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UPDATE : The case of Fr. P.J. Joseph S.J.

May 28, 2001

PDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPADTE URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Update on Urgent Appeal 29 May 2001
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UP-07-2001 (RE: UA-12-2001: Jesuit Priest abused by his own order)

UPDATE : The case of Fr. P.J. Joseph S.J.
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Dear Friends,

We are sending you a copy of an second open letter sent today by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to the Jesuit Supeior General in Rome regarding Fr. Pallath's case.

This letter is also available at: http://jjpallath.ahrchk.net

Thank you.

Urgent Appeal Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission

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Second Open Letter to Jesuit Superior - First Letter (May 9, 2001)

( This is second of a series of letters on the issues regarding the treatment of Fr.Pallath J.Joesph Kerala Province of Jesuits- Kerala)

An Open Letter to:
Rev. Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach
Superior General
Curia Generalize
Compagnia di Gesu
C.P. 6139
00195 Roma Prati
ITALY
E-mail: curia@sjcuria.org

29th May 2001

RE: Physical assault, slander through gutter press, filing of fabricated criminal cases, denial of right to livelihood and other matters relating to Fr. Pallath J. Joseph Request for Inquiry.

Dear Rev. Fr. General,

THE THEME OF THE SECOND OPEN LETTER - THE APPLICATION OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS TO MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS

In the first open letter AHRC raised some concerns from a moral and human rights point of view regarding all the episodes relating to the case of Fr. Pallath J. Joseph, of which you are aware. While it is not our intention to interfere with the affairs of your order, there are matters of public interest about which many persons including our commission is quite concerned. They are as follows;

1. Physical assault of Fr. Pallath J. Joseph by two members of your order, together with several other hired thugs
2. The throwing of the body of Fr. Pallath over the wall of Jesuit premises and onto the road while he was in an unconscious or semi-conscious state
3. Slander of Fr. Pallath by some members of your order using a gutter magazine called 'Crime Star'
4. Filing of fabricated criminal complaints against Fr. Pallath with the view to get him arrested as a way to prevent him from entering a Jesuit house.
5. The failure of the Jesuit Superiors to respect an agreement entered into between Fr. Pallath and the Jesuits in Kerela with the mediation of the Bishop of Calicut.
6. Failure to provide for the livelihood of Fr. Pallath after 33 years of service.

In this letter we like to draw your attention to your obligations under the United Nations conventions on human rights, which we will try to bring to your attention by reviewing the acts mentioned above from the stand point of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

A commitment of person to religious order is a very link that a person makes where the order becomes responsible for his life and well being. The order thus become at the same time the employer and some thing more than the employer. An order is also a person's family and therefore it has the obligations of a family towards him. Thus both from point of view of employer and the family the order owes many obligations to the person, particularly from the point of view of right to life and other rights.

Universal Declaration is a land mark in the development of human consciousness on the obligation human beings owe to each other. It established norms negating concepts of slavery and also unfair practices in labour. It also negated the idea that in the name of the family the basic rights of people can be taken way, as very often it happened to women. It paved the way of some common standards of to be established, as common norms of decent treatment among human beings. On such matters what is expected from a religious order is to give example of such treatment and not to do so is to let down is common struggle for a more humane society.

Another basic notion of the universal declaration is to end cruelty. Particularly Article 5.No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Basic also to the Declaration is Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

What is most basic to the Declaration is the right to life. Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

As explained by the Convention on Economic , Social and Cultural Rights to life includes the right to work, deprivation of which can not happen arbitrarily and even when it happens it an obligation provide for such person to be able to maintain his livelihood.

The position of the Universal declaration is that if these rights are respected thwe world will become a babaric place.

Asian Human Rights Commission urges you to examine the behavior of the Jesuit order in the case of Fr. Pallath J. Joseph in the light of the Universal declaration.

We still believe that good will prevail and that you will be ensure respect for the Universal Declaration by correcting the violations that have occurred in this case, the details of which are now quite well known

Thank You very much.

Sincerely yours,

Basil Fernando
Executive Director
Asian Human Rights Commission

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Please contact the Urgent Appeals coordinator if you require more
information or wish to report human rights violations.
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AHRC Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
Unit D, 7th Floor, Mongkok Commercial Centre,
16 - 16B Argyle Street, Kowloon, HONGKONG
Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339
Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367
E-mail: ua@ahrchk.org




*** Please send a copy of your letter to AHRC Urgent Appeals:
Email:
Fax: +(852) - 26986367

Please contact the Urgent Appeals coordinator if you require more
information or wish to report human rights violations.
===========================================================
AHRC Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
Unit D, 7th Floor, Mongkok Commercial Centre,
16 - 16B Argyle Street, Kowloon, HONGKONG
Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339
Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367
E-mail: ua@ahrchk.org

Please contact the AHRC Urgent Appeals Coordinator if you require
further information or to make requests for further appeals.

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-07-2001
Countries :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.