March 2010
Four Guatemalan Human Rights Defenders Murdered in January and February 2010
2009 was the most violent year in the past decade for Guatemalan human rights defenders, with 15 defenders murdered; 2010 is proving to be even worse, with 17 attacks on defenders, among them 4 dead.
The Guatemala Human Rights Commission respects and promotes the work of Guatemalan human rights defenders and their right to continue their work without threats, attacks, or assassination.
GHRC condemns the murders and demands the immediate and thorough investigation of the crimes, and prosecution of those responsible. We insist on protection for the families and other threatened defenders in accordance with their wishes.
Evelinda Ramírez Reyes was attacked and killed while driving home to San Marcos from Guatemala City on the evening of January 13, 2010. Evelinda was a community leader and member of FRENA (Resistance in Defense of Natural Resources and People's Rights) and the CUC/Farmer's Union. She had just attended a series of meetings with government officials on public access to electricity; she and other FRENA members filed complaints about the excessive rates charged by service provider DEOCSA-Unión Fenosa and also advocated for the public management of electrical energy distribution. She leaves behind a four year old son.
German Antonio Curup was kidnapped with a colleague on February 11, 2010, by men waiting for them outside of the workplace. On February 14, his body appeared in Barcenas, 10 miles south of San Juan, with his throat slit and other signs of torture. German worked for the defense of land and natural resources. He was the son of Abelino Curup, community leader of San Juan Sacatepequez who was sentenced to 50 years in prison for a murder that he did not commit.
Octavio Roblero, member of FRENA, was shot with 17 bullets at 6pm on February 17, 2010, in front of his shop in the market in Malacatán, San Marcos. Octavio was the brother in law of Victor Galvez, also a FRENA leader who was killed in Malacatán in October 2009. Both leaders organized a movement against the abuses and illegal actions of the electric company DEOCSA-UNION FENOSA.
Juan Antonio Chen, Mayan lawyer, was shot dead in his car, by a man in a pickup truck, at 7pm on February 17 in Coban, Alta Verapaz. Chen worked with ODHAG (Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of Guatemala and the National Reparations Program).
See GHRC's fact sheet on Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala.
Jesuit Refugee Service International Director Visits Detention Center
[Fr. Peter Balleis, SJ, the International Director of Jesuit Refugee Service in Rome, recently visited a federal detention center in southern Arizona where JRS staff members serve as chaplains. Here are excerpts from his reflection on celebrating Mass for the detainees on the Feast of Christ the King. You can find the complete reflection at www.jrsusa.org/photo/photo_on_assignment_detention_1208.php]
Three hundred men dressed in yellow, orange and blue prison jumpsuits had gathered under the shade of the open air sports facility. A six meter high double fence with several rolls of razor wire encircled the confines of the detention center that is located in southern Arizona, not far from the Mexican border. … I had been invited by JRS/USA to visit the center on the feast of Christ the King and, under the deep blue sky of Arizona, I celebrated the Eucharist with the detained men.
I asked myself, "How can one celebrate the freedom that Christ brings us in a detention center?" Still, I knew that ‘Christ the King' was with these three hundred men. When the words of the Gospel of Matthew 25 were proclaimed, a number of heads nodded in understanding. They knew Jesus was speaking about them: ‘When I was in prison, you came and visited me. . . . Whatever you have done to the least of my brothers, you have done to me." These men knew what it means to be hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, what it means to be a stranger. Some of them had crossed the border long ago; some had crossed it only days before; all of them sought work in the US and a brighter future for their families. The poverty in their home countries — Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico — had forced them to move North.
…
Will the kingdom of Christ be like our human-made states and empires? On first sight, it is a contradiction to celebrate Christ the King, the kingdom of God, in midst of barbed wire and fences. We believe that fences, borders, divisions, and documents are alien to the kingdom of God. God's love extends to all without differences; it includes all people. At a deeper level, however, celebrating Christ as king within a detention center is the anticipation of all that we desire, our deepest hope, proclaimed by Jesus as already here but not yet fulfilled.
…
"Think of the time to come, of the hug of your children and wife. This will pass." This is the simple message of hope given by the JRS pastoral team to thousands of detainees passing through the facility. To celebrate Christ the King in a detention center gives us a special opportunity to affirm the human and royal dignity of every person present—detainees and guards alike. It is the anticipation of the kingdom of God that will know no borders, papers, divisions and detention. It is the image of what our world can one day become — a place where all people can live together freely, be allowed to care for those they love, and contribute their work and love to the world around them.
Sister Catherine Pinkerton, CSJ
Washington DC: On February 23, 2010, Sister Catherine Pinkerton, CSJ, was honored at a large gathering to mark her retirement that included U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur, Joshua DuBois and other representatives of the Obama administration, prominent members of the Catholic community, and columnist and TV commentator E.J. Dionne, who spoke with humor and affection about Sr. Catherine's impact in Washington (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0qHN03Gqu0).
Sister Catherine (age 88), who has served as a NETWORK lobbyist for more than a quarter century, is leaving Washington at the end of March to begin a new ministry in Cleveland. She continues to come to the NETWORK office every day to lobby Congress for legislation that brings justice to people living at the economic margins. Her passion for justice extends beyond our borders as she works for a world where all can live in dignity, and she is widely admired on the Hill and throughout Washington for her years of passionate advocacy.
Among her many recent activities, she also:
- Delivered an evening Benediction during the 2008 Democratic National Convention
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKsCRlWo114) - Worked closely with Senator Edward Kennedy on healthcare reform.
Sister Catherine entered religious life 70 years ago and since then she has served in numerous leadership positions and received many awards. These are just a few:
President of:
- Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which represents more than 90% of the Catholic Sisters in the U.S.
- National Assembly of Women Religious
- Sisters' Senate of Cleveland
- Congregation of St. Joseph in Cleveland.
Recipient of:
- Honorary doctorate from the College of Our Lady of the Elms in Massachusetts
- The 2006 Outstanding Leadership Award by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (she was called a Leader, Advocate, Prophet, Teacher, Sage, Sister and Friend)
- John Carroll University Centennial Education Medal
- Induction into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame
- Institute of Women Today Award
- Two awards as one of "Cleveland's Most Influential Women."
How to Treat Those Who Aid Torture (New York Times, Letters to the Editor)
[The following letter was one of six published by the Times on this topic on March 4, 2010. You can read the entire series of letters at www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/opinion/l04torture.html?ref=opinion.]
To the Editor:
Mark Oppenheimer says the Roman Catholic critics of Marc A. Thiessen defend the view that "waterboarding is torture, and that Roman Catholics are not supposed to do it." This makes it sound as if refraining from torture is akin to not eating meat on Friday.
Let's be perfectly clear: the Second Vatican Council's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, No. 27, mentions torture in the same clause as abortion and genocide as assaults on human life and dignity. They are all intrinsically evil. No one (not just Roman Catholics) may engage in torture.
(Rev.) T. Michael McNulty
Washington, Feb. 27, 2010
The writer, a Jesuit priest, is justice and peace director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men.
Statement of The National Religious Campaign Against Torture
A Commission of Inquiry Is Essential in Light of the OPR Report and Vice President Cheney's Statement about the Role of the White House in Torture
WASHINGTON, DC - In response to the recently released report from the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) on the conduct of lawyers at the Office of Legal Counsel between 2001 and 2008, Rev. Richard L. Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, issued the following statement:
"The recently released report from the Office of Professional Responsibility shows that the White House under President Bush encouraged lawyers in the Justice Department to write memos misinterpreting the law in order to sanction the use of torture.
This report corroborates former Vice President Cheney's recent statement that the lawyers in the Justice Department had just 'done what we asked them to do.' The new facts revealed in the report plus Cheney's recent claim that he was a 'big supporter of waterboarding' make the need for a Commission of Inquiry on U.S.-sponsored torture compelling.
A Commission of Inquiry is necessary to fully describe the scope and depth of the use of torture by the U.S., to resolve questions about the techniques that were used, and to recommend safeguards that will ensure that torture by the U.S. never happens again."
Web Site on the Impact of Commodity Speculation on Hunger
A web site devoted to the role of commodity speculation on hunger and the food supply can be found at http://stopgamblingonhunger.com/. The site includes a 7-minute video and blog postings on the relationship between hunger and speculation.
Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty
A new organization has been established to help spread the word about Church teaching on capital punishment and assist efforts to change states' death-penalty policies and promote policy initiatives that focus on restorative justice.
The organization is called "The Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty (CMN)". Its principal purpose is to collaborate with the USCCB in addressing the challenges and fulfilling the promise of A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death (2005), the centerpiece publication of the United States Catholic Bishops' Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty. Noting that Catholic bishops, clergy and laity have played a major role in those states where repeal and other anti-execution efforts have succeeded, CMN's efforts proceed from the firm belief that, more than any other group, the Catholic community can make the difference in the remaining states whose laws are stained by death-penalty statutes.
CMN endeavors to fulfill its purpose by providing current, relevant information about Church teaching and the death penalty, organizing, and advocacy. Its staff stands ready to provide Catholic conferences, diocesan offices, and other Catholic organizations and institutions with tailored, state-focused strategy suggestions and other assistance such as workshop organization and management, education materials, and speakers for workshops and conferences.
More information about CMN is available at its Web site, www.catholicsmobilizing.org. In addition, links to national and state organizations that can inform and support initiatives are coming soon to the CMN Web site.
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: Michael Czerny, SJ, named assistant to Cardinal Turkson
At the II Synod for Africa in October 2009, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson filled the key role of relator (reporter) systematizing the contributions made both before and during the Synod and presenting them in an inspiring biblical framework. At the concluding banquet hosted by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI named the 61-year-old Cardinal from Ghana as head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to succeed Cardinal Renato Martino retiring on grounds of age.
Cardinal Turkson took over at the end of January and soon asked the Society of Jesus for someone who could assist him. Jesuit General Father Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, missioned Fr. Michael Czerny, SJ, 63, founding coordinator of the African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN), to take up the position of personal assistant to Cardinal Turkson. To this mandate, Czerny brings a lifelong commitment in social justice ministries, as founding director of the Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice in Toronto (1979-1989); as director, at the University of Central America (UCA) in San Salvador, of its Human Rights Institute (1990-1991) and as Vice-Rector of the UCA (1991); as Secretary for Social Justice at the Jesuit General Curia, Rome (1992-2002); and most recently as founding coordinator of the African Jesuit Aids Network (2002-2010).
The mission of the Pontifical Council is to promote justice and peace in the world, in the light of the Gospel and of the social teaching of the Church. The Council has a President, Cardinal Turkson, who is assisted by a Secretary and an Under-Secretary, all named by the Holy Father for a period of five years. With them work a multi-national staff of about twenty priests, religious and lay persons to carry out the wide-ranging programs and activities. The Holy Father also appoints about forty Members and Consultors from different parts of the world who contribute to the planning of the Council's activities and initiatives.
AFJN Conference: Justice in Africa: On Whose Terms?
When: April 17-19th, 2010
Where: Holiday Inn, Rosslyn at Key Bridge
Washington, DC area
(accessible by public transit)
What: A weekend of education, exchange, workshops, prayer, food, and music! This year's conference emphasizes the question of justice in Africa and features Fr. Peter Henriot, SJ, Director of the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection in Zambia, as our keynote speaker. Come learn about Restorative Justice in African contexts, other important justice issues, and what you can do.
See the full schedule of events and workshops or learn more about Fr. Peter Henriot.
Click here to read about the Women & Spirit exhibit that will be at the Smithsonian through the end of April - AFJN will be organizing a visit.
How: Click here to register. Contact the AFJN office at events@afjn.org or (202) 884-9780 with any questions.
Pursuing Peace Together: Working for Reconciliation in the Holy Land
Churches for Middle East Peace invites you to its 2010 Advocacy Conference to learn, increase your skills, network and advocate for peace with justice in the Holy Land. The conference is June 13th - 15th, 2010 at the Kellogg Conference Hotel in Washington, DC.
Psalm 34:14 and 1 Peter 3:11 "Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." inspired this year's conference theme. This Hebrew Bible and New Testament command to action is at the heart of what CMEP does to be proactive in promoting the right of people in the Holy Land to live in peace and security, free of fears of harassment, oppression, and violence. The conference will provide knowledge, skills and networking opportunities for every participant to pursue peace on Capitol Hill and at home.
For details on registration rates, accommodations, speakers, directions, and other conference information, please visit our conference web page.
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