Category Archives: FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Colombia: A boost to implementation of the Peace Accords. National Congress for Peace

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An article by Hernán Camacho in Seminar Voz

More than 300 organizations in 18 departments signed on to the National Pact for Life and Peace.

It was more than just a peace initiative. The National Peace Congress, held between 27 and 29 April, became a mobilizer of a vision that can ead us along the path towards a stable and lasting peace. The expectations of the social organizations that convened the Congress were fulfilled, the agenda of new mobilizations and peace initiatives is already being confirmed, and most importantly, those attending the Congress signed the National Pact for Life and Peace.


Closing of the National Congress of Peace in the Place of Bolivar in Bogota.
Photo NC News.
(Click on photo to enlarge)

It was more than just a peace initiative. The National Peace Congress, held between 27 and 29 April, became a mobilizer of a vision that can ead us along the path towards a stable and lasting peace. The expectations of the social organizations that convened the Congress were fulfilled, the agenda of new mobilizations and peace initiatives is already being confirmed, and most importantly, those attending the Congress signed the National Pact for Life and Peace.

This pact is a commitment that describes the current reality of the implementation process of the Havana agreement, and the peace process in Quito with the ELN. But it also draws on what is happening today in the territories where there are conflict scenarios, Transition Areas of Normalization and in the territories where the Farc was present. A Pact for Life calls us to take the weapons out of national political life and to promote reconciliation among Colombians.

Difficulties

This was said in Bogota by the secretary general of the Colombian Communist Party, Jaime Caycedo, who attended the regional peace congress that was held at the Minuto de Dios University, on Friday, April 28: “Taking the weapons out of politics involves not just the insurgency, but those sectors that are based on paramilitarism and maintain a war against the forces of the left that propose an alternative to a corrupt and patronizing country, “said Caycedo.

And the concern, which the participants of the initiative mostly pointed out in the regional meetings, refers to the increase of the paramilitary presence in each one of the departments of the country. The main concern is in Chocó, Antioquia, Cesar, Meta, Caqueta, among others. Testimonies such as those of settlers in Cacarica and Urabá Antioquia, warn that there are paramilitary forces present with the approval of official troops. “The Army is paralyzed.”

Timing of renegotiation

But paramilitarism was not the only topic of discussion in the long days. For Senator Iván Cepeda of the Democratic Pole, the Peace Congress should mean a boost to the implementation process and attention to lost time and putting legislative initiatives on the fast track.

“The processes of renegotiation of the agreements need to be finished and that the legislative process for integral agrarian development should be initiated immediately,” said Cepeda, who invited the candidates and candidates for the Presidency of the Republic to Respect and commit to the signed peace accords.

The United Nations, represented by its resident Martin Santiago Herrero, said that his presence at the Peace Congress is a sign of the will of the international community to accompany each of the initiatives that contribute to the realization of peace.

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(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article

Question related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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“Peace is an opportunity for transformation and change in those regions that have suffered from the conflict. But experience also shows that the first 18 to 24 months are the most important in the implementation of the agreements. All efforts are necessary, “said Santiago.

The UN is concerned about three worrisome issues to consolidate peace. On the one hand, to safeguard the lives of human rights defenders and some cases of death to ex-combatants of the FARC and their families; On the other hand, the presence of criminal successor groups of the paramilitaries, and the need to advance the peace process with the ELN.

The intervention of Roberto Menéndez, Head of the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia of the OAS, was in the same vein. “The Peace Congress motivates the efforts made by the national government, insurgencies, communities, women, indigenous peoples, Afro peoples, workers and the people in generating them out of the tragedy of the conflict. But we must recognize that the Congress that boasts of having different visions of peace, “said Menendez.

Regional peace

For Green party leader Ángela María Robledo, the Peace Congress revealed that peace has a regional focus: “We are here to continue to accompany implementation and give unconditional support to the ELN peace talks. We have to take the weapons out of politics, we must strengthen the rule of law and we must focus on peace in the regions to transform the lives of the Colombians of the deep Colombia, “said Robledo.

The guerrilla commander Iván Márquez made an appearance and expressed his gratitude for the invitation to the FARC-EP. From the rostrum he noted: “The peace agreement of November 24 signed at the Teatro Colon, are more than 310 pages. It is the birth certificate of a transforming power that in the hands of the people and statesmen with vision, can be used to fill our homeland with humanity, inclusion, respect for the other and social justice. It is urgent to activate the great national political agreement mentioned in the introduction of the agreement that defines the reforms and institutional adjustments to address the challenges that peace demands by imposing a new framework of social coexistence, “said Márquez.

The fulfillment of the agreement that Iván Márquez demands, was reiterated by Commander Victoria Sandino, who denounced the lack of advances in the process of implementation of the agreements in the Congress and in the Transitional Areas of Normalization. “We are building a conflictive peace, starting with the situations of the paramilitary phenomenon unleashed throughout the national territory. They are killing the comrades and relatives. Peace can not be possible in the midst of death, “said Sandino.

Government

Another of the attendees was the ex-mayor of Bogotá Rafael Pardo, who noted that the next step in the implementation process will be the ambitious economic plan that should establish agricultural points to replace illicit crops. “May is the key month for implementation. These are major challenges, as the FARC must finish the arms embargo and the Government must present the Framework Implementation Plan, which has to do with points one and four for the next 15 years. This framework will regulate local and national development plans for the next three five-year periods and how they are to be executed. For this, it will be the Council for Economic and Social Policy who will set the budgetary frameworks for the agreements, “said Rafael Pardo who is now serving as post-conflict minister.

At the end of the day the conversation turned to the question: How is the process going with the ELN? The participants were Alberto Castilla as moderator, Juan Camilo Restrepo, chief negotiator of the Colombian government in Quito and guerrilla chief Eduardo Martínez, of the ELN. They stressed the importance of the participation of local communities because they are the ones that today suffer the war. “We will continue at the table, ready to advance in the path of difficulties, but with everyone involved,” said Eduardo Martinez.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

The Mindanao-Sulu Peace and History Education Project (Philippines)

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An article by Gail Ilagan for Minda News

Republic Act No. 10908 was signed into law on 21 July 2016, mandating the integration of Filipino-Muslim and Indigenous Peoples history, culture and identity in the study of Philippine History in both Basic and Higher Education. The law recognizes the ultimate objective of creating an inclusive history that accounts for all Filipinos, thus the need to integrate the history, culture and identity studies of Filipino-Muslims and Indigenous People in the grand narrative of Philippine history.


(Click on photo to enlarge)

Earlier in March 2016, the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) released its main report and recommended among others to “integrate in the curricula at all educational levels… subjects on Bangsamoro history, indigenous peoples’ history, and corresponding lessons in art, literature, and language by promoting intercultural exchange and cultural diversity.”

There is however a dearth of resources on Bangsamoro and Lumad history, art, literature, and language. Many Philippine History textbooks for Basic Education are largely silent, misrepresentative, confused, or vague on these topics. Teachers have been known to decry that they don’t know what to teach about Mindanao and its peoples and that they haven’t been given authoritative sources on Mindanao history. There is a need, therefore, to generate educational materials that Basic Education teachers of Philippine History can use in the implementation of RA 10908.

The Mindanao-Sulu History and Peace Education Project seeks to respond to this need. Funded by the World Bank and implemented through the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines (CEAP), the project was conceived by Fr. Albert E. Alejo, SJ, one of the staunchest advocates for the Writing Mindanao, Righting Mindanao campaign.

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Question for this article:

Can peace be achieved in Mindanao?

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For this project, however, writing about Mindanao was not about turning out lengthy expositions, such as were attempted in the past. The Timeline project sought instead to introduce Mindanao through bite-size pieces intended to raise initial interest. It used no more than 50-word blurbs crafted by professional writers to introduce political, economic, cultural, and ecological events identified by reputable academics such as Patricio Abinales, Macario Tiu, and Karl Gaspar to be highlights in Mindanao history.

These blurbs, accompanied by pictures from the MindaNews archives, were laid out in an infographic  that could theoretically be mounted on the classroom wall and referred to during history classes. The infographic, printed on tarpaulin, does not require an LCD player – thus it has particular utility in schools where there is no electricity.

Towards the end of 2016, the infographic was reviewed by the National Historical Institute, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, the Office of Muslim Affairs and, more recently, by the Jesuit Basic Education Council. At each stop in the review process, more items of interest were added, such that the final product consists of 211 items plotted on a 7-meter stretch of canvas.

In March 2017, a full year after the Mindanao Timeline project was conceived, the Department of Education and the CEAP invited Basic Education teachers in Regions V, VII, and IX to pilot workshops on the utility of the tarp as instructional resource. Project Manager Pauline S. Bautista put together a multi-disciplinary team – consisting of Pauline, Fr. Alejo,Bagong Lumad artist  Joey Ayala, ADDU Psychology Department chair Dr. Nelly Limbadan, and myself – to deliver on a design that introduced the timeline in a fun and interactive manner.

Dr. Limbadan designed the tools to measure the cognitive reframing impact of the infographic workshop on the participants. The results indicate that the material did indeed expand the associations the participants now have of Mindanao and its people and generated the interest to visit the southern islands to learn more about it. Moreover, the participants were now more ready to account for a sense of multicultural awareness in the way they would handle instruction on Mindanao history in the future.

Every school that was represented in the pilot will receive a copy of the final Timeline tarp accompanied by a bound compilation with a page dedicated to each item on the infographic.  It is hoped that Philippine History teachers in grade school and high school would use these materials to complement the textbooks they are using.

(Thank you to the Peace Education News for sending us this article)

East Asia, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

USA; Panel discussion on news and a ‘culture of peace’

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An article by John Darling for the Ashland Tidings

In a time of alternate facts, public bullying and intense polarization of our public life, how can we use the media to foster a culture of peace, rather than violence? That’s the question addressed Monday by a panel at Southern Oregon University called “Cultivating a Culture of Peace in an Era of Trump: What’s the Media’s Role?”


Photo by John Carling
Click on the image to enlarge

Citing the “unprecedented antagonism of the Trump administration to media,” Jeff Golden, producer of “Immense Possibilities” on Southern Oregon Public TV, said our challenges didn’t start Jan. 20, because, years ago, much of the media abandoned its role in public service and became driven by profit.

This trend greatly increases the need for independent media, he notes, and much of it can flower on the internet.

“We’d be in much deeper trouble than we are now if not for independent media. Our challenge is very deep,” he said.

In the process, the journalist who supports a culture of peace “may not appear very peaceful. Journalists have to be combative and warriors for our own rights. You’ll do a more valuable job building a culture of peace than those who want to lie down.”

David Wick, executive director of Ashland Culture of Peace Commission, agreed, noting, “We’re not saying ‘let’s all just be peaceful.’ There always will be conflict, but peace is a powerful force. It’s not just sitting by the river on Lullaby Lane.”

The discussion is part of Independent Media Week, now in its 13th year. Sponsors include KSKQ Community Radio, the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission, Southern Oregon Jobs With Justice and the UN Club of SOU.

Its goals include “transforming attitudes, behaviors and institutions (for) harmonious relationships, (especially now) when the information landscape has been roiled by new national leadership.” It’s theme this week is “A well-informed citizenry is a cornerstone of democracy.”

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Question(s) related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

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Hannah Jones, editor of SOU’s The Siskiyou newspaper, says the election “totally polarized us” leading her to “feel like a watchdog against someone who told us we’re wrong. We report the verifiable truth. It’s so easy to attack each other but that gets us in a culture of war and hate. People say journalism is dying, but it mustn’t.”

Several panelists referred to the slogan, “Speak truth to power,” coined by Bayard Rustin, a leader for social justice, nonviolence and gay rights, in 1942.

Journalists cyclically get too cozy with the powerful and begin to trust their sources too much, as happened with the widely liked Secretary of State Colin Powell as he claimed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, said Jason Houk of Southern Oregon Jobs With Justice.

Jones responded with, “You can’t have peace without the truth.”

Seeking to avoid conflict has often led to the opposite of a culture of peace, added Golden, noting the mainstream media “failed in its job” by accepting the official story that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, thus leading to a huge war.

“They didn’t want to be in conflict with President Bush,” he said, “and the results are there to see.”

Media are deeply self-examining now, as they were taught to be objective and balance opinions, said Golden, however, what do they do when faced with lies — and that the supposedly balancing point-of-view is comprised of alternate facts? And should journalists use the word “liar?”

David Adams, coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network, and a creator of the Culture of Peace movement (speaking via a video link from New Haven, Conn.), said the trend is that more and more people, informed by media, want democracy and oppose war. However, the state has come to “monopolize the culture of war and use media as a weapon … while they create incidents (of conflict) to convince people they have to have war.”

Daily Tidings Editor Bert Etling, a member of the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission, cited the “hurricane” in Washington, advocating actions “opposite of the culture of peace,” fragmenting and setting religions against each other, and trying to frame media and politics as an “us vs them … degrading what the media says … and the value of the information.”

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, North America

Día de la Madre Tierra (Earth Day), 2017

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A survey by CPNN

April 22, recognized as Día Internacional de la Madre Tierra (Mother Earth Day) by the United Nations, was celebrated throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Some of this year’s celebrations underline the link between care for the earth and the need for peace and disarmament.

Mexico

The World Embassy of Peace Activists celebrated International Mother Earth Day in the Torreón Urban Forest. The event sought to promote the protection of ecological balance and raise awareness among citizens about the deterioration of the planet by the “uncontrolled” use of nature and its impact on the safety and health of human beings. The embassy presented the Proclamation of Constitution of the Rights of Mother Earth. The document considers that it is necessary to establish a solid basis for a sustainable and resilient development and growth, where the interrelation between the rights of Mother Earth and the fundamental rights of human beings is recognized.

Bolivia

President Evo Morales, through his Twitter expressed Saturday that as children of Mother Earth our duty is to defend it, in the framework of the International Day of Mother Earth. “We are all children of Mother Earth, we come and we end in her, therefore, as sisters and brothers, our duty is to take care of her.” He says he is convinced that the planet would exist better without the human being while the human being would not live without the planet. Pachamama or death! The president asks how much was spent on the preservation of MadreTierra in 2016, when the capitalist budget for arms purchases was US $ 68 billion?

Trinidad and Tobago

As the world celebrated Earth Day yesterday, members of the National Council of Orisha Elders in T&T marked the occasion with a march through San Fernando praying for an end to violence. The procession began with prayers and offerings of olive oil, milk, water and honey to the earth by various priests in the Orisha faith at Kings Wharf, San Fernando, at 10 am yesterday. “It is done to elevate the female principle through our Mother of the Earth, through our Onile because of the crime situation in the country and the violence against women and children generally and to elevate the feeling of despair that permeates the land today.”

Chile

Chile commemorated International Earth Day with activities in different parts of the country including distribution of seeds in Santiago and a walk with astronomical observation in La Serena. “The activity intends that through a walk in contact with nature can observe the astronomical richness of the region, but also taking into account how light pollution has effects on climate change,” explained the representative of the Ministry of Environment of the Region Of Coquimbo, Eduardo Fuentealba.

Colombia

A hundred people, led by scientists and students of the National University of Colombia (UN), joined Saturday in the “March for Science” initiative that was born in the USA. In response to the cuts in funding for scientific research proposed by President Donald Trump. At the local level, the demonstration aimed to show the state that science is indispensable for progress in the economic, social and environmental fields. “Colombia has suffered budget cuts and there have been multiple state policies that threaten and restrict the capacities of science, and therefore of all its findings,” said UN geology student and logistics coordinator Maria Trinidad Ceferino

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Question for this article

What has happened this year (2017) for Earth Day?

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Honduras

Public and private environmental organizations in Honduras commemorated “Earth Day” with the planting of thousands of trees in urban and rural areas to raise awareness of the importance of caring for the planet. The crusade has also been joined by students from schools and colleges.

Nicaragua

The Sandinista Youth organized a walk and fair on Saturday in Juigalpa, to celebrate Earth Day. The tour of the main streets of the city is called ““Amor a la Naturaleza, Corazón Verde” (“Love to Nature, Heart of Green”) and its objective is to sensitize people about the importance of preserving Mother Earth with responsible attitudes that help protect natural resources, as well as flora and fauna. The activity included a varied cultural program, with cultural presentations, folkloric dances, competitions, and recognitions to young people that stand out in the protection of the environment.

Panama

Panama joins the international community in the commemoration of Earth Day with festivals, waste collection, tree planting and messages about the permanent responsibility of all to preserve the planet.”

Peru

Joining the commemoration of World Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, various educational and recreational activities take place in the zonal clubs and metropolitan parks of the capital, reported the Municipality of Lima. These activities promote the care of green areas, trees and biodiversity of these ecosystems that extend over more than 400 hectares in Lima. In the zone clubs Flor de Amancaes (Villa Maria del Triunfo); Huáscar (Villa el Salvador); Huiracocha (San Juan de Lurigancho), among others, there are parades, educational talks, storytelling, play activities, recycling workshops and small plants will be given to visitors. One of the most symbolic activities is the placement of messages in the branches of trees, as a call to citizens to express our commitment to mother earth.

Venezuela

The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, celebrated Earth Day through a message shared in his Facebook account where it was expressed that “ecosocialism is a concept that we have promoted from the Bolivarian Government, it is a hope to make a change real and meaningful “. In this reflection, he said that since 1970, World Earth Day has been celebrated, “in an attempt to raise awareness about the serious climatic problems that have been affecting the planet due to pollution, the indiscriminate use of natural resources and the lack of policies that preserve the environment. ”

Barbados

Barbadians are being urged to “pick up after themselves” after more than 200 bags of garbage was removed from a 12-kilometre stretch of West Coast beach yesterday. The exhortation has come from Gayle Talma, the group operations director of the Elegant Group of Companies as it spearheaded a clean-up campaign as part of Earth Day.

Argentina

Argentina joins the international community in the commemoration of Earth Day with workshops, ecological activities and even the country’s first “bio festival” of music, held in the city of Rosario.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Earth Day in North America

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A survey by CPNN

Earthday, April 22, was celebrated in all 50 states of the USA and most of the provinces of Canada.

The central theme for many of the events was the March for Science which affirmed the need for scientific research, especially regarding the problem of global warming, and in reaction against the policies of US President Donald Trump who is cutting support for this research. The largest march was in Washington, D.C. where tens of thousands of people turned out behind the banner shown below.


Click on photo to enlarge
photo credit: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

According to ABC News, “… famed American scientist Bill Nye, an honorary co-chair of the event, delivered a speech to a huge crowd in pouring rain. ‘Show the world that science is for all. Our lawmakers must know and accept that science serves every one of us,’ Nye said before shouting out, ‘Save the world!’ Even with the rain, thousands of people packed the Washington Monument grounds for the start of the march Saturday morning. Some were clad in white lab coats while others carried handmade signs calling for funding for scientific research. At least 27,000 Facebook users said they were attending the march in Washington, D.C.”

According to the same source, satellite marches were set for more than 600 cities in addition to Washington and including New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Des Moines, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Austin, Miami, San Francisco, Mobile, Oklahoma City, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Paris, Munich, Berlin and many more.

A survey of crowd sizes in 209 cities and towns across the United States was listed as of April 28 in Wikipedia indicating that between half a million and one million people took part in the marches.

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Question for this article

What has happened this year (2017) for Earth Day?

(Survey continued from left column)

Descriptions and photos of satellite marches for science were published from Victoria, British Columbia, Winnepeg, Manitoba, Flagstaff, Arizona, Berkeley, California, Hartford, Connecticut, Kansas City, Kansas, St Paul, Minnesota, Roswell, New Mexico, Portland, Oregon, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Rapid City, South Dakota, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Salt Lake City, Utah, Seattle, Washington and Riverton, Wyoming.

Earthday fairs with educational activities such as booths about ecological initiatives were held in many towns and cities, including Edmonton, Alberta, Unionville, Delaware, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, Crystal Lake, Illinois, Valparaiso, Indiana, Springfield, Massachusetts, Kalamazoo, Michigan, St. Louis, Missouri, Salem County, New Jersey, Durham, North Carolina and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Tree planting was a favorite earthday activity, as in Montreal, Quebec, Ashland, Kentucky, Billings, Montana and South Burlington, Vermont.

Another favorite activity was community environmental clean-ups as in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Orange County, California, Marshalltown, Iowa, Southern Maine, Baltimore, Maryland, Martha’s Vinyard, Massachusetts, Ashtabula County, Ohio, Central Falls, Rhode Island, Berkeley County, South Carolina, and Portage, Wisconsin

In many cases events were held by universities, including Arkansas State University, Mississippi State University, Virginia Tech University, West Virginia University and the University of Hawaii

Special internet sites and facebook pages were established to publicize the many earthday events in Hamilton, Ontario, Omaha, Nebraska, Reno, Nevada, Austin, Texas as well as all of Texas and Louisiana.

Participants could choose from a wide range of earthday events according to the calendars published for Alabama, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Ontario, Fairbanks, Alaska, Colorado Springs, Colorado, South Florida , Atlanta, Georgia, New Hampshire and New York, New York.

Especially unique and appropriate was the earthday event in North Dakota, where the horseback riders of the indigenous Dakota Exile Healing Ride celebrated the “Sweet Corn Treaty” that occurred in 1870 with the Chippewa and Sioux tribes. They called for “sharing our homelands and responsibilities to the lands, and water as well as respect for each other’s cultures and traditions by sharing once again as Dakota did”.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, North America

Madrid, Spain: International Conference on Security, Conflict and Cross-cultural Dialogue

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An announcement from the International Conference on Conflict and Aggression (CICA) (abbreviated)

We would like to inform that the coming 42nd CICA (International Conferences on Conflict and Aggression) will take place in Madrid, Spain, from 18th to 20th September 2017.

The main goal of this 42nd CICA, organized by the Nebrija-Santander Global Chair for Management of Risks and Conflicts (Center for Conflict Studies, Nebrija University) and the Spanish Pugwash National Group, will be an opportunity to exchange our ideas on the main issues in the broad field of Conflict and Aggression, with a specific focus on the current knowledge and research on Conflict and Cross-cultural Dialogue, emphasizing that problems or disputes cannot be permanently resolved through the use of military force, but through respect, tolerance and dialogue. This, indeed, may be a quite effective tool for bridging the diverse cultures and, consequently, for solving many of the conflicts of today’s world, characterized by a dynamic interchange of populations with very diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Consequently, the main, but not exclusive, topics of this conference are: international conflict and security problems, with a special focus on migrations and refugees, and their possible solutions; values and risks of cross-cultural societies; and the crosscultural dialogue as a mean for overcoming this kind of conflicts.

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Question(s) related to this article:

Global meetings, conferences, assemblies, What is the best way for delegates to interact afterwards?

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For this purpose, we have the tentative active participation of reputed scholars from different continents and from different cultures and fields of expertise. Among them, the following keynote speakers:

Hon. Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, President of the Parliament., Luxembourg.

Sheikh Dr. Hojjat Ramzy, Executive Member of the Muslim Council of Britain. U.K.

Prof. Saideh Lotfian, Chair, International Council, Pugwash Movement (Nobel Peace Prize 1995). Iran.

Ms. Emina Omanovic, Secretary General, ABACUS., Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Hon. Amiira Neff, President of l’Alliance Globale MGF. Switzerland.

Prof. Predrag Vujovic, Founder and President. PublicRelations Business School, Serbia.

Dr. Abraham Haim, President of the Council, Sefardi Community of Jerusalem. Israel.

George Rayess Yazbeck, Interpreter & Journalist., Líbano.

* * * * * *

Please, submit communications abstracts by July 15th, 2017 (notification of acceptance will be e-mailed in one week), and early registration deadline: July 30th, 2017. The submitted contributions (with title, authors with short biosketches, and about 300 words abstracts) may have the form of:

1. Oral (duration: about 20 min) and Poster presentations

2. Symposium (3-4- talks on a common topic, with a total duration of about 90 min)

3. Languages: English and Spanish

An edited volume based on the most outstanding contributions of the conference will be published by a prestigious international Publisher.

For their submission and more information, you may contact us, writing directly to both the following e-mail addresses:
• cica@nebrija.es
• agressionresearch@med.ucm.es

In any case, we would be grateful for spreading the attached invitation and draft program throughout your respective networks. Since this is meant to be a multidisciplinary event, the widest diversity in backgrounds (business, science, government, international organizations, civil society, media, etc.) will be welcome.

Europe, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Colombia: Santos Welcomes Approval of Special Jurisdiction for Peace

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An article by Prensa Latina

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos welcomed today [Mar 14] the approval in Congress of the bill that will create the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), considered the backbone of the agreement with the FARC-EP.


President Santos

In his Twitter account, the President thanked the Senate for the validation of that rule on the eve – by 60 votes against two – during his final debate, one of the most controversial of the package planned to implement what was agreed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia- People’s Army (FARC-EP), currently under disarmament.

The JEP sets up courts to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for the long war with the premises of zero impunity for crimes against humanity, but envisions pardons and amnesties in cases of political and related crimes.

It is the pillar for reconciliation, insisted the Executive when referring to the importance of such a mechanism aimed at implementing transitional justice, which contributes to move from war to a scenario of detente.

The heated discussions and absenteeism of some parliamentarians had hampered the passage of the aforementioned bill, so last night’s analysis was accompanied by representatives of victims’ organizations and other citizens in favor of the agreement with the FARC-EP.

Promoters of the popular initiative ‘Eye to the peace’, created to promote the implementation of the agreement between the Government and that guerrilla, remained on the outskirts of the Capitol and even within the Senate grounds to demand the validation of the JEP.

This methodology is part of an comprehensive system designed to clarify the truth, to apply justice, to repair damages caused to those directly affected by the confrontation (totaling almost eight million) and to offer guarantees of non-repetition.

(Click here for a Spanish version of this article.)

Question(s) related to this article:
FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

The European Union, the Colombian Government and the civil society work together in the project: “Community Radios for Peace and Coexistence”

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An article by Radios Comunitarias para la Paz (translated by CPNN)

With the presence of the Ambassador in Colombia of the European Union, the High Commissioner for Peace, the Minister of Culture and the Vice-Minister of ICT, an ambitious project of support for community radio is being launched on Thursday 9 February. It seeks to strengthen community radio as a relevant actor in the construction of peace and coexistence.


The project “Community Radios for Peace and Coexistence”, is funded by the Delegation of the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Cooperative Network Of Community Media of Santander, Resander. The project has the support of the Presidency of the Republic through the Conversación más Grande del Mundo, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (OACP), the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies .

This project is in addition to other initiatives that recognize the community radios as protagonists of peace building in the territories, and who have confidence in the potential that this sector has. This has been expressed by the European Union Delegation in Colombia, whose Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarías is convinced of the fundamental role that community radio plays in building a stable and lasting peace: “Peace is in the regions and it is there The community broadcasters have their goals, their broadcasts and their audiences. They contribute to strengthening the social fabric and reconciliation, “said the diplomat.

In order to strengthen community radio broadcasters as relevant actors in the construction of a territorial peace and, taking advantage of the celebration of Journalist’s Day, it will open with the program: “This is how peace sounds in the territories”, which will support 50 community stations, granting them more than 600 million pesos for the production and broadcast of radio programs with contents on a culture of peace and coexistence. This figure is in addition to the more than one billion pesos that the project will deliver to the community radio sector during 2017.

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(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article

Question related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

Journalism in Latin America: Is it turning towards a culture of peace?

How can peace be promoted by radio?

(Article continued from left column)

The launch will coincide with the National Meeting of Regional Networks of Community Radios that will gather in Bogota, about 70 percent of the representatives of more than 600 community stations in the country.

This launch is also the opening of the 5th Workshop: Building Peace and Culture of Coexistence from the Community Radio in which radio broadcasters from the center of the country and six journalists from stations located in Transitional Zonal Transitional Areas (ZVTN) will participate. Representatives of community stations in Anorí, Ituango, Remedios (Antioquia), San José del Guaviare, El Retorno (Guaviare) and Policarpa (Nariño) will be present, whose communication work is vital not only for the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement, but also to achieve the reconstruction of the social fabric of territories and to emerge from the conflict.

Community Radio is an actor and agent of local change. Its journalists know the region in which they live and understand it in all its dynamics. It is also a first-hand amplifier of the concerns, needs, visions and dreams of the communities on this path that Colombia has begun towards reconciliation and peace building. This is evidenced by the 90 second micro-pedagogical messages that have produced about 140 community radio broadcasters throughout the country in the IV workshops that this project has done so far.

 “The philosophy and the missionary aspects of community radio, as an actor of development close to the communities from the communication in the territories, constitutes great potential in this post-conflict era in Colombia,” says Fernando Tibaduiza, Manager of the project.

it is very important to have the assistance of the European Union, Resander and the Colombian Government as allies, in launching and making visible this joint work, which strengthens communication from the local level for the construction of a peaceful Colombia.

For more information contact Luisa Fernanda López, luisalopez@radioscomunitariasparalapaz.co, 3003077819

You can download all the press material (photos, videos, announcements, profiles etc.) at this link>

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

16th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

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Press release form the 16th World Nobel Peace Prize Summit (translated by CPNN)

With their final declaration, gathering their thoughts and messages to the world, the 30 or so laureates participating in the 16th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates formally closed their meeting, which for the first time took place in Latin America.


Click on photo to enlarge
At the closing ceremony of the Summit, held on Saturday, February 4, at 5:30 p.m. in Corferias, their Peace Prize was presented as a recognition to an important world leader for his Actions oriented to peace; as well as the Social Activist Medal for a Colombian leader, and the Social Transformation Award for a youth project that promotes positive change on a local or global scale.

Culture, as an integral and transversal part of this Summit, was also present at the closing ceremony, with presentations by the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, artists César López, Marta Gómez and other special guests that surprised the audience.

FINAL DECLARATION

We, the Nobel Peace Prize laureates, gathered in Bogota to promote world peace and support the efforts of the Colombian people’s to achieve a just and lasting peace, welcome President Juan Manuel Santos to the Nobel family. We congratulate him on the agreement reached to end the internal armed conflict of 52 years. We thank the people, the Colombian civil society, and in particular the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, for their extraordinary support for this Summit.

We are also here in Colombia to share with the Colombian people our own experiences in building peace and to seek a consensus on the fundamental principles that should guide the paths that lead to it.

We welcome the recent signing in November 2016 of the agreement between the Colombian Government and the FARC guerrillas, which ended the last and longest armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere, a conflict that left more than 8 million victims and displaced persons, as well as more than 220 thousand dead.

We highlight some characteristics of the peace process in Colombia, which can be taken as lessons for other conflicts to be resolved in the world:

– The positive and negative experiences of other processes were considered and taken into account.
– The negotiation started from a fundamental postulate: central to the solution of the conflict is the claim and guarantee of the rights of the victims to the truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition.
– An innovative model of transitional justice was achieved that, while respecting international standards, seeks to achieve maximum justice without sacrificing peace.
– The process was carried out in an environment of discretion, patience and seriousness, with periodic communications to the media, avoiding the pressure to produce news or results every day.

We call on the international community to accompany and support the implementation of the peace process in Colombia. This includes ensuring the presence of the State and its services in areas most affected by the conflict; demining of the territory; implementation of the transitional justice system; rural development programs, replacement of illicit crops and reparation for victims; the fight against violence generated by criminal gangs, such as those formed by former paramilitaries, and the reincorporation of ex-guerrillas into civilian life, including the participation of FARC in the political process, once disarmament has been completed.

The agreement to terminate the conflict in Colombia has been the best news of peace on the planet in a long time. That is why, as laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize, we pledge to support the consolidation of that peace, for the benefit of Colombians, the Latin American region and the world.

We also receive with special consideration “The Charter of Colombia: 10 Principles for Peace”, which President Santos has proposed to this Summit for support by his fellow laureates and for international dissemination.

We are confident that the example of Colombia will inspire peoples who face other conflicts to persist in their efforts to find a just and lasting peace.

Challenges to world order and peace have been increasing in recent years and represent a huge challenge for the international community and multilateral institutions. We are deeply concerned about the threat to global cooperation of the new wave of populism, exclusionary nationalism and protectionism. The threats facing humanity can only be addressed if we continue to cooperate globally.

The greatest existential threats to humanity today are climate change and environmental degradation, and the continued existence of more than 14,000 nuclear weapons. The arms race, the continuing wars, the dictatorships, the terrorism – including the terrorism of State -, in their diverse facets and denominations, have sowed and continue to sow death and pain in many countries. We recognize that terrorism can be better combated if social justice, democratic institutions and good governance are guaranteed. The war in Syria and the drama of its population is a wound in the consciousness of humanity that does not stop bleeding. The crisis of refugees and migration continues to escalate. The various migratory waves that we have experienced in recent decades require an unprecedented effort of human solidarity and long-term strategic planning. We must be on our guard to avoid politicizing humanitarian aid. We express our extreme concern about the bombing of hospitals and schools. Other global crises, such as endemic poverty, social injustice, child labor, urban violence, sexual violence against women and children, trafficking in persons, drug trafficking and the devastating effects of the war on drugs continue to claim victims In various regions of the world, and impede sustainable development. In the face of these threats and challenges facing peace, we issue a CALL TO ACTION by the international community, by governments, civil society, youth and the private sector – to:

(Article continued in the column on the right)

(Click here for the original version of this article in Spanish)

Question related to this article:
 
Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

(Article continued from the column on the left)

* Implement the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and advance a coherent global strategy that will ensure the long-term protection of our precious planet;

* Work for inclusive development and sustainable peace, addressing the root causes of poverty and war, giving priority to the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and urge the international community to allocate the necessary financial resources for its implementation;

* Renew the vision of a world without nuclear weapons and support the urgent negotiation of a new treaty to prohibit them, leading to their complete elimination;

* Confirm the need to eradicate other weapons that particularly affect the civilian population, such as anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, as well as to preemptively prohibit fully autonomous weapons, and to control the possession and use of small arms;

* Advance in the development and implementation of coherent and interrelated policies that promote a harmonious and sustainable development of our societies and that generates peace, prosperity and well-being for all – particularly for marginalized children, young people and women -, emphasizing the importance of reducing inequality;

* Work on the compelling evidence that our world will only achieve higher levels of peace, prosperity and development if the rights of women, children and minorities are reflected in peace processes, public policies and budget allocations with clear commitments that lead to more inclusive leadership;

* Promote integrated and inclusive policies that generate productive and quality education and employment that benefit young people, women, victims and those displaced by violence, who are reintegrated into society after a peace process, as well as those discriminated against for ethnic, racist, religious, gender, disability or any other reasons, so that they can be incorporated into the labor force; We call upon States to combat hate speech based on any of these motivations;

* Call on all sectors to make concerted action to end human trafficking, modern slavery, sexual exploitation, child labor and all forms of violence against women and children;

* Advance concerted actions at the global, regional, national and local levels to combat drug trafficking, narco-politics and corruption, and accelerate the process of civil disarmament, always within parameters of protection and guarantee of human rights; We must not allow the criminalization of human rights defenders and we must resolutely oppose new forms of racism, discrimination or xenophobia;

* Promote campaigns and program development in which youth, teachers, civil society, social and technological networks take a responsible and active part in order to strengthen a culture of peace;

* Urge States to include public policies that promote and strengthen education for peace;

* Develop a complete, modern and effective operational peace architecture, including improving the means for resolving international disputes and disputes, for sustainable peace and for advancing a broad, common and inclusive strategy to end conflicts, war and the threat of war;

* Defend and revitalize the United Nations, strengthening the supremacy of law at the international level and at the level of the member countries of the organization, and condemning impartially and forcefully all violations of human rights, violations of international humanitarian law, repression and persecution of peaceful opposition, and the massacres of civilians carried out with impunity; We call upon States and the international community to ensure the rule of law;

We invite the States, peoples and religions of the world to recognize and understand the interdependence between people, communities and nations, in a sense of unity, compassion and solidarity. Only in this way can we transform the Earth – the common home of the human family – into a world in peace.

Nobel Peace Laureates who confirmed their participation in the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Bogota:

Lech Wałęsa
Óscar Arias Sánchez
Rigoberta Menchú Tum
José Ramos-Horta
Jody Williams
David Trimble
Shirin Ebadi
Mohamed El-Baradei
Leymah Gbowee
Tawakkul Karman
Kailash Satyarthi
Juan Manuel Santos

Click
here to see a history of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.

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LuxLeaks: The case and the latest news from Luxembourg

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Extracts from the website to Support Antoine Deltour

LuxLeaks is the disclosure of hundreds of tax agreements between Luxembourg authorities and multinational companies, bringing to light a large-scale tax avoidance planning. LuxLeaks is also the name of the investigation conducted by the l’International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) on the disclosed documents.


Me Philippe Penning, Antoine Deltour, and Me William Bourdon © Comité de soutien à Antoine Deltour – CC BY-SA 4.0
Click on the image to enlarge

LuxLeaks “dropped the bomb” and provoked many indignant reactions all over the world. By bringing the tax rulings issue to the worldwide governing authorities –notably the G20 Brisbane Summit and the European Commission– it fostered democratic discussions that will progressively lead to reinforce fiscal justice.

Antoine Deltour, [along with Raphaël Halet] is one of the whistleblowers behind the disclosure of many of the LuxLeaks documents. Today Antoine is on trial in Luxembourg. He needs your support!

Read more on Wikipedia.

LuxLeaks Appeal trial: Fifth and last hearing

The LuxLeaks appeal trial ended on January 9th. On the agenda of the day: the replies from all sides to prosecutor indictment and to the defendants’ lawyers’ pleadings.

Some forty supporters came from France and a few others from Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

Prosecutor’s reply

Prosecutor Mr. John Petry begins his reply by recognising Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet as whistleblowers: according to him, “the public interest is not subject to interpretation”. However, apprently trying by all manner of means to justify the conviction of Antoine, he considers that they “can’t benefit from full protection” because they do not meet all the criteria established by the European Court of Human Rights’s jurisprudence. Petry particularly blames Antoine for not being “animated with the intention of a whistleblower” at the time he copied the documents.

Considering the prejudice caused, the prosecutor asserts that “the end doesn’t justify the means”: the “LuxLeaks operation” would have “named and shamed the professionals and clients” and would therefore be considered disproportionate in the light of its public interest.

Only the massive and public feature of the revelations seems to cause problem to John Petry, who even asserts that “if the documents had been used only for the ‘Cash Investigation’ broadcast, acquittal could be a serious option”.

Concerning Raphael Halet, Prosecutor Petry simply considers that the documents he copied would be “irrelevant”, and that their disclosure was “not a necessity”. The acquittal would therefore not be justified.

Finally, in the case of the journalist Édouard Perrin, Prosecutor Petry says he is “very embarrassed” by an appeal that he does not consider “justified”. He recognizes that “the indictment of a journalist in a democratic society should be an exception”, he asks –unsurpringly– for the acquittal of Édouard Perrin.

Plaintiff’s reply [Editor’s note: The plaintiff, PwC, is PricewaterhouseCoopers, the second largest professional services firm and one of the four largest accounting firms in the world.)

Mr. Hansen, plaintiff PwC’s lawyer, maintains his position: “The defense wants to make us believe that an individual conception of morality can be a justification for violating the law”. Then he tries to challenge Antoine’s defense in relation to the European Court of Human Rights’s jurisprudence and reaffirms that Antoine had “no whistleblowing intention at the time he robbed the documents”. Furthermore, Hansen believes that Antoine “gave no consideration to the interests of his employer”. Hansen considers that the damage caused to his client represents “several thousand hours of work lost”, and that, if PwC’s turnover has increased, it is “in spite of the theft of documents, not because of theft”.

Considering Raphaël Halet case, the plaintiff’s lawyer reproaches Halet –as the prosecutor– of having “brought nothing to the public debate”.

In concluding, Hansen gave a rather vindictive reply. He called on the Court of Appeal to uphold the civil judgment and to recognize PwC as a “victim”.

(Article continued in the right column.)

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

Question(s) related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

The courage of Mordecai Vanunu and other whistle-blowers, How can we emulate it in our lives?

(Article continued from left column)

Reply of Antoine Deltour’s lawyers

Mr. Philippe Penning, Antoine’s Luxemburgish lawyer, begins by recalling the almost daily progress on tax transparency, which are “the consequences of the LuxLeaks affair”. He then asks, bewildered: “Deltour’s hesitation and the efficiency of the LuxLeaks revelations would lead him to his loss? There is a serious problem!”. The Luxemburgish lawyer also calls on his compatriots to avoid any “self-protection reflex”; He asserts that “Luxembourg survived the war and the oil shock and will survive the end of mass tax rulings”. The audience applauds.

Mr. William Bourdon then takes the floor. He welcomes the fact that the appeal process has brought “better legal questions than at the first instance” and denounces an “intellectual kidnapping” used as a last resort to “take the judicial scalp of Antoine Deltour”. He strongly contests the need to add a “criterion of determination” to justify whistleblower’s good faith, even considering that such jurisprudence would have “damaging, terrible, irrational, perverse, and toxic consequences!”. He recalled that several months before the documents were copied, Antoine already proved his intention by signing a blog comment with the signature “Insider, maybe future whistleblower”.

Mr. Bourdon denounces the plaintiff that has difficulty in justifying itself, he ironizes on the so-called prejudice by questioning: “What is this mute assembly of hurt clients? Not even one document can prove a prejudice!”.

Mr. Bourdon concludes by stating that “in order to be consistent with the European Court of Human Rights’s jurisprudence, the Court must acquit Antoine Deltour”. New round of applause.

Reply of Raphaël Halet’s lawyers

After a short break, the hearing resumes with the reply of Mr. Bernard Colin, for the defense of Raphaël Halet. Colin comes back widely on his denunciation of the illegality of tax rulings’ practice in Luxembourg before 2014. Returning in detail to the “legislative loophole” governing Marius Kohl’s work at the famous Bureau #6, Mr Colin believes that, “by giving the keys to PwC”, the rule of law has been flouted. He calls for the acquittal of his client.

Ms. May Nalepa, second lawyer of Raphael Halet, emphasizes the irony of the reproaches made to Deltour on the massive nature of his revelations, and on the opposite, the reproaches made to Halet on the lack of substance of his leaks: “the next whistleblower will have to be a real tightrope walker to find out the right balance!”.

Reply of Édouard Perrin’s lawyers

Unsurprisingly, Édouard Perrin’s lawyers greet the prosecutor who said he was “embarrassed” by the appeal on their client. Ms. Christel Hénon and Mr. Olivier Chappuis affirm that it would even be “unthinkable” that Perrin be convicted of common law offenses. They naturally call “a last time” for the journalist’s acquittal.

The final words to the defendants

Antoine Deltour speaks first. He begins with confirming his declaration done during the first instance: “I followed a citizen’s approach”. Antoine recognizes that he “did not anticipate the repercussions of the LuxLeaks affair” –no one could– but he insists that he had “obviously intended to draw attention to these practices”. Fearing for his employability or possible legal consequences, Antoine says he could “not act hastily”. As to the proportionality of the damage caused, he recalls that the options for disclosure devised by the prosecution would doubtlessly not have resulted in such a clear public interest.

Antoine then concludes: “I wouldn’t understand a condemnation for having acted as a citizen concerned about the general European interest”. Sustained applause in the room.

Raphaël Halet then speaks up, very incisive: “This trial should be that of tax evasion and the people who covered it!”. Halet insists on Marius Kohl’s administration as a “black hole”. He finally concludes: “Condemning the messenger has never brought victory to a war. On the contrary, it should be the war against tax evasion!”.

Édouard Perrin finally speaks briefly, humbly presenting his apologies to Halet and Deltour “for having brought them in this judicial adventure”. The journalist wishes to thank the two whistleblowers, who have “acted in the general interest”.

Verdict on March 15th

Today’s very dense hearing ends the appeal LuxLeaks trial. Mr. Michel Reiffers, President of the Appeal Court, announces that he defers decision of the verdict. The judgment will be delivered on March 15th, 2017.

Let’s hope for the acquittal of the three defendants!

Europe, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION