Letter from the Coordinator 2007-01-10

First, allow me to extend, on behalf of our secretariat, warmest greetings and best wishes for the New Year. May the year 2007 usher in a new era of peace and may the lessons learned from the previous year and new, emerging challenges at the onset of this year galvanize our resolve to give flesh to our vision of interfaith solidarity in the face of the onslaughts of empire.

As in our previous letters, this Letter from the Coordinator will try and highlight the key activities of Peace for Life and its network partners during the last two months of 2006.

Unabated extra-judicial killings of peasants, trade unionists, youths and political dissidents by death squads let loose by the US-funded military are not peculiar to the Philippines. Colombia is one other country where a dirty war is being waged with gross impunity and where a similarly explosive social situation predominates—pervasive rural poverty and landlessness, a highly stratified society dominated by an entrenched elite, massive social dislocations caused by western-inspired neo-liberal globalization. And as in the Philippines, the empire-backed regime in Colombia is battling a long-running insurgency by communist-led guerrillas.

This is the context in which our Bogota-based partner Proyecto Vida y Justicia, under the leadership of PfL Continuation Committee (CC) member Lilia Solano, initiated the International Tribunal Against Impunity. Along with another CC member Chris Ferguson, who serves as coordinator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) UN office in New York, I was extremely privileged to serve as member of the international jury which received the testimonies of witnesses during the two-day hearing session on November 25-26. Held under the auspices of the Senate Commission on Human Rights, the international tribunal was chaired by respected Belgian theologian Dr. Francois Houtart, one of the leading lights of the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) and the Algiers Declaration.

After listening to the harrowing testimonies of victims of human-rights violations in the townships of Bolivar and Cazuca near Bogota, the tribunal found the Colombian government guilty of violation of the most fundamental human rights, crimes against humanity and forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The tribunal held the Uribe government accountable for the breakdown of peace talks with rebel groups who had been refuted the government’s claim that the paramilitary phenomenon is caused by the insurgency, pointing to evidence that the paramilitary strategy was adopted well before the current guerillas existed. There also was no evidence of links between guerrilla activity and the state of impunity in Bolivar and Cazuca. Moreover, the tribunal condemned the international community and transnational corporations for complicity in supporting and financing the dirty war perpetrated by the Colombian government. The US was specifically cited for its political and financial support of “Plan Colombia” and “Plan Patriota” which have imposed, under the pretext of combating drug trafficking, a model of economic development that has resulted in massive displacements of the rural population and their forced migration to the cities. The US was also found guilty of financing and advising the Colombian military, the perpetrators of crimes denounced at the hearing, as well as preventing a negotiated solution to the armed conflict, having designated insurgent groups as terrorists.

Soon after the tribunal in Colombia, I proceeded to Mumbai for the PfL-sponsored International Peace Festival held on December 1-3 addressing the theme, “Celebrating Life, our Common Humanity, and Resistance to Empire and War”. An aim of the festival, the first of PfL’s international biennial cultural activity, was to examine the cultural infrastructure supporting empire and to encourage cultural forms of resistance that would foster solidarity in the common struggle and promote a culture of peace. It also sought, in the words of the main festival organizer, CC and Working Group (WG) member Irfan Engineer, to provide “creative space for citizens groups, peace movements, social and cultural activists to identify from their history and culture positive signs and values that people can live together, but which are often ignored by the perpetrators of violence driven by religious or sectarian ideologies and war mongers”.

With the assistance of Ajit Muricken of VAK (a Mumbai-based development research group), Irfan mobilized local groups to organize the event under the banner of the Forum on Justice and Peace. Also providing support for the initiative were other CC members from India: Ninan Koshy, Sagarika Chetty and Mohan Larbeer. At the opening celebration, Dr Ali Ashgar Engineer joined me in keynoting the event and welcoming some 1,000 participants gathered for the occasion. National Council of Churches in India officials Bishop Dhirendra Kumar Sahu and Bishop Yakob Mar Iranios were among those who graced the celebration.

The three-day cultural festival—a rich fare of classical theatre performances, street plays, art films and seminars—drew the participation of a wide range of artists and cultural activists from all over India. Widely acclaimed Indian classical artists—many recipients of prestigious awards—enthralled the audience with their powerful and gripping performances: Veena Mishra’s musical concert featuring old Hindi film songs that extol justice and secularism, classical singer Shubha Mudjal’s poignant rendition based on verses of Sufi saints Kabir and Amir Khushrau on the theme of communal harmony, and Odissi dancer Jhelum Parnajape’s portrayal of humanity’s quest for peace in a world bedeviled by conflicts. Also compelling were the mushairas or Urdu language poetries on the theme of peace recited by eminent Indian poets

But just as riveting were street plays and performances of grassroots cultural activists. Adivasi dances by groups coming from Warli, Jhabua, Orissa, Dhodia Brihad and other parts of India depicted the daily struggle of the indigenous people for survival in the face of globalization and shrinking natural resources. Ballet dances by Prajanatyamandali Andhra Pradesh dramatized the exploitation of landless peasants by feudal lords. The portrayal of revolutionary resistance by peasants to oppressive landlords performed by a communist youth group drew applause from the crowd. Specially moving was the presentation, including a fire dance, of dalits from Tamil Nadu which centered on the desperate plight of the country’s vast numbers of outcasts. I also found fascinating the spirited renditions of folk songs from Maharastra called Lokshair, songs written by an ascetic saint (Kabir) and sung by Maganbhai and his troupe from Indore.

Showcasing international solidarity and adding flourish to the event were the equally powerful performances of artists and cultural groups from other parts of Asia. Mime artist Jo Seong-Jin, president of the Korean Mime Artist Association, mesmerized the audience with his sterling performance. A cultural team called TASAT, composed of foreign brides in Taiwan working among migrant workers, and Singaporean dancer Maldiva gave much-appreciated cultural contributions, demonstrating anew that language need not be a barrier to building bridges of solidarity. Unfortunately, due to unanticipated hitches, American peace activist and singer-composer Rebecca Lawson was unable to perform. Moreover, extraordinary visa restrictions, prevented cultural groups from the Philippines, Pakistan and Bangladesh from taking part in the festival.

For terrific photos of the cultural performances taken by our official photographer for the event, Rev. Chang Bae Byun of South Korea, I invite you to visit our recently reactivated website: www.peaceforlife.org.

In addition to the daily fare of cultural offerings and alternative film shows on war and peace—both local and international—seminars were held on various topics concerning peace and related global concerns: militaristic globalization, the current state of struggles and the various strategies for combat, cultural homogenization and obliteration of the little traditions, wars against women and women against wars, struggles for peace and democracy in Asia and visions of peace. Among the international guests and PfL network participants who attended or gave inputs at the seminar were Dr K.B. Rokaya of the National Council of Churches in Nepal who spoke of the historic signing in November of the peace agreement between the government and the Maoist rebe rway, Margaret Sumadh of the United Church of Canada (a major PfL partner), and CC members Akuila Yabaki of the Citizen Constitution Forum in Fiji and Ven. Assaji Thero of the National Anti-War Front in Sri Lanka.

An output of the festival was the “Mumbai Declaration on Justice and Peace: Agenda for Action” which affirmed the importance of cultural expressions as an “inexhaustible fountainhead from which we derive inspiration and sustenance for our groups and movements”. It concluded with a recognition that peace-making requires building a broader platform based on interfaith, intercultural and inter-ideological solidarity in resistance to empire, war and neo-liberal globalization. It also stressed the urgency of translating the wisdom and insights from traditions, cultures, religions and philosophies into a language that will speak to and motivate the broadest sections of the people.

Just before the closing of the festival I had to rush back to Manila to join our secretariat in welcoming Oystein Tveter and Eilert Rostrup who arrived in Manila on December 4 for an eight-day visit to the Philippines. Eilert succeeded Oystein as director of Oslo-based Karibu Foundation, a major partner that has accompanied PfL since its infancy. Secretariat volunteer Bernie Aquino helped organized their program which included meetings with Karibu’s various partners in the country as well as consultations with local groups involved in the PPT Philippine session which will take place in the Hague in March. I, myself, have of late been occupied with the tribunal initiative, having agreed to serve as member of its International Coordinating Secretariat and to represent PfL in the PPT Philippine Initiative Group.

In cooperation with the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, PfL organized a solidarity evening to honor Oystein, who recently retired from Karibu, and to welcome as well as introduce his successor, Eilert, who had previously served as International Director of the YWCA/YMCA of Norway. In a small ceremony PfL gave a citation to pay tribute to Oystein which read, “a man who stands solid in the global social justice movement, who acts out the true meaning of international solidarity anchored on the principle of mutual respect and on a staunch faith in our common humanity”. The affair was also an occasion to welcome PfL CC member and former Christian Conference of Asia executive secretary Dr. Lee Hong Jung, who has moved to Manila to assume the post of principal of the Manila Presbyterian Seminary. Towards the end of their visit, our guests from Norway traveled to the central Philippine island of Cebu to attend the international conference on militarism held as part of protests in connection with a high-level ASEAN meeting and organized by IBON Foundation in cooperation with PfL and other groups.

I wish to close this letter by soliciting your prayers for two very dear colleagues who, to our great shock and deep sadness, passed away recently. WCC Executive Committee member from Sweden Inger Aasa-Marklund, whom some of you had occasion to meet at the PfL caucus and solidarity evening held during the WCC assembly in Porto Alegre in January last year, perished with her young daughter Sara in a tragic car accident in Cairo on November 24. At WCC Central Committee meetings she gave voice to the marginalized and espoused the issues of the South. We also mourn the demise on December 21 of environmentalist and former University of the Philippines professor Dr. Aloysius “Ochie” Baes, who spent several years doing solidarity work in Japan and who succeeded me as executive director of the then Tokyo-based Resource Center for Philippine Concerns. Dubbed scientist of the people, Ochie spent years in prison in the seventies during Martial Law after being captured in a New People’s Army hide-out. Through their selfless devotion to the cause of the oppressed, both Inger and Ochie embodied Peace for Life’s profound aspirations for peace based on justice.

I am writing this letter in the midst of our now frantic preparations for PfL’s participation in the approaching World Forum on Theology and Liberation and the World Social Forum (WSF), both in Nairobi. Secretariat member Vivian de Lima is taking the lead in organizing our offerings in both forums with focus on interfaith solidarity and women’s stories or discourses on empire, while Bes Rifareal is helping us draft working papers for the second WG meeting to be held during the WSF. Here is looking forward, meanwhile, to touching base again with many of you who will be traveling soon to Nairobi for this year’s World Social Forum and related events.

Peace and solidarity,

Carmencita

CARMENCITA P. KARAGDAG

Coordinator

Peace for Life