News

Following the presentation by Indonesia, of its first periodic report within the UPR mechanism, Dominicans for Justice and Peace made the following oral statement to the UN Human Rights Council 8th Session.

Even though the bodies of the 63 dead miners in the Pasta de Conchos Mine in Coahuila, Mexico could be removed easily and without great risk, the mining company (IMMSA) prefers to bury the past. Some believe it is to cover up their total disregard for safety regulations that, had they been followed, probably would have saved many of the miners' lives.

Largement due à des facteurs humains, la crise alimentaire mondiale n'est pas une fatalité! Dominicans for Justice and Peace (Order of Preachers) appelle la communauté internationale à mettre tout en œuvre pour assurer le droit à l'alimentation de tout être humain et, particulièrement, des plus faibles et des plus vulnérables.

Lire la déclaration

Du 12 au 21 mai 2008, Dom Tomas Balduino, dominicain, évêque émérite de Goiás (Brésil), conseiller permanent de la Commission Pastorale de la Terre (CPT) et Thomas Bauer, coordinateur de la CPT de Bahia étaient en Suisse pour montrer l’absurdité du détournement du fleuve Sao Francisco planifié par le gouvernement brésilien et l’alternative possible à ce projet gigantesque.

The original article can be read in French.

Dominican across the United States joined other advocacy groups in Washington, D.C. on April 14-16 to pressue the US congress to address the needs of millions of displaced Iraqis. A ten minute documentary video can be found here.

Quoting the Dominican Friar Francisco de Vitoria, "considered as a precursor of the idea of the United Nations", Pope Benedict XVI recalls that the principle of "responsibility to protect" should be the foundation of every action taken by those in government with regard to the governed.

The Pakistan NGO Support Group 1 urges the new government of Pakistan to immediately withdraw all the cases against lawyers, human rights defenders and political workers, because they were targeted for peaceful protest. Especially after March 9, 2007 and again after November 3, 2007, large numbers of lawyers, judges, human rights activists, journalists and politicians of the opposition parties were illegally detained, put under house arrest, were banned or disappeared, because they took part in the movement for the restoration of democracy and against the emergency.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group of the Human Rights Council has begun its first session, which runs from 7 to 18 April.

Under the UPR mechanism, all UN member states will be reviewed within a period of four years in the first cycle – with 48 countries to be reviewed each year.

Le frère Gabriel Nissim a participé à la table-ronde organisée sur ce thème le mardi 11 mars 2008 au Palais des Nations Unies à Genève, en marge de la 7ème session du Conseil des Droits de l'Homme.
Intervenants :

• S.E. Mgr Silvano Tomasi, Nonce apostolique, Mission du Saint Siège auprès de l'ONU
• Fr. Gabriel Nissim OP, Président, Groupe ONG Droits de l'Homme, Conseil de l'Europe
• M. Yves Marie-Lanoë, Président, Bice
• Mme Memona Hinterman, Grand reporter, France Télévision
• Mme Ana-Paula Souza Bettona, Volontaire permanente, Points-Coeur

Modérateur : Alfred Fernandez, Directeur, OIDEL
Evénement organisé conjointement par Dominicains pour Justice et Paix, le Bice, le Bureau de solidarité internationale des Frères Maristes, le CCIG (Centre Catholique International de Genève), New Humanity, l'OIDEL (Organisation internationale pour le développement de la liberté d'enseignement) et Points-Cœur.