Burundi: Rebel leader’s return a boon for peace prospects
June 12, 2008 UN: IRIN
The return of Agathon Rwasa – leader of the opposition group FNL –to Bujumbura has precipitated talks of lasting peace in Burundi. Shortly after Rwasa’s return, both parties issued a communiqué denouncing the use of violence and promoting dialogue in order to achieve future peace and prosperity for Burundi. Despite the existence of armed FLN revolutionaries still active in the bush, “since Rwasa’s return, the guns have been silent.” If conditions remain as such, Burundi has the capacity to create sustained dialogue and encourage the thousands of refugees still abroad to return to their homeland. Read more here about Rwasa’s return.
Also, find out more about the groups’ communiqué calling for peaceful dialogue.
And check out this New York Times piece about Burundi’s peace prospects.
June 11, 2008 The Christian Science Monitor
In India, Bindeshwar Pathak is working to eliminate the socially divisive, dehumanizing elements of the historical caste system. Pathak seeks to end the profession of manually cleaning human waste, one of the last markers of an “untouchable” class. He insists that in retraining these manual scavengers, Indian society as a whole will be more inclined to see their shared humanity. Pathak has seen such personal transformations; in bringing a scavenger to a fancy hotel, “the manager was so appalled he tried to stop the women entering. Pathak promised to pay for anything that was broken or stolen; nothing, of course, was; and as the party left, the manager apologized to them.” People remain callous to the humanity they share with these lower-caste citizens, in spite of their capacity to change. Pathak said, “We have everything we need to change things. It is so, so simple, if people only have the will.” Discover how one man is challenging the dehumanizing elements of Indian society in trying to eliminate its most degrading work.
June 11, 2008 BBC News
With the election of Ma Ying-jeou in Taiwan earlier this year, the prospect of bilateral ties to China has become very real, very quickly – though diplomatic ties have not existed between the two since 1999. As we noted last month, the talks between China and Taiwan beginning today are primarily economic in nature, concerning direct airline travel between Taiwan and the mainland as a mutual economic boon. However, around this basic common interest, the Chinese and Taiwanese leaders are constructing a relationship based on “rationality, equal footing and dignity,” according to Taiwanese emissary Chiang Pin-kung. Find out more about how this week’s talks may improve cross-strait relations “after decades of tensions and mistrust.”
June 10, 2008 The Washington Post
Though “mortal enemies,” resumed talks between Syria and Israel can only benefit both parties and the security of the entire region, claims a Washington Post editorial. Each side has its reasons for not coming to the table, to be sure: Israel is adamant about holding on to the Golan Heights, Syria does not want to estrange its ally in Tehran. However, though a peace deal may “be a long way off,” as the piece suggests, engaging in a dialogue and understanding each party’s interests is the first step to a legitimate peace process. Discover how peace talks between Syria and Israel, though hard to conceive, may pave the way to peace in the Middle East.
June 9, 2008 Al Jazeera
Leaders of rival Sudanese factions agreed for the first time on Monday to end conflict over the divisive Abyei region by using an interim border, to allow international mediation in order to resolve the national crisis, and to the return of the countless displaced Sudanese. The deal is by no means an end to Sudan’s horrendous violence, but it signifies some attempt by Omar al-Bashir, president from the north, and Salva Kiir, vice president from the south, to find a shared path to peace. According to al-Bashir, “This problem of Abyei, which was to undermine the unity in Sudan, will thank God, be used for building a unified Sudan.” Read more about Sudan’s rival leaders and their continuing search for common ground.
June 9, 2008 The Globe and Mail
This week, two events – the launch of a Truth and Reconciliation Hearing and a formal apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper – will comprise an attempt on the part of the Canadian government to reconcile with its past abuses of aboriginal citizens. The concerted effort calls for an open dialogue, particularly about Canada’s residential schools debacle. Mirroring similar efforts in Germany after the Holocaust and France following the Vichy regime, Canada’s government looks to “jump-[start] a long-overdue process of establishing historical truth in the face of denial, obfuscation, and ordinary ignorance… [and] promote reconciliation because what the victims of state-sanctioned breaches want, and need, is to be heard.” Find out more about Canada’s efforts to find common ground with communities wronged by past abuses.
