Psychologists for Peace

News Updates

 

2011

2009

Children's Peace Literature Award winner to be announced

The winner of the 2009 Psychologists for Peace Children's Peace Literature Award will be announced on Wednesday 21 October at the opening of the Human Rights in Action Showcase by the Minister of Education Dr Jane Lomax-Smith.

2008

Peace events happening in September, 2008

2008 Peace Project Award winner announced

We are pleased to announce that the 2008 Peace Project Award winner is Irene Giaprakis from the School of Psychological Science at La Trobe University. Her Honours research entitled The contribution of emotional intelligence and its components in the prediction of forgiveness is supervised by Professor Eleanor Wertheim.  

For full details, see the Peace Project Award page

Peace Games: August 24 2008

PFP WA group are hosting an afternoon of Peace Games on August 24, which aim to build a sense of connectedness in a group, create empathy & understanding, focus diffused energy and break the ice for new groups.  Perhaps this is an activity for your group too? 

To book your attendance or for more information email Manita at:  [email protected].

For more information, download the flyer below:

PFP Member Dan Loton at the Our World in Crisis Course

PFP member Dan Loton attended the recent Our World In Crisis course, run by Prof Joe Camilleri of La Trobe University Centre for Dialogue. PFP is one of the course’s sponsors.

Dan writes, “The OWIC course was a blistering, stimulating crash-course covering a variety of political topics and contemporary, yet long debated, global issues … The issues addressed by the course are at the heart of the biggest debates and divides observable in our world today. These are hotly debated topics, theorised as central to the forces that shape human life across the globe, and with little easy answers.”

Dan finished his Bachelor of Psychology, Honours last year, and is now working as an ethics officer at Victoria University. He intends to work in research in the future as well as practice clinical Psychology. He’s interested in the psychology behind war and peace, and the interaction of politics and psychology.

Book Review

Dead bodies don’t count: Civilian casualties and the forgotten costs of the Iraq Conflict written by Richard Hill and Paul Wilson.

Dr Arthur Veno, a PFP member, reviewed the book, and writes, “This is an extraordinary book for many reasons.  It is beautifully written for intelligent audiences and, to date is the only explicated and developed critical analysis of the machinations of the remaining world superpower to justify the holocaust occurring in Afghanistan, Iraq and (soon) Iran.”

2007  

Australian Peace Prize Presentation

To be awarded to Julian Burnside QC for his work with refugees, by The Peace Organisation of Australia.

When: Thursday 20 December, 7.00pm
Where: Green Building, 60 Leicester St, Carlton (Melb.)

Drinks and finger food provided. All are welcome to attend.
For more info, contact [email protected].

2007 Children’s Peace Literature Award: Winner announced

Congratulations to Michael Gerard Bauer for his book Don’t Call Me Ishmael, the winning entry for the 2007 Children’s Peace Literature Award!

Don’t Call Me Ishmael was selected from seven short-listed books and from more than 100 entries of books for children published from August 2005 to July 2007.  

For full details, see 2007 Children’s Peace Literature Award.

Psychologists and Torture – from the 2007 APS Conference

The issue of psychologists’ involvement in torture and interrogation came to the fore during the 2007 APS National Conference, with the presence of Dr Gerald P Koocher (past APA president) as a keynote speaker. To read more about this, click here - Acrobat icon - small (219kb)

As part of a response to Dr Koocher’s presence, and the questions it raised for many APS members, a forum was held, titled “Lessons from Guantanamo: Ethical Issues for psychologists working in the military, intelligence and detention facilities.”  Forum participants were Dr Koocher, Heather Gridley (PFP and College of Community Psychologists member), Amanda Gordon (APS president) and  Dr. Chris Lennings from the University of Sydney, who had been involved in research and advocacy in relation to the mental health of detainees in places like Villawood and Baxter. THe forum was chaired by Professor Graham Davidson. To read Heather’s forum presentation, click here - Acrobat icon - small (335kb)

For background to this issue, read the Psychologists for Social Responsibility November 2006 report:

2007 Peace Art Exhibition   The Peace Journey, Carina McPherson

The 2007 Peace Art Exhibition organised by Psychologists for Peace WA has now concluded. This year’s theme was “Peace Between Diverse Cultures”.
 
In case you didn’t have a chance to attend the opening or visit the exhibition later in the month - read all about how it went, see who won and view the photo gallery at http://psychs-for-peace.blogspot.com/
 
27 works were exhibited from 5 schools, including the first country school to take part since the award was begun in 2005.
 
To view our album directly, please click here 
 
The next Peace Art Exhibition and Award will be held in 2009.
 
In peace,
 
Jenni Ibrahim
Psychologists for Peace WA

Statement from the Mutitjulu People

Leaders of the Mutitjulu community today questioned the need for a military
occupation of their small community:

We welcome any real support for indigenous health and welfare and even two
police will assist, but the Howard Government declared an emergency at our
community over two years ago - when they appointed an administrator to our
health clinic - and since then we have been without a doctor, we have less
health workers, our council has been sacked all our youth and health
programmes have been cut.
 
We have no CEO and limited social and health services. The government has
known about our overcrowding problem for at least 10 years and they've done
nothing about it.
 
How do they propose keeping alcohol out of our community when we are 20
minutes away from 5 star hotel? Will they ban blacks from Yulara? We have
been begging for an alcohol counsellor and a rehabilitation worker so that
we can help alcoholics and substance abusers but those pleas have been
ignored. What will happen to alcoholics when this ban is introduced? How
will the government keep the grog runners out of our community without a
permit system?
 
We have tried to put forward projects to make our community economically
sustainable - like a simple coffee cart at the sunrise locations - but the
government refuses to even consider them.
 
There is money set aside from the Jimmy Little foundation for a kidney
dialysis machine at Mutitjulu, but National Parks won't let us have it. That
would create jobs and improve indigenous health but they just keep
stonewalling us. If there is an emergency, why won't Mal Brough fast track
our kidney dialysis machine?
 
Some commentators have made much of the cluster of sexually transmitted
diseases identified at our health clinic. People need to understand that
Mutitjulu Health Clinic (now effectively closed) is a regional clinic and
patients come from as far away as WA and SA; so to identify a cluster here
is meaningless without seeing the confidential patient data.
 
The fact that we hold this community together with no money, no help, no
doctor and no government support is a miracle. Any community, black or white
would struggle if they were denied the most basic resources. Police and the
Military are fine for logistics and coordination but healthcare, youth
services, education and basic housing are more essential. Any programme must
involve the people on the ground or it won't work. For example who will
interpret for the military?

Our women and children are scared about being forcibly examined; surely
there is a need to build trust. Even the doctors say they are reluctant to
examine a young child without a parent's permission. Of course any child
that is vulnerable or at risk should be immediately protected but a
wholesale intrusion into our women and children's privacy is a violation of
our human and sacred rights.
 
Where is the money for all the essential services? We need long term
financial and political commitment to provide the infrastructure and
planning for our community. There is an urgent need for 10's of millions of
dollars to do what needs to be done. Will Mr Brough give us a commitment
beyond the police and military?
 
The commonwealth needs to work with us to put health and social services,
housing and education in place rather than treating Mutitjulu as a political
football.

But we need to set the record straight:

  • There is no evidence of any fraud or mismanagement at Mutitjulu - we have had an administration for 12 months that found nothing
  • Mal Brough and his predecessor have been in control of our community for at least 12 months and we have gone backwards in services
  • We have successfully eradicated petrol sniffing from our community in conjunction with government authorities and oil companies
  • We have thrown suspected paedophiles out of our community using the permit system which our government now seeks to take away from us.
  • We will work constructively with any government, State, Territory or Federal that wants to help Aboriginal people.

2006

Media Release 29 November 2006 

Australian Government Must Support Bill to Ban Cluster Munitions

Australian Psychological Society Interest Group, Psychologists for Peace (PFP) expresses its support for Senator Lyn Allison's proposed bill prohibiting the use of cluster munitions by members of the Australian Defence Force.

 

21st September  

International Day of Peace 21st September

The International Day of Peace is celebrated annually on 21 September. It was established in 1981 by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. The resolution recalled that the promotion of peace, both at an international and a national level, is among the main purposes of the United Nations, and it reaffirmed that peace must be founded ‘upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind’. The resolution also states: ‘through the declaration and proper celebration of… an international day of peace, it would be possible to contribute to strengthening such ideals of peace and to alleviating the tensions and causes of conflict, both within and among nations and peoples’.

In 2001, member states of the UN general assembly unanimously declared the day to be a day of global ceasefire and non-violence.

On the day, the secretary-general of the United Nations peels the Japanese Peace Bell at the United Nations headquarters in new York and delivers a message of peace.

The Australian Senate has passed a motion to observe the international day of peace on the 21st September, 2006. View the Notice of Motion as presented by Senator Lyn Allison below:

Notice of Motion Acrobat icon [19kb]

Day of Global Ceasefire
The International Day of Peace is intended to be a day of global ceasefire. Its purposes are more than just symbolic. They include: 

  • Providing relief workers with a safe interlude for the provision of vital services.
  • Offering mediators a building block towards a wider truce.
  • Allowing those involved in violent conflict to reconsider the wisdom of further violence.
  • Permitting freedom of movement and information, which can lead to the reunion of families and a long-lasting cessation of hostilities.
  • Relieving those embroiled in violent conflict from the daily burden of fear for one’s own safety and the safety of others.
  • Providing a pause for reflection by the international community on the threats and challenges we face.

Psychologists for Peace believe that the promotion of peace and non-violent resolution of conflict is critical for improving the quality of life of people around the globe, and enabling people the chance of living a life free from violent conflict. Ultimately, the very survival of the planet depends upon our learning non-violent means of resolving conflict.

We join the Peace Organisation of Australia, and other organizations, in supporting the international day of peace and global ceasefire, recognizing that violent conflict:

  • Inflicts physical and psychological trauma
  • Usually involves considerable loss of life
  • Defiles the environment, often irreversibly
  • Exacerbates poverty and prevents development
  • Engenders feelings of fear and insecurity
  • Intensifies racial and religious intolerance

PFP aims to:

  • Raise awareness of the importance of the International Day of Peace
  • Join with other nations in celebrating the International Day of Peace
  • Promote solidarity and cooperation between individuals, groups and nations, particularly with respect to the peaceful resolution of conflict
  • Educate people about the peaceful resolution of conflict
  • Invite individuals, groups, organizations and government to develop skills and techniques for promoting peace and non-violent methods of resolving conflict

What can we do?
There are many ways that people can get involved in the International Day of Peace, ranging from marking the day in some personal way, to lobbying our Government to support the global ceasefire.

Personal
Purchase and wear a blue ribbon demonstrating your support for the International Day of Peace (ribbons available at the front desk, National Office, APS).

Join a vigil
Stop for a minute of silence at midday on September 21st, when church bells are rung to mark the International Day of Peace.
Participate in International Day of Peace activities in your town or area.

Plan an International Day of Peace activity

  •  
    • Join Psychologists for Peace in watching Peace One Day on August 1st, 6pm, at National Office.
    • Purchase your own copy of Peace One Day and watch it with friends (http://www.peaceoneday.org/).
    • Purchase and display copies of Psychologists for Peace (PFP)’s peace posters and children’s book. (Order now).
    • Wear a peace is possible badge (Order now).
    • Donate copies of PFP peace posters and children’s book to your local school or library.
    • Begin rebuilding a relationship with someone with whom you have an ongoing conflict.
    • Host a candlelit dinner party on the 21st September to mark the day of peace.
    • Tell everyone you know about the importance of the International Day of Peace and the global ceasefire.
    • Make a personal commitment to do something to bring harmony on the day.
    • Write to your local MP to request that they support the day publicly. You could request that they attend rallies and events that are celebrating the day. You could invite them to wear a blue ribbon on the day, to show their support for the International Day of Peace. You could ask them to raise the issue in Parliament, and ask that Parliament notes and supports the day.
    • Visit the Peace One Day website and read about all of the activities that are taking place around the world in the International Day of Peace (http://www.peaceoneday.org/). Email your Peace Day activities to the Peace One Day website, so that your ideas can be posted on their website, and inspire others to get involved. If possible, send them photos or film footage of your action on the Day, as they plan to include as many as possible in the sequel to the first Peace One Day film.
  • It doesn’t matter how you choose to observe Peace Day 21 September - what matters is that you make a commitment to do something on the Day. Your commitment to the International Day of Peace and Global Ceasefire will make a difference.

 

PFP Media Releases on the Middle East

APS/PFP have issued two media releases on the current conflict.  The second one talks specifically about helping people find direction for their distress and helplessness.  See the attached docs or go to:

 

2006 Peace Project Award Winner

 This year there were 8 applicants for the Peace Project Award offered by the APS Psychologists for Peace interest group. As stipulated in the guidelines, selection of a winner was undertaken by a panel of three judges from different states in Australia.
 
We are pleased to announce that this year’s winner was Peggy Koutsos from the School of Psychological Science at La Trobe University. Her Postgraduate diploma research entitled “Paths to interpersonal forgiveness: The role of personality, dispositional forgiveness and situational forgiveness” is supervised by Professor Eleanor Wertheim. Congratulations Peggy, and thanks to all applicants for your research efforts in topics relevant to Peace.
 
About Peggy’s Research : Paths to interpersonal forgiveness: The role of personality, dispositional forgiveness and situational forgiveness :  Forgiveness of past grievances between individuals and groups is an integral process that fosters the reduction of conflict.  When grievances continue over a period of time, it can be very destructive for the interpersonal relationship.  The conceptual models of forgiveness to be tested in this study, integrate and extend previous research findings to assess not only which factors will promote or hinder forgiveness in interpersonal relationships, but they also uniquely examine the predictive and mediating relationship among these factors.  
 
Honourable mention goes to Sowmya Devaraj from the University of New South Wales for a strong second place standing. Sowmya’s BPsych thesis is “Application of the elaboration likelihood model to understand biases in credibility judgments made about Aboriginal individuals” and she is supervised by Associate Professor Jane Goodman-Delahunty.

“Peace One Day” film

This excellent film was recently shown at the Vic Office.  We heartily recommend it to others as a great group or individually inspiring activity.  Check out their website, where you can order the DVD.
 
http://www.peaceoneday.org/

Tell us what you’re up to ...

 

It’s always inspiring and encouraging to share ideas and actions with others.  Psychologists for Peace would love to hear from you and your group about your work/activities for non-violent conflict resolution. Share them with us, so we can share them with others. Have you publications you’d like to share? Or are you presenting or participating in something?  Tell us about it both beforehand so we can publicise for you, and afterwards so we can share reports. Remember, photos are great on a website! Please email to [email protected].
 

August 14

Psychologists for Social Responsibility (USA) statement on Psychologists and Security/Military Interrogations

Psychologists for Social Responsibility issued a statement on August 8th, urging the American Psychological Association "to declare immediately, clearly, and unequivocally that psychologists should not participate at this time in any way in national security or military interrogations." They encourage it's distribution as widely as possible to share your concerns about the issue of psychological torture and other psychological abuse at Guantanamo Bay and other U.S.-operated detention centres.

Psychologists for Social Responsibility Urges APA to Adopt Policy of
"No Participation in National Security Interrogations"

PsySR urges the American Psychological Association to declare immediately, clearly, and unequivocally that psychologists should not participate at this time in any way in national security or military interrogations.

Multiple, well-documented reports* indicate that psychologists have played a crucial role in the development and use of psychologically coercive and psychologically abusive practices against detainees. The allegations pertain to Guantánamo Bay and other U.S- operated detention centers.

The reports are based on reputable government records, personal interviews, and investigations by human rights organizations. They have specified how detainees have been subjected to psychological torture, and other psychologically cruel, inhuman, and degrading techniques. The reports also specify that psychologists have been directly involved in this abuse in the following ways:-

  • Psychologists have been directly involved in researching and designing the coercive techniques.
  • Psychologists have been directly involved in training and advising interrogators in the systematic use of the coercive techniques.
  • Psychologists on BSCTs have participated in, and at least one allegedly helped direct, interrogations based on the systematic use of the coercive techniques.

Given this history and the need for clear and unequivocal guidance for psychologists, PsySR strongly supports the effort initiated by Division 48 to update APA's 1986 Human Rights Resolution on torture. The proposed revision would build a firm foundation in human rights law for APA. We urge the APA Council to pass a strong resolution to accomplish that link and also to call for psychologists to refrain from participating in any way in national security and military interrogations at this time. To do otherwise would ignore the urgency of helping psychologists avoid further enmeshing themselves in abusive interrogation practices.

Unfortunately, national security agencies in the United States and many other countries have a long history of applying psychologists' research in coercive and abusive interrogations. That has occurred both with and without the consent of the psychologists who conducted the studies. In fact, APA's 1986 resolution on torture followed revelations that the CIA and the School of the Americas trained interrogators to use coercive methods based on psychological research.

Without a clear standard against participation in such interrogations, individual psychologists will continue to face an impossible ethical quandary - how personally to draw the line between what should or should not be considered psychological torture or psychologically cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in the high-pressure, secretive environment of a national security interrogation. The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the World Medical Association have all adopted policies and standards that prohibit their members from participating in interrogations of individual detainees and place strict limits on the general training they can provide. In response, the Department of Defense recently announced that it now prefers to work with psychologists in interrogations.*** That intensifies the need for immediate APA action.

Therefore, PsySR recommends:

  • That the APA Council of Representatives pass an unambiguous resolution strengthening its current prohibition on torture by linking it to strict observance of international human rights standards and issue a clear, unequivocal call for psychologists to refrain from participating in any way in national security and military interrogations at this time.
  • That APA honor its previous commitment to open an ethics investigation of the behavior of any individual psychologist whose name surfaces as having participated in the interrogation of individual detainees that relied upon psychological abuse.
    · That APA open an ethics investigation of the role of the Pentagon's SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) program and psychologists working for SERE in the possible development and systematic use of psychologically coercive techniques against detainees in national security interrogations.
  • That APA condemn the design and use of new or existing techniques and practices, used alone or in combination, that are intended to create psychologically degrading, fearful, abusive, and therefore coercive experiences for detainees in national security interrogations. These include, but are not limited to, the following: sexual humiliation, sleep deprivation, temperature extremes, threats to family, continuous loud noise, light control, presence of military working dogs for intimidation, physical stress positions, and physical assaults such as slapping, beating, and "waterboarding."

**See for example: Jane Mayer, "The Experiment: The military trains people to withstand interrogation. Are those methods being misused at Guantanamo?" The New Yorker: July 11th and July 18th, 2005. (www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/050711fa_fact4)

"Break Them Down: Systematic Use of Psychological Torture by US Forces," Physicians for Human Rights: May, 2005. (www.phrusa.org/research/torture/report_breakthemdown.html <http://www.phrusa.org/research/torture/report_breakthemdown.html> )

Bloche MG and Marks JH, "Doctors and Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay," New England Journal of Medicine: 2005:353(1); 6-8.

"Situation of Detainees at Guantanamo Bay," United Nations Economic and Social Council Commission on Human Rights: Feb. 15th, 2006.

Neil A. Lewis, "Military Alters the Makeup of Interrogation Advisers," New York Times: June 7th, 2006.

Mark Benjamin, "Torture Teachers," Salon.com: June 29th, 2006, (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/06/29/torture/print.html); and "Psychological Warfare," Salon.com: July 26th, 2006, (http://salon.com/news/feature/2006/07/26/interrogation/print.html).

**(See, for example, A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror, 2006, by Alfred McCoy, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.)

***Lewis, op.cit., June 7th, 2006

Anne Anderson and Colleen Cordes
Coordinator and Executive Director
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
208 I (EYE) St. NE, Suite B
Washington, DC 20002-4340
(202) 543-5347
(202) 543-5348 fax
[email protected], [email protected]
http://www.psysr.org/ 

 

The Psychological Interpretation of War - Peace Review

 

The Special Issue of the PEACE REVIEW on the PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF WAR (Routledge/Taylor and Francis) is generating excitement throughout the world as the definitive publication on the sources of collective forms of violence (including genocide and terrorism). We have reprinted copies of this important issue in order to make it available once again to researchers and teachers.

 

Search the net and raise funds for psychologists for social responsibility

 

Now you can raise money for Psychologists for Social Responsibility just by searching the Internet at GoodSearch.com. You use GoodSearch.com like any other search engine - the site is powered by Yahoo! - but each time you do, money is generated for us. Here's how it works:

1. Go to www.goodsearch.com

2. Type Psychologists for Social Responsibility into the "I support" box and click on "verify"

3. Search the Internet just like you would with any search engine

4. Since GoodSearch shares its advertising revenue with charities and schools, every time you search the Internet at GoodSearch, you'll be earning money for us.

GoodSearch also has a toolbar you can download from the homepage so that you can search right from the top of your browser.

You can keep track of our estimated earnings by clicking on "amount raised" once you designate us as your organization of choice. The more people who use the site, the more money we'll earn, so please spread the word!!

 

June 14

 

URGENT A Just Australia Campaign - Refugees and asylum seekers

Dear Supporters of A Just Australia,

The past month has been very hectic. The campaign against the proposed new law to send all boat arrival asylum seekers to Nauru has been vigorously fought by advocacy groups, welfare groups, lawyers, church groups and by ordinary Australians who do not want to see refugees forced into offshore camps where there will be deplorable conditions, limited legal rights and the possibility of indefinite detention for proven refugees as Australia attempts to deny them entry.

The bill is due to be voted on this week. We need ALL supporters to write an email, send a fax or make a call. There are over 13,000 of you on this list alone, so we can make our voices heard - that Australians do not want this law.

Get your MPs and Senators contact details here You may wish to send a note to Senator Troeth who is fighting hard in the liberal party room against this bill. She needs all our support.The GetUp/AJA/ChilOut petition was very successful with over 30,000 people signing. This will be delivered tomorrow to Parliament House.

Kate Gauthier
for the A Just Australia team

Opening statement to the Senate Inquiry by AJA

Ms Gauthier—A Just Australia represents over 13,000 Australians who believe our country can do more to achieve just and compassionate treatment of refugees consistent with the human rights standards that Australia has developed and endorsed. Today I seek leave to present you with a petition signed by more than 30,000 Australians who ask you not to support this proposed legislation.

In our submission we looked at the values of our community and applied those to this proposed law. In particular, we looked at the values for Australian schooling developed by this Howard government. Values were listed such as care and compassion, integrity, respect, a fair go and responsibility. We believe that this proposed law provides a test of these values and, in particular, a test of the integrity of every federal parliamentarian. After all, integrity is about being prepared to stand by your values, particularly when it may be difficult to do so.

It is our view that, as individual parliamentarians and as a Senate committee, you cannot believe in these values listed and still support this law. That is why we challenge each of you, our elected representatives: if you support this proposed legislation, explain to Australians how this law supports the values by which this government wants us all to live. The simple fact is that you will not be able to. For example, how does having different levels of rights depending on your method of arrival in Australia meet the test of a fair go? How does punishing innocent and vulnerable men, women and children for the sake of appeasing another country meet the test of integrity? This law offends fundamental Australian values and will leave those who support it with no claim to integrity. It will render Australian values empty and will leave our nation diminished.

The evidence presented to this inquiry by a number of organisations shows that international law will be breached, that children will be detained, that conditions on Nauru are inadequate to the point of appalling, that there will be no oversight of government actions and no appeals processes protecting rights, and that resettlement options will not be found, leading to the indefinite detention of proven refugees. And the latest in a long line of bureaucratic spin-doctoring from DIMA has been that the Nauru facility is not a detention centre at all.

In our submission we looked at three main issues: the diplomatic outcomes sought by this policy and whether they will be achieved, a comparison of offshore asylum versus onshore detention policies, and whether this law meets the values that the Australian community holds. This law will not achieve the desired results as a political solution. Indonesia was offended that Australian government officials granted protection to West Papuans. Until Indonesia stops human rights abuses in West Papua, Australian immigration officials will still have to make diplomatically embarrassing decisions, be they made on the Australian mainland or on Nauru.

We looked at the key principles of onshore detention policies and analysed how those principles could be applied in an offshore setting. Although we believe that this policy should not go ahead, for a multitude of reasons, we came up with a key list of issues that need to be addressed before offshore programs can hope to come close to acceptable Australian standards.

Looking at the recent detention reforms, these show important principles that the government has accepted: that children should not be detained; that detention should be humane; that indefinite detention can be rectified with community release; and that, most importantly, Australian people have a basic right to know what our government is doing in our names. To guarantee this right for Australian citizens, the Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Human Rights Commissioner have powers to oversee conditions of detention and the duration of detention. Our submission shows that these basic principles will be difficult to meet on Christmas Island and will be impossible to meet on Nauru.

This law goes so far that it will make us look back with nostalgia on the good old days when we detained children on the Australian mainland. This is not just the opinion of A Just Australia. We would like to seek leave to put into evidence this petition from GetUp! that has been signed by over 30,000 Australians who oppose this bill. Each and every one of them has been prepared to stand up for basic Australian values. On their behalf, we invite our parliament to do the same.

Kate Gauthier

National Coordinator,
A Just Australia

Phone: 02 9745 9727
Mobile: 0414 876 139

We believe that Australia's policies toward refugees and asylum seekers should at all times reflect respect, decency and traditional Australian generosity to those in need, while advancing Australia's international standing and national interests.

We aim to achieve just and compassionate treatment of refugees, consistent with the human rights standards which Australia has developed and endorsed.

 

June 13

 

New Matilda launches our Common Wealth

At midday today New Matilda launched Reclaiming our Common Wealth: policies for a fair and sustainable future, the document that will guide New Matilda's policy development over the coming years. Over 100 subscribers and supporters attended the launch, which was held at NSW Parliament House.

While Our Common Wealth roundly condemns the lack of vision in Australian policy-making, there was no lack of vision in the room as John Menadue AO (Chair, New Matilda), Wendy Harmer, John Robertson (Secretary, Unions NSW), Professor John Dwyer (Chair, Australian Healthcare Reform Alliance), Professor Denise Bradley (UniSA), and Virginia Young (The Wilderness Society), called for a new approach to policy development based on Australia's long-term interests and values.

Over the next six to nine months, New Matilda will be producing policies in the areas of health, education, environment, media, and 'economic policy for working Australians'.

It's an immense challenge. We aim to influence decision makers at all levels of politics, to demonstrate that there is an alternative to today's shallow, short-term approach to public policy. We believe that there is a deep and under-recognised demand to put the values offreedom, fairness, citizenship, ethical responsibility and stewardship back into Australian policy development.

Thank you for supporting New Matilda as we work towards reclaiming our common wealth and developing policies for a fair and sustainable future.

> Download Our Common Wealth (full version - 1.1mb) http://www.newmatilda.com/admin/imagelibrary/images/Common_Wealth_fulliNEp2TS220H1.pdf

We welcome your comments and feedback in the 'Our Common Wealth' forum. Speeches from today's launch will be published in the first edition of the seperate Policy email this Friday.

New Matilda Pty Ltd

Locked Bag 2000/152
Surry Hills
NSW 2010

ph: 02 9211 1635
fax: 02 9211 1653
email: [email protected] 

 

Winner of Our World in Crisis? place.

PFP congratulates Lyn Bender for being the successful recipient of our sponsored place in the course “Our World in Crisis?”. In order to share some of the valuable insights and lessons learned in the course, Lyn has begun an online diary for PFP members interested in the course. Her notes from the first week show what a unique and inspiring course this is going to be. We are delighted that one of our members has this opportunity to attend this course, and share her experience with us in a useful way. We look forward to working with Lyn in finding ways in which we can all progress.

Read her progress below:

I attended the first session of Our World in Crisis? Course on May 2nd 06. This provided a splendid antidote to my own personal world crisis that involved a sense of impotence in the face of negative world forces.

5 pm
Met for a healthy snack and chat with the participants who numbered around fifty. The course was held in the Australian Volunteers International offices which was a positive and congruent location. Professor Joseph Camilleri (not of the Black Sorrows!) gave an inspiring over view of the course, and a summation after the group discussions. He stated:

  • You are going to be inspired by this course;
  • Do not ask what you can get out of it because then the answer will be zilch!
  • Ask what you can contribute (a brilliant metaphor for social activism);
  • The important message of this course was the absolute importance of conversation;
  • That is, real conversation about what is happening to the world - where are we heading?
  • This is a time- for the world- of supreme importance. It is a time of great significance for the future of the planet;
  • Our planet is a tiny speck in the universe but it is the only speck we have got;
  • This is a time of transition.
  • We have approximately three ways to go:
    • 1. Attempt business as usual- with minor adaptations regarding energy and equity;
    • 2. Barbarism- fortress mentality and war;
    • 3. Co-operative, sustainable and equitable useof world's resources.
  • It is important to read the International news (web addresses provided next time);
  • Even the news in China, despite its censorship, it will tell you what millions of Chinese are reading/hearing;
  • The best news is on Le Monde Diplomatique {there is a shortened English version}.
  • This is a time of unprecedented change. In the last 100 years everything has accelerated beyond any rate in history.
  • Major areas of change in the world are in:
    • Security/Economy/Culture/Society/Environment
  • To separate these out is an artefact of academia. Sometimes needed. But to maintain knowledge in one single area is ignorance. Eg. to say I can only speak about the economy not the environment is a mark of extreme ignorance.
  • Our future tasks in the course will include:
    • a) Having a number of documented conversations;
    • b) Getting a letter in the media or going on talk back radio;
    • c) Read, read, read;
    • d) write, write, write.

We then had some more delicious food. I could see that we were going to be well nurtured through this tough ask of facing reality. The reality that is that there is more that should concern ourselves with than our mortgages, superannuation and petrol prices - even our blighted love lives -speaking for myself.

After good food {vegetarians were catered for} and conversation we went into allocated groups. We discussed change with an eye to the background reading Democratising Global Governance. We planned tasks for next week. I get to do a whole lot of reading on Globalisation- whatever that is. (Try googling definitions). I am on the negative team for the debate. The topic is "Is globalisation something radically new?"

The first speaker (me) will:

  • a) explain what they understand by "globalisation",
  • b) indicate whether in their own personal experience they have evidence of new ways of thinking/ doing /organising which can be attributed to globalisation.

The second speaker (hot- shot lawyer) will:

  • a) offer evidence of ways in which economy society culture and politics have or have not been transformed by" globalisation",
  • b) indicate whether "globalisation" is a critical issue of our time or a mere fad.

My dynamic co-debater had sent me an email with google sites by the time I got home. I had left her an hour before on the tram! The session ended at 9pm but discussion continued on the tram back to the city. I look forward to further exciting installments of Our World in Crisis?, great food, conversation and company. I will keep you all updated. References and websites will be provided. I am now inspired to remember that a crisis is an opportunity for positive change.

Cheers peaceniks,
Lyn

 

February 18

 

Challenging McFuture: Child rearing reform.

A conversation as part of the Sustainable Living Festival, Federation Square, Melbourne, 17th-19th February 2006. Three of Australia's most insightful commentators will discuss the evidence that early childhood experiences are crucial to creating the kind of society we are becoming, and will explore parenting models that promote childhood emotional health, and which hold the key to a peaceful, just and sustainable world in the future.

 

February 24

 

Enemy images. Central Victorian Psychologists for Peace Forum

The second forum in the Alert and Alarmed series will be held in Castlemaine, 24th Feb, 7.30-9.30 at the Castlemaine Community House, BRIT building Lyttleton Street, Castlemaine. The evening will begin with a short presentation on understanding enemy images.

Enemy Images presentation

Creating lasting peace requires that we change ways of thinking that create tensions, racism and violence. We all hold hidden biases and assumptions about others, yet most people are not aware of these ‘enemy images’, nor of their effects. Enemy images are used to justify violence, oppression and war which have come to characterize society to such an extent that many people believe the myth that violence is intrinsic to human nature. This myth makes it hard to work for peace.

Understanding enemy images and how they work is the first step towards changing attitudes, resisting propaganda, and making informed decisions about the society we live in.

Activity group planning.

Several excellent ideas for positive actions were suggested in the December meeting.The second half of the evening will be dedicated to progressing these ideas and planning future activities. Activity groups include: Central Victorian Think Tank; Humourous pathways to change, Web-based communication network, Calendar of Events, Parenting for a peaceful world.

Please join us, and be a part of the change you want to see!

RSVP: Catherine Ryan, Psychologists for Peace, Ph 5473 4407, [email protected]

2005

December 5

Alert and Alarmed public forum - Castlemaine, Central Victoria

On December 5th, a second Alert and Alarmed forum was held, this time in Castlemaine, Central Victoria. A group of highly motivated people gathered together to express their concerns, and share ideas about how they can keep working towards the creation of a fairer and more just society. Below is a summary of ideas that were collected during the evening.

Things I’d like to do, or could do, or have done…

  • Laugh a lot with my friends
  • Engage with the mainstream media to offer my perspective eg Herald Sun’s feedback column, John Laws’ Talkback
  • Use the internet
  • Use humour in my actions/conversations
  • Create and wear T-shirts with peace-promoting slogans
  • Get together with like-minded people
  • Make a simple sign and sit with it in a public place
  • Participate in campaigns run by other peace groups and human rights groups e.g., Amnesty International campaign
  • Write a letter to the Queen expressing your concerns
  • Respond publicly to different media perspectives (eg documentaries)

Group Activities

  • Create a Think Tank/Institute to publish papers and become an expert on public issues. Possible names – eg The Castlemaine Institute, The Centre of Victoria, The Central Think Tank, The Victorian Centre etc etc….
  • Create a broader regional presence to generate a more inclusive wider circulation of ideas and events across the region.
  • Creative, humorous and seditious public art actions
  • Participate in, promote CRASIO Street Theatre – DVD distribution
  • Create a calendar of local events that keep these issues on the agenda
  • Revisit the Purple Sage Project
  • Create information handouts that explain the issues in plain language, and hand these out at events to help educate the public
  • Acknowledge Country at every gathering/meeting and contact Uncle Brien Nelson to seek Jaara interest/advice/involvement (if they wish) and listen to any needs that local Jaara people have in relation to our areas of interest & action.
  • Design a symbol that represents opposition to the ‘climate of fear’ approach being used by the current government/media
  • Public conversation forums – different speakers, different themes
  • Establish a ‘Speakers Corner’ at the Botanical Gardens or Victory Park on weekends
  • Pay for a full-page ad that challenges the status quo – “Create Waves”
  • Peace Festival Day

The Next Step for Central Victoria

  • Write a follow-up story of the forum for the local press
  • Create a web-based communication forum for the group
  • Hold another event in early 2006 to progress some of our ideas (specifically, the web-based communication, the Think Tank, the Calendar of Events, and the Fun/Creative strategies for change).

 

November 24, 2005

 The inaugural Biennial Peace Art Exhibition & Award opened on Monday 24 October 2005 with the presentation of awards by Bernard Kerr, member of the Assessment and Moderation Panel for the Art Course of Studies in WA schools, and Head of Art at Scotch College, Perth. The prize of $500 was shared by Natalie Oon, of Methodist Ladies College, for Mantra and Tamara Siallagan, of Mindarie Senior College, for Keep Them Alive, Don't Let Them Die. The schools of the two winning students also shared a prize of $500.

The award judges were the accomplished Darlington artists, Drewfus and Chelinay Gates. At the awards presentation Chelinay spoke about the high quality of the works entered in the exhibition, the difficulty they had in choosing the winner, and the qualities of the works they selected for the award. Artworks were displayed on the mezzanine floor, State Library of Western Australia, Perth Cultural Precinct, Northbridge from Monday 24 October until Saturday 19 November 2005. The State Library's very generous provision of the exhibition space demonstrated its strong commitment to peace.

Biennial 2005 winners

 

 

November 22, 2005

Children's Peace Literature Award 2005 winner announced

Psychologists for Peace are thrilled to announce this year¹s winner of the Children's Peace Literature Award.

Kirsten Murphy's "The King of Whatever" has taken the top prize in the Award that recognises authors who promote peaceful resolution of conflict in their books.

The King of Whatever (Penguin Books Young Adult Fiction) was chosen from a field of more than 70 entries including the following shortlisted finalists:

  • Being Bindy, Alyssa Brugman (Allen & Unwin)
  • The Ballad of Cauldron Bay, Elizabeth Honey (Allen & Unwin)
  • The Spare Room, Kathryn Lomer (UQP Young Adult Fiction)
  • Catland, Ruth Starke (A Puffin Book)

About the Winner

"The King of Whatever" by Kirsten Murphy

17-year old Joe King is a master of under-achievement in all areas of his life despite the fact that he is talented. Feeling overshadowed at home by his older brother studying medicine and at school by his best friend and school captain, has not helped his self image. Nevertheless when life takes some unexpected twists, Joe is forced to make decisions and face his demons, finally demonstrating his inner personal strengths. Intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts are resolved in a variety of peaceful ways as interactions between the characters drive the story about finding your own worth in your family and friendship groups. Their humanity, sense of humour and warmth draw you into their world for the duration of the book and beyond.

Click here for to read Kristen Murphy's acceptance speech. Acrobat icon [21kb]

The Children's Peace Literature Award is awarded biennially and is coordinated by members of the Psychologists for Peace (PFP) South Australian group. In presenting the award the group celebrates literature that promotes peace and understanding and encourages children to explore alternatives to violence and hostility.

About the shortlisted books

“Being Bindy” by Alyssa Brugman

This story keeps you turning the pages to find out how the situations are resolved. Bindy has just started high school. She needs to find how to cope with the break-up from her best friend, who then makes life very difficult for her at school, her parents’ separation, and coming to terms with her new family relationships. Bindy develops understanding for others and importantly, awareness that she needs to value herself.

“Catland” by Ruth Starke

A delightful and very realistic account of a girl's first holiday with her dad’s new partner and her family which forms one part of the conflict resolution. Rose helps resolve some neighbourhood conflict: she gets to know their next door neighbour and brings her stepmother to a better understanding of other people. The story is well suited to young readers in mid— to upper—primary.

“The Ballad of Cauldron Bay” by Elizabeth Honey

This family holiday story features believable characters and relationships. Henni, a 13-year-old girl and her family and friends are in a holiday house at the beach. They are asked to have Tara, who they don’t know, to come and stay. She changes the dynamics of the happy group. Conflict smoulders between Henni and Tara and is resolved through their own efforts. Both poetry and illustrations create atmosphere.

“The Spare Room" by Kathryn Lomer

This tender, haunting tale takes the reader on a journey of discovery into two cultures. Akira has been sent by his family in Japan to learn English in Hobart, a journey into a new world. His homestay family is not what he was expecting. It is a journey into belonging, understanding and empowerment of people whose lives are connected by grief and uncertainty but who have hope in common. The device of writing in the first person, allows Australian customs to be depicted through fresh eyes. This allows positive and negative features of the Australian culture to be considered. Akira becomes a catalyst after finding a new sense of freedom for himself and an understanding of his own grief and that of his homestay family.

Read more about the Children's Peace Literature Award

 

November 17, 2005

Alert and Alarmed public forum - 8th November 2005

Psychologists for Peace got off to a great start in their Alert and Alarmed series, with a well attended public forum on the 8th November. Over 20 people joined together to express their fears and concerns about important social issues, and to share practical strategies for adding their opinion to social debate, developing social activism, and helping create resilient communities.

The theme of the evening was about finding ways of giving voice to options that create peace, harmony and goodwill rather than fear, opposition and hysteria. An outcome of the forum was the creation of a page on the Psychologists for Peace website dedicated to reports and activities following on from the first forum in the series. This webpage includes:

  1. Strategies for promoting peace and social justice
    Collection of ideas of things that people are doing, or can do, to become more active in promoting peace. We will continue to add to this list of strategies as people send them in. Send to [email protected].
  2. Glossary
    Psychologists for Peace are making a glossary of terms that are being used
    in the public arena to manipulate public opinion, distort or obscure facts, and generate fear amongst the population. The glossary will contain terms as well as explanations about how the use of these words is problematic and the psychological ramification of their use and inclusion in our society. The glossary can be used by PFP members and other interested people, who can then use them as an aid to communicating and educating others about social issues. Please send your contributions to [email protected]. It is helpful if people send in examples of terms PLUS an attempt at an explanation as to why the use of the term is misleading or problematic, as we need to distribute both.
  3. Weapons of Mass Disempowerment
    We also thought it would be helpful to create a list of tactics that are used by to induce compliance and generate fear. We are calling these Weapons of Mass Disempowerment. Contributions are welcomed.
  4. Further events in the Alert and Alarmed series
    Mid February 2006. Enemy Images Workshop. Details to follow.

 

October 2005

Urgent action needed for UN Resolution

Dear Friends

Today, we just had an Article VI Forum meeting organized by the Middle Powers Initiative today with more than 20 countries from every continent who are appalled at the catastrophic breakdown of the NPT and the failure of the recent meeting of Heads of States to override US objections to any mention of nuclear disarmament or proliferation in the final document. The Ambassadors from Canada, Mexico and Malaysia addressed this new grouping today and are taking a lead in moving forward in the General Assembly. Many nations are determined to move forward on nuclear disarmament, starting even without the participation of the nuclear weapons states.A group of nuclear disarmament-seeking nations is introducing a resolution this Thursday, October 6th at the UN's First Committee to establish Ad Hoc Committees in Geneva that would meet frequently to work in four areas:

  • nuclear disarmament
  • a treaty to prevent the weaponization of space
  • a fissile material cut-off treaty
  • negative security assurances.

Please write, phone, and fax your heads of states and foreign ministers and ask them to support the resolution which will be voted on in the first committee at the end of the month and forwarded to the general assembly.

This is a huge step for many governments, who have taken our message to heart that the current nuclear crisis means they cannot do business as usual. They are bucking the nuclear weapons states, and may even invite some of them join the effort-taking this extraordinary action which cannot be blocked by one or two governments under the rules of consensus, as we have seen for the past many years in the CD in Geneva, at the NPT, and at the Heads of State Summit last month.

They need to hear from us in support to help them stick to their intentions to make this 60th anniversary year of living with the bomb the year the world got seriously about eliminating the nuclear scourge.

They will be under tremendous pressure from the US and its allies - so please take action this week to let your government know that the other superpower - the people of the world - want governments to do the right thing and ban the bomb.

Sent to PFP from Psychologists for Social Responsibility, USA.

 September 2005

News from the Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace Website

October 18 - 19, 2005
First Annual Summit on Departments of Peace, London, United Kingdom.

There is a rapidly growing international movement to establish Departments of Peace or Ministries for Peace in countries around the world with the goal of supporting the emergence of a culture of peace in those countries, a culture where nonviolence is an organising principle of society. This global movement is premised on the understanding that all of our systems of foreign policy, education, politics, economics, business, health, and social welfare are interdependent and therefore can and must cooperate and coordinate with one another in seeking, teaching, and living peace. Active campaigns are currently underway in Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and groups in other countries are exploring launching similar campaigns, as well. These campaigns are motivated by both a recognition of the alarming levels of violence in the world and an awareness that humanity actually knows how to curtail or even eliminate it - if we would choose to do so.

The purpose of the Summit is to strengthen and grow the international movement for a culture of peace and for government departments of peace and ministries for peace by:

  • Building a global network of, and a sense of community among, country-level campaigns;
  • Developing coordinated strategies for strengthening and financing country-level campaigns
  • Encouraging the establishment of campaigns in other countries.

Please confirm your country's attendance at the Summit and the optional training by providing names and titles of attendees to Diana Basterfield, co-founder of mfp, at [email protected]

There is no registration fee to attend the Summit or the training. Participants are expected to cover their own travel and lodging expenses. All Summit invitees, whether able to attend the Summit or not, are also invited to participate in our on-line forum and contribute your experience, insights, and inspiration to helping build this movement. Simply go to http://ministryforpeace.org/, click on Forums in the Main Menu box in the upper left, then under ‘Networking’ click on ‘2005 Summit Conference’. Consider the discussion questions we have posted there, and join the conversation!

 

August 2005

PPOWP Peace Project Award for 2005

From a record field of nine entries, we are pleased to announcethe winner of the 2005 PPOWP Peace Project Award. A panel of judges from universities in three states has reviewed the entries, and this year the winner of the award of $500 is Luisa Rossi, at the Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, for a project entitled "The Relationship between Language Skills and Outcomes of the PATHS Curriculum".

About the winning project

Increasing rates of juvenile crime and delinquency in recent years have resulted in numerous studies investigating the prevention of aggressive and anti-social behaviour through early intervention. One such program is the PATHS curriculum (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies, Kusche & Greenberg, 1994). The program is widely used and provides a developmental curriculum for children from pre-primary to Year 7. It focuses on developing self-control, emotional awareness and understanding, peer-related social skills, and social problem solving to increase social competence.

Although PATHS has been shown to be effective for a variety of populations, little research has focused on identifying particular child factors that influence outcomes. Luisa’s research aims to investigate whether children’s language ability (expressive and receptive) influences the degree to which their aggressive behaviour decreases following participation in PATHS. It will also determine whether the program enhances semantic and pragmatic language skills, and whether improvements in behaviour are linked to improvements in language skills. It will also assess whether language abilities are predictive of being in a high or low risk group for behavioural difficulties. The project is being conducted with approximately 60-80 children attending pre-primary classes in a regional area of Western Australia.

This year's entries

According to the judges, the entries for 2005 were excellent. All of them were relevant to the purposes of the award and they covered a diverse range of extremely significant topics.It was a very difficult task to rank them. Topics addressed by other applicants included teaching conflict resolution in schools focusing on changing teacher attitudes and emotion management, the effect of out-group threats in increasing prejudice to unrelated groups, forgiveness and the role of empathy in emotion management, decision making by adolescents 10 to 14 years regarding criminal or antisocial behaviour, conflict resolution in dating relationships in relation to attachment and emotional intelligence, gender role and social dominance orientation as predictors of adolescents’ stigma towards people with mental illness, and verbal aggression in schools.

About the Award

The award is made annually to assist students enrolled in accredited fourth year or Masters by Coursework programs in Psychology in carrying out empirical projects in peace-related areas. Projects are judged on their scientific merit and their potential contribution to theory or practice in the peaceful resolution of conflict, understanding and preventing aggressive behaviour, and fostering harmonious relationships, whether at global, inter-group or individual levels. View further details

 

July 2005

Biennial Peace Art Exhibition & Award for students in Year 11

This new award aims to inspire year 11 students with artistic talent to apply their gift to creative ways of communicating a key message about peace, and to encourage young artists, their peers, their families, teachers and the wider viewing public to consider ways of promoting peace in their own lives.

Registrations have now closed for the 2005 Award. For full details and registration forms, go to Biennial Peace Art Exhibition & Award

Children's Peace Literature Award

Nominations are invited for the 2005 Children's Peace Literature Award, which is awarded each year to one or more Australian authors of books for children that encourage the peaceful resolution of conflict or promote peace at the global, local or interpersonal level.

For entry conditions and to view a list of previous winners, go to Children's Peace Literaure Award.

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