Auteur/autrice : Heidi Barathieu-Brun

Shanti Christine Arulampalam – Sri Lanka

Linked with our presentation of Survivors Associated – Sri Lanka.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed fort the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Shanti Christine Arulampalam and her organization Survivors Associated, for witch she is working, have transformed the lives of more than 27,000 people in four war-torn districts of northern and eastern Sri Lanka.

Shanti Christine Arulampalam – Sri Lanka

As executive director of Survivors Associated, working for the psychosocial healing of people affected by war, Shanti Christine Arulampalam has helped transform many formerly ravaged lives. She and her organization have assisted more than 27,000 people in four districts of northern and eastern Sri Lanka. As a Sinhala working among Tamils, Shanti has often been viewed with suspicion, but has won over her critics with her hard work and transparent approach.The daughter of academics, Shanti Arulampalam did not expect to become a social worker. She had planned to be a doctor, but became instead a teacher. Today, Shanti is executive director of her own organization, Survivors Associated, which works for the psychosocial healing of people affected by war.

Shanti discovered her mission in life by a circuitous route. After finishing her studies in business management, she taught English and mathematics in the Maldives for two years. After her contract was over, she returned to Sri Lanka to work in a commercial establishment as a business manager. In 1967, Shanti, who is a Sinhala, married a Tamil man, but the marriage was not a happy one. She was left to take care of two little boys on her own: as a single parent, she went to work in a premier export house as commodities buyer, and employed by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, became the first woman member in its commodities auction division. She later began her own export venture.

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Leyla Zana – Turkey / Kurdish part

She is one of the 1000 women proposed fort the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

She says: « We refuse to be silent! To speak out freely is a decisive step on the way to freedom. »

At her oath of allegiance to become Turkey’s first ever Kurdish woman in Parliament she said: « I swear by my honor and my dignity before the great Turkish people to protect the integrity and independence of the State, the indivisible unity of people and homeland, and the unquestionable and unconditional sovereignty of the people. I swear loyalty to the Constitution. I take this oath for the brotherhood between the Turkish people and the Kurdish people. »

And at her trial in which she was sentenced to 14 years in prison, she said, « This is a conspiracy. What I am defending is perfectly clear. I don’t accept any of these accusations. And, if they were true I’d assume responsibility for them, even if it cost me my life. I have defended democracy, human rights, and brotherhood between peoples. And I’ll keep doing so for as long as I live. »

Leyla Zana – Turkey / Kurdish part

Since 1980, Leyla Zana has been active in gaining recognition of the social, political, and cultural rights of Kurdish populations and for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish conflict. She was a Representative of the Democratic Party in the Turkish Parliament (1991–1994), a political prisoner (1994–2004), and since 2004 a co-initiator of DTH, a new movement for democratic society. She has become a symbol of the struggle for human rights, democracy, and peace. Her courage has sensitized European public opinion about the problems of the Kurds and inspired numerous women to become active.Leyla Zana, called the “Kurdish Pasionaria” (in the spirit of the Spanish oppositional politician Dolores Ibarruri) is a symbol of the fight for freedom, democracy, and equality as well as for the rights of the Kurdish people. She was freed unexpectedly on 9 June 2004 after ten long years of captivity. On 14 July, the highest appeals court in Ankara reversed the second verdict that had upheld the 15-year prison sentences of four Kurdish ex-parliamentarians, including Leyla Zana. Both these decisions are connected with Turkey’s desire to join the European Union, but they are also linked to the continuous pressure of an international solidarity movement.

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George Khutsishvili – Georgia

Linked with our presentation of Towards an Inclusive Interpretation of Conflict, and with our presentation of International Center on Conflict and Negotiation – Georgia.

Linked also with our presentations of Irina Yanovskaya – Georgia, who works in the same International Center.

He says: « The common point in all major crises is that you cannot overcome them without transforming your mind ».

He is the Chairman of Board of the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN) based in Tbilisi, Georgia (since 1998); Director of the same Center (full time; since 1994). He is also Professor of Conflict and Peace Studies, Department of International Law and International Relations, Tbilisi State University (part time; since 1994), and Professor of Conflict Studies, Humanitarian-Technical Dept., Georgian Technical University (part time; since 1998).

George Khutsishvili – Georgia

Bio: November 15, 1948 in Tbilisi, Georgia, then USSR, he is now since 1990 Honorary Citizen of Atlanta, Georgia, USA;
1993 Research Fellowship at the Center for International Security and Arms Control, Stanford University (IREX Program in International Security Studies, extended to full academic year with support from Mr. David Packard);
1993 NATO Research Fellowship (Democratic Institutions Individual Fellowships Program);
1994 The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Grant (ICCN has been established with this grant);
1995, 1997 Open Society – Georgia Foundation Grants;
1995 Norwegian Refugee Council travel grant for the Negotiation Training Course at Harvard Law School;
1997 International Studies Association Grant to participate in the ISA Annual Convention in Toronto;
1997 Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Biographical Institute (Note: Also look in the publications part).
For the rest of his long CV, Memberships, Fellowships, Awards and Honors, his Workshops, Conferences, Courses and Books see al on his Homepage.

links:

Conciliation Resources;

Assistance Georgia, and this text;

about the Kosovo-Conflict;

Nadia Ait Zai – Algeria

Since 1984, Algeria has had an Islamic family code, which considerably disadvantages women. Nadia Ait Zai is a lecturer in family law at Algiers University, a committed campaigner for women’s rights in the Maghreb and founder of the “Centre d’Information et de Documentation sur les Droits de l’Enfant et de la Femme” (CIDDEF) in Algiers. In this interview with D+C/E+Z, she elaborates on the work of her initiative and explains the proposals for reforming Algerian Family Law.

She says: « We’re at the bottom of the class in North Africa, … Algeria is now the only country where women need a man’s permission to get married. » (see on quantara.de).

JD800743 rogné redim 25p.JPG

Sorry, I can not find any photo of Nadia Ait Zai, Algeria (see also my comment ‘Brave women without photos‘).

Nadia Ait Zai is the president of the Women’s and Children’s Information Center of Algeria.

She says also: « Basically, if we really wanted to be modern, polygamy should be outlawed altogether. But when it (the Islamic family code) was reintroduced in 1984, certain conditions were attached. If the first wife objects, she can apply for a divorce. Anyway, polygamy is rarely practised. We know that women today very rarely accept becoming a second or third wife. Whenever they do, the husband is financially so well off that accommodation presents no problem. Having said that, most women choose divorce because they see polygamy as an affront to their dignity. I do not really focus on the issue of polygamy because I know that women are strong enough to say no » … and … « What we need in Algeria, I think, is space for dialogue. Whenever there’s a demonstration, we see evidence of people’s need to express their views. Newspapers are a possible forum but women don’t use them.

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Piri Thomas – USA

Linked with our presentation of ‘ … some texts of Piri Thomas‘.

He says: A child needs to find some way to express his talent, to express that he is a he, or she is a she, that we are of earth. When you start getting all these rejections, because of your color, or your tongue, or your geographic location, there starts to build up some kind of anger and rage, that should almost be alien to a child. And yet it comes so tremendously strong and ever-growing and you manage to hide it, what you are feeling, by putting on a « cara palo » expression, which means a face of wood. It has no expression so nobody can see how much you’re hurting just from the rejection, let alone the beatings. Why are you here? You shouldn’t be born. This is not your world, this is our world. (Read this long interview on In Motion Magazine).

Piri Thomas – USA

… Love is not even
Giving or taking
For that leads to
counting and accountings
of « look what I did for you? »

So, verily, merrily, I say unto you,
That love is a sharing
A caring
Born of truth.
For those are the roots
From which all us children flow. (Excerpt from his poetry ‘love is a sharing‘).

The roots of Borinquen (the original indigenous name for the Puerto Rico people) were trampled from the beginning of the European presence, where some lost sea captain who called himself Christopher Columbus landed on the island and renamed it Puerto Rico almost 500 years ago.

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Ela Bhatt – India

Linked with our presentation of Self Employed Women’s Association SEWA.

She says: « The poor mostly work on manual job for lack of education and modern skills, have to work using the strength of their body. Therefore, we see them suffer from many occupational health hazards. Also the women start aging at an early age; childbirth and maternity are a health hazard for her. Since her work is manual, her most important asset is her own body. This body needs to be protected, maintained, and enhanced through adequate healthcare and nutrition. Moreover, a woman worker is also a mother, a builder of the future generation. Therefore, women’s health is most crucial to the development of our nation ». (Read this whole interview on sewa.org).

Ela Bhatt – India

True to the spirit of her country and her inspiration, Mahatma Gandhi, Ela Bhatt is a gentle revolutionary. Gentle but tough. For decades, she has quietly gone about the business of kicking ass on behalf of some of India’s most disenfranchised — women working in the “informal sector.” A former lawyer and social worker from a well-to-do family, she launched the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in 1972. As chief of the women’s section of the Textile Labour Association in Ahmedabad, she had witnessed the crappy conditions confronting women in the garment industry and resolved to organize self-employed women to help them develop a bit of collective clout … … She says also: “Gandhi tried to find out that what kind of employment opportunity can be given to even the most illiterate woman in the village,” she says, “so that each family has economic strength.” (Read the rest of this article on adventure divas.com).

In recognition of her courage, innovation and leadership, we are honored to present the 2005 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award to Sister Ela Bhatt, on behalf of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a 700,000-member union of women workers in India. Sister Bhatt and SEWA are committed advocates for the rights of poor, women workers in the unorganized, informal sectors of the economy.

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Prema Gopalan – India

Linked with our presentation of SSP Swayam Shikshan Prayog – India.

Linked also with our presentation of The Huairou Commission.

She says about NGO governance: « There are over hundred thousand organizations registered as trusts or societies under the relevant Acts; bulk of which, may be defunct or mere tax shelters. Time has come for the establishment of an autonomous entity to conduct a performance audit along internationally recognized norms and grade all development NGOs on critical factors: staff welfare, internal governance, records, accounting, goal attainment, etc. » (See on Indian NGOs.com).

Prema Gopalan – India

Prema is empowering women to influence and change government policy from inside the system, creating a « micro-macro » balance that will help stop the tremendous waste of resources. Prema has made it possible for women to be involved from the first step of the policy process: to draft a new sectoral reform policy at the Maharashtra state level to effect a transfer of power and resources relating to water and sanitation to women at decentralized, community institutions and local governments. Prema is now taking advantage of this historic policy to involve the women in promoting community ownership of water supply systems and their management by demonstrating how collaborations between gram panchayats (village administration committees) and community groups that are operated by women can manage water systems. This is not only changing the way women participate in the planning process for development of their own community, but also creating for them channels of economic development. She and her team at SSP, Swayam Shikshan Prayog (literally, swayam: own; shikshan: learning; prayog: practical application) have been working closely with the government–and now international institutions–to realize their long-term vision: transforming the way water supply and sanitation projects are managed through institutionalized community ownership. (Read the rest of this article on this page of Ashoka Fellow Profile).

She is a founding member of the Huairou Commission.

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Ana Teresa Bernal – Colombia

Linked with our presentation of REDEPAZ – Colombia.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed fort the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

She says: “Peace is not a Colombian invention. It is a flag of all humanity.”

She works for the Red Nacional de Iniciativas por la Paz y contra la Guerra (Redepaz).

Ana Teresa Bernal – Colombia

”When Ana Teresa Bernal was an adolescent, she distributed food to children living on the streets. As a young woman, she continued her social work and created a movement called ‘Life’. Later, as a woman, she founded REDEPAZ, the National Network of Citizen Initiatives against War. Her personal fight is against war. She dreams of a Colombia at peace. She has been working, day after day, for more than two decades to achieve this. “I believe that this is our country and that we have to defend life. It was formed in 1993 as the citizens’ answer to the president of Colombia at that time, César Gaviria. He proposed what was called ‘an integral war’. We said that what the country needed was ‘integral peace’. In 1996, REDEPAZ organized what became known as the ‘Mandate against Violence’. They asked boys and girls from more than a hundred municipalities all over Colombia to choose, from twelve fundamental rights, the one they considered to be the most important. Then, 2.700,000 children voted for the right to peace. Their voices were heard all over the country. One year later, REDEPAZ organized a new vote, when more than 10 million adult Colombians called for the same thing. Each year in Colombia, approximately 30,000 people die. According to the United Nations, more than 1 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war and thousands have been killed or remain missing. (Read all this on this 1000peacewomen page).

In the past, negotiations and general discussion of the Colombian conflict have excluded representatives of civil society, particularly members of youth, women’s, indigenous peoples’ and farmers groups. Instead they have been limited to representatives of the more powerful sub-sectors, such as unions, universities, and the different religious sectors.

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Kamala Sarup – Nepal

Linked with our presentations of Women Rights Are Limited in Seminars, and of Crimes Against Women Are Still Prevalent. Further of International Women’s Conference Held in Arlington, and also about Nepal in peace, and also of Peace Journalism.

She writes: Productive and prosperous transformation in the development process, can become viable only through permanent economic development. The essentiality of today, is to ensure the solidarity of national development, with economic re-strengthening. Is it going to guarantee sustainable peace? Will there be earnest effort in harnessing cooperation from all respective sectors? … and … Economic development, whether in personal, group, or international relations, requires a variety of capacities for self-transcendence: transcendence of one’s own interests and perspectives for the sake of understanding the interests and perspectives of the other side, which calls for the virtue of empathy; transcendence of one’s pride and defensiveness. (Read the whole article on the LA Chronicle, June 7, 2006).

Kamala Sarup – Nepal

She writes: For Children’s development we must produce children development program who can work through the Internet. Knowledge work does not require tranportation and large capital investments. However, children development program must be competitive in a world environment. This requires, in turn, world-class education in those subjects so that the graduates are able to compete around the world via the Internet. Many underdeveloped countries today are doing what I described above. Therefore, I can’t think of a better way for us to spend its revenues toward the objective of making us a richer country for our children. It is true, our aim is committed to addressing the challenges of peace and development. We can make this world become the workshop of the world, has very prosperous enclaves on its coast. We too have seen a stunning change to its fortunes as the world has changed with rise. So what does this mean for the children who are being born today? What will their world look like in 2006 and 2010? To have a child can be looked at a number of ways. In adulthood, children are the expected result to approved building block of any civilization. (Read the rest of this article on WEB Commentary).

Writer and journalist Kamala Sarup (M.A. in Journalism) is an editor of peacejournalism.com. Some of the main focus of the e-magazine has been on disarmament, conflict resolution, nonviolent sanctions, conflicts and crises. Its activities include training, research and supports peace, democracy and development in societies undergoing crisis and change. Kamala Sarup is specialising in in-depth reporting and writing on Peace Resolutions, Anti war, Women, Terrorism, Democracy, Development, Politics and HIV/AIDS. She wrote and published many articles, books and research papers.

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Khun Htun Oo – Burma

Linked with our presentation of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma AAPP.

Linked also with our presentation of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy – Burma.

Hkun Oo Kya, elder brother of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) leader Hkun Tun Oo, both of whom were detained and sentenced to long term imprisonments, was transferred from Kyaukme in northern Shan State to Mandalay early in May, according to sources close to the family … (Read this on June 2, 2006 on Shan Herald Agency for News).

Khun Htun Oo – Burma

June 1, 2006: The Supreme Court in Rangoon on Thursday summarily rejected appeals by seven Shan leaders against their conviction and lengthy prison sentences on charges of treason and defaming the state. An eighth member of the group of defendants died in prison, reportedly of epilepsy, before his appeal could be heard. The eight were convicted by a Rangoon court last November and given sentences of up to 106 years imprisonment. That heavy sentence was imposed on Maj-Gen Sao Hso Ten, president of the Shan State Peace Council. Hkun Htun Oo, chairman of the Shan National League for Democracy, was sentenced to 92 years, and Sai Nyut Lwin, SNLD general secretary, to 75 years. Aung Thein, a member of a defense team provided by Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy, told The Irrawaddy the appeals had been summarily dismissed with no explanation.

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