huridocs-tech Using Tools of Technology to Foster Peace

Title: COMMUNICATION: Using Tools of Technology to Foster
Peace

By Gumisai Mutume

MEXICO CITY (IPS World Desk) Feb 12 - For Native American
Katherine Smith, 78, the only thing that will bring peace to
her community is the return of their land, which was
forcibly taken away by the United States government,
reducing them to destitution.

"To be told that we no longer have land made everything very
difficult," she says. "We could not even perform our
religion and ceremonies, because land and religion are one.
Things that were not taken away were locked from us and life
got very difficult.

"Local clinics and hospitals were not permitted to be built
in our area, so we have to travel 80 miles one way to get
medical attention. The same is true for our daily needs: we
have to travel the same distance just to shop for
groceries," she says.

Smith was a member of the Navajo and Hopi Nations in Big
Mountain in the US, whose land rights ceased in 1976 when
the federal government froze all housing construction in the
area and seized jurisdiction from tribal authorities.

"Our ways, our culture, and our religion are changed and
destroyed by federal laws and policies. Because of those
laws and policies, there is now a division among our
people," Smith wrote to a cyber-community called Peace Prize
Forum. "When we are divided, we are weak and no longer
strong."

Her story rings true to thousands of other displaced
communities around the world. By taking part in the Peace
Prize Forum, Smith hoped to bring yet another story of
injustice to the world's attention, and to bring healing to
the psychological wounds she has suffered.

"The Peace Technology: Connecting Locally, Linking Globally"
seminar allows all interested people with access to a
computer to post their thoughts and experiences about peace,
violence and healing, and to read what others say about the
subject. The seminar culminates in a conference in the US
state of Minnesota on Feb 19.

The programme first began in October, when a group of US
educators set up an on-line international conference for
academics focusing on schools and the impact of the war in
Kosovo. It has now evolved into a broader discussion of
global peacemaking efforts with the help of technology.

"The potential for good, from cross-cultural classroom
connections, is powerful," notes the Peace Prize Forum. "As
one participant said during the recent Kosovo project,
perhaps the classrooms of the world should have a foreign
policy because they bridge the very differences which often
divide us and serve as seeds of war."

The forum says one of its primary concerns in setting up the
project was that young people in some parts of the world
have become so accustomed to life during peacetime that they
cannot imagine the consequences of war.

Not everyone is so lucky. The 16-year conflict between the
Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam continues to produce human rights violations on both
sides. And fighting rages on for the control of Afghanistan
between the rival Taliban and the United Front.

In Colombia, armed conflict intensified last year as
negotiations stalled between the government of President
Andres Pastrana and insurgent guerrillas. Paramilitary
groups continued to massacre civilians and spread terror,
with the fighting spilling over into Panama, Brazil and
Venezuela.

In Africa, there are conflicts between Ethiopia and Eritrea,
and civil conflicts in Angola, Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville,
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia,
Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda - some attracting
intervention from neighbouring countries.

To bring healing to these and other hotspots, the three web
pages connect people worldwide so they can offer personal
accounts of trauma and healing, and brainstorm strategies
for peace. It links classrooms, lecture halls and
communities across the world and encourages students to form
small groups with other schools to carry on informal
conversations.

The programme also encourages students to go beyond formal
discussions and take the time to get to know each other's
names, hobbies, interests, cultures and future expectations
in order to foster global understanding among people.

Contributor Brenda Hale blames cultural biases and family
influence for many of the world's intolerant attitudes. "I
have had to consciously make an extra effort to redefine my
thoughts away from the negative influence of my family
members," she says.

Some of the dialogue focuses on preventive strategies for
emerging conflicts, cross-cultural understanding and the
impact of domestic violence on global conflicts.

Other contributors cite the wide availability of weapons
among civilians and rebel groups around the world as one of
the major engines of armed conflict and violence.

In its World Report 2000, Human Rights Watch (HRW) notes
that the year 1999 saw a "heightened international
sensitivity to the harm done to civilians by organised
gun-toting killers, be they government troops, paramilitary
thugs, or guerrilla fighters."

"Whereas military-style weapons were traditionally seen as
mere implements of war, a new realisation emerged that such
weapons, while not by themselves causing violence,
contributed to the spread of violence by offering what was
often perceived as a swift and effective way to address
grievances or settle differences," HRW says.

The forum notes that easier access to arms translates into a
greater potential for violence in situations where
alternative solutions might otherwise have been attempted.

Although their thoughts and expressions may not be heard in
the top echelons of power, like government offices or
chambers of the United Nations, participants feel they are
making an important contribution towards fostering a better
understanding of the world's problems.

"As Australians, and holders of many cultures, we should
acknowledge the fact that we have to set an example for the
many other countries surrounding us to encourage peace and
not war," wrote Josefina Elano and Ambreen Noor.
(END/IPS/MC/gm/ks/00)





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