Excerpts from An Attack on Freedom By Jody Williams
Human
Rights Watch Statement in Response to Attacks
Statement of Physicians for Human
Rights on Terrorist Acts Against United States
Statement
on the Attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Civilian
Aircraft by the Friends Committee on National Legislation
Excerpts
from Waging Peace, Not War by Heidi Kuhn, President & Founder,
Roots of Peace
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Statements
of Peace and Justice in Response to Attacks
Please feel free to distribute,
with appropriate credit, the following statements by Jody Williams,
Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, Friends Committee
on National Legislation, and Roots of Peace.
Excerpts
from An Attack on Freedom By Jody Williams, Nobel Laureate for Peace,
Campaign Ambassador--International Campaign to Ban Landmines
September 11 was my mother's 71st birthday. But her birthday did
not matter because it was also the day of a coordinated, terrorist
attack on the United States. Too many innocent people died--too
many families lost their loved ones in this unspeakable, terrorist
attack of unprecedented scope. . .
This latest terrorist attack has been called an attack on freedom.
It obviously is. Civilians in an open society not at war have been
killed. But many have expressed concern that other freedoms are
at risk as well in the aftermath of the terror. History has shown
too many times that when a country sees itself in a state of war,
individual freedoms are subordinated to the survival of the state.
. .
It is human nature to want to respond. We do need to respond to
the terrorist attack--but many worry what form the response might
take. One U.S. commentator reported that a former high government
official speculated that perhaps even a nuclear response should
be considered. Hopefully, more rational minds will prevail. How
can anyone possibly think that nuclear weapons--the most indiscriminate,
destructive weapon of all--are appropriate to consider as a response
to a terrorist attack?
Attacks on innocent people anywhere cannot be tolerated. Those who
perpetrated this heinous crime need to be brought to justice. They
need to be found and tried in a court of law. Their network needs
to be dismantled. But I share the concern. . . many others. . .
that the very difficult question of how to respond must be considered
long and hard and not contribute to an escalation of violence. .
.
Fellow Nobel Laureate for Peace, His Holiness the Dalai Lama sent
a letter to President Bush. After expressing his profound sorrow
and shock at the terrorist attacks and offering his deepest condolence
and solidarity with the American people as well as his prayers,
His Holiness concluded: "I am confident that the United States as
a great and powerful nation will be able to overcome this present
tragedy. The American people have shown their resilience, courage
and determination when faced with such difficult and sad situation.
It may seem presumptuous on my part, but I personally believe we
need to think seriously whether a violent action is the right thing
to do and in the greater interest of the nation and people in the
long run. I believe violence will only increase the cycle of violence.
But how do we deal with hatred and anger, which are often the root
causes of such senseless violence? This is a very difficult question,
especially when it concerns a nation and we have certain fixed conceptions
of how to deal with such attacks. I am sure that you will make the
right decision. With my prayers and good wishes, The Dalai Lama"
I conclude offering again my deepest sorrow and condolences to the
victims of this unthinkable act. This attack has changed too many
landscapes, some of them permanently. I hope that one of those changed
landscapes is not outrage so immense that peoples committed to justice
and law and human rights think about descending to the level of
the perpetrators of such acts.
Human Rights Watch Statement
in Response to Attacks. Sept. 12, 2001
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We profoundly condemn yesterday's
cruel attacks in the United States and express our condolences to
the victims and their loved ones. This was an assault not merely
on one nation or one people, but on principles of respect for civilian
life cherished by all people. We urge all governments to unite to
investigate this crime, to prevent its recurrence, and to bring
to justice those who are responsible.
Last night, President Bush said that the United States "will make
no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and
those who harbored them." Yet distinctions must be made: between
the guilty and the innocent; between the perpetrators and the civilians
who may surround them; between those who commit atrocities and those
who may simply share their religious beliefs, ethnicity or national
origin. People committed to justice and law and human rights must
never descend to the level of the perpetrators of such acts. That
is the most important distinction of all.
There are people and governments in the world who believe that in
the struggle against terrorism, ends always justify means. But that
is also the logic of terrorism. Whatever the response to this outrage,
it must not validate that logic. Rather, it must uphold the principles
that came under attack yesterday, respecting innocent life and international
law. That is the way to deny the perpetrators of this crime their
ultimate victory. For more information, visit www.hrw.org.
Statement of Physicians
for Human Rights on Terrorist Acts Against United States September
14, 2001
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Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
condemns all those who planned, assisted with, and carried out the
heinous crimes committed at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon,
and in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. These were not simply
attacks on the United States and its people but an assault on the
most basic principles of universal human rights: respect for human
life and dignity and values that transcend culture, nation, and
religion. The perpetrators that committed these grotesque acts must
be brought to justice. . .
Our work to support families who have suffered horrendous losses
from atrocities on virtually every continent makes PHR painfully
familiar with the agonizing quest for information when loved ones
are missing due to organized terror. . .
As the world grieves for the loss of life and safety that the perpetrators
have inflicted, PHR urges both governments and individuals to strengthen
their resolve to protect the health and human rights of all people.
It is incumbent upon the United States and its allies to respond
to this crisis in a manner that respects international humanitarian
and human rights law. At this time when so many people feel fear
and anger, there is a risk that these emotions will be misdirected.
It is imperative that our government and all Americans reinforce
through their words and actions that only those who did these deeds
and those who enabled them shall be held responsible. Religious,
ethnic, and national groups must not be branded with guilt by association,
subjected to discrimination, or suffer infringement of their civil
liberties at home and abroad.
PHR calls on all of our colleagues in the health professions and
in the struggle for human rights in the US and abroad to reach out
to their communities to promote tolerance and work to prevent local
incidents of hate and violence. For more information, visit www.phrusa.org
Statement on
the Attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Civilian
Aircraft by the Friends Committee on National Legislation
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Our hearts go out today to the victims of Tuesday's terrible attacks
on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the people in the four
civilian aircraft. . .We join with people across the country and
around the world in expressing the hope that those who planned and
orchestrated these terrible acts will soon be brought to justice
under the rule of law.
We are concerned, however, about how the U.S. government responds
now. First, we are concerned that the U.S. not avenge these attacks
with attacks upon other innocent people who may happen to be of
the same nationality, faith, or ethnic group as the alleged perpetrators.
This concern extends to protecting the safety and rights of people
here at home. Many in this country of the Islamic faith or of Middle
Eastern descent are worried that they may now become the unwarranted
focus of suspicion in their communities or, worse, the subjects
of unjust persecution.
Second, many in the administration and Congress have declared that
a state of war now exists. We are concerned that these public statements
may be stirring the popular will and expectation for war. We wonder:
War against whom? Cooler heads must prevail in the U.S. government
during this time of crisis. War will only compound the tremendous
assault on humanity that has already occurred. War is not the answer.
The people who committed these acts struck with hatred. They saw
the people in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the aircraft
as faceless enemies. They denied the humanity of their victims.
The U.S. must not commit the same sin by compounding the hatred,
violence, and injustice of these attacks with its own acts of terror
and war against another people, most of whom are innocent of these
crimes.
Finally, the people who planned these suicide attacks were able
to draw volunteers from a growing number of people around the world
who harbor deep resentment and anger toward the U.S. It is important
that we in the U.S. try to hear and understand the sources of this
anger. If we in the U.S. do not seek to understand and address the
roots of this anger--poverty, injustice, and hopelessness--then
the violence may well continue, no matter what the U.S. does to
try to prevent it. As members of the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers) we witness to that spirit of love which takes away the
occasion of war. Out of darkness and tragedy, may God show us the
path of true and lasting peace.
For more information, visit www.fcnl.org.
Excerpts from
Waging Peace, Not War by Heidi Kuhn, President & Founder, Roots
of Peace
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As we celebrate the first harvest
season of the new millennium, generational wisdom reminds that one
reaps what one sows, and the planting of 70 million landmines silently
poised in 70 countries only yields a lethal harvest-depriving innocent
farmers and families the right to enjoy the fruits of the earth."
This was the message that our Roots of Peace delegation took to
the Croatian minefields last week with Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel
Peace Prize recipient. Yet similar to the horror of landmines that
prevents humanity from the essence of freedom to walk the earth
with confidence, another phantom enemy now preys on unsuspecting
victims-terrorism.
Similar to landmines, the act of terrorism strikes on seemingly
pastoral landscapes sowing seeds of hatred in the "soul" as well
as the "soil". These cowardly weapons are unsuspectingly planted
and profoundly affect entire communities when these phantom enemies
are detonated. Such unspeakable tragedy reverberated through our
own Glenwood community this week when Lauren Grandcolas became a
hostage casualty during this indiscriminate "act of war" on U.S.
soil. Yet rising from the ashes of profound sadness permeating our
own neighborhoods, the phoenix of American courage may engage global
citizens to actively wage peace in our world.
Pensive moments lingered earlier this month, as I left our comfortable
Glenwood neighborhood for my third trip to the minefields of the
Balkans with our oldest son, Brooks, in hand to teach him lessons
not found in a textbook. As he prepares to depart for college this
week, I sought to sow deep seeds of empathy in the heart of a generation
so spared by the horrors of war. Etched in my mind forever are images
of standing in the midst of the rubble and wreckage of Vukovar-a
Danube River town where 36,000 homes were destroyed and only four
remained-now mirroring the tragedy of the shocking East Coast scenes
depicted earlier this week. The governor of the region walked us
through vineyards mined on both sides, and gently reached over the
red sign warning "OPREZ MINAS" smiling and sharing the juicy nectar
of the grape harvest, in sharp contrast to the scourge of landmines.
What began as a toast of "mines to vines" from the living room of
a Glenwood home, has now successfully demined 160 acres of land
in Croatia-transcending borders in the spirit of peace. . .
For more information, visit www.rootsofpeace.org.
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