|
|
 |
Publications > Nonviolent Sanctions
vol. 4, no. 3
Winter 1992/93
Nonviolent Sanctions
vol. 4, no. 3
Winter 1992/93
|
|
 Download PDF file
Contents
AEI launches encyclopedia project
14th Century Chinese noncooperation fable
Monkey Master story
Nobel laureates urge Suu Kyi's release
Einstein Fellows awards
Resistance and repression in East Timor
Serbians talk civil disobedience
Serb women protest war
AEI receives recycling award
PNS update
Germans protest neo-nazism
INFACT ends GE boycott
Nonviolent sanctions in the news
AEI Launches Encyclopedia Project
The Einstein Institution has begun work on An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action to be published in 1996. It will be a single volume reference work for students, scholars, and the general reader with an interest in nonviolent alternatives in conflict. It will be the first standard reference work on the subject.
The Encyclopedia is being edited by Christopher Kruegler, Roger Powers, Doug Bond, Ronald M. McCarthy, and William Vogele, and will be published by Garland Publishing, Inc., of New York City.
The editors define nonviolent action as a range of methods for actively waging conflict without directly threatening or inflicting physical harm on human beings. Entries will therefore include persons, events, ideas, institutions, groups, and topics related to the appearance of these methods.
Articles will be arranged alphabetically and will vary in length from 100 to 5,000 words. The scope will be interdisciplinary, with emphasis on social scientific, strategic, and historical approaches to nonviolent conflict. Its total length is expected to be 500,000 words.
Students of international affairs, strategic studies, peace and conflict studies, and social conflict in general should find the Encyclopedia to be an indispensable tool. In addition, area experts from many fields will have an interest in the work, in that cases of nonviolent action will be represented from all parts of the world and from many historical periods, with a slight bias toward the twentieth century.
Inquiries should be directed to: Dr. William Vogele, The Albert Einstein Institution, 1430 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138.
14th Century Chinese Story Teaches Noncooperation
A Chinese story written in the fourteenth century provides a simple, yet vivid, illustration of the nature and power of noncooperation. The story of the monkey master, originally titled "Rule by Tricks," comes from the book Yu-li-zi, by Liu Ji.
Liu Ji (1311-1375) was an important scholar, statesman, astrologer, and military strategist.
The text was translated into English by Sidney Tai, supervisor of the Rare Books Room at Harvard-Yenching Library, Harvard University. It has since been translated into Burmese for use by the prodemocracy movement in Burma.
Monkey Master (1)
In the feudal state of Chu (2) an old man
survived by keeping monkeys in his service.
The people of Chu called him ju gong
(monkey master).
Each morning, the old man would assemble
the monkeys in his courtyard, and order the
eldest one to lead the others to the mountains
to gather fruits from bushes and trees. It was
the rule that each monkey had to
give one tenth of his collection to the old man.
Those who failed to do so would be ruthlessly
flogged.
All the monkeys suffered bitterly, but dared
not complain.
One day, a small monkey asked the other
monkeys: "Did the old man plant all the fruit
trees and bushes?"
The others said: "No, they grew naturally."
The small monkey further asked: "Can’t we
take the fruits without the old man’s permission?"
The others replied: "Yes, we all can."
The small monkey continued: "Then, why
should we depend on the old man; why must we
all serve him?"
Before the small monkey was able to finish
his statement, all the monkeys suddenly became
enlightened and awakened.
On the same night, watching that the old man
had fallen asleep, the monkeys tore down all the
barricades of the stockade in which they were
confined, and destroyed the stockade entirely.
They also took the fruits the old man had in
storage, brought all with them to the woods, and
never returned.
The old man finally died of starvation.
Yu-li-zi (3) says: "Some men in the world
rule their people by tricks and not by righteous
principles. Aren’t they just like the monkey
master? They are not aware of their muddle-
headedness. As soon as their people become
enlightened, their tricks no longer work."
—Written by Liu Ji (1311-1375).
Translated by Sidney Tai.
All rights reserved.
1. This topic is given only for expediency. The original version is "Rule by Tricks." This essay will appear again in the essay series.
2. The name of a feudal state which existed from B.C. 740 to 223. It covered today’s Hubei and Hunan provinces.
3. Yu-li-zi is the pseudonym of Liu Ji (1311-1375), the author of this essay.
Nobel Laureates Urge Release of Suu Kyi
Six Nobel Peace Prize winners met in Thailand February 18 to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy leader and fellow Nobel laureate now in her fourth year of house arrest.
"Having been brutally denied her rightful place to be an elected leader of her people, Aung San Suu Kyi remains courageously committed to the principles of freedom and democracy," said Oscar Arias Sanchez, former president of Costa Rica. "She continues to inspire the people of Burma."
The Nobel laureates called on Burma’s State Law and Order Restoration Council, the military junta that seized power in 1988, to free Aung San Suu Kyi.
The other Nobel laureates who came to Thailand are the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams of the Peace People movement in Northern Ireland, and Adolfo Perez Esquivel, the Argentine human rights leader. They were joined by representatives of two Nobel Peace Prize-winning organizations, Amnesty International and the American Friends Service Committee. Mother Theresa and Mikhail Gorbachev, Nobel winners unable to come to Bangkok, indicated their support.
The campaign to release Suu Kyi marks a break from the southeast Asian policy of "constructive engagement’’ with Burma. The meeting in Bangkok occurred despite Chinese objections to the Dalai Lama being allowed into Thailand and objections from the Thai military. General Vimol Wongwanich, the Thai army commander, said such events should be held in the US, not Thailand. "It’s like inviting the battle into our house," he said. The Thai army banned the screening of an interview with the Dalai Lama on a TV station it controls.
Previous Thai governments have bowed to Chinese pressure over the Dalai Lama, refusing him a visa in 1987 and 1990. But Chuan Leekpai, the new civilian prime minister, allowed all the Nobel laureates into the country.
While in Bangkok, the Dalai Lama avoided overt criticism of China or Thailand, but implicitly reprimanded them for providing weapons to the Burmese junta. He said an arms embargo would be a good idea. "In Thailand and everywhere," he said. "the value of human rights and of democracy is increasing."
—Peace Media Service
1993-94 Einstein Fellowships Awarded
The Einstein Institution board of directors, at its March 4 meeting, awarded Einstein fellowships for 1993-94 to threescholars conducting promising research on nonviolent struggle. The three were chosen as Einstein Institution Fellows from among thirty-seven applicants, based on their research proposals and recommendations. They are:
Patrick G. Coy, a doctoral student in the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts at Syracuse University. He is doing dissertation research on Peace Brigades International (PBI) and its practice of accompanying nonviolent activists to protect them from violence. His work addresses questions about the dynamics of third-party interventions and their strategies and will include direct observation of PBI’s methods of training and action.
Brian S. Mandell, associate professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University (Ottawa) and visiting scholar at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. Dr. Mandell is restating the "nonviolent sanctions paradigm" in a way that allows systematic comparison with other theories of conflict responses, including strategic studies, conflict resolution, and peace studies. This will allow assessment of the explanatory power of each model and will be the basis for a university-level course on the findings.
Sam Marullo, assistant professor of sociology at Georgetown University. Dr. Marullo is completing a work on the rise and decline of 1980s peace activism, changes in its goals and strategies, and the relative effectiveness of different actions during the period of movement decline. The study includes the debates on strategy and political process in local peace groups, their involvement in direct action, and the effects of activism on individuals and on policies.
Through the Fellows Program, the Einstein Institution supports research, writing, and systematic reflection on nonviolent action. Its primary goal is the advancement of knowledge about the strategic uses of nonviolent action in relation to problems of political violence. The Fellows Program offers support to scholars conducting research on the history, characteristics, and potential applications of nonviolent action. It also supports practitioners in the preparation of accounts, documentation, and analysis of their experiences in the use of nonviolent struggle.
The deadline for proposals is December 31. For more information, write to: Dr. Ronald McCarthy, Fellows Program Director.
Resistance and Repression in East Timor
by Maggie Helwig
In 1975 Indonesia invaded the tiny neighboring country of East Timor and since that time has waged a brutal campaign of genocide against the indigenous Timorese people. At least 200,000 people—a third of the population—have died as a result of the occupation.
In the first years after the invasion, the primary resistance was waged by the guerrilla soldiers of Falintil (associated with the political party Fretilin). Recently, however, a new generation of Timorese activists have come forward. They are the children of the occupation, young men and women who grew up in the midst of a campaign to destroy them as a people, forbidden to speak any language but Bahasa Indonesian, liable to arrest for reading foreign newspapers or belonging to a church group. Many of these young people have chosen to resist the Indonesian occupation with nonviolent action.
Their means are simple—they hold up protest banners at public events; they call Indonesian officials from public phones and ask, "When are you going home?" Also, at great personal risk, they make phone calls and smuggle documents to Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. For such acts, they risk imprisonment, torture, and death.
In 1991, when the visit of a delegation of Portuguese members of Parliament was canceled, the Indonesian government announced the end of Operation Smile, the hearts-and-minds campaign they had been pursuing to win over young people, and entered into Operation Combat. From October 28 until November 11, 1991, raids were made on churches where student activists had taken refuge, arresting some, killing others. At the Santa Cruz Cemetery in Dili on November 12, hundreds of Indonesian troops surrounded a peaceful rally that had come to commemorate one of the men murdered two weeks before. For ten minutes soldiers armed with machine guns fired into the crowd. Estimates of the number killed range from 100 to 273; many were injured and an unknown number have "disappeared." According to witnesses in East Timor, soldiers continued to round up and execute witnesses of the massacre for the next month.
After the massacre, a number of Timorese activists were arrested and charged with subversion or expressing hostility to the Indonesian government. Eight days after the massacre, a group of Timorese living in Indonesia held a rally asking for information on the Santa Cruz massacre. The organizers of this rally were also arrested and charged.
Fifteen young activists are now in prison. All have proclaimed their commitment to nonviolence and their desire to find "a peaceful solution" to the situation in East Timor.
One of them is Francisco Miranda Branco, accused of helping to prepare banners for a protest demonstration and sentenced to 15 years. At his trial, he declared: "I uphold the principles of nonviolence and peace . . . I take sides with no party, including Fretilin."
Carlos dos Santos Lemos was sentenced to eight years for taking photographs of the Santa Cruz demonstration. Filomeno da Silva Ferreira was sentenced to five years for translating Portuguese newspaper stories about East Timor.
Others have been jailed for sending "secret" military papers abroad, including a report of an interview of the governor of East Timor for Portuguese radio. Four are imprisoned for "expressing hostility"; their sentences average eight years.
Fernando de Araujo is in prison in Jakarta for trying to contact Amnesty International. He asked the court, "Why is it that people like me, who are trying to find a solution by peaceful means...are subjected to all kinds of intimidation?" (A list of the names and addresses of the prisoners is available from War Resisters International, 55 Dawes Street, London SE17 1EL, England.)
Serbians Talk Civil Disobedience
Serbian opposition groups are considering civil disobedience to confront political boss Slobodan Milosevic.
At a press conference in Belgrade in February, Vuk Draskovic, leader of the Serbian Revival Movement, hinted at nonviolent civil disobedience while Depos Alliance spokesperson Vladeta Jankovic talked about turning Depos into a civil resistance group. Depos, a coalition of opposition parties, has 50 out of 250 seats in the Parliament.
"We live in the hard times of totalitarianism," said Vojislav Kostunica, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia. "Civil disobedience should be our way to try to save what is left of the civilian society, and nothing else. It should incorporate different methods of collective and individual acting, and above all show a clear spirit of resistance. That spirit should be nourished at all levels where people feel threatened. Many different institutions— the universities, the media and democratic organizations in Serbia—are seriously endangered by the powerful authority of the republic." [Vesna Peric Zimonjic/IPS]
—Peace Media Service
Serb Women Protest War
Women’s peace groups in Serbia held a peaceful demonstration in the center of Belgrade March 8 "to show our opposition to the regime, and to all of the nationalist, masculinist policies that have led to war."
A statement from the organizers declared: "Although we have not yet directly experienced the destruction of war and rape as our sisters have in many parts of Croatia and throughout Bosnia- Herzegovina, we are conscious that we may become the next victims."
Balloons were released with their messages "as the voices of women are not heard over the media and as our country is under embargo."
—Peace Media Service
AEI Receives Recycling Award
The Albert Einstein Institution was one of twenty-four Cambridge organizations honored on Earth Day, April 22, for excellence in reuse, recycling, and waste reduction. Jane Gharibian, AEI administrative coordinator, who set up the Institution's recycling program and who continues to be the driving force behind it, received the award on the Institution's behalf at a ceremony at Cambridge City Hall.
The Institution began its environmental effort as a result of an energy audit in 1989. After implementing the recommended enery-saving changes, the Institution embarked on an extensive recycling program that currently includes office paper, newspaper, magazines, catalogs, junk mail, cardboard boxes, and bottles and cans. The program diverts over 60% of the materials in the Institution's waste stream.
AEI has further reduced its waste by extensive reuse practices such as using scrap paper that has printing on one side for first drafts and scratch pads, reusing envelopes for in-house mailing, employing routing slips instead of multiple copies of memos, and reusing packaging materials. The Institution purchases recycled products for many of its office supplies and has all publications printed on recycled stock.
PNS Update
By Doug Bond
At the Program on Nonviolent Sanctions in Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, we’re focusing our research this year on the linkage of theory and data. We have begun to implement our ideas into a two-track, interactive effort to extend, refine, operationalize, and test theory against actual data on nonviolent direct action. For purposes of clarity, theory and data development are outlined separately below, but in practice the efforts are interactive, intertwined, and inseparable.]
With respect to theory development, we are examining the theoretical framework of nonviolent sanctions in comparative perspective. Toward this end, we have invited eight scholars from around the world to describe and assess a case of direct action that took place in their respective cultural settings in the late 1980s. These studies will provide diverse perspectives on our direct action framework. Against the backdrop of their diverse cultures and in the unique contexts of their respective cases, each scholar is addressing three questions. First, we ask them whether the terms and concepts as developed in our approach make sense and are helpful in explaining the actions in their respective cases. Second, we ask them whether the relations and interactions hypothesized to be operative in the framework, particularly the devolution of power, are evident in their cases. Third, we ask each of the contributors to comment on and make suggestions for our approach in terms of its explanatory power for their specific cases. The final part of this project is to integrate the criticisms and suggestions from each of the studies into a refined framework for understanding nonviolent direct action.
With respect to data development, a team of Program affiliates has recently launched a worldwide survey of direct action. The survey represents the culmination of a five-year effort to develop a protocol for monitoring and assessing the use and dynamics of actual cases of nonviolent direct action around the world. The need for the survey was first articulated at an October 1987 conference on nonviolent struggle, and since September 1988 the research team at the Program has been engaged in the design, development, pilot-testing, and refinement of a theory-driven framework that would enable us to complete such an ambitious survey. The first stage of the survey spans the twelve months of 1990. We will use a system of on-line data retrieval developed at the University of Kansas to screen the vast number of wire, newspaper, and other reports (Reuters, a news wire service, alone carried more than 50,000 reports for the year) for accounts of direct action, both violent and nonviolent, across the globe.
These two projects bespeak of the complexity and scope of the Program’s research into nonviolent direct action, research that is difficult to conduct without broad interaction with other scholars such as that stimulated and supported by our nonviolent sanctions seminar series. This focused interaction is especially useful given the nascent level of development in the field of research into nonviolent direct action. Useful also is the collaboration that is spawned by the regular visits of seminar speakers and participants. Individually and collectively, current affiliates of the Program are engaged in collaborative research projects with scholars at Catholic, Georgetown, and Notre Dame Universities as well as the University of Colorado at Boulder. The collaborative projects include a study of US peace movement organizations in the 1980s and the development of a research exchange to support joint studies of nonviolent direct action.
The Program on Nonviolent Sanctions is funded by the Albert Einstein Institution.
Germans Protest Neo-Nazism
Hundreds of thousands of Germans took to the streets January 30 to mark the sixtieth anniversary of Hitler’s appointment as Reich Chancellor and to express abhorrence at the recent rise of neo-nazi and racist activity.
The main demonstrations took place in Berlin and in the northeastern city of Rostock, which has experienced some of the worst outbursts of violence against foreign refugees in the last year. Demonstrations also took place in Munich, Hamburg and Frankfurt.
Over 100,000 people formed a "line of light" in Berlin, marching with banners proclaiming "never again" on a frosty evening through the Brandenburg Gate, location of a victory parade with torches organized by the Nazi Storm Troopers 60 years earlier. This year’s procession went on from Brandenburg Gate to August-Bebel Square where the Nazis used to hold book-burning sessions.
"Foreigners need friends" read the text on one banner. Speakers at the rally called upon the government to allow more immigration and defend its minorities. Secretary General of the Jewish Community Andreas Nachama reminded protesters that Jews in Germany are again afraid for their lives.
President Richard von Weizsacker attended the rally in Rostock which had the theme "We Say No to Violence." In a sign of solidarity with the refugees over 25,000 people created a line of light 15 kms long from the town square to a refugee center attacked by neo-nazis six months ago.
Von Weizsacker said that while the lines of light were no substitute for politics, they were a positive expression of concern and involvement. He made clear that, unlike the Weimar Republic, Germans these days are prepared to take an active part in democracy and show a readiness to defend it.
He expressed the wish that trust in political parties will grow this year.
In Bonn, Chancellor Helmut Kohl described Hitler’s rise to power as "a catastrophe for Germany and European history." He promised that the German democrats will "sharply resist those who use violence and terror."
Ignatz Bubis, the chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Germany, said the protests gave a visible sign that most Germans reject neo-nazism. "Such a majority did not exist 60 years ago," he said. He said conditions are better in Germany than in several other European countries because extreme right-wing groups total only five to six percent of the German population, while in France, Austria and Italy they are 14 to 15 percent.
—Peace Media Service
INFACT Ends GE Boycott
INFACT, the international corporate accountability group that waged a seven-year boycott of the General Electric Co., has declared victory. On April 2, GE closed the sale of its Aerospace Division to Martin Marietta, effectively removing GE from the nuclear weapons industry. INFACT responded by calling off the GE Boycott.
"GE has reacted to the concerns of millions of people," said INFACT Executive director Elaine Lamy. "They have decided that nuclear weapons is not a good business to be in, and they have opted out."
An estimated four million consumers participated in the GE Boycott, and 500 organizations internationally endorsed the campaign.
Nonviolent Sanctions in the News
News about nonviolent action may be overshadowed by all the war and violence that has dominated the headlines in recent months, but it hasn’t gone away. People around the world continue to use nonviolent action as a means of engaging in all sorts of conflicts. The following are some of the stories we found in the news this winter.
PARIS, Dec. 1 — With France busily trying to win allies in its fight against a United States-European Community farm trade agreement, tens of thousands of farmers from across Western Europe filled the streets of the French border city of Strasbourg today to protest the pact. (New York Times)
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 5 — A United Nations committee has unanimously voted to rebuke Myanmar, formerly Burma, over the refusal of its military rulers to surrender power to a democratically elected Parliament. (NYT)
BERLIN, Dec. 8 — More than 300,000 Germans marched peacefully through Munich today in one of the country’s largest demonstrations against intolerance, anti-Semitism and rightist violence.
The march began at disk with a 10-minute chorus of bells pealing from all the city’s major churches. After that, marchers bearing candles or lanterns walked silently through the historic city center for half an hour, forming a line that stretched nearly nine miles. When the silent vigil ended, they broke into songs and greetings. (NYT)
FRANKFURT, Dec. 14 (AP) — More than 400,000 people demonstrated yesterday in Frankfurt and Hamburg, Germany, to protest violence by radical rightists. In Frankfurt, more than 150,000 people attended a free open-air concert that featured 28 rock groups. (NYT)
TOKYO, Dec. 16 — Thousands of farmers rallied here today to protest recent hints by the Government that Japan would lift its ban on rice imports in order to prevent blocking negotiations for a new global trading treaty. (NYT)
WARSAW, Dec. 17 — In the largest industrial action since the fall of Communism in Poland in 1989, hundreds of thousands of coal miners have gone on strike to protest low wages and a Government reorganization that would eliminate 180,000 jobs in 10 years. (NYT)
BERLIN, Dec. 20 (AP) — More than a half million people took to the streets in cities across Germany today, just hours after arsonists threw firebombs at a refugee shelter in the Baltic coastal city of Greifswald. (NYT)
SEATTLE, Dec. 22 — With its billion-dollar tourism industry threatened by a boycott, the State of Alaska today canceled a plan to shoot hundreds of wolves from the air next year. (NYT)
FRANKFURT, Dec. 23 (Reuters) — More than 100,000 people gathered in the streets of Frankfurt yesterday to protest the recent wave of neo-Nazi violence in Germany. Holding candles high, Germans of all ages joined foreigners in a peaceful protest around Frankfurt’s city center to show their disgust at the attacks by extremists. (NYT)
BERLIN, Dec. 25 (AP) — About 200,000 people carrying candles and torches lined the streets of Berlin today in a Christmas protest against racism and right-wing extremism. (NYT)
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Reuters) — A human rights group said today that China had sentenced 10 Tibetans, mostly monks and nuns, to prison terms of as long as nine years for taking part in independence protests this year. (NYT)
KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 26 (Reuters) — Thousands of workers in the Ukrainian capital protested sharp price increases that took effect today as a result of deep cuts in state subsidies. (NYT)
BANGKOK, Dec. 26 (AFP) — Burma’s jungle-based dissident government has called for a nationwide campaign of noncooperation with the country’s ruling junta to begin on New Year’s Day.
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) issued the call in a statement released yesterday as Rangoon was making final preparations for a crucial constitutional convention due to begin January 9. (Bangkok Post)
NEW DELHI, Dec. 30 — Riding a tide of Hindu nationalism, India’s Hindu fundamentalist opposition party has decided to instigate months of nationwide strikes, demonstrations and political disruption in an effort to paralyze the Government and force elections. (NYT)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan. 18 (Reuters) — Haitians boycotted parliamentary elections today that the military-backed Government held in defiance of international diplomats who are trying to broker a settlement to the country’s political crisis. (NYT)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan. 21 (AP) — Members of an infantry unit tried to mutiny at a base outside the capital yesterday, but loyal soldiers quickly crushed the revolt, an army official reported, (Boston Globe)
LOMÉ, Togo, Jan 26 (AP) — The police fired on campaigners for democracy here on Monday, killing at least 20 people, European diplomats said today. (NYT)
BERLIN, Jan. 30 — Hundreds of thousands of Germans turned out for candlelight vigils and other antiracist observances today on the 60th anniversary of the day Hitler became Chancellor. (NYT)
NEW YORK, Jan. 31 — As Pentagon officials reviewed the practical aspects of dealing with homosexuals in the armed forces, protests against the ban continued. Demonstrators in Manhattan yesterday marched from Greenwich Village up the Avenue of the Americas toward the recruiting station in Times Square. (NYT)
NEW YORK, Feb. 1 (Reuters) — Nearly 300 Haitians stranded at the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, most of them infected with the virus that causes AIDS, have started a hunger strike and intend to fast until they are admitted to the United States, their leader and a lawyer for them said yesterday. (BG)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — Faced with a threat to its members’ high-wage jobs in a layoff-ridden economy, the United Mine Workers Union appeared prepared today for a long strike against the nation’s largest coal producer, the Peabody Holdings Company of St. Louis, a subsidiary of a large British company. (NYT)
JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 3 (AP) — Cab drivers, complaining that the traffic police harass them, blocked intersections in Johannesburg for a second day. A civilian pleaded with advancing troops not to use their guns and tear gas to quell the demonstrators. In the clash, one person was left dead and three hurt. (NYT)
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Feb. 4 (AP) — A strike against the nation’s No. 1 coal producer idled mines in Appalachia and the Midwest for a second day yesterday. . . .
The United Mine Workers went on strike on Monday against two Peabody Holding subsidiaries in a dispute over job security. The UMW said 7,500 miners walked out in five states, including Pennsylvania. Peabody Holding said the strike was limited to 5,000 workers in four states and that it forced the shutdown of 22 mines in West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. (Christian Science Monitor)
NEW DELHI, Feb. 11 — The Indian Government today prohibited a demonstration by the country’s main militant Hindu opposition party that leaders of the party said would have brought 1.5 million Hindu campaigners to New Delhi. They said they would go ahead with the protest anyway.
The demonstration, planned for Feb. 25, is the latest in a series of efforts by Hindu fundamentalists to drive the governing Congress Party from power and create a Hindu state in India. (NYT)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (AP) — Rev. Jesse Jackson threatened yesterday to organize a hunger strike in the United States unless the Clinton administration allows HIV-infected Haitians into this country. Jackson, who began a personal hunger strike Sunday, emerged from a meeting with White House Chief of Staff Thomas McLarty saying he supported Clinton’s Haitian policy, but he wants action within a week. (BG)
BANGKOK, Feb. 18 (AP) — The leader of a group of eight Nobel Peace Prize laureates urged the international community yesterday to join in demanding the release of Burma’s main opposition leader.
The Nobel laureates came to Thailand — they were denied entry to neighboring Burma — to focus world attention on Burma’s human rights violations and call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and 1,500 other political prisoners. Suu Kyi was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. (BG)
BANGKOK, Feb. 19 — A group of Nobel Peace Prize winners called today for Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to be suspended from the United Nations and placed under a complete arms embargo until it releases political prisoners and ends other human rights abuses. (NYT)
BERLIN, Feb. 28 (AP) — Charlotte Israel refused to fade away when the Nazis seized her Jewish husband. Blinded by rage, emboldened by love, she stood in the street and stared down the guns until he came home.
Fifty years later, she and hundreds of other such women are finally being honored as the rarest sort of Germans: People who publicly defied this century’s most evil regime, and won.
This Sunday marks the anniversary of the heart-stopping stand made by the "Rose Street Women," distraught wives who gathered on a Berlin street on Feb. 28, 1943, and successfully blocked the deportation—and likely deaths—of their Jewish husbands. (BG)
Download PDF file
|
|
