News Archives » Peace
U.S. Death Penalty Year End Report Released December 30th, 2009
The Death Penalty Information Center has released its 2009 report: “The Death Penalty in 2009: Year End Report.”. It says that the United States is likely to close 2009 with the fewest death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Tight budgets at the State level as a consequence of the persistent economic crisis, coupled with a lack of measurable benefits associated with this punishment, troubled a number of lawmakers – prompting actions in eleven states to consider abolishing the death penalty. This is a significant increase in death penalty legislative action compared to past years, the report said.
Action Alert – Migration Week and more… December 29th, 2009
Please take action on the following:
- National Migration Week: January 3-9, 2010
- Jubilee Debt Cancellation Act Introduced in Congress
- In the Footsteps of the Crucified: Torture is Never Justified – New JustFaith Education Module Available
Learn more and take action – click here for our most recent December Action Alert
Carl Kabat Released from Jail – Took Stand in His Own Defense December 23rd, 2009
Carl Kabat, OMI – jailed for an anti-nuclear protest in Colorado – was released on Tuesday. He took the stand in his own defense, and was sentenced to time served and released.
Fr. Kabat fired his attorneys and decided to say his peace on the stand. In a written question during their delliberations, one juror asked why he wouldn’t rather just protest outside the perimeter of the fence peacefully.
“Why in the Civil Rights (era) did they march down the street when they said, ‘You can’t march down the street?’ Because it’s wrong,” Kabat answered. “I guess I think it’s up to us to try to get rid of these things.”
Deputy District Attorney David Skarka asked him simply, “Are you above the law?
Kabat replied: “All wrong law, yes. God’s law is above all these man-made things.”
Expert Witnesses Detail IDP Situation in Sri Lanka December 17th, 2009
Three panels of expert witnesses testified on December 10, Humam Rights Day, about current realities facing internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. The government’s recent decision finally to allow the resettlement of displaced Tamil civilians who had been held in internment camps since the end of a brutal war in May was commended. At the same time, concern was expressed about inconsistencies in policies governing the recent releases, continued lack of access by humanitarian organizations (including the UN) to IDPs in resettlement areas and former LTTE cadres in detention centers, the safety of released IDPs and the need for further de-mining of formerly populated areas.
The following Issue experts testified:
- Eric Schwartz, Assistant Secretary for Population, Migration and Refugees, U.S. Department of State (Download PDF of testimony)
- Michel Gabaudan, regional representative for the United States of America and the Caribbean, UNHCR (Download PDF of testimony)
- Miriam Young, US Counsel on Sri Lanka
- Christoph Koettl, Amnesty International (Download PDF of testimony)
- Robert Oberst, Nebraska Wesleyan University
- Jennifer Leonard, International Crisis Group
Pope Calls for Greater Environmental Commitment in World Day of Peace Address December 17th, 2009
Pope Benedict called for greater environmental commitment in his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s annual World Day of Peace, to be marked on Jan 1 and whose theme is “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation”
