MANIFESTO on Prison Torture

CASE 27-2017: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)

MANIFESTO on Prison Torture

The Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights, defender of the rights of global citizenship and of all beings of Mother Earth, exercising the cultural sovereignty that emanates from the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities, perfectly knows the situation of poverty and oppression in which there is a large part of the marginalized populations of the world, which totally or partially lose their political, economic, legal and environmental freedoms;

The Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has a universal ethical vocation, so it calls upon the entire humanity to become aware of the terrible situation suffered by the populations of prisoners in jails;

The Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights addresses the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), to which it has previously sentenced as Responsible for the charges of VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF BUDDHIST PEOPLES AND SPIRITUAL COMMUNITIES, and VIOLATION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS TO LIFE, PEACE AND INTEGRITY;

It is stated that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is complicit in the crimes of the Argentine Republic, since it has refused to investigate certain criminal acts committed by this State that deserve to be condemned, such as religious discrimination and the violation to access to justice;

It is stated that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) decided not to respond or act in response to the actions of the Buddhist Tribunal, such as the Pronouncement on Judicial Lack of Protection of March 4, 2017, in which it was insisted on denouncing that the police and the prison system of Argentina commit crimes against humanity, because, systematically or widespreadly, there are cases of torture, abuse and prolonged arbitrary detention;

It is stated that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) decided not to respond to or act upon the actions of the Buddhist Tribunal, such as the Proclamation on Institutional Violence of February 05, 2018, where it was alleged that the Argentine government of President Macri has criminalized the social protest through direct repression against demonstrators or through mass arbitrary detention of demonstrators and bystanders, violently repressing with toxic gas and bullets against civilians, opposition legislators and journalists, even making cruel and inhuman treatment against women, so that crimes against humanity would being committed;

It is stated that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) decided not to respond to or act upon the actions of the Buddhist Tribunal, as when the Proclamation on Institutional Violence confirmed that the Argentine government will continue carrying out and endorsing episodes of institutional violence with impunity, such as torture, arbitrary arrests and unofficial executions, unless the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) decides to intervene urgently to stop this systematic and widespread plan of impunity and violation of human rights justice;

It is stated that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) decided to ignore that the Argentine government would not be doing anything to stop the numerous cases of police abuses, such as aggressions and arbitrary detentions, and even extrajudicial executions or torture, which have been denounced by organizations such as the Coordinator Against Police and Institutional Repression (Correpi) and the Office of Procurator for Institutional Violence (Procuvin);

It is stated that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) decided to ignore that the Buddhist Tribunal publicly condemned President Macri as a necessary participant in the systematic plan of institutional violence and human rights abuses in Argentina, especially by arbitrary detentions, torture and unofficial executions;

It is stated that according to the National Registry of Cases of Torture, prepared jointly by the National Penitentiary Procuracy, the Provincial Commission for the Memory and the Study Group on Criminal Justice and Human Rights, Argentina's penal system uses torture as a structural, widespread and persistent element, because in 2017 the Argentine prisons have carried out more than 5300 cases of torture against more than 1400 victims, subjecting the prisoners to physical aggressions, inadequate health, individual isolation, poor material conditions, poor nutrition, threats, impediments of family visits and social ties, degrading personal requisition, robbery, and burdensome or constant relocations, all of this making the prisoners to cease feeling like human beings;

It is stated that Alcira Daroqui, director of the Department of Investigations of the Penitentiary Procuracy of the Nation and coordinator of the National Registry of Cases of Torture, affirmed that torture in the prison system is present systematically and in a widespread way, which fully demonstrates the righteousness of judgment of the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights against the Argentine State for crimes against humanity;

It is stated that torture in Argentine jails includes a regularity and systematic fist blows, kicks, hitting with sticks, pepper and tear gas, and stunning techniques, being a deliberately aggravated form of inhuman treatment and cruelly degrading penalty, trying to dominate the prisoners with the cost of generating higher degrees of prison violence;

It is stated that the National Penitentiary Procuracy has warned that isolation as a form of punishment constitutes a form of torture, which is evidenced by the fact that in confinement cells prisoners are held in degrading conditions for almost the entire day and without light or ventilation, by being surrounded by urine and fecal matter, without mattress to sleep, in the presence of rats and cockroaches, without food and without medical attention, even generating higher levels of torture from the guards when the prisoners report their inhuman living conditions;

It is stated that Alcira Daroqui, of the National Penitentiary Procuracy, affirmed that the low number of complaints does not correspond to the enormous number of acts of torture registered, which would be explained both by the impunity generated by the Argentine judicial field, and it would also be due to the prisoners' fear to be killed in retaliation for their complaints;

It is stated that there are reports that account for a total of more than 1,900 deaths of detainees in prisons from the period 2010 to 2017, which is a number that has even alarmed the UN;

It is stated that on May 13, 2017, the UN Committee against Torture had already requested the Argentine government of President Macri to take urgent measures against the violence by the security forces, and should thoroughly investigate and unequivocally prohibit the practices of mistreatment, torture, suffocation and humiliation that are a recurrent practice of the corporate militarized structure of security forces and prison staff, whose patterns of violence and arbitrariness also extend to arrests of young people without a court order;

It is stated that 60% of the detainees in Argentina are prisoners without conviction, who often have preventative detention for periods of up to 5 years, which causes prison overpopulation and inhuman overcrowding conditions, as confirmed by the UN Rapporteur on Torture;

It is stated that in April 2018, the UN Rapporteur on Torture denounced the need to act right now against mistreatment, torture and abuse of weapons in Argentina's prisons, affirming that these arbitrary practices of inhuman detention are part of the oppressive architecture of the military dictatorship of the past but it still survives within the prison and security systems of today, which adds to conditions of detention in total overcrowding, without hygiene, without water and without health care, often forcing detainees to live with rats and drink water from toilets that are used to urinate and defecate;

It is stated that Melzer, the UN Rapporteur on Torture, confirmed that if this type of violent, impunity and generalized practices of the security forces and prisons persist, then Argentina would be Responsible for a widespread and persistent violation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which fully validates the Judgment of the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights against the Argentine government for committing crimes against humanity;

It is stated that the UN Rapporteur on Torture even collected testimonies that demonstrate that the Argentine prison service uses techniques of torture of the CIA, such as waterboarding (submerging the person's head in water) and dry submarine (introducing head in a plastic bag);

It is stated that the UN Rapporteur on Torture also checked out that people from marginal neighborhoods and indigenous communities often suffer enormous excesses from the Argentine police, arresting them when they carry out civil protests, and forcing them to confess crimes or denounce other people;

A thorough investigation of the tortures carried out by the police and prison staff of Argentina is required.

The immediate adoption of measures that bring justice to the thousands of people who have been tortured by the security forces of Argentina is demanded.

The urgent implementation of humanitarian assistance for the entire prison population of Argentina is demanded, putting an end to the regime of human rights violations.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is required to investigate and prosecute the crimes against humanity committed by the Argentine government of President Macri, for otherwise the IACHR would be committing an act of Complicity with crimes against humanity.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is held responsible for ignoring the systematic and widespread pattern of mistreatment, illegal detentions and torture carried out by the Argentine security forces, all of which confirms that the inaction of the IACHR is a Violation of International Law.

On September 20, 2018 the present Manifesto on Prison Torture is expressed as a way to contribute to a more peaceful, just, cultured and healthier world.

Always with maitri (reconciliation),

Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha

President and Judge of the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights

Resolution on Antonio Provolo Institute

CASE 32-2017: NATIONAL ECCLESIASTICAL TRIBUNAL, INTERDIOCESAN TRIBUNAL OF BUENOS AIRES & PRIEST JULIO CESAR GRASSI

Resolution on Antonio Provolo Institute

September 17, 2018

The International Buddhist Ethics Committee and Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights,

Recalling the principles of Buddhist Law and the International Human Rights Law, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the UN and the Buddhist Convention on Human Rights adopted by the United Buddhist Nations Organization;

Considering that the National Ecclesiastical Tribunal & Interdiocesan Tribunal of Buenos Aires together with the priest Julio César Grassi have already been previously sentenced Responsible for the serious crimes of Violation of the Human Right to Justice, Spiritual Fraud and False Christianity, Corruption, and Cover-up of Sexual Abuse and Pedophilia;

Aware that the current Pope Francis I actively participated in these crimes when he was known by the name of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio;

Greatly concerned about the cover-up and total public support of Pope Francis I for pedophile priests and sexual abusers, as evidenced by the cases of Priest Grassi from Argentina, Bishop Barros from Chile and Cardinal McCarrick from USA;

Taking into consideration that Archbishop Vigano has publicly requested Pope Francis I to resign for having covered up Cardinal McCarrick's sexual abuses;

Examining the fact that after the scandalous Grassi Case, the Catholic Church continued committing the crime of covering up several pedophile priests and sexual abusers, not judging them neither sanctioning them, as is the Case with the Antonio Provolo Institute in Luján de Cuyo, where not only was allowed that pedophile priests of Italy have impunity in that country, as is the case with the priest Nicola Corradi, but also was allowed that their abuses continue against deaf children in Argentina, because instead of expelling these priests for their crimes they were simply relocated to another country, this being a pattern of cover-up and complicity that the Vatican State has historically repeated in almost all countries of the world;

Deploring the fact that at the Antonio Provolo Institute in Luján de Cuyo there have been more than 20 children who were sexually abused by priests, while at the headquarters in Verona (Italy) this Catholic institute has been involved in sexual abuses of more than 60 deaf children;

Showing dismay at the fact that, in Italy, the Priest Nicola Corradi would have been assisted by another 24 priests in his crimes against childhood during a period of more than 30 years, systematically abusing deaf children from the Italian headquarters of the Provolo Institute, where they chose children with communication difficulties, such as deaf and hearing impaired children as young as 5 years old;

Reaffirming that Priest Corradi also had collaborators in his violations against under age children in Argentina, as is the case of Priest Horacio Corbacho and Nun Kosaka;

Denouncing that at least since 2009 the Vatican State had full knowledge of the sexual abuses of Priest Corradi in Italy, since his name had emerged during an internal investigation, although the high ecclesiastical hierarchies decided to continue keeping him in charge of under age children in Argentina, by not judging him nor sanctioning him, even though the Vatican knew perfectly well that this individual would continue committing his crimes against childhood in another country;

Disapproving the fact that since 2014 Pope Francis I was receiving testimonies from the Italian victims of the pedophile priest Nicola Corradi, where he was warned that Corradi was in Argentina, but yet Pope Francis I decided to ignore these allegations, by covering up this criminal priest in order to continue exercising the priesthood and pedophilia in Argentina;

Agreeing with Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the Bishop Accountability organization, about promises of zero tolerance made by Pope Francis I certainly seem void after analyzing how he himself covered up the abuses of Priest Corradi;

Noting that this cover-up of sexual abuses of children shows a systematic and widespread plan, at the same time that it violates the rights to justice, to reparation and to the Truth of the victims, who not only suffered the trauma of rape but also the trauma of impunity and forgetfulness on the part of the Vatican;

Coinciding with the Argentine Prosecutor Alejandro Gulle, who confirmed that there was a cover up by the high ecclesiastical hierarchies, at the same time that he claimed that they sent the wolf to take care of the sheep, and even with long sentences of imprisonment the spiritual damage suffered by these children could never be compensated;

Reminding that only after press revealed the events and the Argentine justice arrested Priest Corradi and his accomplices, Pope Francis I decided to appoint canonical investigators in the case, although for years he refused to investigate and preferred to guarantee full impunity for the pedophile priests;

Solemnly states that Buddhism will always criticize any abusive practice.

1.       Expresses that the teachings of Master Jesus of Nazareth lead to compassionate love and never to exploitation and the covering-up of abuses.

2.     Deplores the fact that since 2002 there have been more than 60 Catholic priests denounced for sexual abuse in Argentina, and that only 3 of them would have been sanctioned with expulsion as members of the Catholic Church.

3.    Declares that the National Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Argentina and all its members have been responsible for having committed Crimes against Childhood.

4.     Ethically and spiritually penalizes Pope Francis I for having kept an Immoral Leadership.

5.      Appeals to all members of Catholicism never to follow the path of abuse and covering-up that are a source of Evil in the world.

Always with a reconciling (maitri) spirit,

H.E. Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha

Judge and President of the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights

NOTIFICATION to ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Case 16-2016: Government of Iran, President Hassan Rouhani & Supreme Leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei

NOTIFICATION to ayatollah Ali Khamenei

On September 15, 2018, the International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights is communicating with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, following the recent statements of the USA Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo , who considered that this Islamic regime is silent in the face of surveillance, persecution and detention of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in China, silencing the human rights violations suffered by the Uighur ethnic group due to the fact that China is Iran's largest buyer of oil. This position of the USA government would be revalidating the Judgment of False Islam that the Buddhist Tribunal previously made to the government of Iran in 2016, which also accompanied the charges of Ecocide, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Crimes against Humanity, Crimes against Peace, Discrimination, Violations of the rights of women and children, Social oppression and undemocratic system, and State Terrorism.

According to a report of the UN and its Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of August 30, 2018, there is evidence that in Xinjiang (China) there are concentration camps or political reeducation camps where more than 1 million people of the Uighur Muslim ethnic group are held incommunicado and illegally detained, detaining them for long periods without accusations or trial. This systematic and widespread pattern of discrimination and apartheid against Muslims would also affect other ethnic groups, such as Tibetans, Mongols and even Christians, although the Uighur ethnic group would be the most persecuted under the pretext of an alleged fight against terrorism and religious extremism. Therefore, the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of the UN has publicly requested China to immediately liberate the hundreds of thousands of Uighurs, who are illegally detained in concentration camps, and whose whereabouts and current location is unknown in most of the cases, which is extremely dangerous since the government of China considers that the Uighurs constitute a separatist and terrorist threat linked to al-Qaeda.

The Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights detects that these mass detentions of Xinjiang Muslims are totally arbitrary, denouncing the Chinese government for resorting to torture and indoctrination as part of its systematic campaign of human rights abuses. In addition to the existence of 1 million Muslims detained in China's concentration camps, living monitored 24 hours a day and without access to lawyers or to their relatives, on the other hand, Human Rights Watch has confirmed that the Chinese government is creating a State of constant surveillance through high-tech systems and official visits to the homes of the 13 million Muslims living in the region. These levels of unprecedented control and espionage would be de facto prohibiting Islam in the Chinese region, such as Human Rights Watch denounced, despite the fact that the Chinese government is saying that people has total freedom to choose their religion in the country.

The International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights clearly considers that certain Muslim States such as Iran and Saudi Arabia should unite in the defense of Muslims around the world, denouncing the crimes against humanity that occur with impunity against the Uighur ethnic group. The International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights requests the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to intervene righteously and never be an accomplice of the world powers that are oppressing the fundamental freedoms of humanity.

With spirit of Reconciliation (Maitri),

H.E. Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha

President and Judge of the International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights