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Angry Mob Invades Assembly of Families of Disappeared at Oblate Center in Sri Lanka August 12th, 2014
On the afternoon of August 4th, a group of Buddhist monks with a large number of civilians and media personnel forced their way into a meeting being hosted by the Oblate Centre for Peace and Justice in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The mob was intent on disrupting a meeting of families of the disappeared that were meeting in the place to tell their stories to an assembled group of priests, nuns, human rights activists, and representatives of civil society organizations as well as of diplomatic missions. The aim of the meeting was to pinpoint methods and strategies for helping the families of missing people locate their loved ones. The center, which is currently led by Oblate priest, Fr. Ashok Stephen, has been helping civil war victims for years.
Read more at: http://www.ucanews.com/news/sri-lankan-buddhists-up-in-arms-over-papal-visit/71654
Despite repeated requests from the organizers and the diplomatic corp present, the police failed to disperse the mob, but suggested rather that the meeting be disbanded and representatives from both parties attend an inquiry at the police station. Fr. Ashok Stephen, OMI, Director of the CPJ, filed a complaint of criminal trespass against the one Buddhist whose name he was able to determine, but does not think anything will come of it. The families present, which included children, were frightened but the mob, which shouted abuse and took photographs of those present.
Statements on the incident from Fr Ashok Stephen, OMI and Fr Rohan Silva, OMI are available on the website of the Colombo Province.
The Conference of Major Religious Superiors of Sri Lanka have also issued a statement condemning the incident. (Download PDF here)
FACT Launches Podcast Series August 11th, 2014
New Program to Examine Issues, Promote Work of Partners
Looking to more widely broadcast its message, the FACT (Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency) Coalition, of which the Oblate JPIC Office is a member, is launching a podcast series to focus on its core issues of corporate tax avoidance, transparency in corporate ownership, and combatting money laundering.
The FACT Podcast will be released initially on a monthly basis, and more frequently as policy developments and the news of the day as events warrant.
The first podcast, Who We Are, What We Do, and Why It Matters, is available on the FACT website, provides an introduction to the FACT Coalition and the work that it does on corporate tax avoidance, more transparency in corporate ownership, and combating money laundering. Upcoming podcasts will examine these issues individually and in more detail. Later podcasts will feature interviews with subject-matter experts and highlight the work that their organizations are doing.
“This is an exciting new addition to the FACT arsenal of information on these vital issues,” said Nicole Tichon, Executive Director of FACT. “The FACT podcast provides a new way to reach even more people and that’s a good thing.”
As mentioned above, the podcast is available on the FACT website. Users can also receive it via an RSS feed.
Compassionate Action Urged for Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Families July 15th, 2014
JPIC Staff Fr. Antionio Ponce OMI visiting Laredo Humanitarian Team shelter collecting donations for migrant children and families
The Missionary Oblates JPIC office joined Interfaith Immigration Coalition in a letter addressed to the President and Congress regarding the recent unaccompanied children who are crossing the US-Mexico border. The interfaith community is expressing concerns for the unaccompanied children and families fleeing violence in Central America and frustrations with the way this humanitarian crisis has been handled. The letter requests that steps be taken in a just, effective, compassionate and comprehensive way to address the needs of children and families who are fleeing harm in Central America.
NOGs and Religious Groups Call for Inclusion of Human Right to Water and Sanitation in SDGs July 7th, 2014
More than 300 Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), including Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, recently sent a statement to the General Assembly’s Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to explicitly affirm its commitment to protect and promote the human right to water and sanitation within the SDG framework and implementation:
“We join the repeated and insistent calls from civil society around the world to ensure that the SDGs are explicitly aligned to the human rights framework. For the post-2015 development agenda to reach its objective of being just, people-centered, and sustainable, the goals must prioritize-for present and future generations-the human right to water for health, life, food, and culture over other demands on water resources. This is even more critical given the key role of water for achieving other sustainable development objectives such as sustainable energy and food production, gender equality, and climate change mitigation.
SDGs must be designed to catalyze increased capacity and political will for States to fulfill their legally binding obligations to respect, protect, and promote the human right to water and sanitation. Our organizations fear that the human right to water and sanitation continues to be contested within the context of a global competition for scarce water resources. We are concerned that a development agenda that is not explicitly committed to upholding this vital human right may end up undermining it.”
Click here for good resources on the UN Human Right to Water: Human right to water and sanitation | International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015
Click here for eight fast facts on the HR to Water and Sanitation (poster)
Carl Kabat,OMI Protests Nuclear Weapons in Kansas City on July 4 July 5th, 2014
Our thanks go to Jane Stoever of PeaceWorks, Kansas City for this article on the anti-nuclear protest action by Oblate Father Carl Kabat on July 4th.
Spray-painted entry sign at the new federal nuclear weapons facility in Kansas City, Missouri
Carl Kabat, 80, a priest in the Order of Mary Immaculate, spray-painted the National Security Campus entry sign at 10 a.m. July 4. This is Carl’s fourth consecutive “interdependence action” in July at the so-called campus, the new home for the Kansas City Plant (in Kansas City, Mo.), where the National Nuclear Security Administration this year will begin making and procuring non-nuclear parts for nuclear weapons. In a phone call to friends at 10:03 a.m., Carl said, “This damned plant has got to be closed somehow, some way.” He chose red paint to signify blood, he said, and after painting was sitting alone by the huge sign, awaiting arrest.
The new $687 million facility replaces the Kansas City Plant at Bannister Federal Complex, also in Kansas City, Mo., where the federal government has documented about 900 toxins–the legacy from radioactive and other substances used at the old plant. The Kansas City Plant makes parts such as wiring, fuses, guidance systems, security devices, and the trigger for nuclear weapons.
It is expected that Carl will spend the weekend in the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department’s holding cell; will come before a judge via TV court on Monday, July 7; will be freed; and will be told to return to Kansas City for a hearing, where he’ll speak truth to power.
About noon on July 4, lawyer Henry Stoever took pictures of Carl’s handiwork, but by 6 p.m., when Jane Stoever went for more pictures, the sign was under cover. Both Stoevers were warned to leave or be charged with trespass.
In a statement Carl prepared before an earlier July 4 resistance action, Carl said, “One of our Minuteman III’s could kill approximately three million of our sisters and brothers. … We have perfected the ‘art’ of killing and burning. … Four Minuteman III’s could kill 12 million of our sisters and brothers. … The opinion of the International Court in 1995 states that nuclear weapons are a Crime Against Humanity!”
In 1980, Kabat became one of the first Plowshares, following Isaiah’s mandate to “beat swords into plowshares.” He has spent about 17 years in prison for resisting nuclear weapons. In his short phone call this July 4, Carl signed off, “God bless! Peace on you!”
Carl Kabat’s paint covered over by officials
