June 2002

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Short Takes

Children of War Exhibit

Kim Phuc will be a featured guest at a reception on June 14 for the unveiling of the "Children of War" program at the Chicago Peace Museum (100 North Central Park Ave., Chicago, IL 60624; www.peacemuseum.org)

Kim Phuc is known to many as "The Girl in the Picture," a reference to an indelible photogaraph taken by the AP photographer Huynh Cong Nick Ut of a
9-year-old Vietnamese girl, running up the road outside the village of Trang Bang with her skin set on fire. This happened on June 8, 1972. Today, Ms. Phuc is a Canadian citizen and a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Culture of Peace, sharing her story and recollections with the world in a way to rebuild the human spirit and to spread "The Gift of Peace."

Kim spreads the urgent message of the need for reconciliation, mutual understanding, dialogue, and negotiation to replace confrontation to violence as a means to settling conflicts. She says: "Sometimes I like to think of that little girl, screaming, running up the road, as being not just a symbol of war, but a symbol of a cry for peace."

Indentured Servant

My name is Dana Drew, and I am being held against my will. At the age of 18, I joined the United States Army. After my six-year contract expired, I joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard Reserves for two years. Those two years ended on March 7, 2002.

Under US Code Title 10 all service enlistments are extended during a war until six months after the war ends, unless otherwise stated. Some specific jobs are extended, due to Operations Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle, until December 24, 2031. This provision affects approximately 12,500 Active Duty, Reserves, and National Guard Soldiers. I am one of them.

I signed a contract for an agreed amount of time, and I stood by my word. Only now do I see how futile my actions were. The irony of my situation is that I'm not being utilized. I am only certified to work on a specific helicopter, and Massachusetts doesn't have any of these helicopters.

The feelings I once had for the military have dissolved through the years and are not there any more. I no longer believe war is the answer, and I certainly do not believe in being forced to fight.

Every day I am humbled and broken by the bondage of my country. I am ashamed that I must plead for my release from the military and that every step of the way is a battle tougher than anything the Army ever challenged me to. It is demoralizing to serve a country whose freedom doesn't extend to those that fight for it. This is a plea to anyone listening who can make a change. Please let me go.

--Dana Drew, 1025 Front St.,
Weymouth MA 02190

The World's Newest Country Must Start Debt-Free! East Timor's May 20 Independence Threatened by Economic Chains

East Timor is free, you say. What is left to do? International suport for East Timor is still crucial, especilly given the current political climate. Here are three good reasons the world's newest country needs your advocacy in Washington:

ïEconomic Justice & Sustainable Development. The UN is rapidly scaling down its presence iand international attention is fading as the first independent East Timorese government takes charge. Yet the country remains devastated and the vast majority of the population lives in poverty. There is a substantial financing gap which, if not filled with grants, could force the world's newest country into debt. We must ensure that the US supports sustainable, environmentally sound, and socially just development.

ïIntenational Tribunal. The East Timorese people have yet to see justice for 24 years of war crimes. The Bush administration my very well use current sham trials on East Timor in Jakarta to oppose further accountability for human rights violations. We must continue to push for an international tribunal on East Timor.

ïPentagon Aggression & Military Engagement. In the current atmosphere of increased militarization, the Pentagon has already succeeded in securing funding for a new "counter-terrorism" center that will likely train Indonesian military personnel. The Bush Administration is also working to expand other forms of engagement with the Indonesian military. Crucial congresssional restrictions on military aid to Indonesia are less secure now than ever before.

Your voice is needed now to stop US backsliding on human rights in the region and to support a positive future for East Timor! For more information on how to make your voice heard in Washington, contact the East Timor Action Network. Best of all, join our Lobby Days, June 9-11, with training and support to meet face-to-face with members of Congress.

--East Timor Action Network,
48 Duffield St., Brooklyn NY 11201; 718/596-7668; www.etan.org

A Happy Update

Peacework readers may remember an article by middle-school activist Nathaniel Vogel on the largely student-led movement to rename the Agassiz School (a public middle school) in Cambridge, MA (Peacework, April 2002). Jean Louis Agassiz, a 19th-century scientist, devoted part of his Harvard career to attempting to prove the intellectual inferiority of Black people. We recently learned with pleasure that the Cambridge School Committee has voted unanimously to rename the school after Maria Baldwin, a distinguished Black educator and the school's principal from 1889-1922.

A Search for Reconciliation in Colombia

Richard Deats is editor of Fellowship magazine and author of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Spirit-led Prophet and How to Keep Laughing Even Though You've Considered All the Facts. www.forusa.org

On Sunday, April 21 over one thousand peaceful Colombians concluded a five-day march from Medellin to Caicedo. Caicedo is a mountain town of 7000 that has declared itself as a nonviolent community. When guerillas attempted to take their coffee crop a few months ago, the community gathered around them and the guerillas left without the coffee. Last month the rebels returned and took several trucks of coffee beans, hit a priest who was praying and threw the rosary of another priest in the river. The March was organized and led by the Governor of the state of Antioquia, Guillermo Gaviria, who called for a "Walk and Meditation" to "let the priest finish his prayer" and give the town people support.

Governor Gaviria, who has publicly demonstrated his commitment to nonviolence, called for the March as a way of breaking the cycle of violence in Colombia. Appealing to all groups to work for a peaceful and just country, the Governor personally led the peaceful March that had no military protection. The guerilla group FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia) sent a message that the March could not proceed into Caicedo and the Governor asked to meet with them. He was accompanied by Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr., head of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island; Dr. Gilberto Echeverry Mejia, former defense minister who was advising Gaviria on peace; and Father Carlos Yepes, chaplain of the state of Antioquia. After several hours, Lafayette and Yepes were released but the Governor and Echeverry remained in custody. Dr. Lafayette, who worked with Martin Luther King, Jr., has been working with Governor Gaviria as an advisor in nonviolence strategy and planning. As of this writing, Gaviria and Echeverry remain in custody at an unknown location.

Governor Gaviria was the official host of the Fifth Annual World Conference on Nonviolence, held this year in Medellin, April 23-26. For the past three years Dr. LaFayette and Captain(ret.)Charles Alphin have been doing nonviolence training in Colombia. Over one thousand persons have received this training, including sixty-nine nonviolence trainers. The goal is to organize a Regional Nonviolence Center in Medellin. Speakers at the conference included Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland; Naomi Tutu of South Africa; Glenn Paige of Hawaii; and C.T. Vivian of Georgia. Workshops were on such topics as nonviolent resistance in Latin America; women's issues; nonviolent social change and religious institutions; nonviolence in prisons; and Martin Luther King, Jr. The documentary "A Force More Powerful" was shown in Spanish.

Gaviria envisioned an alternative to the violence in Colombian society. Instead of opposing violence with counter-violence, he sought to use just and peaceful means to produce a just and peaceful society where all persons and groups are respected and opportunities are provided to replace injustice with justice, violence with nonviolence and hatred with love. That is a formidable task in a country wracked by nearly forty years of civil war, where violence by left-wing guerilla groups is greatly exceeded by the violence of right-wing paramilitaries allied with the army. The US war on drugs in Colombia is being melded into the war on terrorism, further neglecting the deep social and economic problems there.

Colombia Action Suggestions:

1. Appeal to President Pastrana in Bogota, Colombia not to seek a military resolution of this hostage taking but to use the full range of his diplomatic and mediating resources to obtain the release of Gaviria and Echeverry.

2. Appeal to President Bush and your congressional representatives to support policies that will help the people of Colombia: drug education and rehabilitation in this country rather than a war on drugs there; socio-economic aid to the Colombian people rather than support for a military resolution of the civil war.

3. Sign up for monthly peace initiative updates on Colombia, inquire about becoming a volunteer in a Colombia peace community, or joining a delegation to the country. E mail forcolumbia@igc.org or phone 415/495-6334.

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