Judgement of Case Australia

Case number 08/2015: Australia

JUDGEMENT AND ETHICAL CONCLUSION

Dear Prosecutor, Executive Secretary and Jury Members of the International Buddhist Ethics Committee (IBEC) and Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights (BTHR). Regarding the case reported by the World Association of Buddhism (WBA) against the Government of Australia and its environment minister Greg Hunt, through the present, on day November 1, 2015, I put on record that it is concluded the eighth case of the Buddhist Tribunal in order to analyze the violation of Animal Rights and the Rights of Mother Earth, carried out by the Government of Australia and its responsible minister.
After the vast amount of evidence presented and certified as valid, it has proceeded with the vote of six members of the Jury, confirming that all of them have sentenced the Government of Australia as "Responsible" for the serious crimes of PERSECUTION and EXTERMINATION OF ANIMALS, ECOCIDE, DEFORESTATION and MARINE POLLUTION. Given that these actions break the ethical precepts of Buddhism, such as refraining from harming other living beings, it was considered that the government of Australia completely violates the animal rights of millions of living beings, while at the same time being perverse the way how it is mistreating and torturing Mother Earth. In fact, every government is inherently an oppressive system that violates the Buddhist Ethics, the Animal Rights and the Rights of Mother Earth, although in the case of Australia they are being committed morbid crimes, such as the attempt of extermination of millions of cats along with the destruction of forests, which respectively are essential for the emotional life and physical health of the entire humankind.
Therefore, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights rules that the Spirituality created by Master Siddharta Gautama, as a way of engagement with the spiritual evolution of the whole system of life, must sentence the Government of Australia and the Environment Minister Greg Hunt for committing Ecocide, which is a crime against humanity according to the most cutting edge visions in the field of international law, reason by which it is requested the government of Australia to stop with this behavior destructive of life. This understanding shows that the extermination of animals and ecosystems is a crime as important as the genocide of human peoples, so that all project of global harmony must include respect for the ecological interexistence between humanity, the rest of the species and the Mother Earth (Gaia).
The Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights formally recognizes Ecocide as a crime against world peace, so that it must be pursued along with terrible crimes such as genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In this sense, since contemporary civilization produces an extensive damage or destruction of ecosystems, wild capitalism is a crime against humanity and against Mother Earth (Gaia), being a lifestyle inherently ecocidal. In the face of this system destructive of the environment that threatens health and peace of all living beings, Buddhism struggles to prevent the occurrence of such losses. This involves helping the peoples of the present, by taking care of the sanitary conditions of the poor and the cultural life of the aborigins, but it also means creating healthy conditions of existence for future generations. In this way, the Buddhist Spirituality is the movement which has most fought for the Right to a Healthy Living in the history of all of humankind, simultaneously considering that human beings are in a state of interexistence with other living beings, so they should avoid pollution and ecocide. The Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has the planetary and universal obligation of doing good, avoiding evil and purifying the mind of all humankind, reason why its mission is to avoid jeopardizing the appropriate survival of the world. Instead, governments and transnational corporations only seek accumulation of power and assets, not respecting the human rights, the animal rights nor the earth rights. This situation makes Buddhism exerts its position of Justice or Superior Law (Dharma) to denounce the evils of the world, so that one of its aims is nothing less than teaching International Law with humanitarian, wise and compassionate characteristics. This Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights practices the juridical duty to protect peace and health of humanity and of Mother Earth (Gaia), by denouncing that when people, businesses and governments perpetrate acts of Ecocide they are undermining human, natural and spiritual rights. Indeed, the rights of humanity and the rights of nature are mutually interrelated with the aim of a peaceful and healthy life, so that Buddhism fights against crimes of ecocide, cultural ecocide and crimes against future generations. Although the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights is not able to issue prison sentences or economic penalties, it certainly has the responsibility to issue ethical judgments that are a commitment with the Truth. Precisely, this implies a new model of Justice, by replacing the model of imprisonment for a model that assigns responsibilities in pursuit of a restorative justice, always evaluating the size, duration and impact of the destruction of ecosystems. As from Buddhism's supreme commitment with Peace, Justice, Truth and Interexistence, the world governments should consider any ethical judgment or spiritual decision of the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights, whose independent and responsible position is one of the best ways to reach the peak knowledge and universal harmony. Therefore, in view of the fact that the government officials of Australia have committed an ecocidal use of the environment, we sentence their higher responsibility by ordering an immediate suspension of the environmental destructive operations and an immediate restoration of the damages committed, which implies an order of protection over the millions of living beings that compose nature, but it also implies the recognition of the decrease in health and welfare of the peoples inhabiting the territories damaged. The welfare and health of Mother Earth implies to recognize areas where ecocides are committed, so that the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has no limits for its international jurisdiction, thus establishing that all sorts of governmental or business statements trying to cover evidences of Ecocide are false since it is a crime against humanity and the Mother Earth. In conclusion, the Buddhist Spirituality concludes that, in order to properly confront global warming, governments of the world should evaporate all kinds of governmental deceit, by helping environmental organizations to build a better world. Any attempt to deny the serious threats suffered by nature, then will be intrinsically conspiratorial for the health of both humankind and the living planet.
Following in the footsteps of Master Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has proceeded against the Government of Australia for persecuting and exterminate animals in addition to deforesting forests and pollute the seas, which is clearly a full evidence of Ecocide that violates both the Human Rights, as well as the Animal Rights and the Rights of Mother Earth.

Cordially,
With spirit of Reconciliation (maitri),
Buddhist Master Maitreya
Spiritual Guide and President of the International Buddhist Ethics Committee (IBEC) & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights (BTHR)

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International Buddhist Ethics Committee (IBEC)
Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights (BTHR)