wfn.org | Workshops Help Peacemakers Examine Global Human Rights Issues

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22-July-1998 
98234 
 
    Workshops Help Peacemakers Examine 
    Global Human Rights Issues and Address Concerns 
 
    by Julian Shipp 
 
LOS ANGELES-With more than 40 workshops on a variety of topics, this year's 
Peacemaking Conference gave participants ample opportunity to examine human 
rights issues and equip themselves to address concerns nationally and 
internationally. 
 
    Workshop leader Kaylin Bailey helped participants understand the 
complexities of human rights issues through her workshop on "The Convention 
on the Rights of the Child." Spelling out the basic human rights to which 
every child is entitled, the Convention was approved by the United Nations 
in 1989. It cites survival, development, protection and participation as 
areas critical to ensuring and protecting the rights of children. 
 
    Bailey, who is the seminar program coordinator at the Presbyterian 
United Nations Office, said 192 nations have signed and ratified the 
Convention. The United States signed the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child in 1985, signaling its intent to ratify the document and thus give it 
the force of law in the U.S. However, the U.S. has yet to ratify it. 
 
    Bailey explained that the Convention must be sent by the President to 
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for that body's consideration. The 
Foreign Relations Committee may add reservations to the Convention and it 
determines when it will be forwarded to the full Senate for a vote. 
Ratification requires a two-thirds majority of the Senate. 
 
    In order to comply with the Convention, however, some U.S. laws likely 
would have to be changed. For example, one U.S. law that may need revision 
is that concerning the execution of minors. In the U.S., the execution of 
minors for certain crimes is legal. However, the Convention prohibits the 
execution of anyone under the age of 18, since it defines a child as anyone 
under that age. 
 
    In any case, Bailey said, the U.S. is far from free of unacceptable 
conditions that threaten the lives and welfare of millions of children. All 
indications are that homelessness, abuse and poverty affect increasing 
numbers of children. Many children in this country are now without access 
to health care, and social welfare and education are increasingly 
threatened. 
 
    However, Bailey said, there are things concerned Presbyterians can do 
to support the Convention. They include studying the Convention, teaching 
children about the Convention and human rights, encouraging churches to be 
involved in children's issues and children's lives, supporting programs for 
children in their communities and joining the Presbyterian Child Advocacy 
Network. 
 
    Leading the workshop on institution racism, the Rev. Otis Turner, 
associate for racial justice policy development in the National Ministries 
Division, explained how racism is rooted in institutional patterns and 
structural injustices and why institutional racism is a human rights issue. 
 
    Turner used this parable to illustrate his point: Suppose a major 
airline flies a nonstop route from New York to Los Angeles with an 
all-white crew while carrying a significant number of passengers who are 
people of color. Suppose also that after a period of time the racial/ethic 
passengers begin to complain to the airline's management that there are no 
people of color working on that flight and stage a boycott of the airline. 
 
    Responding to the boycott, the airline decides to diversify its 
workforce, and people of color begin to appear as flight attendants, 
pilots, first officers, etc. The people-of-color passengers now see people 
like them on the flight and are satisfied. Everything appears to be in 
order, but in fact little has changed. The airline's  management and board 
of directors remain all white and other routes continue to be flown by 
all-white crews. 
 
    "Racism awards people benefits on the basis of group membership and not 
personal attitudes," Turner said. "It provides benefits and privileges, and 
institutional power is a key ingredient." 
 
    Gary Payton, coordinator of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and 
leader of a workshop titled "On Their Behalf: A Call to Action on Land 
Mines," said that there are more than 250,000 land mine amputees worldwide 
and that a blast occurs every 20 minutes. Most often the victims are women 
and children. Payton said there are 10 million land mines in Afghanistan 
and up to 15 million in Angola, Mozambique, Eritrea, Cambodia, Ethiopia, 
Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, the former Yugoslavia and Nicaragua. Ten to 20 
million land mines are manufactured each year, mainly in Russia and China. 
 
    Payton said that while a land mine costs from $3 to $30, it can cost up 
to $1,000 to remove one once it is deployed. In 1995, the U.N. cleared 
80,000 land mines, but that same year more than 2.5 million were installed. 
At this time there is no efficient method for clearing existing minefields 
and it is a slow, dangerous process. 
 
    "At the present rate, it would take 1,000 mine clearers 33 years to 
de-mine just the Balkan states alone," Payton said. 
 
    In addition to writing letters against the manufacture and use of land 
mines to the President and Congress, Payton said, another thing concerned 
Presbyterians can do is aid the de-mining process by making contributions 
through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA). 
 
    PDA works in partnership with many countries where land mines are 
deployed in large numbers. Specially marked donations will help support 
mine clearing and mapping, and help increase  awareness. Gifts by check 
should be made payable to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and designate 
account #9-2000132. Donations made by MasterCard or VISA may be made by 
calling PresbyTel at 1-800-872-3283. 

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