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September 2009
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September 2009
The daily newspapers sit on the kitchen table at the Inter Pares office, where everyone can flip through their pages and see the headlines. Fear. Crisis. Security. Risk. These words are used to describe a range of world events, simplifying complex problems into bite-sized concepts. As we read them, we are encouraged to worry about the world we live in and to fear certain people with whom we share this planet.
But headlines and articles have no meaning if they are stripped of context. ... Click here to read the rest of this article
Victor Biak Lian was visibly angry as he told us about several young men from Burma who were sold into slavery. Victor, a founder of the Chin Human Rights Organization, is a colleague of Inter Pares.
The story began when ten young men, like thousands of others, fled persecution in Chin State, a highly militarized region of Burma. ... Click here to read the rest of this article
Last spring, during the Summit of the Americas, President Hugo Chavez gave President Obama a copy of Eduardo Galeano's famous treatise, Open Veins of Latin America. Curious about the significance of this gift, thousands of people around the world bought copies of the book. Published in 1971, it describes five hundred years of pillage of Latin America by European and, later, American interests. If Chavez were an African leader, he might have given President Obama Walter Rodney's How Europe Underdeveloped Africa – a testament to the five hundred years of brutal theft and exploitation that have made the continent the poorest in the world, despite its rich natural resources. ...
Click here to read the rest of this article
Imagine yourself having to make the difficult decision to leave your home, family, and community to travel to a distant land in the hopes of finding safety and protection. Imagine being locked up when you finally arrive, maybe indefinitely, and treated like a criminal.
Each year, hundreds of people, including minors and pregnant women, are detained when they arrive in Canada seeking refugee status. Unbeknownst to most Canadians, detention of refugee claimants is quickly becoming an institutionalized practice rather than an exception. ... Click here to read the rest of this article
In the wake of the September 11th, 2001 attacks in the United States, state action around the world was swift and harsh.
Suspected terrorists were imprisoned, political freedoms were curtailed, and "anti-terrorism" legislation was introduced.
Fear pervaded the lives of ordinary people, particularly those who disagreed with the state, immigrant communities and those defending
human rights and civil liberties. It was also in this moment that social justice in Canada saw one of its finest moments when the International
Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) was born. ...
Click here to read the rest of this article
The end of September marks the second anniversary of the Saffron Revolution. Over the course of several weeks in 2007,
a few activists who took to the streets grew into a movement of thousands of monks, nuns, elderly and youth – individuals
risking their lives in cities all over Burma to stand up for democracy and peace. Their audacity was blunted by the military
might of the ruling junta, but their spirit and commitment continues. Inter Pares invites you to engage in this movement for peace;
click here to discover three easy steps you can take, and dates for
screenings of a documentary on the Saffron Revolution.
Many of the major global issues we are presently facing are interlinked: food shortages; the necessity to protect resources such as seeds, soil and water; and an economic system which does not encourage the production of local agriculture. In several regions of the world, food sovereignty is seen as a vision to protect and promote social justice and environmental sustainability. Join us on Friday, September 11 in Montreal for a University of the Streets Café conversation, in which we will explore what the idea of food sovereignty implies, on both a local and global level, and how can this vision be implemented. Long-term Inter Pares colleague Augusta Henriques will join us as we look at the links which can be made with food production and consumption in the global North and how to ensure an equitable, and environmentally sustainable, access to food for all. Click here for more details.
Long-term Inter Pares colleague Augusta Henriques will be a keynote speaker at the annual convention of L'Entraide missionnaire,
September 12-13 in Montreal (in French only). Under the convention's theme of "Le monde en crises: Quelles voies de sorties?",
Ms. Henriques will be speaking alongside personalities such as Quebec sociologist Jacques Gélinas. A dedicated environmental activist from Guinea-Bissau and
former colleague of Paulo Freire, Ms. Henriques will address the topic of "Crise alimentaire : perspectives africaines."
Click here for more details.
Peru’s civil war killed close to 70,000 people, and left hundreds of survivors of sexual violence, primarily indigenous women. Hidden from view high in the Andes, the brutality of the armed conflict shocked Peruvians when the truth was revealed in 2003. Inter Pares' 30-minute film, Rising From the Ashes, presents an inspiring story of women taking on new roles in Peru and seeking a more just and peaceful society.
The film will be screened in Nanaimo on September 29th, 2009 at Brechin United Church (1998 Estevan Rd.), at 7pm. A discussion will follow the film, and refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge, though donations are welcomed. The film will also be screened in Ottawa as part of the One World Film Festival on October 29th, 2009. All OWFF screenings are at Library and Archives Canada (4395 Wellington St.), from 6 to 11pm. Come out for an evening of engaging documentary film! The film's director, Steven Hunt, will be in attendance, as well as Diana Avila, a former Inter Pares colleague and one of the women interviewed in the film. We are currently organizing screenings elsewhere on Vancouver Island; if you would like to help publicize any of our screenings or to organize one in your community, please contact Samantha McGavin at smcgavin@interpares.ca.
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