Beyond Demonstrations: Towards Long Term peace Objectives
Vas
and Lisa Shend’ge attended the Spring Study Tour at QCEA. They
now contribute to Around Europe thoughts on a concern which germinated
on that tour.
People want Peace! In their millions, all over the world, they demonstrated
peacefully against the bombing of Iraq to express their yearning
for peace.
It
is now time to go beyond demonstrations and for governments everywhere
to meet this global yearning for peace by installing a Culture of
Peace at the very heart of the seats of power all over the world.
Peace needs to be part of government vocabulary everywhere.
These
thoughts came to us, when we were on QCEA’s annual Tour of
European Institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg while the bombing
of Iraq was actually going on. Listening to each speaker, we kept
wondering where the word “Peace” came into the work
of these institutions. None of the various speakers, when questioned,
could give us a satisfactory answer. Thus, our interest in mainstreaming
peace began in April 2003.
A Culture
of Peace, for us, is a situation in which it is taken for granted
that differences between individuals, groups, communities, religions
and nations can and must be resolved with justice and fairness and
without resort to intimidation or violence. A massive advance towards
this happy state could be achieved if some (or all) of the following
measures were taken.
•
Central Governments, in the UK, in Europe, in the Commonwealth and,
indeed, all over the world, establish Ministries or Departments
of Peace and appoint a Minister/Secretary of State (or equivalent)
for Peace in their Cabinets.
•
The European Union appoints a Commissioner for Peace in the Commission.
•
The Council of Europe and the Commonwealth appoint a Committee for
Peace and also produce Conventions for Peaceful Co-existence (using
the example of the European Convention for Human Rights), which
can be signed up to by member countries.
•
Major countries adopt the practice of appointing Peace Attachés
(similar to cultural or defence attachés) to their diplomatic
missions.
If
these ideas seem unrealistic, remember that the incorporation of
Human Rights into national legislation was also thought unrealistic
by some when it was first suggested. Today, Human Rights are incorporated
into most European legislation.
The
hope is that national and international affairs everywhere will
increasingly be rooted in the Culture of Peace and that the Culture
of Peace will eventually be accepted by everyone all over the world
as an essential part of our human activities and existence.
Like
the saying, “Justice has not only to be done but has to be
seen to be done”, everyone needs to see a culture of peace
firmly installed in the structures of their governments and see
it being put into practice in its everyday workings. This can only
be achieved if peace is seen to be receiving at least equal prominence
in national affairs (including the media) to that given to “defence”
or “trade”. Some call this process Mainstreaming Peace.
We
arrived at these ideas as a direct result of our Quakerism and our
aim is to focus the attention of concerned citizens and their leaders
to bring about the necessary changes in government thinking to Mainstream
Peace. We would welcome similar efforts by like-minded people and
organisations everywhere.
This
is our witness to our Quaker Peace Testimony. Your comments and
feedback would be very welcome. Please send these to Vas and Lisa
Shend’ge directly and to QCEA.
Vas
and Lisa Shend’ge
Email:
shendge@gn.apc.org and mweitsch@qcea.org
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Corporate
Social Responsibility Forum Continues
The
European Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility
that QCEA participates in, has been making some progress.
The
first wave of meetings, of the four roundtables on specific issues,
has been held on schedule, but the high level plenary session to
review the progress made had to be postponed due to a strike at
the European Commission. This meant that the review of the first
wave had to be held after two of the second wave of roundtables
had already been held.
As
part of the review, the NGOs participating in the Forum, wrote a
letter* expressing their concerns over the process so far and doubts
over whether the Forum will be able to fulfill its objectives in
any meaningful way. In particular, the NGOs expressed their concern
over the lack of leadership shown by the European Commission in
its chairing of the roundtables, which makes it very difficult to
see how the discussions between the members [Business organisations,
Trade Unions and NGOs] can be drawn together and how clear and specific
recommendations for action can be made, in line with its aims.
Shortly
before the delayed plenary session was held, the NGOs received a
response* to their letter. The letter’s concerns were re-iterated
at the high-level plenary. It remains to be seen if this process
will adequately address the extremely complex and controversial
area of Corporate Social Responsibility, even in the limited way
set out in the European Multi-Stakeholder Forum’s mandate
[It is due to report in July 2004].
Owen
Espley
* The
NGOs’ Letter and the Commission’s response are available
on the QCEA website
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Canadian
Anti-Terrorism Legislation
We
have received the following minute from Canada Yearly Meeting and
thought we would share it with Around Europe readers. It is a useful
and timely reminder that we must all be vigilant about the legislation
being passed by our governments ‘in the interests of our safety’.
Statement
regarding Canada’s anti-terrorism legislation approved by
Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
during its annual sessions, 2-9 August 2003 at Montebello, QC.
We
have more than one reason to concern ourselves with the anti-terrorism
legislation now in process. There is an historic and continuing
connexion between our belief in that of God in everyone, and our
traditional work to ensure the equal treatment of all persons. Secondly,
as a people engaged in publishing Truth, Friends themselves have
experienced their share of arbitrary arrest, and detention without
due process. Lastly, state legislation, because it deals with our
relationships with one another and with the social frameworks that
support those relationships, is a spiritual concern appropriate
to Friends.
We
believe that the new Canadian anti-terrorism legislation was developed
to appease the anxieties of the present US Administration rather
than to answer any evident need within Canada; and that pre-existing
Canadian and international law was already more than sufficient
for purposes of reasonable security.
The
new legislation, both through intention and poor drafting, is likely
to have damaging effects. It can be used to criminalize dissent.
It disproportionately threatens those already vulnerable as members
of minority groups: immigrants, naturalized Canadians, refugees,
Muslims and indigenous peoples. By the threat of unjust surveillance,
harassment, wrongful conviction, denial of charitable status, and
seizure of assets, it can hinder and discourage the humanitarian
work and social witness to which Quakers and many others are called
by the Spirit. Of particular concern is the lack of due process
for the accused, and the lack of adequate accountability on the
part of those given authority under the legislation.
We
ask ourselves, “At what point do people lose the power to
challenge their government’s misuse of authority?” Learning
from history, we must have the courage to act despite fear, and
call our government to account while it is still possible to do
so.
We
approve, therefore, that Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM) undertake
the following actions:
1.
The Clerk of CYM write of our concern to the Canadian Government;
and also to Monthly Meetings asking Friends to take up this concern
individually and together
2.
Ask Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) to undertake work
on this concern for CYM.
We
record our concern regarding the particular weight upon our neighbours
in the United States who are resisting both infringement on their
civil liberties and an encroaching vision of their country as an
all-powerful global empire. We hold them in the Light.
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QCEA
hosts Roundtable on Non-Proliferation
The
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is a landmark
international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful
uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear
disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The
Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral
treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear weapon states.
Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970.
On 11 May 1995, the Treaty was extended indefinitely. A total of
188 parties have joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear weapon
states. More countries have ratified the NPT than any other arms
limitation and disarmament agreement, a testament to the Treaty’s
significance.
On
24 June 2003, a group of European NGO representatives from Belgium,
France, Sweden and the UK met at Quaker House in Brussels to discuss
both the outcomes of the Preparatory Committee Meeting in Geneva
earlier this year (this Committee meets annually for three of the
four years between Review Conferences). The purpose of the meeting
was to consider what could be done on a European level to further
the full implementation of the Treaty and to enhance the results
of the Review Conference due in New York in 2005.
Part
of this work will be to lobby MEPs and other European level decision-makers
to influence the position taken by the EU in its contribution to
the Review Conference. MEPs were represented at the Round Table
in the afternoon to discuss this aspect and a number of action points
for NGOs were agreed.
The
European context:
Two
members of the European Union (France and the UK) have nuclear weapons.
Both have agreed to be bound by the Treaty.
There
are nuclear weapons belonging to the United States based at NATO
bases in a number of Member States of the European Union and nationals
of those countries are trained to deliver US nuclear weapons.
The
New Agenda Coalition (a coalition of a number of countries actively
pursuing disarmament objectives including those of nuclear disarmament)
includes two members of the European Union (Ireland and Sweden).
The
Round Table represents a start of the EU level lobbying work and
QCEA will remain involved in this issue to provide assistance and
support to this NGO coalition. One of a number of priorities is
to identify MEPs who might be open to an approach about this as
well as EU citizens who are in touch with these MEPs and would be
prepared to take this up with them.
If
you would like to assist in this, please contact George Farebrother
at geowcpuk@gn.apc.org
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Our New Administrator Introduces Himself
My name
is Xavier Verhaeghe. I have the honour of replacing Cibèle
Ricci in the Quaker office team in Brussels. This is a good place
to thank her for the great job she did in Quaker House for several
years and also for the training she gave me so that I am able to succeed
her. My
first impression of the Quaker team was very good. The atmosphere
is serious but also friendly. Everyone takes time to give me the
information I need. Of course this is only the beginning. I haven’t
met any crisis moments yet. Let’s see…
Before
arriving in the Quaker team, I worked for 15 years for a Belgian
NGO called ASMAE which is active in development issues and especially
in raising awareness of young people about the realities of Southern
countries. I was responsible for the follow-up of development projects
in Rwanda and Romania. I travelled about twenty times in these two
countries and also in Egypt where ASMAE has some programmes.
I was
also responsible for the administrative work of ASMAE (accounting,
database maintenance and so on) and, last but not least, for the
fundraising.
I also
work part time for a company called “Passage du Nord”.
My work for this family company is managing 6.000 square metres
of shops, offices and apartments in the “Galerie of Passage
du Nord”.
I am
married and I have three daughters.
I am
very happy to work for the Quaker Council for European Affairs and
I hope to bring my dynamism to Quaker House.
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