Sudan’s Aerial Bombing Aims At Churches In Nuba Mountains

Mosques also razed as civilians continue to be targeted in Khartoum’s ‘ethnic cleansing.’

03/30/2012 Sudan (CDN)

According to CDN, after Khartoum denied that it had bombed civilians earlier this month, Sudanese aerial strikes last week were aimed at church buildings and schools in Kauda, South Kordofan state, a humanitarian aid worker said.

More

The past few months I have been doing a research project on ethical fashion, and the ways in which the Australian garment industry is exploiting its outworkers. Up until late last year, I wasn’t even familiar with the term ‘outworker’, and I assumed the label ‘Made in Australia’ meant that an item was made ethically.

There is this common misconception amongst us common folk that when a garment is made in Australia, it is made by people with decent working conditions, receiving at least the minimum Australian wage. The truth of the matter is that there are high levels of exploitation of workers in the Australian textile, clothing and footwear industry. Australian outworkers (making clothes for designers, fashion retailers, and uniform suppliers) often face poor working conditions, long hours, low rates of pay, irregular flows of work, and very little recognition / job security. They are often migrants with poor English language skills and are unaware of their rights as an Australian worker.

As stated by the Australian government, an outworker is a ‘contractor who works in the textile, clothing or footwear industry at residential premises or at other premises that would not conventionally be regarded as being business premises.’

Like many people, I enjoy the shopping experience and I get a thrill from buying a new piece of clothing. Typically, I have chosen clothes based on aesthetics and whether or not it was my style or suited my figure. I’ve never really looked beyond the beautiful materials, or the vibrant colours of a garment. You can be easily seduced when walking into a boutique and it’s not unfair to assume that a lot of thought goes into making a store so lovely that customers do not think about the conditions under which the clothing was made. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know that I am often seduced by the ‘experience’ and go home thinking about how I can style my new purchase, instead of contemplating whether my money was going towards an ethical business.

Gazing into my wardrobe, I acknowledge that it is filled with an array of clothing that comes from all parts of the globe, including Australia. But truth be told, I am unsure of exactly where they were made, and by whom. This doesn’t necessarily highlight my hypocrisy, but merely my sheer ignorance, as up until now I thought little of the history of my garments – unless you count wondering who wore my dress before me and whether or not my recently acquired 1920s inspired dress was true to its era. A lack of transparency has also made it difficult for me to know whether or not the supply chain of my favourite fashion label(s) is in fact ethical.

As a student, it is fair to say that my financial circumstance regularly dictates my purchases. I want to support local designers, but up until now I haven’t been able to justify spending more for something that I could buy cheaper elsewhere. The more I look into this research topic however, the more I am drawn away from the cheaper alternative and the more I am questioning the mentality behind ‘Australian Made’. Small labels that choose to do the right thing by their workers and by the environment need our support, and I think it’s time we start thinking about quality over quantity. When did we stop caring about an item being long lasting and of good quality? Have we stopped caring about ethics because in many cases they don’t affect us personally, or is it merely that we have been enticed into thinking our clothing is made in Australia, and thus made ethically?

It’s easy to get caught up in the ills of the fashion world and to start questioning your faith in humanity, but the truth is that there are Australian labels doing the right thing and including morals in their business plans.

A few of my favourite ethically sound labels are: Nobody, The Social Studio, Collette Dinnigan, and Cue.

Ethical Clothing Australia has a list of accredited brands, which you can see below. ‘When you see the Ethical Clothing Australia trademark on a product, it means it was made in Australia and everyone involved in its production received, as a minimum, the legal rates of pay and conditions.’ (read more here).

The FairWear Campaign is also a great network of community members, activists, and community organisations advocating for the rights of sweatshop workers and home-based outworkers.

This is just a small piece of writing aiming to create awareness and hopefully encourage you to do your own research. I don’t mean to guilt you into changing your consumption habits; I just want to ‘plant the ethical seed’ in your minds, and help you make informed choices when looking for your next pretty dress, or winter coat.

It’s important to create awareness because for as long as public nudity is deemed an inappropriate and illegal state of being, we will all be wearing / buying clothes. It is safe to say that we as consumers have the power to change the nature of the fashion industry and to help give vulnerable people the working conditions and respect they deserve.

So start thinking about the labels on your clothing and what it means to wear an Australian made garment. After all, what are we really wearing?

- BY SIGRID MCCARTHY.

FYI: Below is the official list of Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA) accredited labels.

More than 60 students from Victorian Uniting Church schools are freshly inspired to take action after participating in a workshop to raise awareness about human trafficking in India.  Young people and their teachers came away deeply challenged by the issue, which affects more than 12.6million children in India.

“It’s hard when you realise that so much of it just comes from poverty,”  commented a student.  “It’s not just the people who are trafficked who are trapped and feel they have no choices, but sometimes also the people who are recruiting in local villages.”

Stories from UnitingWorld’s partner, The Church of North India, which runs awareness and rehabilitation programs for the victims of trafficking, highlight the horrors of human trafficking.

It was an offer too good to miss – a salary ten times higher than what was being earned at home.  And it was a job in glitzy, exciting Mumbai – home to India’s famous “Bollywood”!

Charu couldn’t say no. With an alcoholic husband, and two children to educate and feed, Charu knew that the opportunity to make this kind of money simply didn’t exist in her village in West Bengal. And so, accompanied by a new ‘friend’, Charu set off for Mumbai…

You can probably guess how this common story ends.  Charu’s ‘job’ disappeared and instead she was coerced into working as a prostitute- there are 2.3million sex workers in India, 15% of them children.  Imprisoned within the walls of her brothel, never paid and mistreated by her ‘clients’,  Charu’s disappearance eventually raised concerns in her village, where UnitingWorld’s partner, the Church of North India Anti-Human Trafficking Project, took action.  They tracked Charu’s friend down, threatened legal action and Charu’s location was subsequently revealed.  She was rescued and brought back to her village, only to be met with suspicion.

“The rehabilitation and awareness program has to tackle so many issues,”  says John Barr, Associate Director Church Solidarity (Asia). “People are vulnerable because of poverty, lack of education, and domestic violence.  And then they also face the shame of returning home to people who don’t understand that trafficking is not an isolated event but happening wherever poverty makes people vulnerable, and that it shouldn’t evoke hostility toward the victim.”

More than 80% of trafficking victims are women, and many of them are children as young as 8. To support UnitingWorld’s Anti-Trafficking project go HERE.

UnitingWorld has thanked the Uniting Church schools involved and the Uniting Justice and International and Mission Unit in Victoria for the opportunity to work with you on this issue!

What’s wrong with big chocolate? from Uniting Church in Australia on Vimeo.

Above is a video with some footage of a few JustActivists encouraging Darrell Lea to give look in the mirror at the “Egg on their face” in relation to slave & child labour. More info about the ‘whys & whats’ over here. Australian chocolate company Darrell Lea refuses to ensure their cocoa products are free from foced labour and slavery production methods. This, despite the fact that other companies have taken steps to obtain fair trade status.

Thanks to all JustActivists for coming out and engaging this step in our abolitionist effort!

Special thanks to MorePraxis and Good Shepherd for their support (as well as ACRATH, and the Trading Circle). Thanks also to Chip from Uniting Church Comms.

Maybe give DarrellLea a tweet like….

So @DarrellLea_AU is it time to call @UCAJimUnit about @STOPTHETRAFFIK & the #Eggonyourface yet? I think so. http://t.co/XCh97EVZ 

- or find Age’s (from MorePraxis) and retweet it

Learn more

No doubt there are always some people who ride any kind of system.

However, when we think about it, the early-mid 70s Brady Bunch vision of life is a very distant memory. There are less sole breadwinners in secure and ongoing work these days just supporting the family; family life has become more complex than that. These days we know that job opportunities can be temporary; it can be tricky to obtain decent ongoing work.

Study options can be attractive to people of all ages, particularly those younger; but it can be hard to support yourself unless you are living at home.

As ACOSS (Australian Council of Social Service) has pointed out Youth Allowance, Austudy and ABSTUDY (as well as Newstart Allowance, Widow Allowance, Sickness Allowance, Special Benefit) need to be increased urgently.

In Australia, we target social security payments really well (people who need help the most generally get it) but the level of payment is too low; non-pension payments are below the poverty line. Worse, jobseekers can often be wrapped up in red tape looking for work rather than getting the best help they need (see recent article by JustActivist Antony McMullen).

In the end we need payments that help students access and then stay in study. Also, effective help is needed for job-seekers to move out of poverty.

So fair enough; why not earn or learn … but people need some good help on the way to get there.

What’s wrong with big chocolate from Uniting Church in Australia on Vimeo.

Many of the chocolate eggs on sale this Easter have been made with cocoa from plantations that use trafficked children to harvest the beans.

Children are being trafficked and forced to work on chocolate plantations in the Cote d’Ivoire, where a large proportion of the world’s cocoa is produced.

The large chocolate companies such as Hershey’s and Ferrero have acknowledged this is a problem but are yet to demonstrate a real commitment to making change. Both have started to use some cocoa certified free of forced and trafficked labour, but they lag behind the efforts of Kraft/Cadbury, Nestle and Mars.

Since Stop the Traffik started campaigning on this issue in 2001 the world’s chocolate industry has earned $1.2 trillion and they have invested only 0.0075% in improving conditions in West Africa.

We need to JustAct.

“Everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels” – Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly

On 5 March 2012, at about 6.30pm in the evening, Hon. Jimmy M. Liguyon, Barangay Captain (The Barangay Captain is the executive head of the smallest unit of government in the Philippines) of Barangay Dao, San Fernando, Bukidnon was shot dead inside his residence by the member of a paramilitary group, Alde “Butsoy” Salusad, using an Armalite rifle.

Jimmy Liguyon was a 37 year old Filipino, married with five children, from the Lumad-Matigsalog tribe.

He was also a Chairperson of the Church Council of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines in Dao, San Fernando, Bukidnon. Emelio Liguyon and Arser Liguyon brothers of the victim narrated that at about 5:30pm in the afternoon they went to the house of Barangay Captain Liguyon to lend money and rice for the family consumption as well as their supplies in doing billing to extract gold or other minerals to sustain their living.

Emelio and Arser further narrated that they were in conversation in the terrace of Jimmy’s house when Alde “Butsoy” Salusad arrived accompanied with fifteen unidentified armed men in military fatigue uniform. Alde suddenly barged into to the house of the victim. When Alde was about one meter away from Jimmy, he asked Jimmy about the presence of the military in the area. Jimmy replied that he did not notice the military in the area. Alde lamented that he was just clarifying in order for them not to encounter the military. Alde then ordered Jimmy to transfer to the opposite bench. Jimmy obeyed and stood up, Alde offered a handshake. Facing each other, Alde shot Jimmy using his baby Armalite rifle killing him. Emelio and Arser ran in separate directions for safety leaving Jimmy behind.

Witnesses disclosed that they heard Alde saying “akong gipatay si kapitan tungod kay wala kini mipirma sa SANMATRIDA o wala mohatag og certification sa SANMATRIDA”. (I kill the barangay captain because he refuse to allow SANMATRIDA and did not sign SANMATRIDA’s certification “to operate”). He also warned the people that whoever complains and fights back, he will also kill especially the siblings who were the reason that Capt. Liguyon did not sign the certification.

The Governor, Alex Calingasan, has ordered the arrest of Alde Salusad, but the police have not yet done so.

Background

SANMATRIDA has its own private army, the New Indigenous People’s Army Reform, of which Alde Salusad is a member. SANMATRIDA, the San Fernando Matigsalog, Tigwahanon, Manobo Tribal Datu Association, are claimants of 53,000 hectares of ancestral land in the 12 barangays of San Fernando Bukidnon including Barangay Dao. The main objective of SANMATRIDA is facilitating mining operation within the ancestral land.

It is further reported that there has been a history of harassment experienced by Jimmy Liguyon and other residents in the area, dating back to October 2011.

Since the murder of Jimmy Liguyon, more than a hundred members of Jimmy’s family and relatives have had to flee their homes for safety following threats from Alde Salusad. They have made a camp in front of the Malaybalay Provincial Capitol and are urging the arrest of Alde Salusad.

Take Action Now: points to include in your email (see below – You Can Help)

Contact Bob Carr, Foreign Minister.

• Ask that the Australian Government raise the case of the murder of Jimmy Liguyon with the Philippines authorities.
• Further, ask that the Australian Government encourage the Philippines administration to disband private armies in the Philippines.

The letter stated:

Given the consistent denial of the Sri Lankan government about the scale and nature of war time abuses as well as pre-war and post-war concerns, refusal to address these, and given also the seriousness of the allegations levelled against it as one of the parties to such abuses, we believe it is an independent international body that could best address concerns of truth seeking, accountability and reparations for victims in a way that victims, survivors and their families will have confidence. It is only by addressing these that we believe we can move towards genuine reconciliation.

The Buddhist nationalist JHU (National Heritage Party) has called for the bishop to be arrested and prosecuted for writing the letter.

At the same time the Catholic Cardinal in Sri Lanka, Malcolm Ranjith, has accused Western countries of meddling in Sri Lanka’s sovereignty by planning to table a resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council.

Imam Shekau, the spiritual leader and military commander of the Boko Haram sect (image: http://muhdlawal.wordpress.com)

In Jos on Sunday 26 February a suicide bomber tried to ram his car into the Church of Christ in Nigeria church. However, as he smashed through the church’s security gates a tyre blew out, stopping the car, and the gas cylinder designed to maximise the blast fell out of the boot. Whilst three worshippers were murdered – a woman who was struck by the car and a father and son killed by shrapnel inside the church – the toll would have been many times greater if the bomber had managed to ram the car into the church.

On 22 February, Shetu Maruna Malgwi, aged 79, was murdered. She was the mother of a local pastor. Her throat was slit and a Bible placed under her feet with a note written in Arabic pinned to her chest stating ‘We will get you soon’. The note was believed to be directed at her son.

Christian woman, Asia Bibi, remains in prison in Pakistan, convicted of blasphemy. She has stated:

I live in a confined cell. I am allowed out for only 30 minutes a day, and meet my family for one hour every Tuesday. I cook for myself, since the administration fears I might be poisoned, as other Christians have been poisoned or killed in jail…. I pray and fast. I want to be with my family, hug my daughter, kiss them. I am waiting for a date from the Lahore High Court for the appeal regarding my death sentence.