Welcome to the 3rd issue of Vol. 3 of Human Rights & Culture. In this issue the poem, I was born on a mat, by Airyn R. Lentija. Next we have another story from the Pedagogical Project entitled, Justice. We then have a report another report on Female Genital Mutilation from Human Rights Watch. This article was kindly submitted by WUNRN.
As always, Human Rights & Culture is grateful to all of our contributors.
Human Rights & Culture welcomes contributions in the form of poems, articles or book reviews. All work will be acknowledged accordingly. Please forward your contributions to the addresses given below.
Publications - We are pleased to announce the release of the following publications: Sri Lanka Impunity, Criminal Justice & Human Rights by Basil Fernando. The latest editions of Article 2 and Ethics in Action are now available.
You may view the previous issues and write your comments at: http://hrculture.blog.humanrights.asia/. Your contributions and comments for future issues may be sent to ahrc@ahrc.asia .
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I was born on a mat
Airyn R. Lentija
I was born on a mat
dried coconut leaves woven
by the hands of my ancestors;
the great heirs of the earth's dust.
I am a farmer's daughter
The walls of my dreams were burgled before I realized
I was dreaming...
I am a farmer's daughter,
I have the command over mountains
Over fields and fruit bearing trees.
I am the smoke that rises up
to shoo the pests on the flowers
My hands, they reflect the soil
From my first breath up to the present
The scent of solitude...of penitence.,
has never left the tip of my nose,
I've worked like an animal;
Skipping meals for six dollars an hour,
Hiding my tears when I wanted to cry;
Tied my tongue when I wanted to speak,
I am like the shadow in the night
No one has spoken of my bitterness,
Nobody saw my pains.
I've been in hell once in a while-
Don't talk to me about the worst
I am a daughter of poverty.
What hardships have I yet to taste?
I was born on a mat—© Airyn R. Lentija 2010
Ms. Airyn Lentija works as a domestic helper in Hong Kong and her work exposes some of the frustrations and inequalities that she and her colleagues have to endure. Further details of Airyn’s work may be found at: http://airynspoetry.blogspot.com
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Pedagogical Project, "The Joy of Reading"
Justice
Daryl Ralston and John Hampton waved their hands.
Mrs. Fuller ignored them. They always had an answer. Often it was not the one she wanted the class to hear.
She looked over the faces suddenly studying the floor or looking for something in their notebooks.
"Can anyone define justice for me?" she repeated to the class.
Daryl and John continued to wave frantically. Mrs. Fuller looked hopefully around for someone else to respond. No one did. She sighed.
"All right, Daryl," she said. "Tell the class the meaning of justice."
"Justice is the opposite of injustice," said Daryl, looking around for the laughter that was sure to follow. It did.
"Quiet, class," ordered Mrs. Fuller. "I am afraid that doesn't tell us much, Daryl. Can you be more specific?"
Mrs. Fuller had a special reason for discussing justice today. As she pulled into the school parking lot, she had seen Daryl and John and some of their friends holding a bird's nest. The baby birds were dead on the ground. With solemn eyes, they swore to her they had not done it, but she knew better. She had seen them laughing.
They laughed at her sometimes, too, when they thought she wasn't aware of it. She knew. They left feathers on her desk, and she heard them call her the Bird Lady or Old Crow behind her back, but she didn't care. She loved the little helpless creatures.
She was aware suddenly that she had drifted off. When she had these spells, the students said she'd "tripped south for the winter." She'd done it again. She forced herself back to the classroom. The class was watching her closely.
"Well, Daryl, I'm waiting for an answer," she said.
"I just told you," said Daryl. "Justice means that somebody gets what's coming to him."
"Yeah," John put in. "Like somebody kills someone and then has to die for it."
"Yeah," agreed Daryl. "Like that."
The two boys exchanged the look that said it was time to bait Mrs. Fuller.
"For instance," continued John, "take those itty bitty birds that we found dead in the parking lot. Whoever killed them ought to die a painful death. I don't ever want to see anything like that again. If those guys got what was coming to them, now that would be justice."
The mock-serious tone brought giggles from different sections of the room. Only a few fell sorry about this daily routine that the two boys put Mrs. Fuller through.
They waited to see what her response would be today. She was quiet so long, they had begun to think she had "tripped south" again.
"Perhaps you're right," she finally said. "We've talked in this class about how you feel when, as teenagers, you experience unpleasant things, unjust things, because of your age or sex or color. Sometimes you have no more control over the injustice of a situation than those innocent little birds did yesterday. But it seems that learning to value all life is a lesson some of you have not learned.
Maybe fate will teach you what I have not been able to."
The bell rang.
The class filed out silently for the first time. Mrs. Fuller had never said anything like that before. They stood by their lockers and watched as she walked down the hall and stopped by the front door.
Daryl and John were a little uneasy. This was not the reaction they had hoped for. They didn't feel quite so much in charge as they usually did.
"Come on," said Daryl. "Let's go find some more birds' nests."
John laughed and started down the hall behind Daryl. Slowly the others followed. Mrs. Fuller stood by the door and the students filed past her on their way home.
John and Daryl sat on the school steps out by the street wondering what had gone wrong. Mrs. Fuller didn't seem upset with them. She was just standing in there watching them.
"I’m getting out of here," John said at last. "I think the old bat is off her rocker."
As John stood up, a feather floated down and brushed his face. Startled, he looked over at Daryl.
Daryl was looking up.
There was a loud swishing sound as two huge birds swooped down on the boys. Sudden screams filled the air, and students walking down the street stopped in their tracks and turned around. They stood frozen in disbelief. Two gigantic birds were covering John and Daryl, clawing their faces.
The door opened and Mrs. Fuller came out. Daryl and John waved their hands frantically in the air. Mrs. Fuller ignored them. This, she thought, was the answer she'd been waiting for.
Roberta Simpson Brown
The walking trees and other scary stories
Little rock, August House publishers, 1991
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are a group of teachers with some experience in the area of storytelling and we would like to share our project – The Joy of Reading – with everyone who is in touch with children and young people in general but above all with everyone that enjoys reading.
This project consists of sending stories for free on a weekly basis. So this particular e-mail and the ones that will follow it in the next weeks are intended to share some small stories with you. All the stories we send have some values within: respect for nature, tolerance, tenderness, responsibility, solidarity and many more. They all aim at developing the reading skills among young people, as well as allowing some moments of reflection and dialogue about topics connected with human values, which seem to have been somewhat forgotten in these times of materialism and hedonism.
We thank you for your attention and hope you will welcome this project (which, it is important to say, does not have any profitable aims).
If you know anyone interested in receiving the weekly stories by email, please let us now by sending their emails to us.
If you wish to read more stories, please access the blog we created. http://storiestogrow.wordpress.com/
It consists of a set of small stories and other texts which will be regularly updated.
Please let us know your opinion about the project.
Yours faithfully
The Pedagogical Team responsible for the blog
sg@storiesforeveryone.com
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Iraq-Kurdistan - Call to end FGM--Female Genital Mutilation--Report
16 June 2010, BBC News, Baghdad
Direct Link to Information on Human Rights Watch Report:
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/06/16/they-took-me-and-told-me-nothing-0
Photo Series - http://www.hrw.org/en/features/female-genital-mutilation-iraqi-kurdistan
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/16/kurdistan.genital.mutilation/?hpt=Sbin
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10327619.stm
Human Rights Watch has called on authorities in the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan to ban the practice of female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM).
A report issued by the group on Wednesday said the practice was widespread in Iraqi Kurdistan, and was having a harmful effect on the physical and emotional health of many women.
It called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to enact legislation to ban the practice on young girls or unconsenting adult women.
It also called on the KRG to launch a public awareness campaign on its damaging and dangerous consequences.
Female circumcision is virtually unknown in the rest of Iraq, and it is not clear why it seems to have taken root in Iraqi Kurdistan, a deeply traditional and often tribal society.
'Sexual urges stifled'
It has no particular origins in Islam, although some clerics in Kurdistan have welcomed it because they believe it stifles sexual urges in young girls and women.
There are no comprehensive statistics, but a number of recent surveys have shown it to be surprisingly widespread.
One survey carried out early last year by the KRG's Human Rights Ministry suggested that 40% of girls and young women had undergone the procedure in the Chamchamal area, between Kirkuk and Sulaimaniya.
An earlier study by the German-Iraqi NGO Wadi in a broad area between Irbil, Sulaimaniya and Kirkuk yielded an even higher average figure of more than 70%.
The cutting is often done by unqualified people in less than hygienic conditions.
It's time for the Kurdistan regional government to take concrete actions to eliminate this harmful practice
Nadya Khalife is the HRW report author.
The girls, usually taken along by female relatives, are often unaware of what is about to happen.
Human Rights Watch entitled its report: "They Took Me and Told Me Nothing."
It said the operation "served no medical purpose and could lead to serious physical and emotional consequences".
In 2007, the KRG's Justice Ministry circulated an order that practitioners of FGM should be arrested and punished, but Human Rights Watch said there was no evidence it had ever been heeded.
A draft law banning the practice was also on the statute books of the Kurdistan regional parliament two years ago, but that, and a planned public awareness campaign, appear to have slid into oblivion.
"It's time for the Kurdistan regional government to take concrete actions to eliminate this harmful practice because it simply won't go away on its own," said Nadya Khalife, who researched and wrote the HRW report.
"FGM is a complex issue, but its harm to girls and women is clear."
"Eradicating it in Iraqi Kurdistan will require strong and dedicated leadership on the part of the regional government, including a clear message that FGM will no longer be tolerated."
This report was kindly submitted by WUNRN--http://www.wunrn.com
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Publications
Sri Lanka Impunity, Criminal Justice & Human Rights
Basil Fernando
Despite the success achieved by the international community regarding the promotion of international human rights norms and standards in countries other than developed democracies, it would be an illusion to believe that these principles are actually applied in daily life.
In their pursuit of justice, Sri Lankans will learn the difficulties that face come from their dysfunctional criminal justice system. Building a narrative on these difficulties is therefore an essential component of seeking redress for rights violations. These narratives describe not only the difficulties and suffering faced by individuals, but also the nature of various public institutions and the problems within them.
This book makes an attempt to understand the obstacles to the realisation of human rights norms in Sri Lanka, relating to the constitution, criminal justice system or local traditions. The ideas discussed in the book are the result of practical interventions by way of litigation, providing assistance to victims, and through debates conducted on these issues over a considerable time.
Article 2 Vol 9, No. 1—March 2010
Among the articles presented in this issue are:
Introduction: Corruption and counter-corruption across Asia
Editorial board, article 2
Elimination of corruption and the creating of conditions for transparency, integrity and accountability--Statement of participants of the regional consultation on corruption in Asia, 11-15 January 2010, Hong Kong
Bribery and corruption control in Sri Lanka--Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, Attorney-at-Law & Sunday Times Columnist, and Jayantha de Almeida Guneratne, President¡¦s Counsel, Visiting Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
The Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission--Mochammad Jasin, Commissioner, Corruption Eradication Commission, Indonesia
Challenges in combating corruption: Lessons from Indonesia--Adnan Topan Husodo, Deputy Coordinator, Indonesia Corruption Watch
The nature of corruption and anti-corruption strategies in Pakistan--Asad Sayeed, Director, Collective for Social Science Research, Karachi
Fighting corruption from the bottom: The case of Thailand--Charas Suwanmala, Professor & Dean, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
Anti-corruption mechanisms in Bangladesh--M. Shamsul Haque, Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Further information on Article 2 may be found at: www.article2.org
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The Asian Human Rights Commission is regularly issuing this article series on Human Rights and Culture in which various cultural expressions, poems, stories, pictures and other forms of cultural expression that are based on the theme of justice, will be published. A pivotal issue in modern literature is justice, particularly the enormous unleashing of injustice under fascist, communist and other authoritarian regime including those that pursue an unbridled market economy have generated responses from created writers. This search for justice is at the very essence of being human. Human beings are part of nature and part of each other. Perhaps the lines of John Donne are most relevant: “... any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde;”
Contemporary mass culture promotes violence and destruction. There are those who are opposed to mass culture and want to reclaim the best traditions of human culture within which justice remains a core issue. This column will provide space for those who wish to share their creative initiatives.
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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984. 