All posts by CPNN Coordinator

About CPNN Coordinator

Dr David Adams is the coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network. He retired in 2001 from UNESCO where he was the Director of the Unit for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, proclaimed for the Year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly.

English bulletin July 1, 2018

. . SLOW NEWS FROM AFRICA . .

While the headlines are mostly pessimistic about peace, there have been two stories that give us some hope for solutions to two of the longest running international tensions. In Korea, there are some positive assessments coming out of the summits between the Presidents of the two countries and the summit of the Presidents of North Korea and the United States. Similarly, there are some positive assessmens of the rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

At the same time, there is “slow news” that doesn’t make the headlines, but is developing slowly at a deep level. It’s not simply peace, but rather a “culture of peace.”

We can see this especially in Africa. For example, in the past few decades Africa has shown its leadership with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa and the Gacaca in Rwanda, and following in the footsteps of the freedom fighters of yesterday, it has great potential to continue providing leadership in the future.

At CPNN we have followed these developments over many years. This is the fifth CPNN bulletin devoted to the development of the culture of peace in Africa, with previous bulletins published in March 2016, December 2014, April 2014, and August 2012.

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) recently held its 766th meeting. It was dedicated to Africa’s Peace and Security Landscape by the Year 2023 and topics included improvement of governance, use of election observation missions, effective natural resources management systems, balanced economic development, inclusion of youth in peace processes and development of the culture of peace, unity in diversity and tolerance in education curriculums. CPNN has been following the peace initiatives of the AU since 2011.

The African Union recently announced that the tourism sector supports about 21 million jobs in Africa with a value of over $160 million, exceeding manufacturing and banking sectors combined. CPNN previously reported on a major event of tourism for a culture of peace held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in January 2015 and has followed the development of tourism for a culture of peace around the world.

The Great Green Wall, a reforesting initiative crossing the entire continent of Africa is recently back in the news with announcment of substantial financing from the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. This is yet another project of the African Union. CPNN first reported about the Great Green Wall back in 2011 when it was initiated by Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Matthai. It grew out of a movement that she had started in Kenya in 1977.

A similar reforestation project, the “plant a million trees Initiative ,” is now underway in Zambia which is further south on the African continent. So far, tree nurseries have been set up at 12 schools in Lusaka, and the project expects to reach 720 schools in the next two years in 60 districts across the country.

Readers of CPNN will recognize the Felix Houghouet-Boigny Foundation, which recently held a seminar on the culture of peace in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire. The Foundation was at the source of the UNESCO Culture of Peace Initiative back in 1989, and CPNN was proud to be invited back in 2014 to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Other recent initiatives of the Foundation include a school for the culture of peace , a regional centre for culture of peace and university clubs for peace and non-violence.

The Panafrican Women’s Network for Culture of Peace and Sustainable Development recently elected a new president, and she announced that the network will be set up in all nine provinces of Gabon. CPNN reported on the founding of the network in 2014.

Many peace initiatives oppose the spread of Islamic terrorism in Africa. Some are religious, such as the Mohammed VI Foundation, based in Morocco and meeting recently in Cote D’Ivoire. They promote “the original sources of Islam, which is committed to peace and tolerance and peaceful coexistence in society.” Other initiatives are secular, such as the International Post-Forum Seminar on Peace and Security in Africa, meeting in Dakar, and addressed by an activist from Tunisia who called for a strategy that is global and multifaceted, involving not only the State but also the general populations.

Perhaps the greatest contribution of Africa to the culture of peace was that of Nelson Mandela. His contributions are still being carried on. The South African Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has announced that South Africa’s tenure in the United Nations Security Council will be dedicated to the legacy of President Mandela and his commitment to peace. Lindiwe is the daughter of Walter Sisulu, one of the greatest South African peace activists and a close comrade of Nelson Mandela in the South African freedom struggle..

Although these stories about the culture of peace are not “fast news,” at least they have been reported somewhere on the internet as “slow news.”. However, we must imagine that many other initiatives promoting a culture of peace never make it onto the internet and what we are seeing is only the tip of the iceberg. We are always looking for reporters, so if you know of initiatives that are not receiving recognition, please send them to us so we can publish them on CPNN

      

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION


South Africa: Sisulu – UN Security Council Tenure Will Be Dedicated to Mandela’s Legacy

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY


Global community responds to recent positive progress in Ethiopia, Eritrea relations

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION



US Conference of Mayors Resolution for Peace

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT



In Latin America, agroecology is a deeply political struggle

WOMEN’S EQUALITY


Panafrican Women’s Network for Culture of Peace and Sustainable Development

HUMAN RIGHTS



USA: “It’s Time for Moral Confrontation”: New Poor People’s Campaign Stages Nationwide Civil Disobedience

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY



Americans march to support immigrants and to oppose separation of families by the Trump administration

EDUCATION FOR PEACE



The culture of non-violence will take place in the heart of Lebanese school curricula

Uncategorized

Americans march to support immigrants and to oppose separation of families by the Trump administration

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

Media review by CPNN

Over the July Fourth holiday weekend thousands of Americans are taking to the streets to protest the Trump administration separation of children from their immigrant parents at the Mexican border.

There is good coverage in the mass media, as illustrated by the following from Mercury News.


Location of 700 protest marches. From MoveOn.org

“They gathered by the thousands for the historic Women’s Marches, demanded stricter gun control in the March for Our Lives, and took over airport terminals across the nation to protest President Donald Trump’s travel ban last year.

“And on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Americans — enraged by the separation of immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border — will take to the streets once again to protest a controversial Trump administration policy that has caused the detention of thousands of undocumented immigrants, and call on the government to reunite more than 2,000 migrant children taken from their parents.

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Questions related to this article:

The post-election fightback for human rights, is it gathering force in the USA?

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“Families Belong Together” rallies are planned in more than 700 cities across the U.S., including about 20 in the Bay Area, from San Francisco to San Jose, San Leandro, Alameda, Oakland, Concord and Morgan Hill. Rallies are also planned in New York City, Chicago, Las Vegas and Puerto Rico.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and MoveOn.org have teamed up to help organize demonstrations in over 700 cities, as illustrated by the map shown on the left. Earlier this year the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit to stop family separation and to demand that these children be reunited with their parents.

The ACLU website lists the following suggestions for action:

* Call Congress to stop the brutality

* Listen to the podcast

* Support ACLU partners

* Add your name

* Watch the Border Rally

* Volunteer with the ACLU

* Print your poster

* Show up and raise your voice

* Start your own campaign

North America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Global community responds to recent positive progress in Ethiopia, Eritrea relations

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Xinhua News

Recent positive developments concerning the relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have given the global community with more confidence that relations among the two arch-rivals are normalizing.

The United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), and the European Union (EU) are some of the various international actors that welcomed recent positive moves made by the two East African nations that experienced one of Africa’s deadliest wars and the subsequent two-decade-long armed standoff.


Isaias Afwerki

Eritrean President, Isaias Afwerki, on Wednesday broke two weeks of Eritrean silence to Ethiopia’s offer to unconditionally implement the decisions of peace agreement that ended a two-year border war from 1998-2000, which is estimated to have killed 70,000 people from both sides.

The decision to send a delegation by Eritrea is the first formal response from the Red Sea nation since Ethiopia’s surprise announcement to accept the peace deal that was signed some 18 years ago, eventually igniting the normalization of relations among the two countries.

The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in a statement issued on Thursday commended the efforts of the leaders of both countries to achieve sustainable peace and good neighborly relations which, in turn, “will have positive repercussions in the entire Horn of Africa region.”

“The Secretary-General welcomes the positive steps taken recently by Ethiopia and Eritrea to resolve the outstanding issues regarding the normalization of relations between the two countries,” the statement read.

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Question for this article:

Can the African Union help bring a culture of peace to Africa?

Can peace be achieved between Ethiopia and Eritrea?

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Guterres also pleaded to support the two countries’ efforts by providing “all support that may contribute to advancing and consolidating the process of engagement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.”

The decision of President Afwerki to dispatch a delegation to Ethiopia for constructive engagement with Ethiopia was also welcomed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who commendes Afwerki’s decision.

AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, also commended the two countries and their leaders “for these bold and courageous steps,” according to an AU statement.

Mahamat further encouraged the two countries to persevere on this path, in order to open a new chapter of cooperation and good neighborliness between Eritrea and Ethiopia, according to the statement.

Mahamat stressed that sustainable peace between the two countries “will have a tremendously positive impact on peace and security, as well as development and integration, in the Horn of Africa region and the continent as a whole.”

“This will also be a significant contribution to the goal of ending all conflicts and wars on the continent by 2020, as pledged by the African Heads of State and Government in May 2013,” AU’s statement read.

The chairperson also reiterated AU’s readiness to assist the two member states, “in whichever way deemed appropriate, in addressing the challenges at hand and taking all steps required towards the full normalization of their relations.”

EU’s High Representative/Vice-President, Federica Mogherini, also welcomed the move by Ethiopia and Eritrea to resolve their longstanding differences, saying it denotes “decisive steps towards the resolution of the longstanding differences between the two countries.”

“Ethiopia and Eritrea have a critical role in promoting stability and prosperity in the Horn of Africa,” Mogherini said.

Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Can the African Union help bring a culture of peace to Africa?

Here is an excerpt from a review of a book by Kathryn Nash published in 2021 on this subject:

African regional organizations have played leading roles in constructing collective conflict management rules for the continent, but these rules or norms have not been static. Currently, the African Union (AU) deploys monitors, authorizes peace support operations, and actively engages to resolve internal conflicts. . . African peace examines why . . . the AU chose very different norms leading to a disparate conflict management policy in the early 2000s. Even if the AU’s capacity to respond to conflict is still developing, this new policy has made the region more willing and capable of responding to violence. Nash argues that norm creation largely happened within the African context, and international pressure was not a determinant factor in their evolution. The role of regions in the international order, particularly the African region, has been under-theorized and under-acknowledged, and this book adds to an emerging literature that explores the role of regional organizations in the Global South in creating and promoting norms based on their own experiences and for their own purposes.

And here are CPNN articles on this subject:

Africa Climate Summit Issues Nairobi Declaration

Economic Commission of Central African States: First biennial for a culture of peace

Nigeria: Reps Push For ‘Silence The Guns’ Implementation

African Union Office of the Youth Envoy: Winners Announced fo Youth Silencing The Guns Awards

Book review: African peace: Regional norms from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union

New African Union chair President Felix Tshisekedi of DRC sets ambitious agenda for 2021

Ambassadors praise Angola’s efforts for peace in Africa

United Nations-African Union Joint Task Force on Peace and Security Holds its Nineteenth Consultative Meeting on 16 October 2020

ECOSOCC / Morocco: Launch of the e-caravan of peace, flagship event of Amnesty Month in Africa

Angola: President’s aide encourages African Union to stick to peaceful conflict resolution

The AU’s role in brokering Sudan deal offers lessons for the future

The 815th meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council: Report of the Commission on Elections in Africa

South Sudan Chapter of African Union Master Plan Roadmap “Practical Steps To Silencing The Guns By 2020”

Continent’s free trade deal a game-changer for Africa

Global community responds to recent positive progress in Ethiopia, Eritrea relations

African Union: Africa’s Peace and Security Landscape by the Year 2023: A Prospective Analysis of Peace and Security Challenges

Challenge of Tackling Terrorism Threat Can Be Achieved through Solidarity, Secretary-General Tells African Union Peace and Security Council

African Union and UN sign Memorandum of Understanding for Peacebuilding

Ivory Coast: UNESCO announces the creation of a school for the Culture of Peace in Yamoussoukro

Burundi agrees to accept African Union human rights monitors

26th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly concludes with gratitude to Ebola fighters and peace as priorities of the continent

Retreat of the Pan-African Network of the Wise

Report on the Global African Diaspora Summit

Launch of the network of journalists for peace and security in Africa

Africa

African Union: Tourism sector supports about 21 million jobs in Africa

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Vanguard

The African Union, AU, says the tourism sector supports about 21 million jobs in Africa with a value of over $160 million, exceeding manufacturing and banking sectors combined.

Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, the AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Tourism, disclosed this at the just- concluded 61st UN World Tourism Organisation, UNWTO Regional Commission for Africa Conference in Abuja.


Dr Amani Abou-Zeid – photo from International Hydropower Association

Abou-Zeid said tourism was an engine for inclusive growth and economic development on the continent.

“In the African continent, tourism supports about 21 million jobs translating to one in 14 jobs; this is how important tourism is. That is why we are making sure it takes its due place.

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Question related to this article:

How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

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“The value of the industry now stands at over $160 billion accounting for almost eight per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

“So, it exceeds the contributions from manufacturing and banking sectors.

“Tourism industry accounts for more than six per cent of the total investments valued at $29 billion and employs over 20 million people, hence accounting for 6.5 per cent of the total work force,” she said.

The AU commissioner said it was projected that five per cent of the tourism industry would grow much faster than the 4.8 per cent economic growth forecast for the continent over the next 10 years.

She, therefore, called for tourism promotion strategies through improvement of Africa’s image in the global media.

“Our priority on the continent now should be to optimise the role of tourism based on the agenda of NEPAD/AU action plan.

“On that, we have the responsibility to coordinate and facilitate the implementation and of course collaborations with UNWTO and other key partners.

“We have finalised the first agenda for 2063, the focus now is on strategy for implementation.

“We are particularly keen to see that tourism is very much high in the priority of the action plan,’’ she said.

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

‘Billion Tree Tsunami’ transforms arid Pakistan region into green gold

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from The Hindu (Copyright THG Publishing Private Limited, reprinted as non-commercial use)

Around the region of Heroshah, previously arid hills are now covered with forest as far as the horizon. In northwestern Pakistan, hundreds of millions of trees have been planted to fight deforestation.

In 2015 and 2016, some 16,000 labourers planted more than 9,00,000 fast-growing eucalyptus trees at regular, geometric intervals in Heroshah — and the titanic task is just a fraction of the effort across the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.


Greenery all around: Pervaiz Manan, head of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forest department, who oversaw the re-vegetation of Heroshah district.   Photo Credit: AFP

Control against erosion

“Before it was completely burnt land. Now they have green gold in their hands,” commented forest manager Pervaiz Manan as he displayed pictures of the site previously, when only sparse blades of tall grass interrupted the monotonous landscape.

The new trees will reinvigorate the area’s scenic beauty, act as a control against erosion, help mitigate climate change, decrease the chances of floods and increase the chances of precipitation, says Mr. Manan, who oversaw the re-vegetation of Heroshah.

Residents also see them as an economic boost — which, officials hope, will deter them from cutting the new growth down to use as firewood in a region where electricity can be sparse.

“Now our hills are useful, our fields became useful,” says driver Ajbir Shah. “It is a huge benefit for us.”

Further north, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat, many of the high valleys were denuded by the Pakistan Taliban during their reign from 2006 to 2009.

Now they are covered in pine saplings. “You can’t walk without stepping on a seedling,” smiles Yusufa Khan, another forest department worker.

The Heroshah and Swat plantations are part of the “Billion Tree Tsunami”, a provincial government programme that has seen a total of 300 million trees of 42 different species planted across the province.

A further 150 million plants were given to landowners, while strict forest regeneration measures have allowed the regrowth of 730 million trees — roughly 1.2 billion new trees in total, says the programme’s management.

Kamran Hussain, a manager of the Pakistani branch of the World Wildlife Fund, who conducted an independent audit of the project, says their figures showed slightly less — but still above target at 1.06 billion trees.

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Question for this article:

When you cultivate plants, do you cultivate peace?

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“We are 100% confident that the figure about the billion trees is correct,” he said, highlighting the transparency of the process. “Everything is online. Everyone has access to this information.”

The programme has been praised by the head of the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a green NGO, which called it a “true conservation success story”.

Initially mocked for what critics said were unrealistic objectives, it is a welcome change to the situation elsewhere in the country.

Pakistani authorities say just 5.2% of the country is covered by forest, against the 12% recommended by the United Nations.

Just one big tree remains in the poverty-stricken village of Garhi Bit in the southern province of Sindh, shading its small mosque.

It has stood there for a century, locals say.

“Before, there were big trees, many kinds of them,” says Dad Mohammad, a 43-year-old farmer.

“But they started to dry because of the lack of water, so we cut them,” he says, pointing to hundreds of metres of cultivated land where previously there stood a forest. More than 60% of the forests lining Sindh’s riverbanks have disappeared in the last 60 years, mainly due to river depletion and massive logging during the 1980s, says Riaz Ahmed Wagan, of the provincial forest department. “It is a disaster,” he says, adding that forestry remains the lowest priority on the agenda of the provincial governments.

The “Billion Tree Tsunami”, which cost the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government $169 million, started in November 2014. Officials say they are still implementing maintenance safeguards such as fire protection, with the project due to be completed in June 2020.

Green Pakistan Project

In early 2017, the federal government announced its own Green Pakistan Project, which aims to plant 100 million trees in five years across the country.

It ranges from “legislative reforms” to “wildlife protection”, according to its leader Ibrahim Khan, who works under the authority of the Ministry for Climate Change. More than a quarter of the work was done by the end of April 2018, he says.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is ruled by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the political party headed by former cricketer Imran Khan, which is the main challenger to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as the country heads into a general election in July 2018.

Mr. Imran Khan has vowed to make the environment an election issue, and to plant a total of 10 billion trees across the country. “Every child in Pakistan should be aware of the environmental issue which, until now, has been a non-issue,” he told AFP.

But it is yet to be seen whether his ambitions will translate into votes.

Pakistani environmental lawyer and activist Ahmad Rafay Allam says that in a country where the electorate is often swayed by infrastructure projects rather than the environment, he has doubts.

“It would be a first,” he told AFP.

South Asia, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Hungering for Nuclear Disarmament: Plowshares activists in the USA

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

An article by Kathy Kelly in Transcend Media Service

In the state of Georgia’s Glynn County Detention Center, four activists await trial stemming from their nonviolent action, on April 4, 2018, at the Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay. In all, seven Catholic plowshares activists acted that day, aiming to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command to “beat swords into plowshares.” The Kings Bay is home port to six nuclear armed Trident ballistic missile submarines with the combined explosive power of over 9000 Hiroshima bombs.


Banner held outside of Nuclear Submarine Base, King’s Bay
Photo credit: Beth Brockman

This week [June 19], five people have gathered for a fast and vigil, near the Naval Base, calling it “Hunger for Nuclear Disarmament.”

Kindly hosts in Brunswick, GA turned over their Air B and B to us. The accommodation is a remodeled garage, – were we not fasting we might find the kitchen a bit crowded, but for us, this week, the accommodations are ideal. Egrets, ospreys and vultures glide overhead. Huge live oaks surround us, looming and beautiful, draped in Spanish moss. Tannins released from the oak trees seep into the nearby river, historically a source of fresh water because the tannins killed the bugs. Centuries ago, colonizers would fill huge containers with “brown” water from the river, water in which the bugs couldn’t survive, and use that water for their drinking needs throughout their voyages back to Europe.

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Question for this article:

Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

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When we travel along the roads, vast stretches of wetlands extend as far as the eye can see. Recent laws mandate conservation of these marshy grounds.

Our small community here longs to preserve all life, to end potential omnicide.

During vigils at the Naval Base, in front of the detention center and at the District Court House, we hold banners, one of which says “Disarm Trident, Love One Another. Steve Baggarly, one of the fasters, carries copies of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, negotiated in July 2017, by 122 nations.  “Most of the world is tired of being held hostage by omnicidal weapons and wants nuclear disarmament,” said Steve. “The U.S. and the 8 other nuclear powers who boycotted the Treaty negotiations are the outliers.” Baggarly added that, “Our true national security lies in achieving the long overdue objective of nuclear disarmament.”

The Kings Bay action was the latest of 100 similar actions taken around the world since 1980 and the first plowshares action to take place since the global treaty banning nuclear weapons was signed.

This afternoon, when we ended our vigil, we visited a small park, opposite an entrance to the base, which marks the site of a sugar factory owned by John Houstoun MacIntosh. The memorial plaque in front of the factory ruins makes it sound as though MacIntosh built the factory and mansion. Hardly the case! In 1825, slaves assuredly constructed the buildings and cultivated the sugar cane, risking their lives in the dangerous process.

Eventually, small groups of abolitionists working to end the slave trade gained momentum. Disarmament activists today draw inspiration from their struggles. “Nuclear weapons are a theft from the poor,” said fast participant Beth Brockman. “People here in Georgia and across the South are in desperate need of the resources squandered on the war economy.”

Two highlights of the day were conversations with Mark Colville and later Steve Kelly, both of whom called us from the Detention Center. Each had begun the day reading the same reflection we had earlier shared, which included a passage from the Sermon on the Mount. Choosing to “go the extra mile,” our friends who face trial bring to life the spirit of early abolitionists and the ancient call to choose life that you and your descendants might live.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

Free Julian Assange!

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A speech by Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire at the British Embassy in Dublin, Ireland on 19 Jun 2018, reprinted by Transcend Media Service

We are here this evening to stand in solidarity with our friend Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, of WikiLeaks.   Because of WikiLeaks reporting of acts during US/NATO’s illegal wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., and its highlighting of corruption by USA/CIA and corporate power, and continuing his fight in disclosing the links between the great private corporations and government agencies, Julian Assange has been threatened by high profile USA citizens, and a Grand Jury has been set up in American to try Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, for their publications.


For this, he is being persecuted and deprived of his right to liberty, human rights, etc. Six years ago Julian Assange, aware of these extradition plans of America,  sought asylum in the  Ecuadorian Embassy,  in London, where he remains today.  (He is now in his 8th year of Arbitrary Detention in the U.K.)

Although Mr. Assange’s conditions were already harsh, having no sunlight or outdoor exercise since June 2012, his situation has gotten worse since March 2018 when the Ecuadorian Government (after a visit by UK/USA officials to Ecuador) imposed conditions that are like indefinite confinement.

He is prevented from having visitors, receiving telephone calls, no internet, emails, or other electronic communications.  He is unable to speak to his lawyers except in person and his   physical health, according to doctors, continues to deteriorate. Julian Assange is unable to walk outside the Ecuadorian embassy, as he has been told by UK government, he will be arrested by the British Metropolitan Police.  He has asked UK Gov. to give assurances he will not be   handed over to American Security for extradition to America, to face a grand Jury, where he could be tortured and face life imprisonment, but UK government, refuse to give him assurance of this.    A UN working group on Arbitrary detention has deemed this an arbitrary deprivation of his liberty and a grave human rights abuse which should be ended immediately, and for which, according to this UN Group on Arbitrary detention, he ought to be compensated by Britain and Sweden.

We should all be  deeply concerned at attacks by Governments, on ’truth’ tellers and ‚’whistle-blowers’ as this is a  danger posed to our democracy, security and good Governance when ‚whistle-blowers’ are thus persecuted.  These matters of removal of basic rights of speech, information, liberty, persecution and silencing of journalists, etc., are of fundamental importance to all of us who believe in a free and democratic society.

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Question related to this article:
 
Julian Assange, Is he a hero for the culture of peace?

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We have a duty to ensure Mr. Assange, an Australian citizen, is treated no less favourably than UK citizens detained for similar ofences.  British citizens enjoy the protection of the UK Human Rights Act l998 and the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantee their right to freedom of expression.  This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, received and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’ and to do so, without interference by public authority’ ;  He also has a right to be presumed innocent; and a right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

We have all a responsibility as Governments and as concerned Citizens to ensure that Mr. Assange’s treatment by UK Authorities accords to these standards.  As Julian Assange is an Australian Citizen and they have a responsibility to see their Citizens are protected and Rights upheld, we call upon the Australian Government to work for Julian’s Freedom and safe return to Australia.   Also we call upon the UK Government to do the utmost to restore Julian Assange’s human rights and the free and lawful operation of WikiLeaks.  Specifically, we ask UK government to:

1..Ensure Julian Assange is guaranteed full and timely access to all necessary medical and dental care;

2. Request and defend his right to receive information and impart information freely without interference by any public authority;

3. Defend Mr. Assange at home and abroad and object to threats levelled against Mr. Assange by high-profile US citizens and others;

4. Strongly oppose and refuse, any application to have Mr. Assange extradited to the United States where it is unlikely he would receive a fair trial;

5. Facilitate the exercise of his right to freedom of movement in an expedient manner;

6. Compensate him for his arbitrary detention (also the Swedish government should compensate him for his arbitrary detention).

I would like to make a special appeal to the American President Donald Trump and his Government, to close down this Grand Jury which has been established to try Julian Assange and WikiLeaks based on their publications, and confirm the US Government will not extradite him to America, but recognize that he too, (as any American Citizen, ) has a right to have his rights protected under law.

This impasse could be resolved through Mediation between Ecuadorian Embassy and the UK Government.  A text which includes a confirmation that Julian Assange will not be extradited to America and his Civil and Political Rights will be upheld by all Parties, would mean Freedom for Julian Assange.  The case of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks is deeply important to not only journalists, media, etc., but is of fundamental importance to a free and democratic society for us all.

We owe Julian Assange our deepest thanks for his courage and being prepared to tell the truth even at risk of his own liberty and life.  We can all, especially the media, and Governments, refuse to  be silent in face of such injustice and persecution of a man whose only crime was telling the truth to stop the wars and save lives.

We can refuse to be silent and thus complicit in the face of injustice and work together until Julian Assange can return in safety and freedom to be with his family in Australia, or whatever country he chooses as a free citizen of the world.

Europe, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Castilla-La Mancha, Spain: The Strategic Agreement for Peace and Coexistence seeks a consensus of civil society

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from La Cerca: Castilla-La Mancha (translated by CPNN)

The second vice president of the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha, José García Molina, has appeared at a press conference on Wednesday [June 20] to report on the latest steps taken in the preparation of the Strategic Agreement for Peace and Coexistence which was presented to the parliamentary groups last May in the Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha.


José García Molina

Following the line of work of the participative processes in the elaboration of the Law of Participation and the Law of Guarantee of Income and of Citizen Guarantees; the project has been sent to organizations, unions and political formations so that they can participate in its elaboration.

“In a democratic society with a state of law that claims to be so, there is no room for radicalized attitudes, be they political, cultural or religious, that undermine or undermine those values ​​and those principles of democracy,” said José García Molina.

García Molina recalled the months of work developed in meetings with organizations and institutions working in different social and cultural spheres, with refugees, migrants or in a situation of vulnerability, who “have made their views known about what measures could be take to implement policies to prevent all processes of radicalization and stigmatization of these people.”

The draft has been sent to “all the organizations with which we have met, and that implement their daily work in Castilla-La Mancha, eleven representative unions of the region of different sectors, and a total of 53 political formations that have regional and even local and institutional implementation.”

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(Click here for the article in Spanish)

Questions for this article:

The culture of peace at a regional level, Does it have advantages compared to a city level?

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This follows the participatory processes such as those that have been carried out in the elaboration of the Law of Participation and the Law of Guarantees of Income and Citizen Guarantees, “which have favored the broader participatory processes in the History of the Community Board “and” to make civil society a participant in the policies that need to be implemented in our region “, García Molina explained that a basic document has been prepared” that gathers the contributions that generated the highest level of consensus regarding the problems we want to tackle “.

Strategic Plan for Peace and Coexistence

García Molina seeks the unanimous signature, “or at least majority”, on the document for the preparation and implementation of a Strategic Plan for Peace and Coexistence. The plan will follow the guidelines of the European Union, “which already work in other countries “, and that brings together three main axes: social cohesion projects, projects for interreligious coexistence, and projects for the promotion of the culture of Human Rights.

The first axe includes the universality of social policies, the promotion of educational, cultural and social actions for dissemination and awareness of the international problems of refugees; and the creation of a Regional Observatory on Human Rights and Equality Policies.

Second, among the interreligious coexistence projects are the creation of an interreligious dialogue agenda, the convening of an Interreligious Annual Forum; and training modules and / or teaching units that address respect for religious diversity in social and educational centers in our region.

And finally, there are projects to promote a culture of Human Rights including the promotion of diversity and respect for cultural differences, international conferences on multiculturalism and culture of peace, and cultural exchange programs.

“What we hope,” García Molina has concluded, “is that all those social, cultural, political and union organizations will answer us to set a date for the formal signing of that Agreement.” “Our desire,” he added, “is that the support be unanimous because it sends a good message of peace, of coexistence, and above all of rejection of any form of radicalization that can generate violence.”

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Europe

Ivory Coast: The Mohammed VI Foundation preaches the return to the sources of Islam through the Achâarite doctrine

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article by George Moihet in Afrique le 360 (translated by CPNN)

The Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema organized a conference in Abidjan on June 21st and 22nd which brought together guides, scholars and leaders of the Ivorian Muslim community around the teachings of the Achâarite doctrine. Promoted by Imam Al Achâari, this doctrine is an invitation to the original sources of Islam, which is committed to peace and tolerance and peaceful coexistence in society.


Video of the conference

The challenge of the meeting is to promote these values, themselves promoted by the Prophet of Islam, in order to contribute to the consolidation of “living together” in Ivorian society. But it is also a question of “rehabilitating and restoring the image of Islam” in the context of the persistence of terrorist acts at the global level.

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(Click here for the original French version of this article.)

Question for this article

Islamic extremism, how should it be opposed?

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“This symposium, which is the beginning of a set of activities, will enable us to set up the new Muslim (…) by rehabilitating our values ​​which characterize us in reality and to avoid falling into the extremism and radicalism that are not Islamic, “said Cheickh Boikary Fofana, president of COSIM, the Higher Council of Imams and Supreme Leader of the Muslim community in the country.

This very first conference of the Mohammed VI Foundation in Africa was the occasion of the launch of the Ivorian section of the organization. Present at the ceremony, the ambassador of Morocco, Abdelmalek Kettani, rejoiced at the action of the Foundation which participates in “a vision of sharing knowledge, knowledge but also rooting peace, stability , the cohesion between the different parts of this great continent which is ours with a view to its promotion and its development “.

A series of symposia is planned this year by the local chapter of the Foundation around themes such as Sufism, the Maliki school, etc.

Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY