Office For Justice, Ecology and Peace

2014: Murder of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Barati in offshore immigration detention on Manus Island
2020-02-17 00:00 - 23:59 (Australia/Sydney)
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 conclusions of the Committee.

8.5 In summary, the committee has found that the events of 16 to 18 February 2014 at the Manus Island RPC were eminently foreseeable, and may have been prevented if transferees had been given a clear pathway for the assessment of their asylum claims. Many of the problems at the centre had their origins in the events of July to October 2013, when the centre was transformed from a mixed facility into a single adult males facility and experienced a massive influx of new transferees, reaching more than double the initial intended capacity of the centre in the space of approximately 12 weeks. The inability of the centre’s infrastructure to cope with this influx, combined with the complete absence of any clear refugee status determination and resettlement framework to deal with these asylum seekers, created an environment where unrest and transferee protests were the inevitable result. 8.6 It is clear from evidence presented to the committee that the Australian Government failed in its duty to protect asylum seekers including Mr Barati from harm. Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs report

The Manus Island RPC was found to be unconstitutional by the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court in 2016 and was shut in 2017. A number of detainees were transferred to the Bomana Immigration Detention Centre.

In November 2019 a delegation of representatives from the Australian Catholic community traveled to Papua New Guinea to gain a deeper understanding of conditions for asylum seekers there. Read their statement here.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has made a complaint about the conditions of detention in Bomana to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

As SBS News report, Director of the jurisdiction, complementary and cooperation division of the ICC office of the prosecutor, Phakiso Mochochoko has found that the conditions of detention “appear to have constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” Read more here.

2015: Death of Faith Bandler AC
2020-02-13 00:00 - 23:59
Faith Bandler AC, activist for Indigenous and South Sea Islander rights, passed away on this day in 2005. An obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald highlighted her achievements:

Faith Bandler changed people’s hearts and minds in support of human rights and social justice. Her smile, no doubt, helped. The National Trust listed her as a national living treasure in 1997 and the Herald, in 2001, included her among the 100 most influential Australians of the 20th century. The Good Weekend, in 2011, included her in a list of 50 women considered the most influential in the world.

Her greatest achievement was her 10-year campaign for Aboriginal rights leading to the 1967 referendum which changed the Constitution and included Aborigines in the census. She worked for Aboriginal education and housing, was a founding member of the Women’s Electoral Lobby and the Australian Republican Movement, campaigned for the rights of South Sea Islanders and wrote six books, including Wacvie (1977), a biographical novel about her father.

Read the full text here.

2008: Apology to the Stolen Generation by the Australian Government
2020-02-13 00:00 - 23:59
On this day Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to Indigenous Australians, and especially the Stolen Generation, for past government policies of removing First Nations children from their families. The National Museum of Australia explains here how the journey to a national apology began with the Bringing Them Home Report.

Watch the apology in the video below.

1958: Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders established
2020-02-13 00:00 - 23:59

2005: Murder of Sr Dorothy Stang in Brazil
2020-02-12 00:00 - 23:59

1965: Freedom Ride in Australia Begins
2020-02-12 00:00 - 23:59
A group of Sydney University students organised a bus tour through western and coastal New South Wales towns in 1965. As the National Museum of Australia website explains:

Their purpose was threefold. The students planned to draw public attention to the poor state of Aboriginal health, education and housing. They hoped to point out and help to lessen the socially discriminatory barriers which existed between Aboriginal and white residents. And they also wished to encourage and support Aboriginal people themselves to resist discrimination. The students had formed into a body called Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA) in 1964 to plan this trip and ensure media coverage.

Charles Perkins, an Arrente man born in Alice Springs, who was a third year arts student at the university, was elected president of SAFA. The group included Ann Curthoys who would later write a history of these events, Jim Spigelman who would later become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and Darce Cassidy, an arts student who was also a part-time reporter for the ABC.

Source: https://indigenousrights.net.au/civil_rights/freedom_ride,_1965

International Day of Women and Girls in Science
2020-02-11 00:00 - 23:59
In 2015 the General Assembly of the United Nations decided to establish an annual International Day to recognize the critical role women and girls play in science and technology. You can read about the decision in Resolution A/RES/70/212.

UNESCO and UN-Women are the two UN agencies responsible for the implementation of the Day’s celebration.

World Day of Prayer for the Sick
2020-02-11 00:00 - 23:59
Prayer Card from Catholic Health AustraliaDownload

The World Day of Prayer for the Sick was initiated by St John Paul II in 1992. It coincides with the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Pope Francis’ messages for the World Day of the Sick can be found here.

Catholic trivia: did you know that Pope Benedict XVI announced his decision to resign as Pope on this day in 2013 citing his failing health as the reason?

1973: Woodward Royal Commission into Land Rights
2020-02-08 00:00 - 23:59
On this day in 1973 the Woodward Royal Commission into Land Rights in the Northern Territory was established. The Central Land Council situate this event in its historical context here.

St Josephine Bakhita
2020-02-08 00:00 - 23:59
St Josephine Bakhita was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery. Her feast day is now observed as the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking. The video below outlines her story.

Download Resources

The Diocese of Parramatta, which includes a significant Sudanese community, has prepared a range of resources for the celebration of the feast of St Josephine Bakhita. They include a poster, social media tile, bulletin notice, homily notes and prayers of the faithful. Catholics in the Diocese of Parramatta are encouraged on this day to pray for all those affected by the crimes of modern slavery and human trafficking, and the people that volunteer and work to eradicate this crime. Join them by downloading resources here.

The following prayer was prepared by Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans.

Prayer for All Who are Trafficked

We pray for all who are trafficked. We ask, Lord, that you strengthen the fragile-spiritedand broken-hearted.We pray earnestly that all who suffer the loss of freedomand the indignity of being used to serve the need and greed of otherswill be freed and find freedom in a home where they are respected.Let them experience a love that is tender and good. We pray for all who exploit others,that their evil deeds will be exposedand that their hearts will be changed.We pray for ourselves, who live in safety and peacewith more than we needand for all who work against trafficking in humans:give us the wisdom and courageto stand in solidarity with all who suffer lack of human dignity.Help all who work against human trafficking to find waysto ensure for all the freedom that is your gift to all of us.We make our prayer through Christ Our Lord.Amen. https://acrath.org.au/prayer-for-anti-trafficking-advocates/

1986 Meeting of St John Paul II with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Alice Springs
2019-11-29 00:00 - 23:59
‘You are part of Australia and Australia is part of you. And the Church herself in Australia will not be fully the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others.’ St John Paul II, Alice Springs, 1986.

Thirty years later, John Lochowiak, Chairperson of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council, reflected on the importance of St John Paul II’s visit.

‘As Saint John Paul II spoke, a wind storm picked up the red soil from the Earth and swirled it amongst our people. The dust seemed to intertwine with the words of love, hope and empathy. The message touched our souls and it touched our skin. Never before had we felt so welcome in the house of Jesus. The impact of this day on our lives cannot be measured. It provided the encouragement for the establishment of Aboriginal and Islander Catholic Ministries all over Australia and it lit the fire our hearts which still provides the warmth, energy and strength for us to continue. We now have over 120,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics in Australia and the support of our Australian Catholic Bishops on our journey of faith.’ John Lochowiak, NATSICC Chairperson, 2016
