap
opera produced its 1000th episode. Hugely popular and influential, Atunda Ayenda (Lost and Found), airs
on all 11 of the country's radio stations, telling stories with themes of
conflict resolution and of ex-combatants who come home, look for lost loves,
and rebuild their lives. During recent Burundian and Sierra Leonean
elections, SFCG formed consortia of journalists to observe report on results
as the votes were being counted, reducing the possibility of fraud and
violence. During last fall's elections in Liberia, SFCG partnered
with UN Radio and a private station to provide the same transparency, while
promoting openness through broadcasting political debates in 16 local
languages, and giving callers the opportunity to denounce any irregularities
on the air, live.
In Angola, as elsewhere, SFCG
put special emphasis on working with youth, bringing together young people
from the opposing sides in the former civil war, the MPLA and UNITA, to
empower them to co-create projects that promote reconciliation. This work is
particularly important in dealing with youth violence, which has a highly
negative impact on Angola.
One of the participants in one the program stated, "I began by
disrespecting my teachers and assaulting stores with an armed street gang known
as AKM. Then, I wanted to leave that life behind because I was tired and a
guy by the name of Paixão told me about the trainings. Today I am completely
different as a result of the trainings… They gave me tools with which to
resolve conflict without violence". For more information contact Search
for Common Ground, 1601 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC
20009, (202) 265-4300, search@scfg.org, www.sfcg.org, or Search for Common
Ground, Rue Belliard 205 bte 13, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium, Tel.: (32-2)
736-7262, brussels@sfcg.be
The Coalition for Work With Psychotrauma and
Peace Coalition for Work With Psychotrauma and Peace (CWWPP) in Vukovar, Croatia,
marked its 10th anniversary in the region, last June. During those ten years,
CWWPP has trained about 500 people and directly treated approximately 1000
people. "It is difficult to
estimate the total number of people we have affected, because each of the
people we have trained has gone on to work with other groups. Thus, we
estimate that we have assisted between 5000 and 10000 people in the region of
eastern Croatia,
northern Bosnia Herzegovina and Vojvodina. We have also had a total of about
25 interns from abroad and a large number of groups of foreign students who
have visited us for varying periods. Further, we have spoken at quite a
number of international conferences and published papers on the problems of
post-conflict areas. As a result of all of this experience, we have decided
to establish the Institute for Post-Conflict Studies, where we will share our
knowledge and conduct research into more effective ways of working in regions
such as ours".
"Unfortunately,
psychological treatment in eastern Croatia,
northern Bosnia
and Vojvodina remains at a low standard. Psychotherapy and self-help groups
are virtually non-existent. Virtually all treatment uses drugs, causing high
– and unmeasured – levels of addiction.
Psychiatrists in the region are seeing up to 75 patients per
day. An absurd new law in Croatia says that former soldiers must have
registered as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by the end
of 2005 if they want to get the status of army war veteran based on this
“disease” (which we prefer to call a reaction). This goes against
international definitions. Furthermore, in September, a very prominent
Croatian psychiatrist noted that aggressors are protected from having PTSD
because they created the trauma and they can only feel guilt. This standpoint
was accented in a recent television program in which it was asserted that
Serbs cannot suffer from PTSD It is
obvious that these standpoints make no sense." Physical medical
treatment is also at a low standard, with general practitioners seeing an
average of 50-75 patients per day, and regular reports of mis-diagnosis and
mis-treatment. The problem of the time
that physicians have for patients is now being compounded by a new rule that
compels physicians to write their own bills for each patient contact.
Top
The human rights situation in Croatia is
still poor. Little has been done to solve the problems of the 350,000
Serbs who left Croatia
since 1991. According to OSCE reports, 120,000 Serbs have returned, but
40,000 left Croatia
again because of the poor conditions they faced upon their return. The
majority of the 80,000 returnees still in the country are older people whose
income is based on agriculture or who have pensions, and thus who can
survive. The high number of people who leave the country after returning is
an indication of the lack of success of international and national
reintegration policies and politics. There are few systematic efforts toward
reintegration such as the Strategy of Complex Rehabilitation set out by CWWPP
in the Proposals section of its web site. Almost no effort is being
undertaken on reconciliation in the Vukovar area, with no apparent interest
from donors to finance these activities and to invest in this region where
the war in the Balkans started. This is reflected in the segregation of the
educational system, even at the kindergarten level, and is an indication of
danger for the future of the region. Moreover, there continues to be wide
spread corruption in the region, even among some non-governmental
organizations (for more information go to Transparency International at:
http://www.transparency.org/cpi/2005/2005.10.18.cpi.en.html.s). The
difficulty in finding funding, is particularly a problem for CWWWPP, at the
present time, as it must find at least 170,000 Euros to expand its facilities,
because of the success of its program.
The Center continues,
after five years, to co-lead, with Marimo, a group for the relatives of
schizophrenics in Osijek.
There are plans to expand cooperation when funding permits. After the
successful cooperation in the project of assistance to physical invalids
sponsored by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the CWWPP has
begun a course for self-help group leaders from Bubamara in Vinkovci. Faced
with more people in need than it has the staff and resources to work with,
CWWPP is slowly increasing the number of individual clients that it is
treating.
CWWPP has joined with
other groups, including the Center for Peace Osijek, the Nansen Dialogue
Center Osijek and Europe House Vukovar, to seek a change in Croatian law
which puts a practical limit on the ability of organizations to receive help
from international volunteers. Since January 1, 2004, people have not been
permitted to visit the country for more than 90 days, after which they must
leave the country for another 90 days before returning.
In September, the
CWWPP began to teach a “core group” the basics of communication,
psychological trauma, civil society and non-violent conflict transformation.
It is expected that the course will last for approximately a year. The
participants will then be qualified to work as group leaders in the field. A
number of the participants are members of other non-governmental
organizations working in the region. In April and May, CWWPP Director Charles
David Tauber gave a 30-hour course in Introduction to Counseling at the
Evangelical Theological Faculty, Osijek.
This is one more step in the cooperation between the ETF, the CWWPP and the
Jewish Community of Osijek, which have worked together on a number of events
during the past few years. A new part of this coalition is developing a
project on the History of Jews in the Vukovar Area. In addition, Dr Tauber
gave a number of seminars to students from around the world on the psychology
of post-conflict areas, in particular as applied to this region, during the
two-week long Summer
University held by the
Youth Peace Group Danube at Europe House Vukovar.
In June, the Transitional Learning
Center of the University of Toronto
held a working conference on the formation of an international institute for
grassroots peacebuilding, with Center Director Dr. Charles David Tauber a
keynote speaker. The CWWPP is playing a central role in this initiative. In
addition, Dr. Tauber gave a seminar on Treatment of Problems of Identity in
Former Soldiers during the course in Genocide, War Crimes and Memories,
sponsored by the University
of Sarajevo at the
Inter-University Center Dubrovnik. Just after this seminar, he participated
in a Balkan-wide working group on restorative justice sponsored by the
Department of Law of the University
of Leuven.
Following up on its
8-week program on the problems of post-conflict areas during the summer of
2005, which Participants evaluated as highly successful (A full report is available at
http://www.cwwpp.org/Study.htm), CWWWPP is running a Summer Program in
Post-Conflict Studies, June 19 - September 2. It includes a three-week
intensive course on post-conflict areas, concentrating on the situation in
eastern Croatia,
a six week research project and an optional course in Croatian. The three
week intensive provides an introduction to the region, the history of the
area and the conflict, the politics of the region, the role of religion in
the region, human rights in the region, civil society, education, health and
traumatization and reconciliation and return. The CWWPP is a Dutch registered
organization working on issues of health, civil society, non-violent conflict
transformation and (re-) development of society. The Coalition has been in the region since
1995. The CWWPP has had interns and
volunteers since 1999, who have stayed from a few weeks up to about six
months. This program is part of the development of the Vukovar Field
Institute for Post-Conflict Studies. More information contact Coalition for
Work With Psychotrauma and Peace, Gunduliceva 18, 2000 Vukovar, Croatia, Tel
and Fax +385-32-441975, new e-mail
address: office@cwwpp.org or go to their website: http://www.cwwpp.org
Youth Empowerment Partnership Program (YEPP) has been enhancing
renewal in Tuzla-Simin Han, Bosnia
by motivating and encouraging young people toward self-initiative and new
activities to organize their free time and enhance the positive growth of
their personalities. Projects in community building and community action
include refurbishment of the old District
Administration Building and creation of Agora: a
central community space. Agora activities are organized democratically, by
the local people, and focus on dialogue and exchange, culture, dispersing
information, computer and internet access, and training and education.
Economic development projects include small business development training
setting up a collecting and selling location for agriculture, as well as a
pilot vocational orientation program in the local school, featuring visits to
a variety of enterprises in Tuzla.
In the area of ecology, Yepp runs ecological education programs, and has
helped students begin recycling. The Tuzla
project is one of several Yepp efforts to reestablish social cohesion among
young people. For more information go to www.yepp-community.org
The Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) is
strengthening and expanding its work in Sri Lanka. "January was
turbulent, with Sri Lanka
balanced on the edge of war. During this alarming time, most International
NGO's had to close their offices in Trincomalee or significantly restrict the
movement of their staff. The Nonviolent Peaceforce Sri Lanka Team (NPSL)
continued to work under these circumstances, as the demand for its protection
services was greater than ever. In Batticaloa, an explosive destroyed a
Norweigan Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission vehicle and damaged several others
that were parked inside a high security zone. The attack on the international
monitors symbolized what many view as the complete breakdown of whatever
remained of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA)". A renewal of peace
negotiations has since raised the hope that the Cease Fire will return in
full and a peace settlement can soon be reached. In Columbia, NP has been expanding its
Columbian team, launched in November, and is developing local contacts to
increase its monitoring. In the Middle East,
35 NP supporters served as election monitors during the January voting in the
Palestinian territories. NP has produced a new 12 minute video/DVD,
"The Nonviolent Peaceforce," in English, depicting its work and
offering insights into its mission, philosophy and long-range vision. For
more information contact Nonviolent Peaceforce, Rue Van Elewyck 35, 1050
Bruxelles, Belgium, +49-40-655-90-940 or 425 Oak Grove St, Minneapolis, MN
55403. (612)871-0005, info@nonviolentpeaceforce.org, http://NonviolentPeaceforce.org.
The Genocide Intervention Network (GI-Net) is a
nationally recognized non-profit that empowers people with the tools to
promote protection for the victims of genocidal crises. GI-Net is currently
working with community leaders, students, and teachers to help them learn and
teach about ways to get involved in the struggle to ensure protection for the
civilians of Darfur, Sudan. For more information,
contact Lee A. Smithey. Assistant Professor Department of Sociology &
Anthropology, Peace and Conflict Studies, Chair, 500 College Avenue,
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081, Telephone: (610)690-2064, http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/SocAnth,
http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/peace.
Amnesty
International (AI) has been focusing heavily on the issue of torture and
improper detention, particularly by the U.S., of late. For details go to
www.amnestyusa.org.
Peace Brigades International (PBI) is in its 25th year of pursuing international human rights
work, maintaining field offices in Nepal,
Indonesia, Guatemala, Mexico,
and Colombia.
PBI is seeking fieldworkers and office interns, and is inviting participants
for an Orientation Weekend in New
York City. The two day sessions on the human rights
conditions in the five countries where PBI currently operates include
first-hand personal accounts of what it’s like to be a field volunteer, group
discussions, role-plays, and other interactive exercises. The Weekend covers
many key aspects of PBI’s work, including organizational culture, nonviolence
strategies and training methodologies used by the PBI field projects. PBI's Emergency
Response Network, in February, acted in the face massacre in the San José
de Apartadó Peace Community (accompanied by PBI), along with many partners,
to generate an impressive response felt by the US State Department and
Colombian Government, to have the Columbian government seriously seek the
perpetrators and act to prevent reoccurrences of the attack. 32 members of
Congress sent a letter to Colombian President Uribe. PBI met with Colombian
Vice-President Santos at the Colombian Ambassador's residence in DC during
his stateside visit. PBI is featured in a new book entitled Taking a Stand: A Guide to Peace Teams and
Accompaniment Projects. The film “In the Company of Fear” about Peace
Brigades in Colombia was
shown at the United Nations Association Film Festival in Boston. PBI Germany released a new DVD, “En
Busca de Dignidad”, about PBI Guatemala. For more information contact
PBI/USA, 1326 9th St, NW,
Washington, DC
20001,
(202)232-0142, info@pbiusa.org, http://www.peacebrigades.org/usa/internship.html.
A group of grassroots delegates from Mexico,
Guatemala, Colombia, Peru,
and other Latin American nations journeyed to Washington, DC.
to the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States to deliver a report
that femicide, the murder of women, is spreading in the region. The
delegates sketched a pattern of widespread violence against women, rampant
failures in the procurement of justice for victims and relatives, the
prevalence of impunity, and the absence of standard statistical-gathering and
record-keeping methods to document gender violence. For more information go
the International Relations Center
(IRC) website, http://americas.irc-online.org).
The Association
for Realisation of Basic Needs (ARBAN) is a grassroots NGO in Bangladesh
working for peace, progress, justice, development, democracy, tolerance,
human rights, communal harmony and socio-economic and political empowerment
of the people in rural and urban areas. It is also associated with the
International Peace Research Association (IPRA). ARBAN was founded in 1984 to
arouse and advance people's awareness
for their dignity and development. For information contact Muahmmed Kamal
Uddin, Coordinator, ARBAN, arbn@agni.com.
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Citizens for Global
Solutions works to transform consciousness and public policy to create
collaborative international relations. "To survive in the world we have
transformed, we must learn to think in a new way. As never before, the future
of each depends on the good of all." For information, contact Citizens
for Global solutions,418 7 St., Washington,
DC 20003
(202)546-3950, www.globalsolutions.org. The Coalition for a Strong United Nations has a long range peace
program based upon human rights principles and the recognition that all
living things and resources are interdependent. For details go to
www.strongUN.org, or contact CSUNdean@ao.com.
The
University of Peace with its main campus in Costa
Rica is in the process of setting up a University of Peace
International Centre in Toronto, that, beginning in 2007, would
accommodate about 35 graduate students, in Masters programs in Peace
Education and Environmental Security and Peace, from around
the world in Canadian families, rather than in student residences. In
addition, a Dual Campus MA Program in Peace Education is offered with
study split between the UN-mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica and its International Centre in Canada.
For information contact the University
of Peace Toronto office manager,
Digafie Debalke, (416)598-0582, Ext. 27, DDebalke@upeace.org, or the Main Campus and Headquarters, P.O. Box
138-6100, San José, Costa Rica
(506) 205-9000, info@upeace.org, www.upeace.org. Naropa
University (Boulder, CO) has
created a Peace Studies program and is hiring one full time faculty for fall
2006.
The
Hague Appeal for Peace has developed a
partnership with the new Peace Boat US,
which is taking over its peace education programs and communications. The Hague
Appeal for Peace started out in October 1996 with one idea, to hold a world
conference on peace that the UN wouldn't do as the last summit in the last
decade of the last century. The May 1999 conference in The Hague was timed as the centennial of
the world's first peace congress in 1899, and the agenda was to call peace a
human right and to call for the abolition of the institution of war. Since,
then the Hague
appeal has established the Global Campaign for Peace Education, held
conferences, produced three books, and produced an E-mail newsletter. Peace
Boat US will continue this
work and expand on it, using their ship to hold peace education classes,
conferences, and to recruit young and not so young people from the U.S.
and elsewhere to participate. They will be monitoring the UN, and will
continue to send out a Peace Education newsletter. For more information
contact Helene Leneveu, Hague Appeal for Peace, 777 UN Plaza, Third Floor, New York, NY
10017 (212)687-2623,
helene@haguepeace.org, www.haguepeace.org.
TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU), in Cluj-Napoca,
Romania, has continued to increase the scope and range of
its nonviolencetraining programs world-wide, during 2006. More than 90% of
TRANSCEND˙s trainings are provided upon request after invitations from
governments, national and international organizations and universities. The
remainder are organized at TRANSCEND's sites and centers world-wide. One of
its major trainings is Reconciliation and Peacebuilding in Divided
Communities, a five-day intensive training program and interactive workshop
for practitioners, local authorities, community and religious leaders,
government, media, businesses, and non-governmental organizations working in
diverse communities and communities affected by conflict. The program draws
upon concrete experiences in working in diverse communities from North
America, Central and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, Africa and Asia. TPU offers both on site and on line courses and
trainings. For more information TRANSCEND Peace
University Global
Center in Cluj, Romania,
Tel +40-724-380511, tpu@transcend.org, www.transcend.org/tpu.
World Peace Radio (http://www.worldpeaceradio.com/) features
music, interviews and quotes designed to encourage peace in our lifetime.
Global Exchange, in honor of international human rights day, released a report
on the Most Wanted Corporate Human Rights Violators of 2005.
The list was developed to illustrate that on issues as diverse as
assassination, torture, kidnapping, environmental degradation, abusing public
funds, violently repressing worker rights, releasing toxins into pristine
environments, destroying homes, and causing widespread health problems, not
only governments are responsible. Corporations carry out some of the most
horrific human rights abuses of modern times. For more go to: http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/corporateHRviolators.html.
Infact has changed its name to
Corporate Accountability International, challenging abuse, protecting
people. Among other projects, the organization continues to work for spread
of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, of
which the U.S.
is not yet a signator. For more information contact Corporate Accountability
International, 46 Plympton St.,
Boston, MA 02118 (617)695-2525,
info@stopcorporateabuse.org, www.stopcorporateabuse.org.
Union
of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is very concerned that, "Increasingly,
the Bush administration is crafting misguided national environmental and
public health policies because it is ignoring, suppressing and manipulating
independent scientific research when it does not follow their transparently
ideological agenda". For details, contact UCS, 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge,
MA 02238,
www.ucsusa.org. Resist has taken
up a number of environmental issues, including opposing nuclear power
relicensing in favor of renewable energy, opposing mountaintop removal coal
mining in Tennessee
and supporting activists opposing toxic waste dumping. Resist is also
concerned that since the beginning of war on terrorism, in 2001, there has
been a 350% increase in U.S.
military aid and training to the top 10 foreign sources of U.S. oil. Resist continues to
provide funding to numerous non profit organizations. Among recent grantees
are Manhattan Alliance for Peace and
Justice (P.O. Box 1561, Manhattan, KS 66505, www.mapj.org) to fund a
campaign for student activism at Kansas State University, strengthening
existing progressive organizations, the Bitterroot
Human Rights Alliance (P.O. Box 915, Hamilton, MT 59840) to support a
campaign against intolerance in the Bitterroot Valley, and the Arab Women's
Gathering Organizing Collective (1265 Harrison Ave., Columbus, OH 43201) to
help develop a broad based movement for justice rooted in the perspective of
Arab and Arab-American women and girls. For more information, contact Resist,
259 Elm St., Somerville, MA 02144
Interfaith
Tours to the Holy Land, run by Imagine
Adventures, is launching a new program of spiritual explorations
this spring, including its first Peacemakers in the Holy Land Tour to Israel,
May 1-9. The group of up to 25 will meet with members of the Jerusalem
Peacemakers, an interfaith peace and reconciliation association comprised of
Jewish, Muslim, and Christian mystics and activists in the holy land. Eliyahu
McLean, ordained as a Rodef Shalom, or Pursuer of Peace, by Rabbi Zalman
Shechter-Shalomi, will be the main leader. There will also be sessions with
Sheikh Abdu'l Aziz Bukhari, leader of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order in Jerusalem and other spiritual leaders in Bethlehem and Nazareth.
For more information, contact Steve Scholl, Imagine Adventures, 295 E. Main St., Suite 18 Ashland, OR 97520, (541)301-7469, stevescholl@jeffnet.org, www.imagine-adventures.com.
Bridge
the World, Connect for Peace, Act for Justice (BCA) (who partners with
the Peace and Justice Studies
Association) puts on a number of International Seminars for Faculty and Administrator.
Upcoming seminars include: Belfast
and Derry, Northern
Ireland, Galway,
Ireland,
June 10-20, combining insight into conflict and efforts at reconciliation
with a broader analysis of human rights issues. For information contact BCA, 50 Alpha Dr., Elizabethtown,
PA 17022
(866)22-6188, IS@BCAabraod, www.BCAabroad.org.
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©2002, 2003, 2004,
2005, 2006. All rights reserve. The Nonviolent Change Journal is published
by the Research/Action Team on Nonviolent Large Systems Change - an
interorganizational and international project of The Organization Development
Institute. Opinions expressed are solely that of the writers and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of the editing staff, Nonviolent Change
Journal, Organization Development Institute.
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