THE GLOBAL AND THE LOCAL

This interview was done for a trail and unpublished issue of the Nation Weekly magazine. Sushil Pyakurel, member of the National Human Rights Commission, talked with Sushma Joshi of the Nation Weekly about the follow-up to Doramba, the new Human Rights Promotion Center set up under the auspices of the Prime Minister, and the urgent need for the Army to stop protecting perpetrators who perform acts of impunity. The National Human Rights Commission only made the report on Doramba public after pressure from the European Union. Why was this? We investigated in Doramba. 19 people were taken into custody, and then killed. It was a gross violation of human rights by the RNA. Even the Prime Minister said there would be a civilian investigation. The Commission has repeatedly said the perpetrators have to be brought to justice, but neither the Army, nor the government, have followed up the case. The government is so insensitive it didn't even send an acknowledgement after we sent the report....

Sushma Joshi Ancient Greece is known as the birthplace of democracy. Their ideas and practice does not correspond exactly to the various different forms of democracies that we are familiar with in the contemporary moment. Their political and intellectual achievements, however, were clearly instrumental in shaping the foundations. What did democracy mean to the ancient Greeks, and how did it get started in that part of the world, and not any other? The Egyptians and the Persians were ruling far more civilized and wealthier civilizations, but their empires did not give birth to ideals of democracy. Even in the Greek isles, mountainous areas and areas lacking communications did not develop democracy, an interesting historical fact that might shed some light on the turmoil of our own nation. The Greeks distinguished themselves from the “barbarous”, or people who said “bar-bar” when they talked. According to classic scholar H.D.F Kitto, the barbarians were not denigrate...

FABULOUSLY YOURS People read newspapers and magazines expecting to believe what they read. They do not usually wonder whether what they are reading is partially or entirely fabricated. In countries where there are only a few media companies controlling entire conglomerates of television and print media, the independent newspaper and magazine becomes even more of a vital source of information. The United States, for instance, where four or five major corporations control the majority of news media in the entire continent, is often cited as a nation where the quality of news suffers as a consequence of the consolidation of media outlets. So its independent news sources are often elevated to a higher status. The New Republic is a policy magazine published out of Washington DC that boasts of being the "inflight magazine of Airforce 1" - Airforce 1 being the airforce of the president. Started in 1914, the magazine has enjoyed respectable influence in the upper echelons of ...

Bonded to Labor The Contemporary Situation in Nepal By Sushma Joshi This piece originally appeared in Samar 16: Fall/Winter, 2003 Bonded labor, or debt bondage, is the least known form of slavery that exists today, yet it is the most widely used method of enslaving people. At least 20 million people throughout the world are bonded laborers: whole families of agricultural laborers in India; Togolese girls sold as maids in Gabon; eastern European women tricked into prostitution in western Europe. A complete mixture of people who have one thing in common: a debt they are forced to repay with their labor. On January 13, 2000 the Nepali government, through the Local Self-Governance Act, established a minimum wage for agricultural laborers -- Rs. 74, or just over US$1 per 8-hour workday. On May 1, also International Labor Day, 19 Kamaiya (bonded labor) families filed a petition against their master, ex-minister Shiva Raj Pant, demanding minimum wages in compliance with the new re...

TORTURED BY TERRORISM The fear of terrorism is being mobilized to do a lot of things - sell arms, sell Hollywood movies, sell a lot of extravagantly wasteful wars. Covertly, it is also being mobilized to destroy ethical principles that make up the foundation of democratic societies. This was none more evident than last Friday, when a panel on torture after 9/11 was held at the City University of New York in NYC. Should torture, as an interrogation technique, become legal in extreme exceptions like terrorism in democratic societies? The fact that this question was even raised at all makes clear that that the fear of terrorist attacks is a significant factor that is changing the norms of ethical behavior. And it is a fear that is also cleverly being taken advantage of by individuals and organizations to push forward their own authoritarian agendas. Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard University, strongly advocated for torture warrants to government of...

Indigenous Women Challenging the Global Agenda by Maya Dollarhide, Sushma Joshi, 10/26/03

OCT 23 - I was listening to a radio report on whether the terrorist sleeper cell that was busted in Buffalo was really a sleeper cell, when somebody’s voice came on air. The voice was breathy and stern, clearly belonging to a tough guy. “One by one, the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice,” the voice said, making sure to pause between One-By-One to give it the proper dramatic effect. Echoes of cowboys galloping through the prairie, police cars chasing the bad guys, commandos sliding down walls in fast pursuit of deadly danger came to mind. I got chills up my spine. I wanted to run to the mall and stand in line to see this latest action movie. “That was President Bush on air. This is NPR,” said the bland voice of the announcer. “President Bush is planning to meet with Governor Arnold Swarznegger in California.” “I am going to share with him the optimism with him about this country,” the Hollywood action voice returned. I mentally added the crescendo that should be...