CathNews New Zealand

The absence of violence is not an indication of the existence of peace, the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) said on Thursday.

General Secretary Reverend Francois Pihaatae said a key component to creating peace was to first ensure a just society.

Pihaatae was speaking ahead of the International Day of Peace on Saturday (September 21).

“To say there is peace merely because there is no war or violence is to neglect the fact that peace exists at several levels – physical, mental and spiritual,” he said.

Pihaatae said that while there were many forms of injustice in the region, the PCC called on regional leaders to urgently address the following issues in order to ensure justice and peace in the Pacific:

1. Self-determination in West Papua, Maohi, Kanaky (New Caledonia)
2. Compensation for damage caused by nuclear testing on Moruroa, Bikini Atoll, Christmas Island affecting people and the environment
3. Climate change in Tuvalu, Kiribati, Tonga, Fiji and Papua New Guinea
4. Asylum seekers in PNG and on Nauru
5. Extractive industry – mining, timber and fisheries – throughout the Pacific
6. Free and fair elections
7. Judicial systems free of political influence.

Source

• Island Business
• Image: cdn.shopify.com

Additional reading

• Delaying the nuclear free zone in the Pacific
• Damning indictment of nuclear testing in the Pacific

News category: Asia Pacific.