On November 12, 1991, Indonesian troops fired upon a peaceful memorial procession to a cemetery in Dili, East Timor that had turned into a pro-independence demonstration. More than 271 East Timorese were killed that day at the Santa Cruz cemetery or in hospitals soon after. An equal number were disappeared and are believed dead. East… Read More »1991: Dili Massacre, Timor-Leste: more than 271 people killed
In the early hours on 16 November 1989, six Jesuit priests, a cook and her 16-year-old daughter were shot and killed at the Pastoral Centre of José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) in San Salvador. The victims were Fathers Ignacio Ellacuría, Rector of the University; Ignacio Martín-Baró, Vice-Rector; Segundo Montes, Director of the Human… Read More »1989: Murder of six Jesuit priests and two co-workers in El Salvador
On this day in 1961 the West Papuan national flag, the Morning Star was first raised. Although the Netherlands' plans for West Papuan independence at that time did not come to fruition, the flag prepared for an independent West Papua continues to be a symbol of the desire for self determination and independence for the… Read More »1961: First raising of the Morning Star flag, West Papua
The Indian Ocean tsunami traveled as much as 3,000 miles (nearly 5,000 km) to Africa, arriving with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property. The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, according to the USGS, which monitors earthquakes worldwide.… Read More »2004: Devastating tsunami in South Asia, killing 200,000 to 300,000 people
Waitangi Day marks the signing in 1840 of a treaty between representatives of the British Crown and over five hundred Māori chiefs. Claudia Orange explains that: Most chiefs signed a Māori-language version of the treaty. The English- and Māori-language versions held different meanings, and Māori and Europeans therefore had different expectations of the treaty’s terms.… Read More »Waitangi Day
Today we remember twenty three year old asylum seeker Reza Barati who was killed in riots at the Regional Processing Centre (RPC) on Manus Island. A Senate Committee inquiry later found that the Australian Government had failed in its duty to protect him, and other asylum seekers, from harm. Here is an extract from the… Read More »2014: Murder of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Barati in offshore immigration detention on Manus Island
Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day is sometimes known as ‘Bikini’ Day because it marks the anniversary of the US ‘Bravo’ nuclear bomb detonation at Bikini Atoll in 1954. The explosion gouged out a crater more than 200 feet deep and a mile across, melting huge quantities of coral which were sucked up into the… Read More »Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day
In the USA, the Reboot Network initiated the National Day of Unplugging to encourage people to unplug, unwind, relax and do things other than using digital technology, electronics and social media for twenty four hours beginning at sundown on the first Friday in March. It builds on the Sabbath Manifesto which draws on and adapts… Read More »International Day of Unplugging
On this day an earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima Prefecture in Japan killed 18,500 people. Damage to a nuclear power plant in this event caused widespread contamination and the displacement of thousands of people. Reflecting on these events, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan called for the abolition on nuclear power: We, the Catholic Bishops’… Read More »2011: Fukushima Earthquake and Tsunami