Dominican justice NGO publishes 2023 report

Focus on Guatemala, DRC, Philippines, Solomon Islands, a collaborative project of Dominicans Worldwide

The annual report of Dominicans for Justice and Peace, published recently, is a window into the global collaborative work of the Order of Preachers.

Among the accomplishments of this organization, which serves the Order as the Permanent Delegation to the United Nations, are:

• a commitment to the protection of human rights in the Philippines;
• increasing awareness of the deterioration of the rule of law in Guatemala;
• fighting the negative impact of logging on the environment and human rights in Solomon Islands; and
• participation in interfaith dialogue for the purpose of strengthening faith-based partnerships in caring for Earth.

Dominicans for Justice and Peace was also part of a global coalition that won the UN’s highest human rights prize for actively contributing “to the effective realization of the right to a healthy environment for all.”

The office director is Dominican Father Aniedi Okure who leads an international team.

Haide Fernandez, the director of a Guatemala ecological network, said her group’s success in fighting black sand mining in her country is due in part to this global Dominican network, which “provided us with invaluable support when it seemed like we were alone. Our local cause has gained international attention through [the Dominican’s] advocacy efforts at the UN.”

In his introduction to the report, the Master General of the Order of Preachers, Fr. Gerard Timoner, remarked on the deep tradition of Dominican defense of human rights. He noted that the 2023 report fell in the 500^th anniversary year of the start of Dominican friar Francisco de Vitoria’s teaching career at the university in Salamanca. Vitoria is widely considered the father of international law. “This is the tradition which Dominicans for Justice and Peace carries on at the UN today,” Fr.Timoner wrote.

The Dominican structure in support of justice, peace, and integrity of creation circles the globe. Most congregations of sisters and provinces of friars have someone appointed to oversee their own responses to “the cry of Earth and the cry of the poor.” The Springfield Dominican office for justice and peace is coordinated by a committee chaired by Sister Marcelline Koch.

Read the report here.