[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10654-S10656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE KYOTO DECLARATION OF RELIGIONS FOR PEACE

  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, the organization known as Religions for 
Peace constitutes a global network of interreligious councils and 
affiliated groups, harnessed to encourage cooperation among the world's 
religious communities to transform conflict, build peace and advance 
sustainable development.
  Founded in 1970 as an international, nonsectarian organization, 
Religions for Peace is now the largest coalition of the world's 
religious communities.
  President of Religions for Peace is His Royal Highness Prince El 
Hassan bin Talal of Jordan.
  Secretary General of WCRP, as the organization is known, is Dr. 
William F. Vendley, of the United States.
  Our former colleague and my fellow Hoosier, John Brademas, who served 
in the House of Representatives from Indiana for 22 years and then 
became president of New York University, which he now serves as 
President Emeritus, is an International Trustee of Religions for Peace.
  Last month, in Kyoto, Japan, more than 800 religious leaders, from 
all major traditions and over 100 countries, met at the Eighth World 
Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace.
  The theme of this assembly was Confronting Violence and Advancing 
Shared Security.
  At the request of our former colleague Representative Brademas, I ask 
unanimous consent to have the final statement issued by the Kyoto 
Assembly printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

  The Kyoto Declaration on Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared 
          Security--Religions for Peace Eighth World Assembly


                                Preamble

       Representing all major religious traditions and every 
     region of the world, more than eight hundred religious 
     leaders from over one hundred countries convened in Kyoto, 
     Japan as the Eighth World Assembly of the World Conference of 
     Religions for Peace to address the theme, ``Confronting 
     Violence and Advancing Shared Security.'' We, the Assembly 
     Delegates, come from the global Religions for Peace network 
     of local, national, regional, and international inter-
     religious councils and groups, as well as networks of youth 
     and women of faith. We recognize and build on the significant 
     contributions and statements of youth and women of faith made 
     in their respective assemblies.
       The first Religions for Peace World Assembly that convened 
     in Kyoto in 1970, and every Assembly since, affirmed deeply 
     held and widely shared religious principles that still 
     inspire our search for peace with justice today. We share a 
     conviction of the fundamental unity of the human family, and 
     the equality and dignity of all human beings. We affirm the 
     sacredness of the individual person and the importance of his 
     or her freedom of conscience. We are committed to the ethical 
     values and attitudes commonly shared by our religious 
     traditions. We uphold the value of life manifest in human 
     community

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     and in all creation. We acknowledge the importance of the 
     environment to sustain life for the human family. We realize 
     that human power is neither self-sufficient nor absolute, and 
     that the spirit of love, compassion, selflessness, and the 
     force of inner truthfulness ultimately have greater power 
     than prejudice, hate, enmity or violence. Meeting in Japan, 
     the nation that experienced the horrors of nuclear attacks, 
     we commit ourselves to continue to struggle toward 
     comprehensive nuclear disarmament and against the 
     proliferation of arms.
       The first Assembly of Religions for Peace declared: ``As 
     men and women of religions, we confess in humility and 
     penitence that we have very often betrayed our religious 
     ideals and our commitment to peace. It is not religion that 
     has failed the cause of peace, but religious people. This 
     betrayal of religion can and must be corrected.'' It is 
     crucial now to engrave the reflection of our respected 
     predecessors deeply in our hearts.
       Today, we live in a world in the grip of many forms of 
     violence, both direct and structural. Violent conflicts--
     within states and across borders, carried out by both state 
     and non-state actors--take lives and destroy communities. 
     They cause more civilian than military casualties and their 
     disproportionate impact is on vulnerable populations.
       Religious communities in particular must play a central 
     role identifying and confronting violence in all its forms 
     and manifestations. The world's religions have experienced 
     abuse by those who seek to misuse religion for their own 
     purposes. In ongoing violent conflicts around the world, 
     religion is being used as a justification or excuse for 
     violence. We must regretfully accept that some groups within 
     our religious communities have indeed sought to employ 
     violence. We must reject this and recommit religions to the 
     way of peace. Religious communities and leaders must stand 
     up, speak out, and take action against the misuse of 
     religion.
       The diverse and interconnected threats currently 
     experienced by innumerable members of the human family call 
     for a much broader understanding of violence in the world. 
     The world's religious communities must play a central role 
     partnering with one another and all sectors of society, to 
     prevent and stop war, expose injustice, combat poverty, and 
     protect the earth.
       The time to do this is now; and our key to confronting 
     violence is cooperation based on mutual respect and 
     acceptance.


                          Confronting Violence

       Today, genocide, state-sponsored repression, terrorism, and 
     other forms of human rights abuse violate international law, 
     target innocent civilians, and threaten the safety of many 
     communities. State laws restricting human rights and civil 
     liberties are also a form of violence. Conflict-related 
     disease, famine, displacement and environmental catastrophes 
     constitute serious threats to life. Violence against women 
     and children, including rape, forced pregnancy, enslavement, 
     forced labor, prostitution, the use of child soldiers, and 
     trafficking, has become a tactic of warfare in many 
     conflicts.
       Direct physical threats are the most commonly offered 
     definition of violence, but the reality of the diverse and 
     interconnected chronic threats to human survival experienced 
     by millions calls for a much broader understanding of 
     violence in the world. Economic injustices leading to extreme 
     poverty and hunger kill 50,000 people each day. Preventable 
     and treatable diseases kill millions. Twenty-five million 
     people have already died from AIDS, while approximately forty 
     million more are living with HIV and AIDS, and the impact on 
     our communities is devastating. Many corporations, especially 
     at the multinational level, set their business interests 
     without concern for values that foster sustainable 
     development. Environmental degradation and dwindling 
     resources threaten our planet's ability to sustain life.
       The poor, the powerless, and the most vulnerable 
     populations disproportionately suffer the consequences of 
     violence in all its forms, ranging from armed conflict to 
     extreme poverty to environmental degradation.
       Unfortunately, religion plays a significant role in some of 
     the most intractable and violent conflicts around the world. 
     Religion is being hijacked by extremists, and too often by 
     politicians, and by the media. Extremists use religion to 
     incite violence and hatred and foster sectarian conflict, 
     contrary to our most deeply held beliefs. Religious people 
     need to recognize the reasons why religions are being 
     hijacked, such as through manipulation and misuse of their 
     central principles. Politicians often exploit and manipulate 
     sectarian differences to serve their own ends, frequently 
     dragging religion into social, economic and political 
     disputes. The media also contribute to the scapegoating of 
     religions in conflict situations through disrespectful 
     representations. They also too easily identify parties to a 
     conflict by religious labels and present religion as a source 
     of conflict without reporting the diversity within religious 
     traditions and the many ways that religious communities are 
     confronting violence and working for peace.


                       A Multi-Religious Response

       As people of religious conviction, we hold the 
     responsibility to effectively confront violence within our 
     own communities whenever religion is misused as a 
     justification or excuse for violence. Religious communities 
     need to express their opposition whenever religion and its 
     sacred principles are distorted in the service of violence. 
     They should take appropriate steps to exercise their moral 
     authority to oppose attempts to misuse religion.
       There are religious and ethical imperatives for multi-
     religious cooperation to resist and reject violence, prevent 
     it when possible, as well as promote reconciliation and 
     healing.
       Our religious traditions call us to care for one another 
     and to treat the problems faced by others as our own. 
     Violence against any individual is an attack against all and 
     should prompt our concern. Religious communities know that 
     they are especially called to stand on the side of the most 
     vulnerable, including the poor, the marginalized, and the 
     defenseless. Our religious traditions acknowledge the 
     fundamental vulnerability of human life. The vulnerability of 
     each person should make us recognize the need to respond to 
     the vulnerability of all persons.
       There are also practical grounds for cooperation. No group 
     is immune to violence or its consequences. War, poverty, 
     disease, and the destruction of the environment have direct 
     or indirect impacts on all of us. Individuals and communities 
     deceive themselves if they believe they are secure while 
     others are suffering. Walls can never be high enough to 
     insulate us from the impacts of the genuine needs and 
     vulnerabilities of others. No nation can be secure while 
     other nations are threatened. We are no safer than the most 
     vulnerable among us.
       The efforts of individual religious communities are made 
     vastly more effective through multi-religious cooperation. 
     Religious communities working together can be powerful actors 
     to prevent violence before it erupts, diffuse conflict, 
     mediate among armed groups in the midst of conflict, and lead 
     their communities to rebuild war-torn societies.
       Religious communities are called not only to reject war and 
     foreign occupation, sectarian violence, weapons 
     proliferation, and human rights abuse, but also to identify 
     and confront the root causes of injustice, economic 
     inequalities, governance failures, development obstacles, 
     social exclusions, and environmental abuses.


                            Shared Security

       The moral and ethical convictions of our diverse religious 
     traditions provide a moral foundation for confronting 
     violence in its many forms and for suggesting a vision of 
     shared security.
       Existing notions of security inadequately address violence 
     in its many forms. National security does not necessarily 
     ensure peace; in fact, it often promotes violence and foments 
     insecurity. Armed conflict takes place between states, and 
     increasingly within states and among non-state actors. Human 
     security acknowledges the solidarity of the human family by 
     approaching security from the perspective of human rights and 
     needs. But defining human security in these terms fails to 
     address adequately how these needs are to be met and who is 
     responsible for ensuring them.
       A well-developed concept of shared security articulates 
     security needs, how they are to be met, and the necessary 
     agents, instruments, and relationships to achieve it.
       Importantly, shared security would highlight the collective 
     responsibility of all people to meet our common need for 
     security.
       Shared security requires all sectors of society to 
     acknowledge our common vulnerabilities and our shared 
     responsibility to address them. It is undertaken collectively 
     by multiple stakeholders acknowledging that every sector of 
     society must confront violence if we hope to do so 
     effectively. It supports participatory and democratic forms 
     of governance. Governments, international organizations, 
     civil society, and religious communities themselves must all 
     advance shared security. Effective shared security spans 
     boundaries of geography, nationality, ethnicity, and 
     religion. It marshals human responsibility, accountability 
     and capacity wherever it exists.
       Effective shared security, at all levels of community, 
     meets national security needs; acknowledges and addresses 
     both direct and chronic threats to individual physical 
     security; and protects the poor, the powerless and the most 
     vulnerable. It strengthens governance efforts and addresses 
     the disparities and inequities of globalization. Shared 
     security supports religious communities and religious leaders 
     in their efforts to oppose the abuse of religion for violent 
     ends and to build institutions for collaboration among 
     governments, all elements of civil society and religious 
     communities. A commitment to shared security enables multi-
     religious networks, such as the global Religions for Peace 
     network, in their efforts to transform conflict, build peace, 
     struggle for justice, and advance sustainable development.


                          Religions for Peace

       Religions for Peace has become a major global multi-
     religious voice and agent for peace. Guided by respect for 
     religious differences, the global Religions for Peace network 
     fosters multi-religious collaboration harnessing the power of 
     religious communities to transform conflict, build peace, and 
     advance sustainable development.
       We, the delegates of the Eighth World Assembly of Religions 
     for Peace, are firmly united in our commitment to prevent and 
     confront violence in all its forms and confident in the power 
     of multi-religious cooperation to advance a common vision of 
     shared security. We are determined to mobilize our religious 
     communities to work together and with all sectors of society 
     to stop

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     war, struggle to build more just communities, foster 
     education for justice and peace, eliminate poverty and 
     advance sustainable development for future generations.


                    A Multi-Religious Call to Action

       As religious leaders, we commit ourselves to advance shared 
     security through advocacy, education, and other forms of 
     multi-religious action, and to share this Kyoto Declaration 
     within our religious communities.
       We call on all sectors of society--public and private, 
     religious and secular--to work together to achieve shared 
     security for the human family.
       Specifically, the Religions for Peace World Assembly calls 
     on:
       (1) Religious communities to:
       Resist and confront any misuse of religion for violent 
     purposes;
       Become effective educators, advocates and actors for 
     conflict transformation, fostering justice, peacebuilding, 
     and sustainable development;
       Draw upon their individual spiritual traditions to educate 
     their members on our shared responsibilities to advance 
     shared security;
       Strengthen peace education on all levels;
       Hold governments accountable for the commitments they make 
     on behalf of their peoples;
       Network locally, nationally, regionally and globally to 
     foster multi-religious cooperation among the world's 
     religious bodies; and
       Partner with governments, international organizations and 
     other sectors of society to confront violence and advance a 
     new notion of shared security.
       (2) The global network of Religions for Peace to:
       Foster high-level multi-religious cooperation around the 
     issue of shared security;
       Build, equip, and network inter-religious councils locally, 
     nationally, and regionally;
       Strengthen the global Religions for Peace network as a 
     platform for collaboration to advance shared security;
       Further commit to actions for women's empowerment and 
     women's human rights within its structures at all levels;
       Embrace the central position of religious women and place 
     gender concerns at the center of the shared security agenda;
       Keep religious youth and their concerns at the center of 
     its agenda and promote their full involvement in advancing 
     shared security;
       Support and collaborate with the Peacebuilding Commission 
     of the United Nations;
       Advocate practices that advance sustainable development and 
     environmental protection; and
       Partner with all sectors of society, especially in the 
     fight against HIV/AIDS.
       (3) Governments, International Organizations, and the 
     Business Sector to:
       Support the efforts of religious leaders to address 
     violence within and beyond their communities, and include 
     them as appropriate in political negotiations surrounding 
     conflict situations;
       Forge partnerships with religious communities to achieve 
     the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty 
     and hunger, combat disease, and advance sustainable 
     development;
       Harness advances in science and technology toward peaceful 
     purposes and to eliminate poverty and advance sustainable 
     development; and
       Seek out religious networks for their ability to reach vast 
     numbers of people and their capacity to effect change.
       We ask all people of goodwill to support and collaborate 
     with religious communities as we work toward shared security 
     for all.
       These commitments and the calls to action that arise from 
     them express our most deeply held and widely shared religious 
     beliefs.--Kyoto, Japan, August 29, 2006.

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