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AFTER COMMUNAL VIOLENCE, INDIAN CHRISTIANS DRAW HOPE FROM ELECTIONS

According to an Indian church worker, the violence against Christians in the Indian state of Orissa last year was not a one-time event but the consequence of a fragmented society. However, the results of the recent general elections are heartening. The wave of violence that started after the killing of a prominent radical Hindu leader in August 2008 - a murder that was claimed by Maoist rebels, but blamed on Christians by Hindu militants - reflects how Indian society is being fragmented along communal lines, said John Suresh Kumar, of the Church of North India Synodical Board of Social Services, speaking at the headquarters of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, on 13 May.

Kumar explained that Hindu extremists had succeeded in pitching “tribal communities in Kandhamal, Orissa, who continue to live in abject poverty” against Dalit Christians. These are slightly better off in terms of their economic status than tribals in this area.

Dalits make up the majority of Christians in most parts of India. In the Indian caste system, Dalits have been treated as “untouchable” due to Brahmanic ritual traditions that considered them “unclean”.

Kumar, who had recently visited the affected Kandhamal district, said that nine months after the communal violence began, thousands of people who had to flee from their homes were still living in camps, lacking access to water and sanitation.

While providing relief to the displaced is an immediate need, churches should not stop there, Kumar said, since aid and rehabilitation can only be sustainable if security is re-established.

According to Kumar, the Orissa state government was indirectly complicit in the violence “or at least it has failed to punish the rioters”. “Therefore it is important that churches speak out with a united voice at the national and international level” Kumar added.

He stressed the importance of outreach to tribal communities, making sure that not only the Christian victims of violence benefit from church aid efforts such as housing projects, so that divisions are not worsened. “Development action should be cutting across communal and faith boundaries.”

Elections bring new hope

Kumar addressed staff from the WCC and other Geneva-based ecumenical organizations just as India completed its federal elections. The outcome of India’s general elections will be crucial in securing peace and security in Orissa, he pointed out. Citizens in Orissa also elected a new state administration. It replaces a coalition that included a rightwing Hindu fundamentalist party.

As early results of the elections indicate a clear win of the outgoing secular federal government coalition over the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the general secretary of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), Bishop Dr Dhirendra Kumar Sahu, told the news website Christian Today he was greatly elated by this outcome.

“The BJP has been completely wiped out of Orissa,” he said, adding that “Christians in Kandhamal are jubilant and there is still a sign of hope for them.”

The WCC has repeatedly condemned the violence against Christians in Orissa, including at a meeting of WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia with Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in October 2008.

WCC member churches in India

Relief appeal by ACT International

WCC work in solidarity with Dalits

WCC executive committee statement

Press release: “Christianity is part of our national heritage” Indian prime minister tells Kobia

More information on source of article:

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

For immediate release - 18/05/2009 13:46:29

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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Mothers’ Day is sweeter for Cecilia Alcaraz

Article posted May 04, 2009 - 06:13 PM

Source GMA News

MANILA, Philippines - After her death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, Cecilia Armia Alcaraz is happy to live longer for her children and celebrate Mothers’ day on May 10 behind bars in Taiwan.

The 47-year-old mother of two was thankful her sentence was reduced on Sunday, after appealing before the Kaoshiung District Court, Manila’s de-facto embassy in Taiwan said.

Antonio Basilio, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) resident representative, said Alcaraz heard the court’s decision via live video feed in another room.

“We will be holding further meetings with Cecille to discuss options available after this morning’s development. But we are grateful for the High Court’s understanding and compassion for striking down the district court decision meting death to Cecille,” Basilio said.

Alacaraz had a tearful reunion with her two sons, Shalom, 20, and Jerome, 18, when they visited her in Kaoshiung in March.

The last time Alcaraz saw her kids in person was in 2001, when she first left for Taiwan to work. Since then, things have changed in their household.

Shalom only finished junior high school as he was forced to quit his studies to work and augment the family’s income. Meanwhile, Jerome is still in high school.

Aside from her sons, MECO paid for the travel expenses of Cecile’s sister Rosie. Last year, MECO shouldered the trip of her brother and sister-in-law when they visited Taiwan.

Basilio said Alcaraz was treated well in the detention cell and has in fact made a few friends.

“From time to time, she is asked to interpret for non-Chinese speaking inmates,” Basilio said, “She met her children in a visiting room where she was able to sit with them and hug them frequently during the visit which lasted an hour.”

No reason to kill

MECO reported that Alcaraz’s lawyer Jiao Wen Chen asked the High Court to overturn the district court decision last Sept. 30, since there was reasonable doubt that she killed Taiwanese Mrs. Chiu Mei-yun.

“During the final hearing, Atty. Jiao forcefully argued that Armia did not have any financial difficulties that may have compelled her to kill Mrs. Chiu, nor was it logical for her to have invited Mrs. Chiu to [Alcaraz’s] home and kill her there,” the MECO reported.

“He said Armia did not have any cuts and bruises that would have indicated a death-struggle with Mrs. Chiu, and that the prosecution itself was initially uncertain that Armia could have killed Mrs. Chiu by herself,” it added.

Alcaraz deserves better

Despite the decision, Migrante International still lamented the current situation of Alcaraz and admitted the imprisoned teacher deserved better.

A Taiwanese lower court sentenced Alcaraz – alias Nemencia Armia – to death through firing squad for robbery and murder of her employer Jum Mei Yung in September 12, 2007.

Migrante chairman Gary Martinez said had the Philippine government not sat on Alcarz’s case, the embattled OFW should have not been sent to jail in the first place.

Martinez maintained that Alcaraz was only forced to admit to the crime because her life was being threatened.

Alcaraz had said in earlier reports that two Taiwanese were the real killers.

At the same time, some 30 Migrante members trooped Monday morning to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) office along Roxas Boulevard in Manila to urge the government to work out Alcaraz’s freedom.

Alcaraz is a single parent with four children, who left her job as merchandiser for Robinson’s Department Store as the pay was not enough to provide for her family’s needs.

She had been appealing to the government to help her, saying she did not want to suffer the same fate as her fellow OFW Jenifer Bidoya, beheaded in Saudi Arabia last year for murder. - MARK JOSEPH H. UBALDE with Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV

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Save the Life of Cecilia Alcaraz!

Update

Save the Life of OFW Cecilia Alcaraz!

O that our sisters and brothers are not forced to leave this bounteous land to find jobs overseas!
O that they would stay home with their loved ones, prosper and enjoy the blessing of Divine Providence bestowed on this nation!
O that those who govern take to heart the interest of the greater majority of the people of this land!

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) laments what has befallen Cecilia B. Alcaraz. Today, the Apellate Court in Taiwan will render its decision on her appeal. We enjoin one and all to pray that she be spared from the court sentence of death by firing squad in Taiwan following the death of a Taiwanese broker. Let us all pray for her family too, that they may have the strength to meet the days ahead.Cecilia, 48 years old is a single parent. Like all other good parents who desire the best for their children, she left the country to work as an English teacher in Taiwan. Her case is yet another tragic reminder of how our sisters and brothers sacrifice their lives and limbs overseas to provide for their families back home. Their remittances have also kept our economy afloat. We rue the labor export policy of the government and its failure to provide adequate protection for these sisters and brothers. According to Migrante International, on a crucial hearing on April 1, 2009, she neither had the benefit of a legal counsel nor support from a representative of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Need government be reminded time and again to do everything in its power and act with dispatch to snatch its people from the jaws of death? Save the life of Cecilia Alcaraz!

Our lament at the forced migration and commercialization of labor and our call for the Arroyo government not to be remiss especially to OFWs are prompted by the compelling faith imperative to choose life that we and our “descendants will live long in the land that God promised your ancestor” (Deuteronomy 30:20).

Cecilia cannot remain another statistical mark of another tragic end. Then as now, the NCCP reiterates the call for building a just community where migration becomes a voluntary option, not a compelling and perilous necessity for the survival for millions of families in the Philippines.

Reference:
REV. FR. REX RB. REYES, Jr.
General Secretary - NCCP

News Report Background

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Rev. Berlin Guerrero testifies he was tortured in the Philippines

SOURCE: World Council of Churches - News Release, 9/04/2009 16:27:56, Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363, media@wcc-coe.org

Pastor leaves prison last year

Claims made by the Philippines government to a good human rights track
record “are utterly false”, Rev. Berlin Guerrero told the United
Nations Committee against Torture this week. A victim of torture
himself, Guerrero said the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is
“remiss in its responsibility to prevent torture”.
A pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Guerrero
stated that “church people have not been spared from torture”. “Most
of the victims of torture among church people are from member churches
of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, and I am one
of those who have been victimized,” he said.

According to the human rights group Karapatan (Alliance for the
Advancement of People’s Rights), between 2001 and 2008 there were
1,010 documented victims of torture in the Philippines. Extra judicial
killings over the same period amounted to 991.

Guerrero spoke before the 42nd session of the UN Committee against
Torture meeting in Geneva, Switzerland this week to review the human
rights record of Philippines and other countries. He was sponsored by
the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches in
International Affairs.

Guerrero was abducted on 27 May 2007 in front of his family, soon
after Sunday worship at the local UCCP church in Malaban, Biñan. “No
warrant of arrest was shown despite our pleas and protests,” he
recalled in his statement to the UN committee.

After “one year, three months and 15 days”, he was released because of
the “insufficiency of evidence” against him. “To experience this kind
of persecution strengthened and confirmed my faith,” he says. “While
in detention I was happy to be able to serve the prison community by
starting a Christian ministry to my fellow detainees.”

When he visited the WCC offices in Geneva on 28 April, Guerrero was
welcomed by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia. During a visit
to the Philippines in November 2007 at the helm of an international
delegation, Kobia had joined the campaign for Guerrero’s liberation,
publicly calling for his release.

According to Guerrero, thanks to an international campaign in which
churches have played a crucial role, the extra judicial executions in
the Philippines have decreased. But “with general elections scheduled
for 2010 they are peaking again, with a rate of one person killed
every week,” he says.

“The WCC will continue supporting the efforts of human rights
defenders in the Philippines,” Kobia told Guerrero, who was
accompanied by Karapatan general secretary Marie Hilao-Enriquez, and
by Raymond Manalo, another torture victim.

A farmer’s ordeal

Manalo, a 27-year old farmer in San Ildefonso, in the northern
province of Bulacan, was abducted together with his brother Reynaldo
on 14 February 2006. He was held for 18 months in three different
secret detention facilities within military camps.

“The soldiers beat us with pieces of wood on our backs and different
parts of our bodies, beat us with chains, burn different parts of our
bodies with cigarettes and heated metal tin, kicked us with their
combat boots on, hit us with the butts of their rifles, poured
gasoline on my waist and legs while threatening to burn me,” Manalo
told the UN committee.

He witnessed “soldiers summarily killing civilians whom they accused
of being rebels or aiding them” as well as other captives being
tortured. After admitting to his captors’ accusations, the torture was
eased and he entered a slave work regime.

Manalo escaped with his brother in August 2007. With help from human
rights organizations he was able to obtain a writ of amparo - a legal
remedy for victims of extrajudicial killings or enforced
disappearances - and in September 2008 filed criminal complaints
against members of the military he was able to identify amongst his
torturers.

“I do not want this ordeal to happen to anybody else. I wish that the
extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture in my country will
stop […] I hope that President Gloria Arroyo will end the impunity,”
Manalo told the UN committee.

WCC work on human rights:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3111

WCC member churches in the Philippines:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4679

42nd Session of the UN Committee against Torture:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/cats42.htm

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together
349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing
more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works
cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general
secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya.
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

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Catholics fear Hindu ‘Taliban’

Amanda Hodge, South Asia Correspondent | April 27, 2009
Article from:  The Australian

THE Catholic Church has warned that electoral victory for the conservative Bharatiya Janata Party next month could result in a Hindu-style “Talibanisation” of India and lead to the suppression of human rights for all religious minorities there.

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News on Orissa violence

The Indian Government sent a Ministerial delegation to Orissa on 17-19 November 2008 to review the situation in Orissa. The delegation consisted of the Minister for Agriculture (a Cabinet Minister), the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment and the Minister for Tribal Affairs. the delegation met the Chief Minister of Orissa and traveled to the Kandhamal region, where most of the violence occurred. Following this visit, Prime Minister Singh announced on 23 November 2008 the formation of a taskforce. The taskforce is to report by February 2009 with a roadmap for developing a stronger security architecture to deal with terrorism and insurgency.

On 5 January 2009, the Supreme Court of India ordered the Orissa State Government to take all necessary measures to protect minorities in India. The Supreme Court said that it would not allow “persecution” of minorities and asked that the Orissa Government resign if it was unable to protect the Christian minority in Orissa. It also ordered that the Orissa Government reconstruct churches damaged during the violence. The court was responding to a petition filed by Cuttack Archbishop Raphel Cheenath seeking the intervention of central forces in stemming the communal violence.

On 29 January charges were laid against those accussed of the pack rape of a nun in the violence on 25 August 2008.

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Resign If You Can’t Protect Minorities, SC to Orissa Govt.

EFI NEWS
January 06, 2009:

The Evangelical Fellowship of India welcomes the recent orders passed by the Supreme Court of India directing the Orissa State government to take all necessary measures to protect the minorities in India. The Supreme Court on Monday (January 5) said it would not allow “persecution” of minorities and asked the Orissa government to resign if it was unable to protect Christians who were targeted in recent riots that followed the assassination of a VHP leader in 2008.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice Markandey Katju and Justice P. Sathasivam asked the BJD-led government to reconstruct the churches damaged during the violence.

“We will not accept the persecution of minority. If the state government is unable to protect them it should resign. We have to protect the minorities… No minority community should be insecure in the country,” Justice Katju said.

“It is the duty of the state government to protect the minority community. You (state) have done this only after 50,000 people of the minority community fled to the jungles,” he stated.

The apex court, which in October last, had directed the stationing of para-military forces in the riot-hit areas till December-end in view of Christmas, asked the state government not to take any unilateral decision on its withdrawal.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Cuttack Archbishop Raphel Cheenath seeking the intervention of Central forces in stemming the communal violence which erupted in Kandhamal District of Orissa against Christians after prominent Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmanananda Saraswati was gunned down on August 23, 2008 at his ashram.

Nun Rape Case Development

In the Nun Rape case, the 29-year-old nun identified two persons from a line-up of 80 during the identification parade (TIP) which was held at high-security Circle Choudwar jail in Cuttack on January 5th 2008. Although ten persons had been arrested in connection with the case, however, 80 others were also paraded before the nun during the TIP.

A court in Baliguda had fixed dates for the TIP twice earlier, but the nun, who had left Orissa after the incident, failed to turn up while seeking change of venue stating that she did not want to visit Kandhamal again.

The nun was allegedly raped at K Nuagaon in strife-torn Kandhamal during the communal violence on August 25.

Rev. Dr. Richard Howell
General Secretary
Evangelical Fellowship of India
New Delhi, India

Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical Alliance, an accredited NGO with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

To just take action go here (scroll down)

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MORE ACTION NEEDED TO PROTECT PHILIPPINE LABOUR ORGANISERS

This is an action note from the Clean Clothes Campaign. JusAct has been highlighting the plight of trade union as well as church workers in the Philippines. The two issues are most often interelated…
—————————————————–
Since we reported on the arrest of labour lawyer Remigio Saladero on October 23, 2008, the Philippine authorities have issued arrest warrants for 71 other labour and human rights activists.

They are being accused of murder and attempted murder for allegedly taking up arms against the government and attacking police forces in an ambush in Mindoro province in March 2006. The accusations are based on a statement of one witness whose testimony is highly questionable and no investigation has taken place. Six activists have already been arrested and the others may be seized by the military police at any moment.

—————————————————–
Take action now!
Go here
—————————————————–

False Charges Being Used to Cripple the Labour Movement

Among the activists pursued by the military and charged by the prosecutor in the Mindoro case are at least 15 labour leaders and organisers who have been working for years in the Philippine export processing zones (see the list below). The accused include activists, organisers and leaders from a variety of trade unions and labour organisations, including the Workers’ Assistance Center in Cavite, the transportation unions, and the workers’ unions at Nestle, Toyota and Honda.

The draconian measures of the Philippine government seem specifically designed to cripple the Philippine labour movement by make union organising even more difficult and prohibiting strikes. In recent years, the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has come under intense international and domestic criticism for hundreds of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of leftist activists, journalists, lawyers and clergy by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.

In response to the criticism, the number of such killings dropped, but convictions of perpetrators for serious crimes of this type remain negligible. Local activists have also expressed concern that the continuing harassment and arrests of activists on trumped-up charges shows that the government is merely changing its tactics. Their fears were confirmed in a recent statement by the chairperson of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, Leila de Lima”; “Those who are charged fit perfectly the profile of the usual victims of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances,” de Lima told representatives of a broad coalition of workers unions, church groups, students, and lawyers groups who are campaigning for the release of Atty. Remigio Saladero Jr.

————————————————————————
Employers Confederation Blocks ILO Investigation
————————————————————————
The International Labour Organisation, in response to a complaint filed by a Philippine labour organisation two years ago, requested that the Philippine government allow it to send in a high-level mission to investigate the killings and harassments of union leaders and members, and other violations of freedom of association in the Philippines. The government has thus far refused. The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), which includes employers such as Nestle, Toyota, and Honda, is adamantly opposed to the investigation. For years, these companies have been engaged in standoffs with democratically elected unions.

For more information, see also http://labourrightsblog.typepad.com and http://freeattysaladero.wordpress.com/

——————————————————————-
Take action at: http://www.cleanclothes.org/urgent/08-12-17.htm#action
or adapt/send the sample letter below:
——————————————————————-

Send your letter to:
* Atty. Rafael Francisco, Chairperson of ECOP CSR Committee. Email:
raf@cadp.com.ph
* Jose Roland Moya, Deputy Director-General of ECOP. Email:
jramoya@hotmail.com
* Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines. Email:
corres@op.gov.ph

and a CC to:
* Ms. Leila De Lima, Philippines Commission on Human Rights. Email:
chr.delima@yahoo.com
* Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Philippines Dept. of Justice. Email:
raulgonzalez_doj@yahoo.com
* Secretary Ronaldo V. Puno, Department of Interior and Local Government. Email: rvpuno@dilg.gov.ph

To whom it may concern,

I have been informed by the Clean Clothes Campaign that there has been a continued effort by the Government of the Philippines and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) to intimidate labour and human rights activists and thwart their efforts to combat impunity for violence against labour leaders.

Furthermore, I am shocked to learn that ECOP has stood in opposition of a formal investigation by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) into the violence against labour leaders in the Philippines. Given that the ILO is an internationally recognised and respected body, I would expect the ILO would be welcomed to the Philippines.

I have also learned that due process was not followed in the recent filing of arrest warrants for 72 people, including many of the most eminent labour leaders in southern Tagalog, in the “Minodoro” case.

I send this email in the hopes that the government of the Philippines and ECOP will:

* End the campaign of intimidation against labour leaders and supporters;
* Invite the ILO to do a full independent investigation into the human rights violations in the Philippines;
* Release all arrested activists and drop all the criminal charges against the labour and human rights advocates, activists and organisers included in the “Mindoro case”

I stand in solidarity with the workers of the Philippines and look forward to the day when they will enjoy the full benefits of internationally recognised labour rights.

Sincerely,

——————————————————————–
List of Labour Leaders Charged by Philippine Government in the Mindoro Murder Case
——————————————————————–

1. Romeo Legaspi (Chairperson, PAMANTIK-KMU; National President, Organized Labour Association in Line Industries and Agriculture (OLALIA-KMU); President, Nagkakaisang Lakas ng Manggagawa sa Honda (
NLMH- OLALIA);Chairperson, Anakpawis-Timog Katagalugan);

2. Rolando Mingo (President, Southern Tagalog Region Transport Sector Organization, (STARTER);Vice President, Pinagkaisang Lakas ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON);

3. Emmanuel Dionida, (Executive Director, Labour Education Advocacy Development Research Services Inc.);

4. Nestor San Jose (Rizal Provincial Coordinator, Anakpawis; Coordinator, Makabayang Organisasyon ng Tsuper at Operator sa Rizal
(MOTOR) –PISTON);

5. Luz Baculo (Secretary General, Pamantik-KMU; National Council Member, KMU);

6. Berlin Justo (Calamba City coordinator, Bayan Muna; Secretary General, Calamba Federation Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association; Former Baranggay Councilor, Brgy. Palingon, Calamba City);

7. Agaton Bautista (Batangas Provincial Coordinator, Anakpawis; Secretary General, Samahan ng mga Magbubukid sa Batangas (SAMBAT));

8. Samuel Dizon (Coordinator, Samahan Pang-transportasyong Rumuruta sa Kalakhang Probinsya ng Laguna (SPARKPLAG) – Piston);

9. Lucio Amarante (Staff, Transport Organizer, STARTER-PISTON);

10. Henry Halawig (Paralegal staff, Banzuela Law Office; Former Board of Directors, OLALIA-KMU);

11. Arnie Seminiano (Member, Ilaw at Buklod ng Manggagawa-Kilusang Mayo Uno (IBM-KMU);

12. Garizaldy Constantino (Campaign Officer, Anakpawis Partylist; Former Campaign Officer, Kilusang Mayo Uno Labour Leader, Nestle Union);

13. Romeo Sevilla (Member, Ilaw at Buklod ng Manggaga-Kilusang Mayo Uno (IBM-KMU));

14. Emmanuel Asuncion (Board Member- Workers’ Assistance Center);

15. Remigio Saladero (General Counsel-KMU; Pro-Labour Legal Assistance
Center)

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Take more action - Granting Immunity for Hate Attacks - Orissa

Granting Immunity for Hate Attacks - Orissa State, India

December 2008
In October we issued an action regarding a wave of attacks committed by Hindu extremists in the north part of India against the local Christian community. This followed an appeal from the Church of North India, a partner church of the Uniting Church in Australia, for support from the Uniting Church and other churches in the face of the attacks.

It is reported that at least 67 Christians were murdered in the violence. These victims included:
•    Rasananda Pradhan who was murdered in Rupagaon, near Chakapada on 24 August. He was a paraplegic and could not escape to the forest with the other villagers.
•    Rajni Majh, a worker at Pamdampur Orphanage in Khuntapali village, Padampur and several children were burnt to death on Monday 25 August. Rajni was dragged outside, her hands were tied together and she was thrown onto a fire.
•    Gopana Naik of Badimunda village.
•    Kamalini Naik (seven months pregnant) and her one year old son.
•    Pastor Samuel Nayak (45 years old) a Seventh Day Pastor at Bakingia village of Raikia block was murdered on the 26 August. The attackers also set his mother on fire, murdering her. His wife went to Raikia police station, but the police failed to register the case.
•    Jaka Digal (aged 35) of Petangia
•    Gopa Naik (aged 40) of Mandakia
•    Abhimanyu Nayak burnt alive on 29 August in Kandhmal
•    Pastor Akbar Digal who was beheaded for refusing to become a Hindu
•    Pastor Matthew Naik from Kanbagiri

There continues to be worrying reports that the government of Orissa State, where most of the violence has occurred, is failing to take appropriate action to bring those responsible for the violence to justice. There are also allegations that the Orissa Government is hindering investigations that the Federal Government of India is attempting to carry out into the case in which a nun was raped and also into the burning of orphanages. The Orissa Government has stated that there will not be any compensation for churches that were attacked and destroyed by the violence.

There have been allegations from the All-India Christian Council that “People are being offered rewards to kill, and to destroy churches and Christian properties. They are being offered foreign liquor, chicken, mutton and weapons. They are given petrol and kerosene.”

There are media reports (The Australian 20 Nov 2008) that Hindu extremists are threatening to launch a fresh wave of violence starting on Christmas day.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Write polite and respectful letters to (a letter to India will cost $1.40 using a stamp with ‘International Post’ on it):

Dr Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Room No 152
South Block
New Delhi, 110001
India
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister

Smt Pratibha Patil
Honorable President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi, 1100001
India
E-mail: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in
Salutation : Madam President

Shri P. Chidambaram
Minister of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
North Block
Central Secretariat
New Dehli 110 001
India
Salutation: Dear Minister

Her Excellency Mrs. Sujatha Singh
High Commissioner of India
The High Commission of India
3/5 Moonah Place
Yarralumla, ACT, 2600
Email: hc@hcindia-au.org
Salutation: Your Excellency

Points to make in your letter:

•    Express concern at the attacks that were made against the Christian community in Orissa state from the end of August and through September that resulted in at least 67 murders and tens of thousands of people being forced to flee their homes.
•    Welcome the announcements by the Indian Federal Government to put an end to such attacks and to provide assistance to those who have been forced to flee their homes.
•    Express deep concerns at reports that the government of Orissa State is hindering investigation into identifying those responsible for the attacks.
•    Request to know how many people have been arrested in relation to the violence, how many have been brought to trial and how many have been convicted.
•    Ask that the Federal authorities investigate the murder of Swami Laxmananda through an independent Supreme Court judge, noting that the murder of Swami Laxmananda was used as the excuse for the attacks on the Christian community despite the fact that Maoist guerillas claimed responsibility for the murder.
•    Express concern at reports that extremists have threatened to launch a fresh wave of attacks starting on 25 December and ask what steps are being taken to prevent the carrying out of such criminal activity.
•    Ask that the Indian authorities take immediate and effective action to provide all necessary support to people who have been forced to flee their homes to ensure their health and well-being and to provide them with adequate compensation to rebuild their homes.
•    Ask that relief agencies and Indian churches be allowed free access to provide humanitarian relief to those who have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the persecution they have been subjected to.
•    Ask that Indian authorities provide adequate protection to allow people to return to their homes in safety and to protect these people from further attacks.

Also write to:

The Hon Stephen Smith
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra, ACT, 2600
Salutation: Dear Minister
Points to make in your letter:

•    Welcome the approaches the Minister and the Australian Government have made in response to the wave of violent attacks against the Christian community in Orissa State and other parts of northern India in the period from late August through September.
•    Express concern at reports that extremists have threatened to launch a fresh wave of attacks starting on 25 December. Ask that the Australian Government urge the Government of India to take all necessary measures to prevent such attacks.
•    Request to know if Australia has raised any specific cases of Christians murdered in the violence in Orissa and if it has been able to identify if anyone has been arrested and brought to trial over any of the murders that occurred.
•    Express concern at reports that the State Government of Orissa is hindering investigations into identifying those responsible for the wave of criminal violence against the Christian community in that state.

Also - see easy online action

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Free Atty. Remigio Saladero Jr

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