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Oblate JPIC supports Congo Conflict-free Minerals Initiative June 28th, 2011
A workshop on the extractives industry supply chain on June 20th in northern Virginia pulled together more than 80 participants, including representatives from central African governments, the high-tech industry, mining companies, NGOs, and faith based investors, to discuss responsible mineral sourcing from Africa. Freeport McMoRan, Dell, Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices, Sony and HP were come of the companies attending. Faith Responsible and Socially Responsible investors included the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), Boston Common Asset Management, Trillium Asset Management and members of the Congo Global Coalition.
The workshop was organized by Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) and the Electronic Industry Coalition (EICC). Apart from the overall usefulness of the meeting, it provided an opportunity for JPIC staff to meet with representatives of companies whom we engage in shareholder dialogues on sustainability issues.
The roundtable discussions focused on responsible mineral sourcing from the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Central Africa countries. Minerals extracted from eastern Congo, mostly the ores that produce tin, tantalum, tungsten – the 3Ts – are essential to the electronics devices we use every day. Unfortunately, some of these minerals have been contributing to violent conflict in Eastern Congo.
The GeSI and EICC workshop was designed to develop a fuller understanding of the issues associated with conflict minerals and the efforts to stop their use in manufacturing. The discussion addressed the Dodd-Frank conflict minerals disclosure law, OECD Due Diligence and the EICC-GeSi conflict free smelter program. Following the workshop, JPIC staff participated in an investors’ meeting with the Security and Exchange Commission staff (SEC) in which the discussion focused on maintaining the protections on sourcing, designed to prevent the use of conflict minerals, written into the Dodd-Frank legislation.
Learn more about the Conflict-free Minerals provisions in the Dodd-Frank legislation
Website Updates June 24th, 2011
Please check out the revised JPIC web pages on Immigration and Death Penalty. The pages offer an updated overview of our program work in these areas as well as new resource links.
The pages can be found in the Issues section of the website, under Human Dignity. Both pages can be accessed via hyperlinks on the Human Dignity page, or on the left navigation bar under Human Dignity. Death Penalty is in the section on Consistent Life. Or, just click on the hyperlinks on this page.
Take Action on Torture June 24th, 2011
June 26th is United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Several years ago, religious and human rights organizations in the United States declared the month of June to be Torture Awareness Month as a way to provide greater visibility to this issue and provide an opportunity for coordinated actions across the country.
Over the next few months, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is expected to finish a report on their investigation into past interrogation practices by the US military and US government agencies. Ask members of your faith community to join you in signing petitions or postcards, asking that this report be made public. See The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) for postcards which you can use.
NRCAT has also prepared Sample Sermons to be used during this period to help raise awareness about torture:
- Sample sermon based on Because It Is Wrong: Torture, Privacy, and Presidential Power in the Age of Terror
- “Islam Condemns Torture” a Khutba (Islamic sermon)
Prayers:
Oblates at International Conference on Mining and the Church in Latin America June 22nd, 2011
Oblates from Bolivia, Peru and the United States have participated in an international conference on Extractive Industries focused on “the problem of natural resources in Latin America and the mission of the church”. The conference was organized and sponsored by the Justice and Solidarity Department of CELAM (Bishops Conference of Latin America) and MISEREOR at a retreat center in Chaclacayo – Lima – Peru, June 14 – 16 2011.
Roberto Carrasco Rojas OMI, Edgar Nolasco OMI from the Oblate mission of St Clothilde, Peru, Gilberto Pauwels OMI from Oruro in Bolivia and Séamus Finn OMI from the USP JPIC office in Washington DC joined more than 70 participants from the diocese and communities situated on the front lines of the extraordinary expansion of the extractive industries in Latin America.
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Faith Leaders Voice Opposition to Congressional E-Verify Bill June 21st, 2011
Faith based community organizations, business leaders and human rights groups are urging Congress to block the E-Verify bill introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith in the House of Representatives. They argue that the system has high error rates, and will hurt immigrant families and negatively affect the U.S. economy. The Missionary Oblates JPIC office, in consonance with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Justice for Immigrants Campaign, opposes E-Verify in the absence of a broader immigration reform package that respects human dignity and family unity.
TAKE ACTION: Help Block Expansion of E-Verify in Absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform
