From notoapec at clear.net.nz Sun Aug 1 12:29:58 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 20:29:58 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1219] APEC in Rotorua Message-ID: <000f01bedbce$2285e9e0$4b3261cb@notoapec> New Zealand Herald July 31-August 1 1999 Stacey Bodger reports on a large but low-key officials' meeting which is about to descend on Rotorua Geyser City gears up to sideshow to summit ROTORUA - While the hype of Apec engulfs Auckland the real deals are about to be struck in the peace and quiet of Rotorua. On Tuesday, about 750 senior officials from 21 "economies" will descend on Rotorua for nine days of intensive discussion. They are Government officials and advisers, experts in areas such as trade, who will lay the foundations for the likes of Bill Clinton and Jenny Shipley to debate and rubber stamp at the Apec leaders' meeting in Auckland in September. Topics for discussion include the announcement of free trade, the reduction of tariffs, and economic and technical cooperation between Asia and Pacific countries. But do not expect to see armed police lining the streets while motorcades roar through the city - most in Rotorua do not even know Apec is coming to town. Apec Task Force conference coordinator Jane Anderson and her team have spent four months fine-tuning plans for the senior officials' meeting. It is the third and final one before the leaders' meeting and is set to be a low-key affair. Rotorua is the only provincial area to be given the honour of playing host to Apec functions, which, say the city's leaders, shows that it has the infrastructure to cope with such a high-flying event. The Apec Task Force predicts that the meeting will inject about $1.8 million in total sales to the Bay of Plenty economy, through the hospitality, convention, retail and possibly tourism industries. Rotorua business people are quick to acknowledge the immediate effects it will generate. But they also hope the attention centred on Rotorua, and contacts made during the meeting, will yield long-term, flow-on gains to boost business. Ross Stanway, Rotorua District Council business development manager, holds high hopes for a regional business conference, held in the middle of the officials' meeting. More than 200 business people from the Bay of Plenty will gather to hear speakers and to develop links with their counterparts and Apec officials. "We're excited about the platform that meeting is going to lay and are using Apec as a base to bounce-start other networks to benefit business in the area," said Mr Stanway. Rotorua mayor Grahame Hall said the council had not allocated any special funding to the officials meeting but would share the cost of a reception being held again, to develop contacts. "It is a very exciting time for the city. In return for hosting these people we do expect them to come back and visit in return and for our profile to be further boosted overseas." Tourism Rotorua manager Oscar Nathan shares a similar view: "We have a large profile already overseas but this gives us a chance to capitalise on it from the attention it should receive." But the majority of people in Rotorua have no idea they are playing host to such powerful dignitaries. Most people polled by the New Zealand Herald knew that Auckland was gearing up for Apec but were puzzled to learn about the officials' meeting. People who were aware of it had little idea of what the purpose was, or who would attend. Senior Sergeant Les Paterson, of Rotorua, head of the police taskforce for the meeting, said this was perhaps because of the understated nature of the conference. He could not reveal the number of police dedicated to Apec duties in Rotorua because of security issues. But he said none of the dignitaries qualified for international protected-person status. There would be no motorcades or road closures and the police presence should go largely unnoticed. "We want to impress that it's nowhere near the magnitude of the operation that will take place in Auckland. Things should happen as normal." From fingal at cyberus.ca Mon Aug 2 02:42:06 1999 From: fingal at cyberus.ca (Brian Dawson) Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1999 13:42:06 -0400 Subject: [asia-apec 1220] VanSun/Southam/CP: RCMP worried about anti-APEC graffiti Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19990801134206.00692c00@mail.cyberus.ca> RCMP worried about anti-APEC graffiti [From Southam's www.canada.com July 31, 1999] VANCOUVER (CP) - The RCMP was concerned about whether foreign dignitaries could see anti-APEC graffiti written by protesters, despite repeated claims their only concern was security, an inquiry was told Friday. The point came out as RCMP Supt. Wayne May was questioned during an RCMP Public Complaints Commission hearing into police actions during the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation conference in November 1997. Commission counsel Barbara Fisher noted one section of a police operational plan for the University of B.C. portion of the hearing referred to the security fence keeping protesters back from the campus meeting areas. "The application of graffiti to the fence is not seen as a major concern given that such will not be visible to APEC delegates anyway," it said. Whether or not the RCMP was concerned about foreign heads of state seeing protesters has been a key issue at the APEC hearings. One of the most controversial incidents during the conference was the arrest of law student Craig Jones, who was taken away by the RCMP and placed in a jail cell because of signs he placed alongside the APEC motorcade route to the summit venues. The signs read: Free Speech. Democracy. Human Rights. The RCMP has argued that the signs posed a security risk because they obstructed officers' views of the route and the coat rack they were on could be used as a projectile. Throughout the hearings, the RCMP has maintained its only objective during the APEC meeting was to maintain security and it had no interest in keeping protests out of view. May, who was in charge of overall security at the conference, said that as a general rule, having things posted on a fence can obstruct officers' views and therefore be a security concern. He said the plan that mentioned the fence was written by the university site commander so he didn't know why it referred to what was visible to the delegates or not. "Did anyone give you any directions about that?" Fisher asked. "Any government official?" "None whatsoever," May replied. Fisher also quoted from a section of the manual that detailed how the police Quick Response Teams should act. "They will be expected to mingle with the crowd on a low-key, cordial basis," it said. "They will attempt to identify any ringleaders/troublemakers who appear to be planning or inciting unlawful acts and will take steps at the appropriate times to arrest and remove such subjects if legal authority exists." May said he agreed with the policy. "I think the key there, though, is 'if legal authority exists,' " he said. About 40 students, protesters and other concerned people have filed official complaints with the commission into police actions Nov. 25, 1997, when protesters were pepper-sprayed, strip-searched, and pressured into signing documents that they would not attend APEC events. The commission is attempting to determine whether those complaints are valid. Many of the complainants have since focused on Prime Minister Jean Chretien's alleged involvement in improperly restricting citizens' rights of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. They maintain Chretien was under extreme pressure from then-Indonesian President Suharto to not allow protests in his sight. (Vancouver Sun) ? The Canadian Press, 1999 From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Mon Aug 2 16:31:42 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1999 19:31:42 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1221] PNG and Privatisation Message-ID: Title -- 2259 ECONOMY: PNG to privatise state assets Date -- 2 August 1999 Byline -- None Origin -- Pasifik Nius Source -- Pacnews, 1045, 2/8/99 Status -- Unabridged ------------------- PNG TO PRIVATISE STATE ASSETS PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) -- Papua New Guinea (PNG) is to privatise state assets in a bid to pay off a public debt of one-point-three billion dollars. Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta says his Government has established a Privatisation Commission under Corporatisation and Privatisation Minister Vincent Auali to implement the programme. He said the privatisation programme is part of his government's strategy to resurrect PNG's struggling economy. Sir Mekere said the PNG Government owes more than half of the huge amount to the Bank of Papua New Guinea. He said it's imperative that this debt is repaid as quickly as possible and the only way this can be done is by the sale of government assets. Sir Mekere did not specify which government assets are earmarked for sale but observers say they are likely to be in the telecommunications, electricity, water and transportation sectors...PNS +++niuswire This document is for educational and research use only. Recipients should seek permission from the copyright source before reprinting. PASIFIK NIUS service is provided by the niusedita via the Journalism Program, University of the South Pacific. Please acknowledge Pasifik Nius: niusedita@pactok.net.au http://www.usp.ac.fj/journ/nius/index.html From tclarke at web.net Mon Aug 2 23:50:33 1999 From: tclarke at web.net (Tony Clarke) Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 10:50:33 -0400 Subject: [asia-apec 1222] Re: NZ/APEC: Activist not backing down Message-ID: <000001bedd10$1b179c60$bd0d059a@tonyclar> Dear Robert, How are you? I received part of your response [dated July 14, 1999]in reply to my message to Aziz but not the full message. Please send the full message to me. Hope you are well. Cheers, Tony Clarke -----Original Message----- From: Robert Reid To: asia-apec@jca.apc.org Date: Wednesday, July 14, 1999 5:02 AM Subject: [asia-apec 1197] Re: NZ/APEC: Activist not backing down > >is this Maude's friend calling you my friend :) > >---------- >> From: Tony Clarke >> To: asia-apec@jca.apc.org >> Subject: [asia-apec 1195] Re: NZ/APEC: Activist not backing down >> Date: Wednesday, 14 July 1999 14:17 >> >> >> Hi Aziz, >> >> Well done my friend! The struggle continues! >> >> I received your message from a few days ago about looking at ways to >> internationalize your fight-back campaign against SIS. I will be away on >> vacation until the first week of August. Let's try to connect by email >then. >> O.K? >> >> Cheers, >> Tony >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Gatt Watchdog >> To: asia-apec@jca.ax.apc.org >> Cc: jaggi@tao.ca ; rf.dsouza@auckland.ac.nz >> ; saskia@gn.apc.org ; >> sheac@ucla.edu >> Date: Friday, July 09, 1999 3:29 AM >> Subject: [asia-apec 1190] NZ/APEC: Activist not backing down >> >> >> > >> >Christchurch Star, Friday July 9 1999 >> > >> >Activist not backing down >> >By Marianne Betts >> > >> >A ground-breaking case against the Security Intelligence Service >> >will continue, despite a ruling from the Court of Appeal to keep >> >documents relating to the bungled break-in of a Christchurch >> >activist's home secret. >> > >> >Aziz Choudry, who is suing the SIS for $300,000 after a break-in >> >at his Sockburn home three years ago, during the Apec Trade >> >Ministers meeting, said he would continue with his civil case >> >regardless of the ruling. >> > >> >"I won't back down on this and will have to see where we will go >> >from here," Mr Choudry said. >> > >> >He said he had asked the court to review 60 secret documents >> >relating to the botched break-in which the SIS had refused to >> >disclose. >> > >> >Four of the five judges ruled the SIS did not have to disclose >> >these documents and that a certificate by Prime Minister Jenny >> >Shipley saying their release would prejudice national security was >> >sufficient to prevent the High Court judge in the case from >> >reviewing the documents. >> > >> >Mr Choudry said he was disappointed by the judgement, which would >> >fuel anxieties about the service. >> > >> >The Apec Monitoring Group, of which Mr Choudry is part, feared the >> >judgement gave the SIS and the Prime Minister protection from any >> >real scrutiny of their activities and allowed them to keep secret >> >information they deemed to be prejudicial to their activities. >> > >> >Spokesperson for the group Leigh Cookson said the judgement was >> >disturbing, coming in the year New Zealand is to host the Apec >> >forum. >> > >> >"Any assurance given that the opponents of Apec in 1999 will have >> >their right to dissent respected can only be treated with >> >suspicion and contempt," Ms Cookson said. >> > >> >The majority decision from four of the five judges said the >> >judicial inspection of the documents would be unlikely to advance >> >matters responsibly. Justice Thomas disagreed, saying national >> >security would suffer. >> > >> > >> > > From tclarke at web.net Mon Aug 2 23:50:33 1999 From: tclarke at web.net (Tony Clarke) Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 10:50:33 -0400 Subject: [asia-apec 1223] Re: NZ/APEC: Activist not backing down Message-ID: <00b201bedd0f$72da2720$b10d059a@tonyclar> Dear Robert, How are you? I received part of your response [dated July 14, 1999]in reply to my message to Aziz but not the full message. Please send the full message to me. Hope you are well. Cheers, Tony Clarke -----Original Message----- From: Robert Reid To: asia-apec@jca.apc.org Date: Wednesday, July 14, 1999 5:02 AM Subject: [asia-apec 1197] Re: NZ/APEC: Activist not backing down > >is this Maude's friend calling you my friend :) > >---------- >> From: Tony Clarke >> To: asia-apec@jca.apc.org >> Subject: [asia-apec 1195] Re: NZ/APEC: Activist not backing down >> Date: Wednesday, 14 July 1999 14:17 >> >> >> Hi Aziz, >> >> Well done my friend! The struggle continues! >> >> I received your message from a few days ago about looking at ways to >> internationalize your fight-back campaign against SIS. I will be away on >> vacation until the first week of August. Let's try to connect by email >then. >> O.K? >> >> Cheers, >> Tony >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Gatt Watchdog >> To: asia-apec@jca.ax.apc.org >> Cc: jaggi@tao.ca ; rf.dsouza@auckland.ac.nz >> ; saskia@gn.apc.org ; >> sheac@ucla.edu >> Date: Friday, July 09, 1999 3:29 AM >> Subject: [asia-apec 1190] NZ/APEC: Activist not backing down >> >> >> > >> >Christchurch Star, Friday July 9 1999 >> > >> >Activist not backing down >> >By Marianne Betts >> > >> >A ground-breaking case against the Security Intelligence Service >> >will continue, despite a ruling from the Court of Appeal to keep >> >documents relating to the bungled break-in of a Christchurch >> >activist's home secret. >> > >> >Aziz Choudry, who is suing the SIS for $300,000 after a break-in >> >at his Sockburn home three years ago, during the Apec Trade >> >Ministers meeting, said he would continue with his civil case >> >regardless of the ruling. >> > >> >"I won't back down on this and will have to see where we will go >> >from here," Mr Choudry said. >> > >> >He said he had asked the court to review 60 secret documents >> >relating to the botched break-in which the SIS had refused to >> >disclose. >> > >> >Four of the five judges ruled the SIS did not have to disclose >> >these documents and that a certificate by Prime Minister Jenny >> >Shipley saying their release would prejudice national security was >> >sufficient to prevent the High Court judge in the case from >> >reviewing the documents. >> > >> >Mr Choudry said he was disappointed by the judgement, which would >> >fuel anxieties about the service. >> > >> >The Apec Monitoring Group, of which Mr Choudry is part, feared the >> >judgement gave the SIS and the Prime Minister protection from any >> >real scrutiny of their activities and allowed them to keep secret >> >information they deemed to be prejudicial to their activities. >> > >> >Spokesperson for the group Leigh Cookson said the judgement was >> >disturbing, coming in the year New Zealand is to host the Apec >> >forum. >> > >> >"Any assurance given that the opponents of Apec in 1999 will have >> >their right to dissent respected can only be treated with >> >suspicion and contempt," Ms Cookson said. >> > >> >The majority decision from four of the five judges said the >> >judicial inspection of the documents would be unlikely to advance >> >matters responsibly. Justice Thomas disagreed, saying national >> >security would suffer. >> > >> > >> > > From amittal at foodfirst.org Wed Aug 4 02:44:46 1999 From: amittal at foodfirst.org (Anuradha Mittal) Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 10:44:46 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1224] New Development Report from Food First- Manufacturing a Crisis: The Politics of Food Aid in Indonesia Message-ID: TimesInstitute for Food and Development Policy-Food First Announces the Release of: Manufacturing a Crisis : The Politics of Food Aid in Indonesia TimesIFDP Development Report no. 13 Oakland, CA-News of food shortages and hunger in Indonesia, reported to be caused by drought, alarmed the world in 1998 and 1999. According to the Minister of Food Affairs and Horticulture, Indonesia was the world's biggest recipient of food aid in 1998. But in recent months news has filtered out that many agricultural communities are prospering in the midst of the crisis. In view of these conflicting reports, South East Asia Food Security and Fair Trade Council organized a fact-finding mission to Indonesia in January 1999. "Indonesia is not suffering a critical food shortage in the traditional sense. We found a surreal juxtaposition of bounty and misery, caused by the well-publicized economic collapse of the world's fourth most populous nation," said Anuradha Mittal, who led one of four teams of a fact-finding mission to Indonesia. Over 100 million Indonesians, "half the country's population," are now living below the poverty line, up from thirty million in 1997. In 1998 average Indonesians saw ten years of family savings wiped out by six months of currency devaluation. By July the value of the rupiah had fallen fifty percent against the U.S. dollar, pushing up prices and squeezing earnings, hitting those who could least afford it the hardest. "This crisis was caused by massive outflows of speculative capital," said Mittal, "brought on by more than a decade of pressure from the U.S., World Bank, and International Monetary Fund to open Indonesia's financial markets to foreign investors. Today many Indonesian banks and companies are on the brink of bankruptcy, with more than a third of Indonesia's key electronics, machinery, chemical, and metal-based industries forced to close. Every day in Jakarta an estimated 15,000 workers lose their jobs. People have begun migrating from cities back to the countryside. A bleak report from the International Labor Organization states, "Without any improvements in household income, further price increases in 1999 will push some 140 million people, or 66 percent of the population, below the poverty line." But is there a food shortage? "Abundant food is available for those who can afford it, but few can due to the economic collapse," said Mittal. "Yet the image of a food shortage that can only be remedied with food aid continues to dominate. Western donors have been rushing in wheat products, undercutting rice-based food self-sufficiency and creating a long term market for exports. The Indonesian government has used this aid to pacify the new urban poor and consolidate support for the June 1999 elections. This has been done with the total approval of foreign governments and multilateral organizations." As a World Food Program official put it, "Hungry people are angry people." In 1984 Indonesia was awarded the FAO medal in food self sufficiency, while today the food aid pouring in threatens to turn it into a permanent international beggar by bankrupting local agriculture. "Economic conditions in Indonesia do not call for food aid. What is needed are economic policies to provide jobs and income so people can have an adequate diet, and buy goods and services to meet other needs. Agriculture is in trouble in Indonesia, but it is a crisis that is strictly man-made," said Mittal. "A huge dependence on fertilizers and other chemical inputs characteristic of Green Revolution technology resulted in a fragile rural economy that can easily be unraveled by policy decisions for example, the recent ending of the fertilizer subsidy. Indonesia is not experiencing a classic drought-driven famine. It is experiencing economic collapse." Food First-founded in 1975 by Frances Moore Lapp? and Joseph Collins after the success of Diet for a Small Planet, is an 'outside the beltway' policy think tank that carries out research and education-for-action. Food First works to identify the root causes of hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world, and to educate the public as well as policymakers about these problems and alternative solutions to them. ### To order, send a check or money order for $9.00 ($6.00 + $3.00 s/h) to The Institute for Food and Development Policy (Food First) 398 60th Street, Oakland, CA. 94618 USA California residents add 8.25% sales tax International orders must be prepaid in US dollars and require an additional $1.00 for shipping Credit card orders can be made by phone at (510) 654-4400 Or order on the web: http://www.foodfirst.org/pubsorder.htm#IDR13 Anuradha Mittal Policy Director Institute for Food and Development Policy - Food First 398 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94618 USA Phone: (510) 654-4400 Fax: (510) 654-4551 http://www.foodfirst.org From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Wed Aug 4 14:52:23 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 17:52:23 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1225] Russian president cancels Apec visit Message-ID: <1D4gcF2w165w@corso.ch.planet.gen.nz> The Press, Christchurch, New Zealand August 4 1999 Russian president cancels Apec visit WELLINGTON - Foreign Affairs Minister Don McKinnon is not surprised to hear Russian President Boris Yeltsin will not attend the Apec summit meeting in Auckland next month. "I haven't had confirmation but it's clearly his health. He has had to cancel a number of meetings," Mr McKinnon said. Mr Yeltsin has ordered Prime Minister Sergei Stephashin to attend the summit in his place. It would be the second time in two years Mr Yeltsin had sent his prime minister to the summit. Former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov attended the meeting in Kuala Lumpur last year. Mr Yeltsin's press service gave no reason for his change of plan. He has frequently cancelled foreign visits because of poor health. Mr Yeltsin, 68, had heart bypass surgery in 1996 and has suffered bouts of pneumonia and respiratory infections since then. He has also had a recurring ulcer in the past year. - NZPA From amittal at foodfirst.org Fri Aug 6 01:52:28 1999 From: amittal at foodfirst.org (Anuradha Mittal) Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 09:52:28 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1226] IPS Wire story Food First-INDONESIA: Not Your 'Traditional' Famine Message-ID: TimesTo order the orginal report, send a check or money order for $9.00 ($6.00 + $3.00 s/h) to The Institute for Food and Development Policy (Food First) 398 60th Street, Oakland, CA. 94618 USA California residents add 8.25% sales tax International orders must be prepaid in US dollars and require an additional $1.00 for shipping Credit card orders can be made by phone at (510) 654-4400 Or order on the web: http://www.foodfirst.org/pubsorder.htm#IDR12 Copyright 1999, Inter Press Service FOOD-INDONESIA: Not Your 'Traditional' Famine WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (IPS) - Indonesia became the world's largest food aid recipient last year in a "manufactured crisis" sparked by economic collapse but exacerbated by misguided development policies, says a new report. Food aid to the world's fourth most-populous nation should be severely reduced "and redirected to truly starving countries . . . such as North Korea," according to the South East Asia Food Security and Fair Trade Council, a coalition of activist groups in the Asian region and the United States. The group, which sent an international team of aid and agricultural experts to Indonesia earlier this year, concluded that Indonesia needs "not food aid but economic and agricultural reforms of a fundamental kind." This would create the "jobs and income that will enable them to surmount not only hunger, but poverty," the report said. "Indonesia is not suffering a critical food shortage in the traditional sense," said Anuradha Mittal, report co-author and policy director at the Oakland-based Institute for Food and Development Policy, also known as Food First. "Abundant food is available for those who can afford it, but few can due to the economic collapse," Mittal said. "Yet the image of a food shortage that can only be remedied with food aid continues to dominate." The report, "Manufacturing a Crisis: The Politics of Food Aid in Indonesia", accused the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP) of stoking donor alarm over Indonesia's food situation by issuing "grossly mistaken" assessments of the country's 1998-99 rice shortfall. The agencies, however, said they stood behind their figures. Foreign grain began to pour into Indonesian warehouses on the strength of numbers distilled by the FAO and WFP from Indonesian government data in a process that activists characterized as doomed to repeat the failures of earlier food-aid programs. "Time and again we have found [food aid] to be a self-serving act on the part of donor countries, in the guise of charity," said Peter Rosset, co-author of the 1998 book "World Hunger: Twelve Myths". "Local food production is undercut in recipient countries, as farmers cannot compete with free imports and have to abandon the land," he said. The report charged the United States, Canada, Australia and other donors with seeking to open long-term markets for their surplus wheat and rice. It assailed Japan for dumping excess rice stocks in the form of a "soft loan" payable in kind within the next 40 years. When it became clear that the influx of cheap food was not needed in much of the countryside, aid officials diverted the flow to Indonesia's slums "to pacify a restive urban population" and boost the ruling Golkar party's standing in June's parliamentary elections, the report added. The report drew fire from the FAO and WFP as being "a bit confused" and "biased." Aid officials, in letters to the report's writers, bristled at the accusation of complicity in government efforts to contain political dissent and complained that they had been misquoted in the document. No less controversial was the report's assertion that Indonesia's was "not so much an emergency food crisis but a generalized crisis of development." Viewed in the short term, the crisis stemmed from the massive flight of foreign capital that was at the center of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98. But the long-term culprits, according to the report, included an "industry-first" development strategy and a "Green Revolution" (chemically-intensive monoculture farming) approach to food self-sufficiency. Under the tutelage of international financial institutions, Indonesia had long sought to harness local capital and attract foreign investors to industrialize the country. Among other things, this meant manipulating exchange and interest rates. These measures "drew resources from agriculture to industry because agricultural projects took a long time to yield a decent rate of return, whereas urban investments, such as in real estate, yielded profits with a quick turn-around time," the report said. Furthermore, "a policy of providing cheap food was clearly designed to subsidize industry by keeping the price of wage goods low for the urban working class. However, this decreased the profitability of agriculture," contributing to a downward spiral of investment and productivity in the country's farms. Something had to be done, so Indonesia embraced the "Green Revolution" and, in 1984, was deemed by the FAO to have achieved food self-sufficiency. The picture never was very clear, however, because rice self-sufficiency was taken to mean food self-sufficiency. The "Green Revolution" forced rice on the many Indonesians who traditionally had subsisted on corn, roots, or other staples - and in turn forced a single model of wetland rice cultivation on geographically distinct regions, some of which were unsuited to this type of farming. As a consequence, differences in nutritional needs and status were glossed over, as were local environmental conditions and bio-diversity. Paradoxically, food and ecological insecurity worsened in parts of the country even as more rice was produced. "Thirty years of 'Green Revolution' has left many farmers dependent on expensive external inputs of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides," the report said. "The tragic results of this dependency became stark with the onset of the financial crisis in late 1997." Imports were limited for want of foreign exchange and fertilizer subsidies were withdrawn, once again threatening agricultural production. Farmers have been further imperilled by an influx of 2.3 million tonnes of cheap or free emergency food aid from donor nations, the report asserts. That aid effort should be redirected toward "truly starving countries" and Indonesian food aid restricted to pregnant and nursing women and children living below the poverty line, according to the report. In the longer term, the country should revive its agriculture without again succumbing to the ecological, economic and nutritional vagaries of chemically-intensive monoculture farming. (END/IPS/aa/mk/99) Anuradha Mittal Policy Director Institute for Food and Development Policy - Food First 398 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94618 USA Phone: (510) 654-4400 Fax: (510) 654-4551 http://www.foodfirst.org From notoapec at clear.net.nz Sat Aug 7 00:18:02 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 08:18:02 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1227] Alternatives To The APEC Agenda Details Announced Message-ID: <000a01bee01e$e2db0dc0$6b3261cb@notoapec> AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND APEC MONITORING GROUP PO Box 106 233, Auckland. Email: notoapec@clear.net.nz MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 5 August 1999 Details of Alternatives To The APEC Agenda Announced - APEC Monitoring Group The September Leaders Summit won't be the only conference in Auckland to focus on APEC. The APEC Monitoring Group today announced details of its forum entitled Alternatives To The APEC Agenda to be held from September 10-12 in Auckland. Alternatives To The APEC Agenda will bring together a range of prominent local and international critics of the global free market economic model, and will focus on concrete strategies and genuine alternatives to APEC's free trade and investment agenda. It is supported by GATT Watchdog, the NZ Trade Union Federation, Corso, and the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa. "This forum is the culmination of a year-long programme of education and action to expose and oppose APEC's failed free market, free trade and investment approach," says Aziz Choudry. Since it was founded at the 1994 Jakarta APEC Summit, members of the APEC Monitoring Group have participated in parallel NGO and union forums opposed to APEC in Kyoto/Osaka (1995), Manila (1996), Vancouver (1997) and Kuala Lumpur (1998). The APEC Monitoring Group has held a series of alternative public meetings, forums, rallies and workshops throughout the country to coincide with all the major New Zealand APEC meetings during 1999. "Unlike the APEC meetings, our forum will not be an extravagant and vacuous gabfest and its main achievements will not be measured in taxpayer-funded pre-election photo opportunities", said Mr Choudry. "APEC is in a state of virtual paralysis and will struggle to limp on into the new millennium. But the economic policy package it promotes needs to be taken seriously, especially as it leads into the WTO. One of our primary goals is to help people understand the link between APEC's goals and the destructive economic policies which have devastated this country and peoples' lives over the past 15 years, and to promote discussion on alternative policies and strategies to achieve economic, social and Treaty justice." The forum ends with a rally against APEC at 4.30 on 12 September, the first day of the Leaders Summit. Further details are available on the APEC Monitoring Group's Website - Confirmed speakers include: Professor Jane Kelsey, Auckland University; author of "Reclaiming the Future"; Moses Havini, representative of the Bougainville Interim Government; Moana Jackson, Director of Nga Kaiwhakamarama I Nga Ture (Maori Legal Service); Annette Sykes, Ngati Pikiao lawyer and Treaty educator; Alejandro Villamar Calderon, RMALC (Mexican Action Network on Free Trade) Antonio Tujan, Executive Director of IBON Databank, Philippines; Sunera Thobani, Ruth Wynn Woodward Professor of Womens Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada; Rex Varona, Executive Director, Asian Migrant Centre, Hong Kong; Crispin Beltran, Chairman of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) unions, Philippines; Mereana Pitman, Ngati Kahungunu, Treaty educator; Peter Wills, biologist and GE activist; Prue Hyman, Associate Professor of Economics, Victoria University, Wellington; Aziz Choudry, GATT Watchdog; Radha D'Souza, Asia-Pacific Workers Solidarity Links; Bill Rosenberg, researcher for Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA); Leonie Pihama, Ngati Mahanga/Te Atiawa, Maori educationalist; Robert Reid, NZ Trade Union Federation International Officer For further comment contact: Aziz Choudry, ph (03) 3662803 or (021) 217 3039 Or Leigh Cookson ph (09) 3025390 (ext 833) From tpl at cheerful.com Fri Aug 6 08:21:12 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 07:21:12 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1228] Massacre of Manjolai Tea Estate Labourers in Tamil Nadu Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990806072112.006ad444@pop.skyinet.net> >Date: Thu, 05 Aug 1999 13:33:19 +0700 >>From: "society for rural education" >> >>Police excesses and massacre of innocent labourers of Manjolai Tea Estate >>in Tamil Nadu, India on 23.07.99. >> >>Background >> >> The tea estate of Manjolai compraising of more than 1500 acres is located in the western ghats of Tamil Nadu in Tirunelveli District. The land is a leased property for a tenure of 99 years. Thousands of workers are employed. Among whom the majority work force are the Dalits. Though there are a lot of labour welfare legislations in India none of them are enforced and followed in Manjolai where the conditions of labourers are nothing better than that of the bonded labourers. The labourers neither enjoy any of the benefits envisaged in the labour legislations nor receive a fair wage. The prevailing conditions forced them to assert their rights. The demands to the employers went unheard. Hence they went on strike. >> >> In order to uphold their rights to a fair wage and other stipulated legal benefits they approached the District Collector. The Government instead of solving the issue arrested 652 innocent workers including 198 women. They were put into jail and were refused to be released on bail. >> Legal Issues >> The Manjolai estate labourers are not paid fair and living wages. The working hours are not stipulated for these workers. The workers are not made permanent employees inspite of working for several years. The women workers are denied of the benefits of maternity benefit Act. None of the workers enjoy the leave facilities or the provident fund facilities. There is no proper housing facilities or medical or education facility for>the children in Manjolai Estate. The labour Welfare Department has remained been a mere spectator in this issue. The workers who protest are arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned. The union leaders are blackmailed and brutally attacked. >> The incident >> On 23.07.1999, various labour union people headed by the local member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and other MLAs belonging to various political >>parties marched towards the Tirunelveli Collector office after a public >>meeting. Their main demands were, >> >> >>The release of the arbitrarily poor workers. >>Ensure of fair wages >>Stipulation of working hours >>Demand to take over the administration of the Manjolai estate by the >>concerned Government Board. >> >>The protesters had obtained prior permission from the Government for the >>public meeting and rally. The police who outnumbered the people, stopped >>them and did not allow them to meet the District Collector with the >>demands. The police was adament in not letting the leaders to meet the >>Collector. They used force and disbursed the processionists who for fear >>of their lives started to run away. The police chased them towards the >>river Tambraparani and attacked them with blows on their heads and chests >>causing injuries and death of several people. Many workers got beaten up >>and drowned. Out of the people who were forced to have a watery grave only >>17 bodies have been rescued till date. The police did not spare even the >>women and children. A 2 year old child was killed along with its mother >>who went to demand the release of her husband. The media people who tried >>to take photos were also not spared by the police. It was a well planned >>cold blooded high handedness of police atrocities on the innocent labourers >>who tried to assert their rights. The Government is trying to give it a >>communal colour suppressing the fact that the issue is a labour problem >>going on for the past several years. >> >>Prayer >> >> We request you to write to our Government to strictly follow the national and International norms to ensure justice to the poor workers of Manjolai Tea Estate. >> >> >>TAMIL NADU WOMEN'S FORUM >>CHENNAI. >> >> From geoko at nus.edu.sg Fri Aug 6 10:39:10 1999 From: geoko at nus.edu.sg (Olds,Kristopher) Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 09:39:10 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1229] CALL FOR PAPERS: Economic Globalisation and the Tropical World Message-ID: <2C9E855D35B9D01198190020AFFBE8CB040E43FB@exs04.ex.nus.edu.sg> apologies for cross-listing...please contact Henry Yeung directly about this issue (ie not me!). ****************************************************************** CALL FOR PAPERS SINGAPORE JOURNAL OF TROPICAL GEOGRAPHY Special Issue on Economic Globalisation and the Tropical World in the New Millennium December 2000 Issue Editors: Henry Wai-chung Yeung1 and Peter Dicken2 1 Department of Geography, National University of Singapore 2 School of Geography, University of Manchester The purpose of this special issue is to bring together contributions from around the world on the important subject of the ongoing transformations in the tropical world in the context of economic globalisation. Economic globalisation is a complex process involving multiple and, sometimes, contradictory tendencies across all economic sectors. While much has been written on economic globalisation and its spatial manifestations in advanced industrialised economies, there seems little theoretical and empirical work to unpack globalisation tendencies in the tropical world. As globalisation continues to reach every corner of the global economy in the new millennium, geographers researching into the tropical world are strongly encouraged to contribute to a critical reflection of the nature, processes and impact of economic globalisation in relation to the tropical world. Specifically, we welcome papers on the topic irrespective of their theoretical perspectives, methodology, empirical focus and policy implications. The scale of analysis can be pitched at the global, regional, national or sub-national levels. For theoretical papers, authors are reminded to situate their theoretical discussions within the context of economic globalisation and the tropical world. For empirical papers, we emphasise the methodological rigour of the submission, their empirical findings and relevance for the tropics. For policy papers, they are required to contribute to the understanding and management of the challenges of economic globalisation for the tropical world. The special issue could include the following topics: * global capitalism and its relation to the tropical world * financial liberalisation and the tropical world * the politics of international financial institutions in the tropical world * the sociocultural dimensions of economic globalisation in the tropics * the impact of economic globalisation on national and regional development in the tropics * the regulation and governance of economic globalisation in the tropical world * regional economic cooperation and organisation in an era of economic globalisation * new trends of economic globalisation in the tropical world * the organisation of production networks and commodity chains Contributions should be sent to the issue editors by 30 December 1999. All correspondence should be sent to: Dr. Henry Wai-chung Yeung Department of Geography National University of Singapore 10 Kent Ridge Crescent Singapore 119260 Fax: +65-777 3091 E-mail: geoywc@nus.edu.sg; Homepage: http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/geoywc/henry.htm If you have a paper which may not fit into this special issue, we welcome submissions to be considered for regular issues of the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. For more information on the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, please visit the following website: http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/geog/journal.htm From notoapec at clear.net.nz Sat Aug 7 05:45:53 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 13:45:53 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1230] APEC and Environment Factsheet launched - APEC Monitoring Group Message-ID: <005501bee04c$b1b1abe0$f73261cb@notoapec> AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND APEC MONITORING GROUP Christchurch Office, PO Box 1905, Christchurch MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 6 August 1999 APEC Monitoring Group Launches "APEC and The Environment" Factsheet to Mark End of Conservation Week The Aotearoa/New Zealand APEC Monitoring Group today launched its sixth APEC factsheet, on APEC and The Environment, to mark Conservation Week and to coincide with the third APEC Senior Officials Meeting taking place in Rotorua, with the Auckland Leaders Summit just over a month away. During the past year, the APEC Monitoring Group has produced six factsheets on different dimensions of APEC and its failed free market, free trade and investment approach. These form part of its education campaign to expose and oppose the APEC agenda during New Zealand's year as chair of the ailing 21-member economic forum. They include What Is APEC?; Workers, Jobs and Tariffs; APEC, Maori and The Treaty; The Pacific And the APEC Agenda; APEC In Auckland; and APEC And The Environment. "Thousands of our factsheets are in circulation. We have been swamped by demand for analysis and information which goes beyond the government's feelgood APEC hype", says an organiser for the group, Aziz Choudry. "Documents secured under the Official Information Act show that while the Government has been anxious to 'get the APEC 1999 brand in the market place as quickly as possible", its communications would not focus "on the complex substance of the APEC process". The government cannot afford genuine debate on APEC. And we cannot afford to believe their hype." "APEC has always treated the environment as peripheral. Its interest in the environment is driven by a narrow economic vision, not concern for the environment or the people who depend on it to survive". "Experience shows that APEC's model of unfettered export-oriented economic growth causes environmental degradation, pollution of water and air systems, rapid depletion of forests, wetlands and fisheries, and loss of flora and fauna." One of the issues the factsheet deals with is the push to liberalise trade in forest and wood products. "Ironically while DOC has been promoting Conservation Week, the New Zealand, US and Canadian governments are promoting a global trade agreement to eliminate remaining tariffs on forest products. "Dubbed the "Global Free Logging Agreement" by its opponents, this proposal is part of an eight-sector Accelerated Tariff Liberalisation package shunted off to the World Trade Organisation after failure to reach consensus within APEC. "It aims to eliminate tariffs on all forest and paper products by 2000 for "developed" countries and 2003 for "developing" ones, increasing production and consumption of wood products. The American Forest and Paper Association says wood consumption could increase by 3-4% worldwide if tariffs come down. It seeks to eliminate restrictions on where, when and how to log so production and industry profits increase. "This is yet another example of an economic agenda which promotes trade liberalisation as an end in itself, ignoring environmental and social concerns unless they are redefined in narrow, "trade-related" terms. So much for the government's commitment to "Conservation Week"!" said Mr Choudry. The APEC and the Environment factsheet is now available from the Auckland and Christchurch offices of the APEC Monitoring Group and on its website at www.apec.gen.nz For further comment: ph Aziz Choudry, APEC Monitoring Group (03) 3662803 or 021 217 3039 From notoapec at clear.net.nz Fri Aug 6 12:38:32 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 11:38:32 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1232] Alternatives To The APEC Agenda Details Announced Message-ID: <4.0.1.19990806113758.00e058e0@pc02> AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND APEC MONITORING GROUP PO Box 106 233, Auckland. Email: notoapec@clear.net.nz MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 5 August 1999 Details of Alternatives To The APEC Agenda Announced - APEC Monitoring Group The September Leaders Summit won't be the only conference in Auckland to focus on APEC. The APEC Monitoring Group today announced details of its forum entitled Alternatives To The APEC Agenda to be held from September 10-12 in Auckland. Alternatives To The APEC Agenda will bring together a range of prominent local and international critics of the global free market economic model, and will focus on concrete strategies and genuine alternatives to APEC's free trade and investment agenda. It is supported by GATT Watchdog, the NZ Trade Union Federation, Corso, and the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa. "This forum is the culmination of a year-long programme of education and action to expose and oppose APEC's failed free market, free trade and investment approach," says Aziz Choudry. Since it was founded at the 1994 Jakarta APEC Summit, members of the APEC Monitoring Group have participated in parallel NGO and union forums opposed to APEC in Kyoto/Osaka (1995), Manila (1996), Vancouver (1997) and Kuala Lumpur (1998). The APEC Monitoring Group has held a series of alternative public meetings, forums, rallies and workshops throughout the country to coincide with all the major New Zealand APEC meetings during 1999. "Unlike the APEC meetings, our forum will not be an extravagant and vacuous gabfest and its main achievements will not be measured in taxpayer-funded pre-election photo opportunities", said Mr Choudry. "APEC is in a state of virtual paralysis and will struggle to limp on into the new millennium. But the economic policy package it promotes needs to be taken seriously, especially as it leads into the WTO. One of our primary goals is to help people understand the link between APEC's goals and the destructive economic policies which have devastated this country and peoples' lives over the past 15 years, and to promote discussion on alternative policies and strategies to achieve economic, social and Treaty justice." The forum ends with a rally against APEC at 4.30 on 12 September, the first day of the Leaders Summit. Further details are available on the APEC Monitoring Group's Website - Confirmed speakers include: Professor Jane Kelsey, Auckland University; author of "Reclaiming the Future"; Moses Havini, representative of the Bougainville Interim Government; Moana Jackson, Director of Nga Kaiwhakamarama I Nga Ture (Maori Legal Service); Annette Sykes, Ngati Pikiao lawyer and Treaty educator; Alejandro Villamar Calderon, RMALC (Mexican Action Network on Free Trade) Antonio Tujan, Executive Director of IBON Databank, Philippines; Sunera Thobani, Ruth Wynn Woodward Professor of Womens Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada; Rex Varona, Executive Director, Asian Migrant Centre, Hong Kong; Crispin Beltran, Chairman of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) unions, Philippines; Mereana Pitman, Ngati Kahungunu, Treaty educator; Peter Wills, biologist and GE activist; Prue Hyman, Associate Professor of Economics, Victoria University, Wellington; Aziz Choudry, GATT Watchdog; Radha D'Souza, Asia-Pacific Workers Solidarity Links; Bill Rosenberg, researcher for Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA); Leonie Pihama, Ngati Mahanga/Te Atiawa, Maori educationalist; Robert Reid, NZ Trade Union Federation International Officer For further comment contact: Aziz Choudry, ph (03) 3662803 or (021) 217 3039 Or Leigh Cookson ph (09) 3025390 (ext 833) From tpl at cheerful.com Sat Aug 7 08:16:05 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 07:16:05 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1233] Re: Peruvian military chiefs evaluate the press. Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990807071605.0069ec18@pop.skyinet.net> >>>Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 22:00:23 +0200 >>>From: Nizkor Spain >>> >>>Nizkor International Human Rights Team >>>Derechos Human Rights >>>Serpaj Europe >>>Information >>>26Jul99 >>> >>>MILITARY CHIEFS EVALUATE POLITICAL TENDENCIES AND DOCILITY OF THE PRESS. >>> >>>(IPYS/IFEX) - "La Republica" newspaper reported on the existence of a >>>fax sent by the President of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and >>>Commander General of the Peruvian army, C?sar Saucedo S?nchez. The fax >>>was sent to the regional military chiefs in the country, inviting them >>>to a meeting to evaluate the various media under their jurisdiction. >>> >>>According to the document, which is marked "strictly confidential", some >>>of the topics on the agenda were the political tendencies of the radio, >>>press and television enterprises and the "affinity of the owners." >>> >>>According to military sources consulted by "La Republica", the meeting >>>was held in the military headquarters on 7 June 1999, and was focused on >>>facilitating coordination with the most influential media and on >>>discussing strategies of how to neutralise the opposition press in the >>>interior of Peru. >>> >>>During the meeting, it was suggested that the Ministry of Transport and >>>Communication "re-examine" the national operating licenses held by radio >>>and television stations, putting particular emphasis on those radio >>>stations whose journalistic stance is deemed inconvenient by the regime. >>> >>>The military chiefs expressed their concern over the work of journalists >>>who are critical of the government, such as James Beuzevielle, director >>>of Radio Arpegio, in the Amazonian town of Iquitos. An attempt was made >>>to accuse Beuzevielle of the disturbances that took place in Iquitos in >>>August 1998, because of his stance against free trade with Ecuador. >>> >>>According to "La Rep?blica"'s sources, Radio Maranhon, in the province >>>of Jaen, was mentioned as an example of how damaging it can be to >>>"permit a medium to hurt the image of the government and the army." >>>Radio Maranhon journalists have been receiving telephone threats and >>>have been subject to unusual assaults, thus far attributed to common >>>crime. >>> >>>During the meeting, the chief of the Sixth Army Division, Juan Yanqui >>>Cervantes, showed a number of private documents, which "La Republica" >>>was able to get access to. According to these documents, Radio Maranhon >>>and its director, priest Luis Tavara Martin, are allegedly linked to >>>extreme leftist groups, including the "Frente de Defensa de los Bosques >>>de San Ignacio" (Front for the Defense of the San Ignacio forests) and >>>the "Federacion Unificada de Campesinos y Rondas" (Unified Federation of >>>Peasants and Patrol Guards, FUCARSI). >>> >>>One of the intelligence reports states that "through these >>>organisations, Jose Maria Izuzquiza, the bishop of Jaen; Luis Tavara >>>Martin, a priest and radio Maranhon announcer; and the eleven terrorists >>>(referring to peasants falsely accused of being terrorists) (...) would >>>meet and disseminate statements against the forces of law and order and >>>the government." >>> >>>Apparently, this secret document coincides with a 15 September 1997 >>>letter marked /B-2/DEINT-SxRM and published by "Caretas" magazine on 15 >>>July. The letter refers to bishop Izuzquiza, priest Tavara and Eulert >>>Jabe, radio correspondent in San Jacinto, and their alleged "subversive >>>inclinations" and "attempts to discredit the armed forces and the >>>intelligence services." These statements were primarily based on their >>>actions in defense of the San Ignacio forests and on their reporting on the meetings between Peru and Ecuador. > >>>20 July 1999 > >>>------------------------------------------------- >>>SOURCE: Institute for Press and Society (IPYS), Lima >>>Tel: +511 2 473308, Fax: +511 2 473194. Mailto: postmaster@ipyspe.org.pe >>> > From tpl at cheerful.com Sat Aug 7 09:02:29 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 08:02:29 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1234] petition signing Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990807080229.0069ec18@pop.skyinet.net> ArialFight for press freedom and the peoples right to know! (Support the one-million signature drive!) The people have the right to know matters of public concern. The people have the right to freedom of thought and expression, free from any interference, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media. Press freedom is the veritable pillar that holds up the inviolable right of the people to know. Where the State controls and manipulates mass media; where the dictates of a ruling few prevail over the will of the people; where foreign-vested interests plunder the economy; where the regime uses violence to quell popular dissent, the press and all its advocates have a sacred duty to struggle for truth side by side with the people. As such, the press has always been the first to be suppressed by the forces of tyranny, injustice and ignorance, as was the case under the fascist Marcos dictatorship. We, members of the press, advocates of press freedom and common people, stand united against the reprehensible State-sponsored suppression of press freedom, chiefly the critical and inquisitive voices, in forms that are either covert or overt. Is this the price the press and the people have to pay for performing our functions as journalists and exercising our rights as citizens? Is this the price we have to pay for reporting, commenting and knowing events, personalities and projects that are detrimental to the peoples welfare? The latest attempts by the Estrada government at suppressing press freedom  from the thuggish mugging and closure of the The Manila Times, to the perverted advertising boycott against the Philippine Daily Inquirer by movie producers and institutions close to the regime, to the war of attrition against student-run newspapers  are calculated to cow a critical press and obstruct the peoples right to know. We are committed to nip by the bud all moves by any aspiring tyrant or cabal seeking to silence the press and frustrate the peoples right to know. In particular, we condemn the growing number of violations of press freedom and the peoples right to know by the Estrada government. We demand the following: End the harassment of national and student-run newspapers! End the killing of journalists! Justice for all murdered journalists! End censorship! End the intimidation of journalists by police, military, paramilitary groups, druglords, warlords and private armies! Restore all closed student publications! Establish student publications in schools! End all press freedom violations on campus! Let the enemies of press freedom and the peoples right to know tremble at our stronger resolve to continue the search for truth  as accurate, as responsible, as responsive and as needed by the people we have vowed to serve. We shall exert all efforts and unflinchingly fight for the freedom of the press and the peoples right to know against all forces that seek to undermine truth, freedom, justice and democracy. Initial signatories: College Editors Guild of the Philippines, SOLIDARIDAD, Rep.Dante Liban, Ruth Cervantes, Myra Vieta Gile, Satur Ocampo, Isagani Yambot, Former Governor Oscar Orbos, Dean Luis Teodoro, Dean Elmer Ordo?ez, Conrad de Quiros, Atty. Marichu Lambino, Atty. Edwin dela Cruz, Raymund Villanueva, Nora Gamolo, Bayani Santos Jr., Danny Belarmino CPA, National Center for Philippine Media, Kapisanan ng mga Manggawa sa Media ng Pilipinas, National Union of Students of the Philippines, League of Filipino Students, Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, Anakbayan, Gabriela Youth, Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center, Julius Matibag (CEGP-National Capital Region), Rey Asis (CEGP-Luzon), Owen Bayog (CEGP-Visayas), Roli Pinsoy (CEGP-Mindanao), Prestoline Suyat (Kilusang Mayo Uno), Randy Vegas (COURAGE), Gilbert Roland Sape (Ibon Foundation), Philippine Collegian (UP Diliman), Manila Collegian (UP Manila), Dataline (AMACC-QC), The Bedan (San Beda College), The Catalyst (PUP) <<<<<<<< From krptn at bigfoot.com Sat Aug 7 08:05:14 1999 From: krptn at bigfoot.com (KARAPATAN) Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 07:05:14 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1238] =?iso-8859-1?Q?Unmask_and_resist_Estrada=92s_fascist_agenda?= behind Cha-Cha moves! Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990807070514.0069ec18@pop.skyinet.net> PRESS STATEMENT 06 August 1999 Unmask and resist Estrada$B(Bs fascist agenda behind Cha-Cha moves! The imminent threat of Charter change being shoved into our throats by the Estrada administration poses a great danger on the people$B(Bs political rights and civil liberties. As callous as his former mentor and late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the cunning and shameless moves of President Estrada to convene a Constituent Assembly reveal that his fascist agenda, sandwiched into proposed amendments in the constitution, will demolish what is left of the people$B(Bs fundamental rights and civil liberties. In subservience to the dictates of its foreign masters to smash out any barrier to their economic and political plunder of our country, the Estrada administration is compelled to push for Charter amendments amidst the uproar of protests posed by the Filipino people. Cha-cha, Concord, Discord or whatever be its name, charter change will virtually give license to President Estrada to further expose the country$B(Bs sovereignty and patrimony to foreign rape and roberry, leaving the Filipino people in dire misery and poverty. But completing the sell-out of the country's patrimony necessitates the use of reactionary violence to supress any form of resistance from the ranks of the struggling and organized Filipino masses. Through charter amendments, the Estrada administration can institutionalize fascist laws for the de facto imposition of martial law even without its formal declaration. It can do so by sneaking in revisions in the Bill of Rights, reinstating more repressive labor laws and policies, and modifying the law governing the declaration of martial law for its self-serving interests. It can also utilize proposals for the institutionalisation of the national ID system, wire tapping, Anti-Terrorism Act, and amendments to the Bank Secrecy Law. Through charter change, not only will the Estrada admnistration vend ownership of the country's vast resources, it will also bargain ownership of media outfit to foreign investors, essentially unleashing the most brutal attack of supression of the freedom of the press. The signs of the times are therefore clear. Curtailment of civil liberties and political rights through warrantless arrests and illegal detention of progressive individuals and legal personalities, intensified repression of legal and progressive people's organizations, continued militarization in the countryside, and brutal attacks on press freedom are evidently remniscent of Marcos' fascist martial law which are now becoming almost a part of daily living of the Filipino masses. And so are the objective conditions to resist tyranny and charter change. But the Filipino people cannot allow the Estrada admnistration to perpetrate itself in power and attack the people's rights and livelihood. The past have taught us the most valuable lesson that a strong public outcry can pose the most potent stumbling block against the rise of a tyrannical rule. The people are more than willing and ready to march once again into the streets to resist the Estrada government's rising tyranny and charter change. Unmask the Estrada regime's fascist agenda in Charter change! Resist the rising tyranny of the US-Estrada regime! Oppose Charter change! NO to the sell-out of the country's patrimony to imperialist powers! Struggle for nationalism and democracy! ------------------------------------------------------------- KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) 23-D Mabuhay St., Central District, Diliman, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES Tel. Nos. (+632) 434-1865 / 435-7828 E-mail krptn@bigfoot.com Visit our website at : http://www.bigfoot.com/~karapatan or http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/9204 ------------------------------------------------------------- From bayan at iname.com Sat Aug 7 08:21:59 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (BAYAN) Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 07:21:59 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1239] Fwd: ESTRADA POLICY IS TO INTENSIFY OPPRESSION AND EXPLOITATION OF THE PEOPLE Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990807072159.006a1518@pop.skyinet.net> >International Network for Philippine Studies >Stichting INPS >Postbus 1452, NL-3500 BL Utrecht, The Netherlands >Tel. & Fax: 31-30-2805781 > > >ESTRADA POLICY IS TO INTENSIFY >OPPRESSION AND EXPLOITATION OF THE PEOPLE > >By Jose Maria Sison >NDFP Chief Political Consultant >July 27, 1999 > > >Mr. Joseph Ejercito Estrada insults the people by pretending to be >pro-poor. His policy is to intensify the oppression and exploitation of >the people, especially the working class and the peasantry. > >Mr. Estrada has further impoverished the people by following the dictates >of the multinational firms and banks and such multilateral agencies as the >IMF, World Bank and WTO. He can only aggravate the current economic crisis >by further sinking the country into indebtedness. > >In only one year of rule, the Estrada regime has abused both foreign and >domestic borrowing like no one of his predecessors ever did. He has >brought the foreign debt from the June 1998 level of USD 52 billion to the >current level of more than USD 67 billion. He has brought the local public >debt from the June 1998 level of 788 billion pesos to the current level of >more than 900 billion pesos. These debts must be seen behind the boasts of >economic recovery, increased international reserves and lower rates of >currency exchange, interest and inflation. > >As of the end of 1998, the economic growth is negative 0.5 percent, despite >the falsification of statistical data in various sectors of the economy. >The Philippine economy is increasingly a net food importer, despite the >guesstimate of increased agricultural output in the first half of 1999. >The lower peso-to-dollar exchange rate and lower interest rate will soon >deplete the borrowed resources as the favored business firms and cronies >hasten to grab cheaper domestic loans and bring out dollars faster out of >the country. > >The kind of exports that the country makes, which are low value-added >semimanufactures and raw materials, are all squeezed by the global crisis >of overproduction. The bigger the volume of low value-added manufactures >are exported the more dollars flow out of the country because of the prior >overpricing of imported components. Trade deficits will continue to >afflict the reactionary government and make it a beggar of foreign loans, >at more onerous terms. > >Mr. Estrada thinks that he can engage in pump-priming. But what kind of >productive system does he have for stimulating? It is an agrarian and >semifeudal economy, still dependent on the export of raw and >semimanufactures with added value of only about 10 percent. All these >exports are now in global oversupply. These can never yield any net income >to catch up with the import costs and the growth of the debt burden. > >The wanton deficit-spending and presidential monopoly of the pork barrel >are all meant to feed bureaucratic corruption. As in the time of Marcos, >the graft-ridden and overpriced infrastructure-building and importation of >equipment and supplies, especially from creditor Japan, will benefit the >big compradors and landlords and not the poor workers and peasants. > >To raise domestic resources, in addition to local public borrowing, he is >driven to auction off remaining state assets and to raise the taxes on >basic consumption goods. While the common people are crushed by the >growing tax burden and increasing prices, Estrada's cronies enjoy tax >amnesty and engage in tax evasion. > >Mr. Estrada has brought back with him to the highest level of political >power the Marcos family and the biggest and most notorious Marcos cronies. >These scoundrels are being exculpated, enjoy their ill-gotten wealth and >are primed to further plunder the country. Under the direction of Estrada, >the same legal experts used in the past by Marcos and Eduardo Cojuangco are >either secretly cooking up compromise agreements at the expense of the >people or are fixing both the prosecution side and the courts to produce >decisions favorable to the plunderers. > >Since the fall of the fascist dictator Marcos in 1986, there has merely >been a merry-go-round of big comprador-landlord cliques subservient to US >imperialism. The succession of post-Marcos regimes has come to a full >circle with the return to power of the Marcos political descendants. >Shame on those renegades from the national democratic movement who now >cohabit with Estrada, the Marcoses and the Marcos cronies. > >It is pure nonsense, a deliberate lie of the demagogue, for Estrada to >claim that he is waging a war on poverty, when in fact he acts as the chief >political representative of the most exploitative big compradors and >landlords and he himself is scandalously amassing wealth at the expense of >the working people. > >The Estrada regime is so subservient to foreign monopoly capitalism that >he is explicitly against national industrial development. He is also >against land reform even as he cynically glorifies the biggest landgrabber >as the godfather of land reform. He claims to promote agricultural >productivity and food security for the purpose of securing foreign loans to >feed bureaucratic corruption and improving the infrastructure of landlord >rule in the countryside. > >Unemployment is rampant, even as his statisticians claim that the >Philippines has a rate of unemployment that is almost equal to that of >Germany or the European Union. The prices of basic commodities are soaring >but the same kind of statisticians keep on manipulating the basket of goods >and falsifying prices. The real wage and income levels of the working >people and middle social strata are being systematically pushed down. The >entire people live in misery. The basic economic and social rights of the >working people are being violated. > >In reaction to the people's clamor for their basic democratic rights, >Estrada has intensified the military and police campaigns of suppression. >He has also terminated the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. He has done so in >order to avoid the implementation of the GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement >on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and the >negotiation on social and economic reforms. > >So long as Estrada is president of the reactionary government, the GRP-NDFP >peace negotiations can never be resumed because he sets as precondition the >capitulation of the revolutionary movement. He has declared that he has no >other scheme but to apply divisive tactics on the revolutionary forces. He >forgets that these forces are highly conscious of their revolutionary >cause and are firmly united against their enemy. >It is absolutely clear that Estrada is hellbent on making himself appear >macho by taunting the revolutionary movement. He forgets that precisely >because of the fascism of his political mentor Marcos the people's army >grew from a few scores to thousands of Red fighters nationwide. Now, the >current level of strength of all the revolutionary forces and their >organized mass base are a far cry from that in 1972. > >Mr. Estrada bullies the press and all his critics and opponents within the >ruling system in his drive to intimidate them and to remove all obstacles >to the unbridled oppression and exploitation of the people. His actions >and actuations are reminiscent of Marcos in the preparation for the >suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and eventually the declaration of >martial law. > >The general run of journalists, church leaders and political opponents of >Mr. Estrada are timid and accommodating to him. For instance, they have >never taken Mr. Estrada to task for flagrantly misappropriating public >funds in using presidential guards and government facilities for the >benefit of as many as six full-time mistresses, including the reported >latest recipient of a mansion on a one-hectare spread. This is not an >amusing personal matter but a serious matter of public interest. > >In their wisdom, the common people are asking: Can someone who can give >one or two mansions to each of six mistresses be free from corruption and >collusion with the exploiting classes and really do any good for the poor? >This is one question that the Manila press has never dared to ask. > >To assure himself of military means from the US to attack the people, he >has pushed for the ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). In >the process, he has blatantly violated the principle of national >sovereignty and has run afoul of his own constitution, which prohibits >foreign military bases and foreign troops and the surrender of jurisdiction >over criminal cases to a foreign power. > >He is pushing for the amendment of the 1987 constitution in order to >curtail political and civil rights, extend unlimited landownership and >other extraordinary privileges to foreign monopoly capitalists and annul >provisions violated by the VFA. He is determined to compel the two houses >of Congress to form themselves into a constituent assembly, despite the >popular opposition to tinkering with the 1987 constitution. > >As a consequence of its puppetry, corruption and brutality, the US >Estrada-regime is isolated and is now confronted by the outraged people and >a broad united front of patriotic and democratic forces. > >It is untrue that Estrada continues to be able to deceive large numbers of >people. Only some mercenaries in the mass media and opinion poll survey >firms continue to conjure the illusion of popularity. A captive audience >of only 6000 attended the recent failed extravaganza of the so-called >Katipunan Kontra sa Kahirapan, featuring himself and his fellow actors at >the Rizal Park. > >The US -Estrada regime is one more bitter episode in the process of >degeneration of the ruling system of big compradors and landlords. It can >accomplish nothing beneficial to the people. It can only aggravate the >crisis of the ruling system. > >Under the present circumstances, the revolutionary movement of the people >for national liberation and democracy through people's war can advance >rapidly. In due course, the basic tactical offensives of the people's army >to seize arms from the reactionary armed forces will resound further. > >The people are also demanding that, in addition to basic tactical >offensives, special tactical offensives be launched against the most >notorious plunderers and violators of human rights in order to broadcast >the revolutionary message faster and puncture the arrogance of those in power. > >The US-Estrada regime and its camp followers themselves are mocking at the >armed revolutionary movement and challenging it to demonstrate its fighting >mettle. They are practically inciting the people and the people's army to >deliver more resounding blows . > >I presume that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the >Philippines is responsive to the people's clamor for armed revolution and >is conscious of the exceedingly favorable conditions for advancing the >protracted people's war. > >Contrary to the demagogic lie of Estrada, the leadership of the revolution >is not abroad. It is in the Philippines, deeply rooted among the masses of >workers and peasants. It is more than ever determined to overthrow a >ruling system, whose leaders like Estrada wallow in the filth of corruption >and still have the temerity to pretend at being pro-poor. # > > >- >Roger K. Holmes >NDFP Website Staff >URL: http://www.geocities.com/~cpp-ndf or > http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2078/index.html >Email addresses: > ndfp@hkstar.com > cpp-ndf@geocities.com >Telephones: > 31-30-2310431 Fax: 31-30-2322989 >Mailing address: > Amsterdamsestraatweg 50, NL-3513 AG Utrecht, Netherlands From tpl at cheerful.com Sat Aug 7 22:35:01 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 21:35:01 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1240] People's Campaign Against AOA-WTO Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990807213501.006a89d8@pop.skyinet.net> Initial Announcement Peoples' Campaign Against Imperialist Globalization 1999 International Campaign Against the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Introduction For the years 1999 and 2000, the Peoples' Campaign Against Imperialist Globalization (PCAIG) focuses on the AOA in its campaign against the WTO and imperialist globalization. BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance) launched PCAIG in 1996 when the APEC Leaders Summit was hosted by the Philippine government. An international people's conference against globalization and the people's caravan against APEC, accompanied by nationwide protest actions, were the campaign's culmination for the year. For the first time since APEC was formed, a strong popular voice was raised against APEC, globalization and imperialism thus blunting and neutralizing the hype of neo-liberalism created by the centers of global power -- US, Japan and EU -- and monopoly capitalism. A major component of this year's PCAIG is the 1999 International Campaign Against AOA and WTO. It takes off in the second half of 1999. AOA will be the main agenda in the WTO Third Ministerial Meeting in Seattle on November 29 - December 4. The review of AOA by WTO member countries/economies is expected to extend until 2000. Surely, fulfillment of commitments to the AOA will be accelerated despite the already apparent devastating effects of having agriculture included in WTO. December will also be the start of the Millennium Round of GATT negotiations. Monopoly capitalism, through the US, EU and Japan and a strong TNC/MNC lobby, will try to insert investments liberalization in WTO through a re-packaged MAI after it failed to have it approved in 1998 because of strong NGO lobby. The campaign against AOA is spearheaded by AMIHAN, KMP, GABRIELA, and PAMALAKAYA. They are organizations and alliances of women, peasants and fisherfolk who have been in the forefront of the people's and women's movements in the Philippines. Along with other people's formations like KMU (May 1st Movement) and League of Filipino Students (LFS) they have relentlessly waged campaigns against liberalization, deregulation and privatization in the context of peoples' resistance against globalization and imperialism. General Objectives To create public opinion against the disastrous impact of the AOA-WTO on the peasants and fisherfolk, especially on the women of the Third World. To continue exposing liberalization, privatization and deregulation as imperialist globalization's main swords in disemboweling Third World economies. To strengthen people's resistance against the AOA-WTO and imperialist globalization. To expand linkages and forge deeper unities with other anti-AOA-WTO, anti-globalization and anti-imperialist organizations, groups and individuals worldwide. Specific Objectives To push further the demand to take agriculture out of the GATT-WTO. To make more peasant and fisherfolk mass leaders and activists, especially among the women of the Third World, aware of AOA's negative effects on their national economies and patrimony, on their lives and democratic rights. To make the general public aware of the harmful effects of the AOA on their country's agriculture and fisheries sectors. Contribute to the success of the people's anti-AOA-WTO initiatives in Seattle parallel to the WTO Third Ministerial Meeting. Convenors BAYAN AMIHAN (National Federation of Peasant Women's Associations - Philippines) KMP - Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Movement of the Philippines) GABRIELA PAMALAKAYA (National Federation of Fisherfolk Organizations) Activities Signature Campaign. A statement against AOA/WTO will be drafted by Amihan and Gabriela for signature by Philippine organizations. It will then be circulated internationally for endorsement by other women's and people's organizations, NGOs and individuals. Forum Series. Starting in August, a forum series on Food Security: An Assessment of Philippine GATT Commitments After Five Years will discuss the impact of AOA on the different agricultural sectors, i.e. rice & corn, coconut, sugar, fruits & vegetables, fisheries. Amihan, KMP and Pamalakaya will take turns taking charge of the forums. They will ensure that the special effects on women are discussed. Papers presented will be published. Research. Amihan, KMP and Pamalakaya will conduct further research on the negative effects of AOA on the industries mentioned earlier. [Note: Ibon Philippines, a well-known education and research institution, is likewise conducting a research on AOA-WTO's impact on women.] Results will be presented in all-leaders' meetings and public forums. They will likewise be published. Participation in the APWLD Seminar on AOA-WTO and Meeting of the Task Force Rural and Indigenous Women. The TF-RIW of APWLD (Asia-Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development) will hold its annual meeting in October. Back to back with it will be a one-day seminar on AOA and its negative impact on women. These are preparations for the task force's participation in the international campaign to take AOA out of WTO. Gabriela's representative sits as co-convenor of the task force. One of the speakers in the seminar will be from Amihan, which has campaigned against GATT even before WTO was formed. Peasant Week and Nationally-Coordinated Peasant Actions on October 21. Every year, the peasant movement in the Philippines caps its year-long campaigns and mass struggles with a series of mass actions and mobilizations in the 2nd week of October to culminate in a nationwide peasant mobilization on October 21. Taking agriculture out of the WTO will be one of the major demands. 1999 People's Assembly/March-Rally Against WTO/Globalization in Seattle. Main convenor is Sentenaryo ng Bayan, a Filipino organization in Seattle. The conference will be held on November 28-29 and will culminate in a rally on November 30. Both events will serve as counterpoint and alternative to the WTO 3rd Ministerial Meeting. A special half-day session is being planned to focus on the AOA, peasants and rural women. Invited are organizations, groups and individuals, whether within or outside of the PCAIG network, who have been active in resisting TNCs/MNCs, APEC, NAFTA, WTO-IMF-WB, imperialist globalization and monopoly capitalism. It is expected that BAYAN networks in the US and Canada will participate. Participation in the Global Teach-In on the WTO sponsored by the International Forum on Globalization. "The IFG is organizing a Teach-In on the World Trade Organization (WTO), to be held in Seattle, Washington, on November 27, 1999. The event will take place at the 2,500-seat Benaroya Seattle Symphony Hall and the Teach-In events will be free to the public. (It) will focus on the problems of economic globalization and, specifically, on the activities of the WTO and other international agreements and institutions." Anti-AOA-WTO Protest Action in Manila when the WTO Ministerial Meeting opens. To be led by Bayan, it will be the Philippine contribution to the protest actions worldwide against AOA-WTO, as the latter opens its millennium round of talks. Organizations and groups, especially those of peasants, fisherfolk and women, in other countries are enjoined to hold their own protest actions and manifestations. Please inform the Campaign Against AOA (CAOA) Secretariat so we can circulate the information about your activities to the CAOA and other anti-globalization networks. For details about each of the activities listed above, additional announcements will be circulated. Please get in touch with the CAOA Secretariat for additional information. CAOA Secretariat Bayan/Amihan/KMP e-mail: tpl@cheerful.com Fax: c/o Gabriela (63-2) 374-4423 From notoapec at clear.net.nz Tue Aug 10 12:33:54 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 20:33:54 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1242] NZ Trade Union Federation Media Release on APEC Message-ID: <001301bee2e1$2d4702a0$b93261cb@notoapec> MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9 August 1999 GOVERNMENT'S APEC P R STRATEGY IN TATTERS CLAIMS UNION The Government's public relations strategy regarding APEC is in tatters following two significant developments over last weekend according to Trade Union Federation President, Maxine Gay. "First, a major Hui of Maori in Rotorua rejected the APEC agenda and the impact of this form of neo-colonialism on the Maori people. "Second, the announcement of the cancellation of next week's PSA / CTU pro-APEC Conference because of lack of registrations shows that workers have no interest in being part of an APEC circus that is by definition anti-worker," Maxine Gay said. "The Trade Union Federation is part of the APEC Monitoring Group which has lead the attack on the APEC "free-market" ideology over the last 5 years. This has been a concern of the TUF as it has represented those workers in the motor assembly, clothing and footwear industries. Tens of thousands of workers in these industries have lost their jobs as the Government follows its "APEC free-trade commitments." "In preparation for APEC, the Government has spent a large amount of money trying to manufacture consent of key parts of the New Zealand population to the APEC agenda. It has done this by appointing NGO, Maori and Women APEC liaison officers, a bevy of PR people and producing a series of television advertisements. "Papers released under the Official Information Act show the Government describing the failed PSA / CTU Conference as "the key NGO conference of APEC, New Zealand 99" (letter of Peter Parussini to Joe Tonner, PSA, 12 April 1999.) Yet this Conference was being boycotted by not only the TUF but also some of the CTU's own affiliates. And now it has collapsed for lack of interest. "It has been the anti-APEC conferences and meetings that have caught the attention of New Zealanders over this year," said Maxine Gay. "More than a thousand New Zealanders have attended these meetings in Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Whangarei and Hamilton organised by the APEC Monitoring Group. More are planned culminating in an "Alternatives to APEC" Conference in Auckland at the time of the APEC Leaders Meeting. "These events have shown that even small organisations can beat the official APEC publicity machine if their message strikes a chord with ordinary New Zealanders. In the case of the $50 million APEC circus, our slogan of APEC: It's not worth it has certainly done that," Maxine Gay said. For further information please contact: Maxine Gay (04) 237 5062 or (025) 236 9225 From notoapec at clear.net.nz Sat Aug 14 07:54:34 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 15:54:34 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1243] APEC in NZ: Media article Message-ID: <000701bee5de$d4b848a0$11c6a7cb@notoapec> NZ Herald, Auckland, NZ August 6 1999 Anti-Apec talks before summit By Warren Gamble Groups opposed to Apec will hold their own conference in Auckland next month, with free trade critics flying in from several Apec countries. The Aotearoa/New Zealand Apec Monitoring Group will host the two-day Alternatives to the Apec Agenda conference on September 11 and 12 at Auckland University. A group spokesman, Aziz Choudry, said it would highlight the failure of Apec's free-market agenda and outline people-friendly approaches. The conference would finish with a rally on September 12, the first day of the Apec summit. Mr Choudry said the rally was planned as a peaceful gathering in which families could take part. "I don't think people need to be intimidated by the fact that there will be all these overseas security personnel and police on the streets," he said. "This is about a contest of ideas and unfortunately it often seems to us that it's the ideas the Government is more scared about than any real threat to the conference." Among guest speakers at the forum will be a representative of the Bougainville Interim Government, Moses Havini, the executive director of a Philippines research organisation, Antonio Tujan, and a Canadian professor, Sunera Thobani, who organised a women's conference against Apec in Vancouver. Mexican campaigner and researcher Dr Alejandro Villamar Calderon will also attend. He was staying with Mr Choudry in 1996 when two Security Intelligence Service officers were caught breaking into the Christchurch home. Labour leader Helen Clark suggested last year that the SIS was interested in overseas visitors, not Mr Choudry. However, Mr Choudry said later that he had invited Dr Calderon three months after a warrant authorising the SIS operation had been signed. From tpl at cheerful.com Sat Aug 14 08:31:27 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 07:31:27 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1244] No to Rising Estrada Tyranny Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990814073127.0069c1a4@pop.skyinet.net> From: KMP (Peasant Movement in the Philippines) E-mail: Press Statement August 13, 1999 NEVER AGAIN! NO TO TYRANNY! NO TO CHA-CHA! ERAP the Menace is baring his fangs. Not content with auctioning our lands to foreign buccaneers with his Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) and dispossessing Filipino farmers of their farms through his "corporative farming scheme", he now wants to rewrite the consitution in order to bring our country back to that horrible era of tyrannical rule. It is bad enough that we have a president who facilitated the full comeback of Marcos cronies and hoisted gamblers into the ranks of high government consultants. It is bad enough that we have a president whose Second Ladies, relatives, and cabinet underlings are turning government projects into a cornucopia of anomalies, graft and venality. It is bad enough that we have a president who in a matter of one year has matched the subservience of past governments by imposing the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) on our shores. It is bad enough that we have a president who curtails the freedom of the press because he thinks that media criticism has lessened his "macho" image. Now, as if things cannot go worse than these, the tenant of Malacanang is conspiring with big business, real estate investors, and bloodthirsty police generals to rewrite the constitution in order to reverse the gains of the Filipino people's struggle in protecting their freedoms and civil liberties and at the same time to impose his warped idea of government. A government which is free to wiretap its citizens and arrest them without warrants. A government which allows aliens 100 per cent ownership of our lands. A government which is insulated from judicial inquiry so its officials can make economic decisions without any public accountability. A government whose idea of progress is to bow to the dictates of the IMF-WB and sell out our national patrimony to the World Trade Organization. For such shameless scheme, the Filipino farmers led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), would like to tell Mr. Estrada: BE GONE! Gen Suharto and the dead dictator Marcos are waiting for you! For never again will we allow our countryside to be transformed into military camps. Never again will we allow our homes to be visited by military elements who would arrest our family members without the benefit of judicial warrants. Never again will we allow women to be raped. Never again will we allow our farms to be turned into gravesites of salvaged kins. Be gone Mr. Estrada, because we do not want another tyrant to reign in this already benighted land and terrorize Filipino farmers, workers, fisherfolk, and indigenous peoples! We call on peasant men and women and the entire Filipino people to stand together in defense of our freedom, democratic rights and civil liberties. Let us preserve the gains of our struggle by resisting and defeating this grand Estrada conspiracy to reimpose "constitutional authoritarianism" in our country. In defeating charter change, we defeat tyranny. KMP (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas) From courage at skyinet.net Sat Aug 14 10:26:26 1999 From: courage at skyinet.net (COURAGE) Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 09:26:26 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1245] Philippines: No to San Roque Dam Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990814092626.0069c1a4@pop.skyinet.net> SAN ROQUE DAM CORPORATION IS ANOTHER INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER TO BLEED US! A debt-ridden and deficit-spending government. The San Roque Dam is a US$ 1.9 Billion project and will be the 12th highest dam in the world. It will tap the Agno river that flows along several towns in Benguet and Pangasinan provinces and will affect tens of thousands of families including submerging their ancestral lands and aggravating the flooding is other areas. The power generation component of the Dam is worth US$619 million while the non-power component is composed of US$453 million for irrigation, US$410 million for water quality improvement, and US$11.67 million for flood control. For the non-power component, the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) will carry a total of US$62.19M and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) the amount of US$11.27M in their budget. The allocation from the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) is not yet certain. Provided that the government commits on its local counterpart, the Japan Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) is willing to finance the remaining cost as a loan. The power generation component is under the build, operate and transfer (BOT) scheme. Foreign investment will access loans that will be guaranteed by the government -- meaning the government is effectively financing the project. Already, US$700 million worth of contracts have been awarded to the US-based Raytheon Ebasco Overseas Ltd. to design and build the dam. The San Roque Dam Corporation had obtained a US$400-million loan from Japan$B(Bs Miyazawa Fund, which was approved in June 1999. The financing of the San Roque Dam will be divided into direct funding by the government, foreign loans and foreign investment that will also be guaranteed by the government. Therefore, the US$1.9 billion cost of the San Roque Dam are public funds diverted to finance foreign investments, the profits of which will also redound to private corporation. This same amount will be added to the public debt putting the nation deeper into debt, thus further bleeding the national coffers. Another IPP to Bleed Us. The Aquino government$B(Bs Executive Order No. 215 in 1987 paved the way for the power sector$B(Bs privatization. In 1992, the passage of the Energy Crisis Act due to the failure of some National Power Corporation (NPC) plants which were caused by the government$B(Bs neglect became a convenient excuse for independent power producers (IPPs) to proliferate. There are 45 controversial IPP contracts with the NPC providing 5,000 MW. They account for about 50% of NPC$B(Bs power supply. Yearly, the NPC pays PhP45 billion for the IPP-supplied power which are used less than 50% of the time. The onerous term of the contracts revolved around their "take-or-pay " and "minimum off-take" provisions. The NPC has to pay for 70 to 75% of IPPs capacity even if the actual usage is only between 30 to 40%. The world financial crisis which caused the closure of many industrial and manufacturing establishments in the country caused the NPC market to dip to 80%, yet the NPC has to abide by the IPP contracts. In the NPC 1999 operating expenses, revenues for IPPs have been assured with the allocation of 49% to purchase power from them. This is the single biggest chunk in the NPC budget, while a meager 3% is allocated for national and regional administrative costs which include the almost 14,000 employees of the NPC. The NPC operating cost per KWH is higher in areas where IPP cost is also high. In Souther Luzon Regional Center (SLRC) where the IPP purchased power is 61%, the cost per KWH is PhP2.74, while in Mindanao Regional Center (MRC), the cost per KWH is lower at PhP1.57 also with lower IPP purchase power of 28%. The national average cost per KWH is PhP2.24. The San Roque Dam which will host a 345 MW hydroelectric power plant, under the BOT Scheme is a genuine Independent Power Producer (IPP). Its contract obligates the government to turn over the power facilities to the San Roque Dam Corporation, a private corporation. The IPP scheme which partially privatized the NPC has been bleeding the NPC financially and causing the series of power rate increases, aside from sudden ballooning of NPC foreign debts due to the Philippine peso devaluation. Despite the fact that it is privatization that caused the problems of NPC, the Estrada government is further justifying the full privatization of this biggest government owned and controlled corporation. Majority are being sacrificed for the elite few. Forcing the thousands of families to leave their homes, livelihood and ancestral domain to give way for the San Roque Dam which will "benefit the majority" is a balatant lie by the government. To convince us that the IPPs and privatized power generation is for the good of the people is another hypocritical hype of the government. Only the few foreign corporations, their local counterparts and their cohorts in government are the only beneficiaries of both the construction of the Dam and the IPP. As a matter of fact, the foreign investors rake so much profits without any risk. They bring in their investments in the form of loans that are guaranteed to be paid from public funds. As a counterpart, the government allocates billions in annual budget for the use of the investors. Meanwhile, the politicians and high bureaucrats are in a hurry to conclude every possible contract with the private sector. Not only because they are required by their foreign masters to do so, but also because they get their own share of the loot. Estrada$B(Bs anger that led to the closure of the "The Manila Times" was caused by a news item that exposed his alleged involvement with one of the NPC contracts worth PhP18 billion. ### **************************************************************************** COURAGE Confederation for Unity, Recognition & Advancement of Government Employees "Advancing the Struggle Towards Genuine Public Sector Unionism" P.O. Box AC 84, Araneta Center, 1135 Cubao, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES Tel/fax: (63-2) 363-4675 emails: web: From notoapec at clear.net.nz Mon Aug 16 04:20:44 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 12:20:44 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1246] NZ APEC Media Message-ID: <000901bee753$47103960$603561cb@notoapec> The Daily Post, Rotorua, New Zealand 12 August 1999 Apec opponents' warning Apec opponents are meeting in Rotorua tonight to tell residents about the "danger of the free trade and free market ideology" that Apec is promoting. Auckland University law lecturer Jane Kelsey, Maori broadcaster Tere Harrison, and Trade Union Federation representative Robert Reid would speak at the meeting, which had been called by the Apec Monitoring Group. Dr Kelsey would give a legal/economic overview of Apec and would explain why the "free trade agenda" was not in the interests of New Zealanders, Mr Reid said. Ms Harrison would address the meeting about the impact Apec was having on Maori, while Mr Reid said he would speak about the negative effects Apec was having on workers and the manufacturing sector. "The Apec Monitoring Group has organised meetings, conferences and protests at the time of every Apec senior officials' meeting in New Zealand this year leading up to the leaders' summit in Auckland in a month's time," Mr Reid said. "We have been very pleased by the support that we have had for our message from the New Zealand public. "When people see their democracy threatened, when Maori see a new colonisation taking place, when workers see their jobs being lost, then they see through the Government's pro-Apec, pro-free trade ideology," he said. The meeting is in the old Department of Conservation Building, Amohau Street, at 7.30 tonight. From migranteintl at pacific.net.ph Sun Aug 15 08:57:12 1999 From: migranteintl at pacific.net.ph (Migrante International) Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 07:57:12 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1247] Solidarity Message for AMCB campaign Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990815075712.006aa914@pop.skyinet.net>
ffff,0000,0000STATEMENT OF SUPPORT TO AMCB AND THE ADVOCATES' GROUPS' DEMAND FOR THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ABOLISH THE PROVISION ON MATERNITY PROTECTION FOR FOREIGN DOMESTIC HELPERS UNDER THE EMPLOYMENT ORDINANCE MIGRANTE-INTERNATIONAL 14 August 1999
Migrante International, the global alliance of migrant Filipinos, sends our most militant greetings of solidarity to the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body (AMCB), the Advocates' Group and all supporters to the cause of migrant workers, in your struggle against the latest onslaught of the Hongkong government on migrant's rights. We salute your continued vigilance against the successive attacks of the Hongkong government on the rights and welfare of migrant workers. The proposed amendment on the Employment Ordinance which will deny maternity protection for Foreign Domestic Helpers (FDH) is a treacherous and oppressive act of curtailing the legitimate rights of the majority of FDH in Hongkong the women migrant workers. It is a tyrannical move to negate the hard-won legal rights and benefits of migrant workers and an insidious attempt to even lower the slave-wages for women workers in general and women migrants in particular. Such an anti-woman, discriminatory and racist policy shall further expose FDH to greater exploitation and make them an easy prey to unjust actions by abusive employers. The Hongkong government has given a death blow to foreign domestic helpers when they implemented a wage cut on the already frozen minimum wage of FDHs. With the proposed removal of maternity protection, they are now trying to drive down the first nail, of what now appears to be a boxful of anti-migrant policies, on the coffin which is meant to bury the historical victories of the workers and migrant worker's struggle. We fully support the demands of migrant organizations, institutions and advocates in Hongkong for the withdrawal of the proposed amendment to the Employment Ordinance that the Employment Ordinance be entirely applied to FDHs; that attacks on rights and benefits of FDHs be stopped immediately; and that measures be taken to further ensure the protection of the rights and welfare of FDHs and the local workers. We pledge to rally with you until these legitimate and immediate demands are met. We vow to carry on the migrant worker's struggle against the increasing attacks on migrants rights and welfare. Reject the proposed amendment to abolish the provision on maternity protection under the Employment Ordinance! No to attacks on migrants' rights and welfare! Carry on the struggle to promote and protect the rights and welfare of Foreign Domestic Helpers (FDH) in Hongkong!
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Asian Migrant Coordinating Body (AMCB), Other Migrant Organizations and Advocates$B(B Group JOINT STATEMENT ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE PROVISION OF MATERNITY PROTECTION FOR FOREIGN DOMESTIC HELPERS UNDER THE EMPLOYMENT ORDINANCE
We are organizations, groups and concerned individuals united together to campaign against, and reaffirm our strong opposition to, the proposed amendment to the Employment Ordinance that seeks to deny foreign domestic helpers$B(B(FDHs) the right to maternity protection currently offered under the Employment Ordinance. We are the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body (AMCB), a coalition of organizations of migrant workers and foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) of the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Nepal; and the Advocates$B(BGroup consisting of organizations and individuals supporting the AMCB$B(Bs campaign for the protection of rights of FDHs and migrant workers. A few months ago, capitulating to pressure groups calling for a reduction of the monthly minimum wages of FDHs, the Hong Kong Government imposed a wage-cut on them ostensibly to ease the burden of economic crisis on the employers. Following on the heels of the baseless and callous decision to reduce the already meager minimum wages of FDHs, the Hong Kong Government is drawing up plans to launch another attack on the FDHs. This time, it is proposing to take away the FDHs$B(B right to maternity protection under the Employment Ordinance. The proposed amendment to the Employment Ordinance seeks to offer $(C(Bflexibility$B(Bto employers to terminate their FDHs on the basis of $(C(Bmutual agreement$(D(B, that is, on payment of a mutually-agreed sum of money. When we opposed the wage-cut for FDHs, we feared that this would be only the opening salvo on the attack to rights of FDHs and migrant workers. In our joint statement opposing the wage-cut, we stated: $(C(BDoing away with the minimum wage for FDHs, whose wages are already frozen, will legitimize underpayment leaving the door open for greater abuses and violations of employment contracts by unscrupulous employers$(D(B. With the proposal to deny them maternity protection, the Government is clearly opening another front for such employers to flout labour laws. The so-called $(C(Bflexibility$(D(B and $(C(Bmutual agreement$(D(B will only increase the incidence of contract violations and abuses that FDHs have to contend with. Even under existing labour laws, employers have continued to flagrantly violate employment contracts. In such circumstances, the proposed amendment to the Employment Ordinance will only provide a loophole for unfair termination of FDH contracts. Ironically, the proposal to do away with maternity protection for FDHs has the backing of the Labour Department. How does the Labour Department$B(Bs position on this issue measure up to its avowed goals of enhancing the well-being of Hong Kong$B(Bs workforce, and improving and safeguarding employees' rights and benefits, as its vision and mission statement proclaims? Does the Labour Department seriously want us to believe that the abolition of maternity protection is not a violation of the rights of FDHs? And that, on the contrary, it would $(C(Bimprove and safeguard$(D(B their rights? Just as the wage-cut for FDHs was a precursor to the reduction of wages for local workers, the proposed abolition of maternity protection of FDHs might well be extended to local workers too. It is important, therefore, that the proposed amendment be seen as posing a potentially serious threat to the rights of all workers in Hong Kong. Once again, we re-affirm our unity and solidarity with local workers in the common struggle for the protection of rights of ALL workers, and call on overseas and local workers to close ranks. We reject the proposed amendment to deny maternity protection to FDHs. It is discriminatory, as it is applicable only to those in the category of foreign domestic helpers. It is racist, as it seeks to exclude workers of certain nationalities from enjoying a right available to local workers and those of other nationalities. It is sexist, as it is targets women for oppression. The hard-won right of women, especially women workers around the world, for maternity protection, is now under threat. The Hong Kong government sees pregnancy and maternity as a 'hindrance' to more effective and productive labour. In reality, the attempt to tinker with maternity protection is just an excuse to lower wages for women, to lay-off women workers and to deny their legal rights and benefits, so that businesses can rake in bigger profits and spend less on social and contractual obligations. More dangerously, the proposal brings us back to the age of slavery -- where the right to bear children was considered a threat to productivity. The HongKong Government is now seeking to usher in an age of slavery where domestic helpers are forbidden to bear children under threat of contract termination. The proposed amendment to the Employment Ordinance is clearly a scandalous retrogression from universally accepted labour and human rights standards. We condemn this latest attempt of the Hong Kong Government to whittle away the few rights and benefits available to FDHs. It is shameful that the Government is violating its own declared commitments to various international covenants and conventions on the protection of human rights. We also call on the Labour Department to live up to its own vision and mission of improving and safeguarding workers$B(B rights and benefits. We demand: (a) that the Hong Kong Government withdraw the proposed amendment and ensure that the Employment Ordinance continues to be applicable in its entirety to FDHs; (b) that the Government call an immediate halt to the undeclared policy of taking away, one by one, the rights and benefits of FDHs; (c) that the Labour Department take meaningful measures to protect and safeguard the rights of FDHs and local workers. ASIAN MIGRANT COODINATING BODY (AMCB), OTHER MIGRANT ORGANIZATIONS AND ADVOCATES$B(B GROUP: 1. Association of Sri Lankans in Hong Kong (ASL-HK)-AMCB 2. Friends of Thai (FOT) - AMCB 3. Far East Nepalese Association (FEONA) - AMCB 4. United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK) - AMCB 5. Abra Migrant Workers Welfare Association (AMWWA) 6. Association of Concerned Filipinos (ACFIL) 7. Bataan Migrant Workers Union (BMWU) 8. Dumarao Hong Kong Association 9. Friends of Bethune House (FBH) 10. Iloilo Migrant Workers Organization (IMWO) 11. Justice and Peace Evangelization Family 12. Methodist Filipino Fellowship (MFF) 13. Pinatud A Saleng Ti Umili (PSU) 14. Unified Friends of Hong Kong 15. Women of the Philippine Independent Church (WOPIC) 16. United Ybanag Association (UYA) 17. Filipino Friends in Hong Kong (FRIENDS) 18. Surallah Hong Kong Association 19. Abra-Tinggian Ilocano Society (ATIS) 20. World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) 21. Asian Student Association (ASA) 22. Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers (MFMW) 23. The Bethune House Migrant Women$B(Bs Refuge 24. Fr. Tom Danaher 25. Peggy Lee-AMRC 26. Ed Shepard - AMRC 27. Ana Enriquez - AMRC 28. Vivien Liu - AMRC 29. Selma Midhi Hayati 30. Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC) 31. Hong Kong Women Workers Association (HKWWA) 32. Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee (HKCIC) 33. Rosalie San Miguel, Jesus Is Lord (JIL) From notoapec at clear.net.nz Tue Aug 17 05:09:16 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 13:09:16 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1248] NZ Firefighters defy APEC security rules Message-ID: <000101bee823$3b7b7a80$a0c6a7cb@notoapec> New Zealand Herald, Auckland, August 16 1999 Firefighters defy rules for Apec Union claims exemption from vetting By Mathew Dearnaley Apec organisers have been caught offguard by an apparent security exemption the Fire Service has granted firefighters to move inside controlled areas. Members of the Professional Firefighters Union have refused to submit to security checks for the summit of world leaders in Auckland next month, and say their employer has backed down on the issue in any case. But the suggestion that they will be exempt from tight security procedures required of everyone else involved with the summit has surprised the Government's Apec task force. Most of several central Auckland streets will be closed to general traffic from September 11 for the three days of the conference and pedestrians without accreditation will be kept away from meeting venues and hotels. Even manhole covers will be sealed. Apec Taskforce spokesman Peter Parussini said last night that everyone involved with Apec had to be accredited and he had heard of no exemptions. But he added that the issue was the responsibility of the Fire Service. Union president Mike McEnaney said firefighters resisted security vetting when they were required to reapply for their jobs last year, and were not about to submit to it now after being vindicated by the Employment Court. Dismissal notices still hung over te entire paid workforce, and the vetting issue was due to be re-examined by the Court of Appeal in October, in considering a Fire Service challenge to the employment decision. "We were quite disgusted to be required to be accredited to attend emergencies," he said. "If we are good enough to risk our lives to attend calls now, why should we have to get security clearance to stand alongside [US President} Bill Clinton?" Mr McEnaney said the service had also decided against increasing the number of fire engines on call to attend Apec venues such as the Auckland Museum and Aotea Centre from the six usually detailed to cover them. But the union had agreed that a special crew should be reinstated to a chemical firefighting unit during Apec. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Jack Elder, refused to comment and said any inquiries should be directed to Fire Service management. Asked about a possible refusal by firefighters to work during millennium celebrations without extra pay he said the Government had "extensive powers" under civil defence jurisdiction. But he would not discuss these, saying it would be "very provocative under the current situation". Mr McEnaney rejected Fire Service suggestions that his members were contractually bound to work, saying they had not had a collective contract for six years but were willing to negotiate a special New Year deal. The Fire Service national commander, Ken Harper, was reported at the weekend as saying his management had resolved Apec arrangements, but he was unavailable last night to comment on security. A spokeswoman said he had nothing to add, and US Embassy officials were unavailable to comment on Mr Clinton's security. From notoapec at clear.net.nz Tue Aug 17 09:50:53 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 17:50:53 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1249] APEC Media Junket slammed Message-ID: <001101bee84a$9555ba80$123061cb@notoapec> APEC Monitoring Group PO Box 106 233 AUCKLAND MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 16 August 1999 Taxpayer-funded APEC media junket tour slammed A recent week-long visit to New Zealand involving 23 overseas journalists and a photographer is being held up as yet another desperate misuse of public money in selling APEC 99 and the failed New Zealand reforms to the world in preparation for next month's APEC Leaders Summit "Five government agencies had budgeted $65, 000 for this propaganda tour to showcase APEC, the America's Cup, and the Millennium," said Aziz Choudry of the APEC Monitoring Group which has mounted a year-long campaign to oppose and expose APEC. In answer to a written question posed by Rod Donald, Foreign Affairs Minister Don McKinnon has revealed that the APEC Task Force, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of Commerce, New Zealand Tourism Board, Trade New Zealand and APEC New Zealand 99 sponsor Air New Zealand hosted the late July visit. Journalists from 19 APEC countries and the British Guardian Weekly took part in the tour. "Having failed to sell the New Zealand reforms and its international free trade commitments which have put this country at the extreme end of the trade and investment liberalisation spectrum as successfully as they would have liked, the government has used public money to buy favourable publicity for it from international media," he said. "At home and internationally, more and more people are questioning the claims made about the free market. This tour was yet another attempt to disguise the reality of the human havoc caused by the kinds of economic reforms which APEC promotes, and which many New Zealanders are already grimly familiar with. It was clearly set up so that the visitors would see a very sanitised picture of society." "And with APEC increasingly looking like an extravagant gabfest going nowhere fast, the government's spin doctors are clearly pulling out all the stops to massage the forum's flagging image for international and domestic consumption and to make itself look good." for further comment, contact: Aziz Choudry (09) 3025390 xt 833 or (021) 217 3039 From magbubukid at hotmail.com Tue Aug 17 08:14:28 1999 From: magbubukid at hotmail.com (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas) Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 07:14:28 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1250] KMP: Farmers oppose landgrabbing via Charter change Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990817071428.006a3cac@pop.skyinet.net> KMP -- KILUSANG MAGBUBUKID NG PILIPINAS (Peasant Movement of the Philippines) NEWS RELEASE 12 August 1999 Danding Cojuangco corporatives hit ------------------------ KMP opposes land sellout through Charter change The militant farmers' group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) exposed Danding Cojuanco's "corporative" model of agrarian reform as a landgrabbing scheme to prepare big comprador-landlords like him in dealing with foreign monopolies once amendments to the Philippine constitution succeed in allowing 100% foreign ownership of land. The peasant movement announced this in conjunction with plans to mobilize thousands of peasants nationwide on August 20 to join broad protests against charter change, attacks against press freedom, return of the Marcos family and its cronies, and affronts to civil liberties. KMP chair Rafael Mariano said the Estrada proposed charter change attacks not only the Filipino's right to own land exclusively but will lay open the entire agricultural sector to attack of trade liberalization, deregulation and privatization. Already, even small rice traders are joining the KMP in Mindanao in massive protests against the flooding of surplus rice and corn from Asian neighbors, which is expected to intensify after Estrada's constitution completely ties food security to liberalization of food imports. Cojuanco's landholdings and leaseholds, conservatively measuring 100,000 hectares, easily make him the biggest controller of contiguous plantations and public lands for raising exotic crops and livestock in partnership with multinational corporations. Corporations are poised to buy and co-own lands or invest in agribusiness with big landlords once President Estrada railroads the redrafting of the Constitution through a charter change, despite his pledge to ban ownership of farmlands by foreigners. KMP chapters in Mindanao and Batangas say that the corporative scheme is only an extension of the prevailing policy in local Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) offices of cancelling certificates of land ownership awards and emancipation patents (CLOAs and EPs). These titles were previously granted to argrarian reform beneficiary associations (ARBAs) which were misled into believing that the parcels of land will be transferred to them after paying amortizations to the landlords in 25 years. After being feeling betrayed, many of these ARBAs were either dissolved or have decided to join the regional formations of the KMP that refused accepting CLOAs. One of the biggest CLOA cancellation occurred in the 8,600-hectare Hacienda Looc, where the DAR canceled certificates covering 2,200 hectares despite the fact that relatively well-off peasants religiously paid amortizations to the Land Bank. Angered peasants organized the Ugnayan ng mga Mamamayan Laban sa Pangwawasak ng Kalupaan sa Hacienda Looc (UMALPASKA). With KMP, they have learned to depend more on the strength of the organization rather than paper claims of the government. DAR endorsed the corporative system since it was already described as early as 1997 in the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) as "model farms." Mariano said the Danding model is one of the final tactics of the Estrada administration to cancel all pretenses to land distribution and allow monopolies to reconcentrate land ownership. He said that the only alternative for the peasants and the people to get the nation out of crisis is not charter change but to build a patriotic government of national unity which will imlement genuine land reform and national industrialization. # # # From amittal at foodfirst.org Tue Aug 17 09:18:20 1999 From: amittal at foodfirst.org (Anuradha Mittal) Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 17:18:20 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1251] Action Alert: URGENT: Fax Now to Stop Sardar Sarovar Project/NBA Action Alert follows Message-ID: This action alert is being forwarded by Food First on behalf of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and International Rivers Network Dear Friends, At this moment, villagers and activists in central India are vowing to drown in the waters rising behind the $8.1 billion Sardar Sarovar Dam in western India rather than leave their ancestral homes and lands. More than 12,000 people living in 60 villages are currently at risk of losing their lands due to submergence caused by recent construction on the dam. We need your help now to urge the Indian government to stop this man-made tragedy. An urgent action alert from the NBA is included below. "We will drown, but we will not move!" Since June 20, activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and villagers of the Narmada Valley have been occupying two houses in the lowest reaches of Domkhedi and Jalsindhi villages, determined to brave the rising floodwaters. On August 11, heavy rains caused a rapid swell in the level of the reservoir waters, and more than 60 activists stood for several hours in water that was waist-deep-high in Domkhedi. They were eventually arrested and beaten by the police. Even after their release from jail, the protesters returned to the river banks to continue their vigil. After a four-year stay on construction, the Supreme Court allowed the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam to be raised 5 meters this past February. The decision was based on falsified reports by the state governments of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. These governments argued that the people displaced by the dam to date have been satisfactorily rehabilitated and that there is sufficient land available for resettlement. Questioning of officials, however, has proved that there is no land available for resettlement. If the dam is completed, it will force the relocation of more than 500,000 people from their homes. Your help can make a difference! We urge you to send the letter below to the President of India in support of the activists and villagers living in the valley. We also encourage you to visit the website of the Gujarat Chief Minister and email or fax the letter below. For more info, please go to www.irn.org or www.narmada.org or reply to this email. Thank you for your actions and solidarity! Yours sincerely, Susanne Wong and Rishiraj Das *************** PLEASE FAX OR EMAIL A LETTER TO THE INDIAN PRESIDENT Sample Letter Dr. K. R. Narayanan The Honorable President of India Rashtrapati Bhavan New Delhi India Fax: +91 (011) 3014570, +91 (011) 3017290 Email: pressecy@alpha.nic.in Dear K.R. Narayanan, I am writing in support of the people of the Narmada Valley and the Narmada Bachao Andolan, who are currently facing the submergence of their villages, homes and lands due to the Sardar Sarovar Project. I urge the Indian government to stop construction of the dam immediately. The Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) and other dams along the Narmada River pose serious threats to the culture and existence of the people of the Narmada Valley. This summer alone, the rising backwaters of the project have submerged and destroyed hundreds of tribal farms with standing crops and houses. We stand in solidarity with the people of the Narmada Valley who have been on satyagraha since June 20 and are determined to drown rather than leave their lands for this destructive project. I urge you to use your powers as President to protect the rights of the people of the Narmada Valley. It is essential that this project be reevaluated before any more lives are lost, and any more money is spent. There are alternatives that provide more democratic and sustainable ways to irrigate land and generate electricity. I believe that, as President, your call to fully explore and utilize these alternatives in India will be heeded by those in a position to initiate changes. Sincerely, YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, COUNTRY ******************** PLEASE FAX OR EMAIL THE GUJARAT CHIEF MINISTER Sample Letter **TO SEND AN EMAIL, go to http://www.cm.gujaratindia.com/cmform.html and paste in the following (or your own) message. Mr Keshubhai Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Nava Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 382 010 India Fax: +91 (2712) 22101 Shri Keshubhai Patel, I am writing to express my support for the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the people of the Narmada Valley who oppose the Sardar Sarovar Dam. I believe that this project is not in the best interests of the drought-affected people of Gujarat or the people of the Narmada Valley. Pursuing further dam construction will only result in a shameful loss of lives, land and democracy, and it will devastate the Gujarati economy. I urge you and the Gujarat government to reevaluate your position on the Sardar Sarovar Project. I believe it will be an indelible blemish in the reputation of the state of Gujarat if construction on this dam is continued. Sincerely, YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, COUNTRY ************************* A CALL FROM THE NARMADA VALLEY Domkhedi (Akrani) Aug. 9,1999. Dear Friend, Sitting on the banks of Narmada in the Domkhedi village watching the rain cloud lit mountains of Vindhyas and Satpuras, we the satyagrahis are thinking of you all, you who have supported and stood by the cause of the people of Narmada through 14 years of struggle and who have been with us here many times. This is for us all a personal crisis when the loss of all that we hold close are lost in the name of an unjust and inequitable process, in the name of National Development. Villages all around Domkhedi and afar are rallying together here in support of the Satyagraha. The songs and slogans reiterating our own strength and will to carry the struggle forward break the silence of the mountains. Those of you who came here during June-July 1999 would be shocked to hear that the Mahua tree on the bank of Narmada where the meeting of 4th July was organised is half submerged. The dry tree on which the blue flag of Narmada Bachao Andolan flutters is touching the rising waters already. Luharia's farm in Jalsindhi is mostly engulfed in rising back waters. The Adivasis who attend the meetings everyday talk of the origin of the Earth, the river and the Narmada who cannot be bound at at all. The people of Nimad with their songs and reserves of provisions and food create a feeling of security and goodwill here. As for this moment, the waters have risen to just 4 feet below the Satyagraha hut. Many of the fields and houses at the adjacent Sikka village are already submerged. Though there is less --- here a feeling of an impending crisis, a calm before a storm is felt always. One feels reassured about the silence and inner strength of the people carrying on with their own lives - a baby born two days back cries with all his zest for life and life continues.... >From June 20th onwards, when Satyagraha began in Jalsindhi and Domkhedi, the valley has witnessed a variety of programmes focussing on difficult aspects of the struggle. The Yuva Shibir program which culminated in a 'Jeevan Yatra' ( March for Life) from Manibeli to Domkhedi was attended by youth groups from various parts of the country. The week long fast and silence observed by satyagrahis (from July 4th to 11th) saw the declaration of a new phase of struggle for a new life. We know that your thoughts are with us during this period, but we also wonder if you are doing your best to join the struggle in your own way. At this juncture there a lot you can contribute sitting far away. The message of Narmada and life has to be carried forward again. We understand that many of you have been talking to the children and students of your area about the issue. Please continue with this effort, giving a new speed and intrusion to it. Various people's movements from every nook and corner are coming. Artists, poets and literary figures all over the world are coming together and contributing by drawing, signing or writing about the valley. Let the streets of our country reverberate with the sound of this river, its hills, forests and people. The President of India, who in his official capacity can intervene and stall this decision to carry the work on Sardar Sarovar Project can be persuaded to act by your letters, telegrams or messages. It is also imperative that your group or representatives of various groups in your area meet the Governor of the state with an appeal demanding justice for the dispossessed. The week from August 15, onwards can be declared as a period where freedom of speech, freedom of justice, right to life and sustenance can be stressed upon. Let us usher in a new century where people's power, rights and justice will win. Simultaneous to all this there is also a plan to organise delegations from five regions of the country (Kanyakumari, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Rajasthan and West Bengal) who would meet the President. This would be followed by continuous satyagrahas in Delhi in the first half of September, depending on the intensity of the impending submergence. It would be great if some of you can join one of the group and participate in this march and or help in organising programmes on the way to Delhi. Last but not the least, there is always the call for each one of you from this valley. We reiterate our invitation for each one of you to come here and link hands with the people of the valley. Inspite of the rising waters, judicial apathy and indifferences, the lives of the people have to continue. You can help in the reconstruction process by adding with your special skills in various fields. Narmada valley is open for you to do Jan Samarpan ( Dedication To The People). Take this call, dear friend and come here for 1 year and help in the phoenician attempts of the Narmada valley. Hoping you will stand by us and hear the songs of the yet unsilenced River. In Solidarity, S.Anitha, Samata, Jacob Vadakkanchery, Sibi, Karuna, Philip, Premdas, Praveen, Mathew, Vilas Bongade, Venu, Manu, Avinash B.J., Santosh, and many others. --- Anuradha Mittal Policy Director Institute for Food and Development Policy - Food First 398 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94618 USA Phone: (510) 654-4400 Fax: (510) 654-4551 http://www.foodfirst.org From fingal at cyberus.ca Tue Aug 17 20:01:55 1999 From: fingal at cyberus.ca (Brian Dawson) Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 07:01:55 -0400 Subject: [asia-apec 1252] CBC: APEC inquiry hears of bomb threats, security breaches Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19990817070155.00e9a83c@mail.cyberus.ca> APEC inquiry hears of bomb threats, security breaches CBC News Online [www.cbcnews.cbc.ca; see links below] WebPosted Mon Aug 16 21:42:06 1999 VANCOUVER - A senior RCMP officer testifying at the APEC inquiry in Vancouver Monday told officials of a "security nightmare" at the 1997 summit that included the discovery of one explosive device. INDEPTH: After Apec [http://www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/news/indepth/apec/] Superintendent Wayne May says police received two bomb threats just as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vancouver was getting under way. May says officers did find one explosive device, possibly a blasting cap, along one of the main motorcade routes from the airport to downtown Vancouver, under the Arthur Lang Bridge. Officers later determined the presence of the device was not likely related to the APEC summit but the RCMP lawyer says all of the various risks contributed to the stress around securing the summit. "When those kinds of things arose it simply didn't do anything to make their (the RCMP's) concerns go away it just served to make their concerns all the greater," says George MacIntosh. May also testified that police were told there would be three attempts to breach the security fence on the day of the student protests at the University of British Columbia campus. The APEC inquiry is being conducted by the RCMP Public Complaints Commission. It's looking into police conduct at protests during the summit. Complaints accuse the RCMP of violating protesters' rights and of using excessive force by pushing and pepper-spraying demonstrators. --------- * Story at: www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/1999/08/16/apec990816 * Audio report: www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/clips/ram-lo/savory990816.ram * Video report: www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/clips/ram-audio/dearing990816.ram From notoapec at clear.net.nz Wed Aug 18 14:30:16 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 22:30:16 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1253] APEC/NZ Message-ID: <000201bee982$fc7fb240$2f3061cb@notoapec> >From The Dominion, Wellington, NZ 17/8/99 Buying access to ministers 'wrong' By Victoria Main ANY move by corporate sponsors of New Zealand's Apec year to buy access to ministers or government officials from member economies would be wrong, International Trade Minister Lockwood Smith said yesterday. The private sector is sponsoring the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation events to the tune of $4 million. Juliet McKee, director of business relations for the Apec Taskforce, said some sponsors would be able to rub shoulders with official delegations at the receptions and dinners surrounding the various meetings, culminating in the leaders' summit next month. Their access would not, however, extend to meetings with United States President Bill Clinton and other Apec leaders, she said. Dr Smith said private-sector executives did not have to be Apec sponsors to be invited to the social functions. He also said the funding arrangements did not mirror the controversial deals reportedly set up by the organisers of the World Trade Organisation ministerial summit in Seattle in November. The organisers have come under fire for selling sponsors access to government officials, according to The Economist magazine. Dr Smith said yesterday that he would be worried if he learned of anything similar in New Zealand. "Where I would get concerned is if through sponsorship there was any special access to any minister or any delegation. That would concern me because that's not right. But nobody has ever approached me for anything like that." He saw sponsorship as an excellent way of helping governments fund costly events. But Labour leader Helen Clark said corporate funding was inappropriate for intergovernmental meetings. "There's an ethical issue here, and it concerns me particularly when corporate sponsorship then seeks the flow-on benefits of a high-profile," she said. From tpl at cheerful.com Thu Aug 19 10:21:01 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 09:21:01 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1254] Campaign Against AOA/WTO Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990819092101.006acba8@pop.skyinet.net> New Announcement Peoples' Campaign Against Imperialist Globalization 1999 International Campaign Against the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) The Forum Series, Food Security: An Assessment of Philippine GATT Commitments After Five Years, started with a discussion of the negative effects of the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the rice and corn industry in the Philippines. Main discussant was Danilo Ramos, Secretary General of KMP (Peasant Movement of the Philippines), himself a rice and corn farmer. The forum was held yesterday, August 18, in PCED, University of the Philippines. It is the first of a series of forums to inform the public about the disastrous effects of the provisions of AOA-GATT/WTO on the country's agriculture and fisheries sectors. Sponsors of the series are KMP, AMIHAN (National Federation of Peasant Women's Associations) and PAMALAKAYA (National Alliance of Fisherfolk Organizations) For the September forums, impact on the coconut ( Sept. 1) and the sugar (Sept. 15) industries will be discussed. For October, the focus will be on fruits & vegetables (Oct.1) and fisheries (2nd week of Oct.). The Forum Series ends with a media/public forum on October 15 where the result of a research being undertaken by the sponsoring organizations will be presented. One highlight of the research is AOA/WTO's harmful effects on peasant women. Background For the years 1999 and 2000, the Peoples' Campaign Against Imperialist Globalization (PCAIG) focuses on the AOA in its campaign against the WTO and imperialist globalization. BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance) launched PCAIG in 1996 when the APEC Leaders Summit was hosted by the Philippine government. An international people's conference against globalization and the people's caravan against APEC, accompanied by nationwide protest actions, were the campaign's culmination for the year. In the same year, the Anti-Imperialist World Peasant Summit (AIWPS) was convened by KMP. For the first time since APEC was formed, a strong popular voice was raised against APEC, globalization and imperialism thus blunting and neutralizing the hype of neo-liberalism created by the centers of global power -- US, Japan and EU -- and monopoly capitalism. A major component of this year's PCAIG is the 1999 International Campaign Against AOA and WTO. It takes off in the second half of 1999. AOA will be the main agenda in the WTO Third Ministerial Meeting in Seattle on November 29 - December 4. The review of AOA by WTO member countries/economies is expected to extend until 2000. Surely, fulfillment of commitments to the AOA will be accelerated despite the already apparent devastating effects of having agriculture included in WTO. December will also be the start of the Millennium Round of GATT negotiations. Monopoly capitalism, through the US, EU and Japan and a strong TNC/MNC lobby, will try to insert investments liberalization in WTO through a re-packaged MAI after it failed to have it approved in 1998 because of strong NGO lobby. The campaign against AOA is spearheaded by AMIHAN, KMP, GABRIELA, and PAMALAKAYA. They are organizations and alliances of women, peasants and fisherfolk who have been in the forefront of the people's and women's movements in the Philippines. Along with other people's formations like KMU (May 1st Movement) and League of Filipino Students (LFS) they have relentlessly waged campaigns against liberalization, deregulation and privatization in the context of peoples' resistance against globalization and imperialism. General Objectives To create public opinion against the disastrous impact of the AOA-WTO on the peasants and fisherfolk, especially on the women of the Third World. To continue exposing liberalization, privatization and deregulation as imperialist globalization's main swords in disemboweling Third World economies. To strengthen people's resistance against the AOA-WTO and imperialist globalization. To expand linkages and forge deeper unities with other anti-AOA-WTO, anti-globalization and anti-imperialist organizations, groups and individuals worldwide. Specific Objectives To push further the demand to take agriculture out of the GATT-WTO. To make more peasant and fisherfolk mass leaders and activists, especially among the women of the Third World, aware of AOA's negative effects on their national economies and patrimony, on their lives and democratic rights. To make the general public aware of the harmful effects of the AOA on their country's agriculture and fisheries sectors. Contribute to the success of the people's anti-AOA-WTO initiatives in Seattle parallel to the WTO Third Ministerial Meeting. Convenors BAYAN AMIHAN KMP GABRIELA PAMALAKAYA Activities Signature Campaign A statement against AOA/WTO will be drafted by Amihan and Gabriela for signature by Philippine organizations. It will then be circulated internationally for endorsement by other women's and people's organizations, NGOs and individuals. Forum Series Starting in August, a forum series on Food Security: An Assessment of Philippine GATT Commitments After Five Years will discuss the impact of AOA on the different agricultural sectors, i.e. rice & corn, coconut, sugar, fruits & vegetables, fisheries. Amihan, KMP and Pamalakaya will take turns taking charge of the forums. They will ensure that the special effects on women are discussed. Papers presented will be published. Research Amihan, KMP and Pamalakaya will conduct further research on the negative effects of AOA on the industries mentioned earlier. [Note: Ibon Philippines, a well-known education and research institution, is likewise conducting a research on AOA-WTO's impact on women.] Results will be presented in all-leaders' meetings and public forums. They will likewise be published. Participation in the APWLD Seminar on AOA-WTO and Meeting of the Task Force Rural and Indigenous Women The TF-RIW of APWLD (Asia-Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development) will hold its annual meeting in October in Chaingmai, Thailand. Back to back with it will be a one-day seminar on AOA and its negative impact on women. These are preparations for the task force's participation in the international campaign to take AOA out of WTO. Gabriela's representative sits as co-convenor of the task force. One of the speakers in the seminar will be from Amihan, which has campaigned against GATT even before WTO was formed. Peasant Week and Nationally-Coordinated Peasant Actions on October 21. Every year, the peasant movement in the Philippines led by KMP caps its year-long campaigns and mass struggles with a series of mass actions and mobilizations in the 2nd week of October to culminate in a nationwide peasant mobilization on October 21. Taking agriculture out of the WTO will be one of the major demands. Attendance in the Global Teach-In on the WTO sponsored by the International Forum on Globalization "The IFG is organizing a Teach-In on the World Trade Organization (WTO), to be held in Seattle, Washington, on November 27, 1999. The event will take place at the 2,500-seat Benaroya Seattle Symphony Hall and the Teach-In events will be free to the public. (It) will focus on the problems of economic globalization and, specifically, on the activities of the WTO and other international agreements and institutions." 1999 Peoples' Assembly/March-Rally - SAY NO TO WTO ! -- in Seattle Main convenor is Sentenaryo ng Bayan, a Filipino organization whose representative sits in the Steering Committee of the Seattle-based Network Opposed to WTO. NO to WTO plans several activities up to November and early December to inform the public and drum up resistance to WTO. The conference will be held on November 28-29 and will culminate in a rally on November 30. Both events will serve as counterpoint and alternative to the WTO 3rd Ministerial Meeting. A special half-day session is being planned to focus on the AOA, peasants and rural women. Invited are organizations, groups and individuals, whether within or outside of the PCAIG network, who have been active in resisting TNCs/MNCs, APEC, NAFTA, WTO-IMF-WB, imperialist globalization and monopoly capitalism. It is expected that BAYAN networks in the US and Canada will participate. Anti-AOA-WTO Protest Action in Manila when the WTO Ministerial Meeting opens To be led by Bayan, it will be the Philippine contribution to the protest actions worldwide against AOA-WTO, as the latter opens its millennium round of talks. Organizations and groups, especially those of peasants, fisherfolk and women, in other countries are enjoined to hold their own protest actions and manifestations. Please inform the Campaign Against AOA (CAOA) Secretariat so we can circulate the information about your activities to the CAOA and other anti-globalization networks. For details about each of the activities listed above, additional announcements will be circulated. CAOA Secretariat KMP/AMIHAN/BAYAN e-mail: tpl@cheerful.com Fax: c/o Gabriela (63-2) 374-4423 For inquiries regarding the Peoples' Assembly and March-Rally -- Say NO to WTO! -- Please write: ACE SATURAY Sentenaryo ng Bayan and NO to WTO e-mail: azes@juno.com From notoapec at clear.net.nz Sat Aug 21 04:27:13 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 12:27:13 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1255] APEC In Auckland - Media Release Message-ID: <004001beeb42$0431e420$5c3661cb@notoapec> AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND APEC MONITORING GROUP PO BOX 106 233 AUCKLAND Ph: (09) 302 5390 xt. 833 or (021) 217 3039 MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 20 August 1999 APEC OPPONENTS SICK OF PICKING UP AFTER SHODDY GOVERNMENT INFORMATION CAMPAIGN The APEC Monitoring Group which has organised a programme of education and action throughout 1999 to expose and oppose APEC and its free trade and investment, free market agenda is fielding numerous calls and visits to its Auckland office by Aucklanders who have been kept in the dark as to the true level of traffic disruptions and road closures during next month's APEC Leaders Summit. The APEC Monitoring Group set up its office at the Methodist Mission in early August and this week installed a prominent anti-APEC window display at 370 Queen St. It is organising a public meeting and two day forum in Auckland from 10-12 September, entitled Alternatives To The APEC Agenda, and a rally on the afternoon of 12 September. "It is an indictment on the official strategy to keep Aucklanders in the dark up until the last minute about the real impact of the APEC meetings on the city that people are turning to our volunteer staff for information. There are huge gaps in the information that has been produced thus far. In one case a local who had called the APEC TaskForce office seeking information about traffic delays and road closures was told to come down to their office to view some details on a computer screen. We've even had people coming here to try and get photos taken for APEC media accreditation purposes before there was any visible indication of our presence here! And there are many other examples. Aucklanders are being treated with contempt." says Aziz Choudry of the APEC Monitoring Group. "Part of the government's 'communications strategy' on APEC has been to deliberately limit the amount of information about disruption to Aucklanders' lives until shortly before the meetings start. In Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade documents released under the Official Information Act last year, we learnt that the severity of traffic disruption, disruption to mail, courier and rubbish disposal services would be "subject to the security requirements of overseas delegations". Public relations advice to the Auckland City Council to sell APEC to the public stated: "don't provide information in a proactive way until close to the event...the message should state that APEC is good (and why)". "It's not hard to see why the public have been kept in the dark about the effects of APEC on Auckland. Many businesses and residents alike are questioning why they have to put up with the city being turned upside down for a free trade and investment gabfest that is going nowhere fast, promoting a market economic approach which has been tried, tested and failed here in New Zealand", he said. For further comment contact Aziz Choudry or Leigh Cookson 09 3025390 xtn 833 or mobile 021 217 3039 From rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org Mon Aug 23 08:57:15 1999 From: rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org (Roberto Verzola) Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 08:57:15 Subject: [asia-apec 1256] Y2K Message-ID: <199908231519.XAA00532@phil.gn.apc.org> No analysis of the state of the Asian or even world economy is complete without taking into account the disruptions, failures and real possibility of collapse among small and large firms due to the Y2K problem. The article below is about the U.S. -- which is actually way ahead of other countries as far as Y2K preparations are concerned. I strongly suggest APEC campaigners seriously take this into account. With Y2K, what kind of year 2000 scenarios do you see and what concrete plans have you drawn up to respond to these scenarios? It is time to work out not just general critiques and alternatives but also specific plans of action when the economic and particularly financial disruptions caused by the Y2K problem hit the region and the rest of the world. Roberto Verzola Secretary-general, Philippine Greens Member, Interdoc ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 18:26:55 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: Please Read http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19990811/tc/yk_global_2.html The Pentagon Papers of Y2K Cities At Risk From The Year 2000 Computer Crisis By Jim Lord Jim Lord can be contacted at: JimLordY2K@aol.com Expanded information is available at: www.JimLord.to Secret Government Study Reveals Massive Y2K Problems in American Cities How many days could New York City survive without water and sewer services? How long would it take to evacuate eight million people in the dead of winter? Would thousands die in the process? Tens of thousands? More? When would the rioting and looting begin? How many National Guard troops would it take to control the largest city in the nation? What unthinkable devastation would be wrought on the global financial system? How might our enemies seize on the ensuing panic and confusion? Are these the crazed speculations of a Y2K alarmist? Not if you know what the US Navy and Marine Corps know. According to a June 1999 report titled, "Master Utility List", they believe "total failure is likely" for New York City's water and sewer systems because of Y2K problems. And they are holding this information back. The Navy Department assessment is not limited to New York City; it covers all their shore facilities in the world - nearly 500 locations. The results are horrifying. They expect more than 26 million American citizens in 125 cities to be without electricity, water, gas or sewer services next January. Many more would be affected in foreign countries. London, England for example is expected to experience failures of all four types of utilities. Many of the people impacted by these failures would be military personnel and their families. And the Navy Department isn't telling anyone. =46orty-five of the cities named in the survey have population greater than 100,000. Eight of the nation's dozen largest metropolitan areas are affected. Here's what the Navy expects: Dallas - no water. Washington DC and Philadelphia - no gas Baltimore, Houston, New York and Miami - no water or sewer. Atlanta - no water or gas San Antonio - no water or electricity. =46ort Worth and New Orleans - no water, gas or sewer services. And the Navy Department is saying nothing. Cities at Risk The information presented below is based on a US Navy/Marine Corps survey dated June 1999. The survey was conducted to determine the risk of utility failures at military facilities worldwide. Only United States information is shown. Each of the three tables below shows a list of cities and the Y2K exposure of the major utilities in each city. The columns labeled E, W, G and S refer to the Electrical, Water, Gas and Sewer utilities. An "x" in the column indicates that utility is expected to fail. To view expanded information on each city including the names of specific utilities, visit www.JimLord.to on the web. Three levels of possible failure are indicated in the Navy document. Each table in this summary lists one of these levels. 1) Partial failure is probable. 2) Partial failure is likely. 3) Total failure is likely. The terms "probable", "likely", "partial" and "total" are Navy terminology and were not clearly defined in the documentation. The terms "likely" and "total" however, represent the worst condition. Cities in bold have populations greater than 100,000. Many of the utilities listed service many more customers than shown here. 43 cities where "partial failure is probable." CityPopulationEWGS Amarillo TX158,000xxxx Annapolis MD33,000x Arlington VA171,000x Avoca PA3,000x Baton Rouge LA220,000x Bethesda MD63,000x Broussard LA3,000x Carderock MDx Charlotte NC396,000xx Columbus OH633,000x Corpus Christi TX257,000x Crane INxDallas TX1,007,000x Dayton OH182,000xx Duluth MN85,000xx El Paso TX515,000xx =46orest Park IL15,000xx Greensboro NC184,000x Highland Park IL31,000x Houston TX1,631,000xx Ingleside TX6,000x Key West FL25,000xxx Knoxville TN165,000xxx Lewisville AR1,000x Lexington Park MD10,000x Millington TN18,000xx Mobile AL196,000xx Montgomery AL187,000xx Newport News VA170,000x Norfolk VA261,000xx Pascagoula MS26,000xxx Peoria IL114,000x Philadelphia PA1,586,000x Portsmouth VA104,000x San Antonio TX936,000xx Sheboygan WI50,000xx Sugar Grove WVx Truth or Conseq. NM6,000x Tulsa OK367,000xx Washington DC610,000x Waukegan IL69,000x West Palm Beach FL68,000xx Yorktown VAx 38 cities where "partial failure is likely." CityPopulationEWGS Albany GA78,000x Atlanta GA394,000xx Atlantic Beach FL12,000xxx Augusta GA234,000x Beaufort SC10,000xx Bessemer AL33,000xxxx Bossier City LA53,000x Cape Canaveral FL8,000x Charleston SC80,000xxx Chattanooga TN152,000xx Clearwater FL99,000xxx Columbia SC98,000xxx Columbus GA179,000x =46ort Lauderdale FL149,000xxx =46ort Worth TX448,000xxx Greenville NC45,000x Gulfport MS41,000xxx Harlingen TX49,000x Hawkinsville GA4,000x Hollandale MS4,000x Jacksonville FL635,000xxx Kingsville TX25,000x Meridian MS41,000xx Miami FL359,000xx Milton FL7,000xxxx Nashville TN488,000xxx New Orleans LA497,000xxx Orange City FLxxxOrlando FL165,000xxxx Panama City FL35,000xxx Pensacola FL58,000xxx Raleigh NC208,000xx Slidell LA24,000xxx Smyrna GA31,000xx St Marys GA8,000x Sullivans Island SC2,000xx Waco TX104,000x Wetumpka AL5,000x 44 cities where "total failure is likely." CityPopulationEWGS Baltimore MD736,000xx Bethlehem PA71,000xx Bremerton WA38,000xx Brunswick ME15,000x Buffalo NY328,000xx Coronado CA27,000x Dahlgren VA1,000xx Earl NJxx Erie PA109,000xx =46allbrook CA22,000x Glen Falls NY15,000xx Great Falls MT55,000xxx Hartford CT140,000xx Huntington WV58,000x Imperial Beach CA27,000x Kearney NJ35,000xxx Lakehurst NJ3,000xx Mechanicsburg PA9,000xx Morehead City NC6,000xx National City CA54,000x New London CT29,000xxxx New York City NY7,323,000xx Newport RI29,000xx Oak Grove NCx Oak Harbor WA17,000xx Ogden UT64,000x Pacific Beach WA1,000x Plaineville CT16,000xx Pomona CA132,000xx Port Hadlock WA3,000x Port of Seattle WAxxx Portsmouth NH26,000xx Providence RI161,000xx Quantico VA1,000xxx Reading PA78,000xx Reno NV134,000x Rochester NY232,000xx San Jose CA782,000x Seal Beach CA25,000xx Trenton NJ89,000xx Warminster PA36,000xx Watertown NY29,000xxx Weymouth MAxxx Williamsport PA32,000xx Taking it Public There's a great scene in the movie, "A Few Good Men" where Navy lawyer Tom Cruise verbally battles Marine Colonel Jack Nicholson. Trapped and finally broken by the relentless interrogation, Nicholson snarls (as only he can snarl), "You can't handle the truth." The disgraced Colonel, of course, doesn't mean Tom Cruise -- he means us. We the People. We're the ones who can't take it. We, the unwashed masses, are too lazy, too stupid, too irrational. In his twisted world, only the anointed few, the chosen leaders, deserve access to the truth. The Federal Government is withholding the truth about Y2K for the same reason - they don't think we can take it. They think we'll panic and: Take all our money out of the banks. Cash in all our mutual funds and burst the stock market balloon. Break the economic system by hoarding everything in sight. Incite turmoil, chaos and riots. There are many reasons why their strategy is wrong but only two need to be mentioned. 1) This country belongs to us. 2) These people work for us. If something is wrong, we have a right to know and they have a responsibility to tell us. Will the truth result in riots, shortages and disruptions to the financial system? Possibly so but if our fractional reserve banking system and our Just-in-Time manufacturing and retail processes are so dangerously fragile, don't we need to know now rather than in the middle of the Y2K Crisis? I'm fed up with being told that institutions must be protected even if it means we have to be sacrificed. We are more important than the banks. We have a higher priority than the stock market. We're grown-ups and we have a right to the truth. We the People of this great nation have faced every challenge thrown at us in the past. It's time to take this one on. We can handle it. Where It Came From This information came from the US Navy and Marine Corps (Department of the Navy). They were apparently tasked to conduct a study of the Y2K exposure of their worldwide shore facilities. A copy of this study made its way into my hands. Military bases in the United States are rarely self-sufficient when it comes to utilities such as electricity, water, gas and sewer. These services are almost always provided by the local economy. From a Y2K standpoint, this leaves the bases at the mercy of the local utility providers. Nearly five hundred bases were assessed; approximately one third are expected to experience utility failures. These figures are completely out of whack with the federal government's August 1999 Y2K assessment which says, "It is highly unlikely that there will be national disruptions in electric power service on January 1, 2000. It is expected that any gas disruptions that do occur will have minimal impact upon consumers. It is increasingly unlikely that the date change will create disruptions in water service." Mr. Koskinen, you need to check with the folks over at the Pentagon. They seem to have a different opinion. Or is it possible you already know about this information? The information was obtained from a confidential source of the highest reliability and integrity. The identity of this source will be staunchly protected. I don't have a copy of the detailed assessments of the individual bases nor do I possess the information on Army or Air =46orce bases. I am submitting a request for these documents through the =46reedom of Information Act (FOIA), however. (In fact, I encourage you to help out by submitting your own FOIA request for these documents.) The information from the bases and other facilities was compiled into an eight-page spreadsheet that is titled "Utility Master List" and dated June 1999. No other markings appear on the papers. In particular, (and this is of crucial importance) the document is not stamped or labeled with any national security classification markings. What You Should Do This information is vital to the well being of tens of millions of American citizens. The federal government is withholding it from the public. If you're concerned about Y2K and frustrated at the way the government is dealing with the crisis, there are several things you can do. Help get the word out about this study. Make copies of this document and send them to the media (radio, television and newspaper) in the 125 communities listed in the report. In particular, contact the radio talk shows (national and local) and request that they have me on their shows. I can best be contacted by email at JimLordY2K@aol.com. Also send copies to elected officials (mayors; city council; county commissioners; governors and state and national level senators and representatives). Ask them if they are aware of these Navy Department assessments. Send copies to the individual utilities identified in the listing of cities on the website. Send FOIA requests to the Navy, Army and Air Force requesting their studies on the anticipated effects of Y2K-related utility failures on US military facilities. Sample letters can be found at the end of this special report. Ask everyone in your community group, family, email list etc. to visit the www.JimLord.to website. Then ask them to do the same thing you're doing. If we work together, we can break this thing open. In short, let's raise hell. Implications 1. One need not be even a mild "doom and gloomer" to realize that failures of the magnitude indicated in this Navy Department study are potentially catastrophic. The lives and health of millions of people are at stake. The national economy is threatened. Our way of life is jeopardized. The national security is at risk. 2. That the government is withholding this information from the American people seems to me a monstrous abandonment of principle. Each of these military bases has a commanding officer. For large bases this is typically a Navy Captain or a Marine Colonel. These military leaders have raised their hands in the air and sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution. (I recall this oath clearly having taken it several times during my own naval career and having administered it numerous times during reenlistment ceremonies.) How can these commissioned officers remotely imagine that keeping this information from the citizens of this nation is in any way upholding their duty? I have no doubt they have been instructed by higher authority to maintain silence about these Y2K risks. How can they look themselves in the mirror each morning and conceive that what they are doing is right? These commanders report to a chain of command of Admirals and Generals culminating in the Joint Chiefs of Staff. How can these so-called "public servants" know that 26 million citizens are in such jeopardy and remain silent? In the simplest terms - I stand bitterly ashamed of my former comrades. I cannot conceive of a blacker mark on the military leadership of the nation. 3. The government is holding out on its own people. The Navy uses a special message called an "ALNAV" (meaning all Navy) to communicate information to all naval personnel at once. On February 10, 1999, the Secretary of the Navy released such a message telling all officers and enlisted personnel they had nothing to worry about from Y2K. The message identifier is SECNAV 101715Z FEB 99. Here's a quote, "Speculation that power distribution systems will experience widespread failures are not based on facts or rational analysis. Most experts believe water treatment and distribution should not be greatly affected by the Y2K problem. Because of extensive preparation, the effects of the Y2K bug will be minimal on the lives of you and your family." Perhaps the Navy Department had not yet completed their facility Y2K assessment last February when the ALNAV was promulgated. Now that they understand their Y2K exposure, I wonder when they will let all those sailors and their families know about the anticipated utility failures? After all, the first line in the above mentioned ALNAV states, "It is important that we provide our sailors with sound, useful information on the potential impact of Y2K on their personal and professional lives, as well as the lives of their families." I retired from the Naval Service in 1983 but I still hold a commission as a regular officer. I am still under oath. In "my" Navy, the highest unwritten duty of a Naval Officer was to take care of his people. This bit of traditional wisdom is apparently little practiced today. To each of the Naval and Marine Corps Officers who has had access to the information described herein, I lay down a simple challenge. Live up to this duty. Come forth. Tell us the truth. 4. If we're being lied to about this, how can we believe anything the government tells us about Y2K? How bad is this thing really going to be? Impact on Military Readiness These revelations imply a severe effect on military readiness in the United States and at several important locations overseas. In this country, for example the major Marine Corps bases at Quantico, Virginia and Camp LeJeune, North Carolina are expected to experience utility failures. The latter is of special personal concern - my son and his family are stationed there. Another essential but not widely appreciated Marine Corps facility is at special risk. The base at Albany, Georgia is the hub of all USMC logistics activities. The inability of this base to provide services would pose a devastating threat to the entire US Marine Corps. Albany is one of three unfortunate cities expected to have utility failures in all four areas: electricity, water, gas and sewer. The US Navy expects serious problems as well. The extensive complex of facilities at their primary east-coast port at Norfolk/Portsmouth, Virginia is projected to be without water or natural gas. The Navy Space Command at Dahlgren, Virginia; is in jeopardy. The Naval Air Stations at North Island, California; Whidby Island, Washington, Cecil =46ield, Florida; and Pensacola, Florida are at risk. The key submarine bases at Kings Bay, Georgia and New London, Connecticut are on the list. The latter is another of the three stateside locations expected to have failures of all four types of utilities. The facility at Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania is also of special concern. Much of the US Navy's logistics support is conducted at this base which is expected to see both gas and sewer failures. Overseas, critical bases at Rota, Spain; Sigonella and Naples, Italy; (headquarters of the Mediterranean (6th) Fleet); Bahrain; Guam; Puerto Rico; and Okinawa are impacted. Of the ten facilities listed in the United Kingdom, all (mostly in London) were expected to experience failures of all four utilities. Potential Repercussions I don't imagine the government (the Navy Department in particular) is going to be very pleased that this information has made its way into the sunlight. If we all do our job, they are going to come under some pretty intense scrutiny. Several people who have seen this report opined that I could be in financial, legal or even physical jeopardy. Quite frankly, that kind of stuff is of little concern to me. I could not withhold this information and live with myself. No person of honor and integrity could As a precaution, I have registered my Internet domain name - JimLord.to - in Tonga, an island nation in the South Pacific. I have also hidden away several copies of the Navy Department documentation and my Internet files in safe keeping in several states. Friends are standing by to keep this information in the public eye. Just in case. This stuff needs to see the light of day. I intend to do everything in my power to make that happen. Besides, you the reader are the best protection I could have. The more of you there are, the safer I become. Do your part and get this critical information into the hands of as many people as you can. Help keep Jim Lord out of jail (grin). Electric Utility Failures Somebody needs to let the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) know about the Navy study. For their benefit and yours, here is a list of 29 electrical utilities the Navy expects to fail. Read over this list carefully. Some of the Navy facilities are quite small but the electric company that provides their service has a very large customer base. If your electrical company is included, you need to raise hell with them and find out if they know how the Navy feels about them. Electrical Utilities Expected to Fail Baldwin EMC, Milton FL Bessemer Utilities, Bessemer AL Central Louisiana Electric, Slidell LA City of Albany GA City of Key West FL City Public Service Board, San Antonio TX Clay Electric Cooperative, Jacksonville FL Coastal Electric Members, Jacksonville FL Daviess Martin County Rural Elect, Crane IN Dayton Power & Light, Dayton OH El Paso Electric Co., El Paso TX Escambia River Elec Co., Milton FL, Pensacola FL =46lorida Power and Light, Canaveral FL, Ft Lauderdale FL =46lorida Power Corp, Clearwater FL Gulf States Utilities, Orange City FL JEA, Atlantic Beach FL, Jacksonville FL Knoxville Utilities Board, Knoxville TN Middle Georgia Elec, Hawkinsville GA Mississippi Power and Light, Gulfport MS Northeast Utilities, New London CT Orlando Utilities Commission, Orlando FLPort of Seattle WA Riviera Utilities, Milton FL Sierra Electric Cooperative, Truth or Conseq. NM South Central Power, Columbus OH Southern Pine Elec Coop, Milton FL Southwest Arkansas Electric, Lewisville AR Southwest Louisiana Electric, Broussard LA Southwestern Public Services, Amarillo TX Twin County Electric, Hollandale MS Gas Company Failures This is a list of forty gas companies the Navy Department expects to fail. Some of the cities mentioned are quite small but the service area for the utility mentioned has a very large customer base. Check this list carefully to see if your gas company is included. Gas Utilities Expected to Fail Alabama Gas Corp, Bessemer AL Atlanta Gas Light Co., Atlanta GA Baltimore Gas & Electric, Annapolis MD Boston Gas, Weymouth MA City of Albany GA City of Bethlehem PA City of Bossier City LA City of Buffalo, NY City of Great Falls MT City of Pascagoula MS City of Pensacola FL City Public Service Board, San Antonio TX Columbia Gas of Virginia, Portsmouth VA, Quantico VA Dayton Power & Light, Dayton OH Energas Co, Amarillo TX Interenergy Corp, Charleston SC Knoxville Utilities Board, Knoxville TN Louisiana Gas Service, New Orleans LA Mobile Gas Service Corp, Mobile AL Mountaineer Gas, Sugar Grove WV Nashville Gas Service, Nashville TN New Jersey Natural Gas, Earl NJ New York State El, New London CT Niagra Mohawk, Watertown NY NorAm Energy Management, Pensacola FL North Carolina Gas, Morehead City NCNorthern Utilities, Portsmouth NH Okaloosa Gas District, Milton FL Orlando Utilities Commission, Orlando FL PECO Energy, Warminster PA Penn Gas & Water, Avoca PA, Williamsport PA Philadelphia Gas, Philadelphia PA Providence Energy, Newport RI PSE&G, Kearney NJ Rochester Gas & Electric, Rochester NY UGI Corp, Mechanicsburg PA United Cities Gas Co, Columbia SC Virginia Natural Gas, Newport News VA, Norfolk VA, Yorktown VA Washington Gas Co., Arlington VA, Bethesda MD, Carderock MD, Lexington Park MD, Washington DC West Florida Natural Gas, Panama City FL A Y2K Protest Thirty years ago, the Pentagon Papers revealed widespread government deceit in the prosecution of the Vietnam War. The papers and the resultant protests eventually rooted out the truth and changed United States policy. Today, this Navy Department study could accomplish the same objectives. We can perhaps use it to force the government to come clean on Y2K. Our opportunity comes just in the nick of time. If we act fast. I recently gave an hour-long speech titled "Y2K Surprises - Why It Won't Turn Out Like You Think." It was the first time the Navy Department survey information was revealed in public. In the speech, I discussed why I don't think the national electrical grids will fail and why I believe water is a much greater utility risk than electricity. (Incidentally, this supposition is clearly supported by the Navy Department survey.) I also showed why an electronic run on the banking system is a greater danger than a cash panic. I went on to explain why January 2000 will not be the peak of the Year 2000 Crisis and why the real peak is 9-18 months down the road. I think it was my most effective speech. To encourage the widest possible dissemination of this information and to make it as affordable as possible, the price of this hour-long tape is as low as possible. Along with the tape you'll receive a printed copy of this entire report and sample letters you can send to public officials and local media contacts. You can also download this printed material at no cost at my website at: www.JimLord.to These "Y2K Protest Packs" are just $5.00 each (shipping and handling are included). Ten or more are $4.50 each and 100 or more are $4.00 each. Let's turn the heat up on these guys. Order your "Y2K Protest Packs" by calling toll-free: 888-925-2555 About the Author Jim Lord is the author of, "A Survival Guide for the Year 2000 Problem: Consumer Solutions for the Worst Technical Blunder in History" a practical, 270 page guide to preparation for the Year 2000 Computer Crisis. He has written nearly ninety articles on Y2K. He is also the co-editor with James Talmage Stevens of the "Journal of Personal =46reedom", a newsletter which provides practical guidance in the restoration of Liberty through preparedness and self-reliance. Mr. Lord has advised Congressional staffers, The Congressional Research Service, the Department of Defense, the Center for Security Policy, and the US Taxpayer's Alliance, and is a Y2K Research Associate at George Washington University. He has appeared on more than 200 radio talk shows as well as Fox News, ABC NightLine, the Discovery Channel, C-Span and PAX TV. He appeared on the same speaking agenda with Nobel prizewinner Milton =46riedman and Lady Margaret Thatcher at the Blanchard Investor Conference in New Orleans. He has debated Y2K with Harry Browne, recent Libertarian Party presidential candidate and Gary North, a prominent Y2K expert and writer. He has been a featured speaker at the World Future Society, the Conservative Caucus, many investor conferences, numerous Y2K community preparedness seminars, and at the Eris Society in Aspen, Colorado. Mr. Lord is a retired Naval Officer with 24 years active service who came up through the enlisted ranks. His career was spent in the electronics field, including a tour as the Electronics Maintenance Officer on an aircraft carrier. At age 33, he earned a degree in Business, graduating with honors from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Following his military career, Mr. Lord was involved in shipbuilding, communication systems design, satellite systems, software engineering, training and marketing. This experience included nine years in the software industry. He also taught business courses at the college level for several years. Your Name Your Address Date (Sample FOIA Request) Name of Agency Address of Agency (See Below) Re: Freedom of Information Act Request Dear Sir: This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I request that a copy of the following document be provided to me. "Assessment of the Year 2000 (Y2K) Risk to Utilities at American Military Bases and Facilities," (or a similar title). This document lists military bases and facilities in the United States and foreign countries, the cities in which they are located, and scores the Y2K risk of failures to electrical, water, gas and sewer services at each base. The names of the utility companies providing these services may be included. The document may also be called a =ECMaster Utility List.=EE The document should be available from the Y2K Program Office for your agency. In order to determine my status to assess fees you should know that I am an individual seeking information for my personal use and not for any commercial purposes. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Sincerely, (Signature) Your Name (Send this letter to each of the following agencies:) Department of the Army Department of the Navy Department of the Air =46orce =46OIA/Privacy Acts Office Chief of Naval Operations 11CS/SCSR (FOIA) TAPC-PDR-PF N09B30 1000 Air Force Pentagon 7798 Cissna Road, Suite 205 2000 Navy Pentagon Washington DC 20330 1000 Springfield VA 22150-3197 Washington DC 20350-2000 From rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org Fri Aug 20 10:29:25 1999 From: rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org (Roberto Verzola) Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 10:29:25 Subject: [asia-apec 1257] Re: APEC in Auckland - NZ Herald Message-ID: <199908231519.XAA00531@phil.gn.apc.org> >To deter saboteurs, a special police team will seal all manhole covers on >roads where APEC motorcades travel. >Other measures to prevent disruption and assassination bids during the APEC >conference next month include: >Restrictions on the movements of inner-city residents >Bans on roadside car parking >Closing roadside mail boxes >Reorganising rubbish collection systems. What a perfect illustration of the way APEC works: for the benefit of the big and the rich, rules will be suspended and ordinary people's lives will be disrupted. In a way, the global economy is like traffic. The best roads and any other road the big and rich decide they want to use will be reserved for their exclusive use; everybody else which suffer a total mess in the meantime. Roberto Verzola Philippine Greens From dsharma at del6.vsnl.net.in Tue Aug 24 11:18:04 1999 From: dsharma at del6.vsnl.net.in (Devinder Sharma) Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 10:18:04 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1258] Re: patents/property Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990824101804.006a763c@pop.skyinet.net> The article pasted below is an anlysis on the developed country initiative to thwart Farmers Rights. I hope you will find it useful. Devinder Sharma ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wanted, A New Definition of Farmers By Devinder Sharma If you are educated, wear a shirt and a pair of trousers and cultivate crops with the help of a tractor, the chances are that you may not be called a farmer. Unless you are attired in a dirty "dhoti-kurta", wear soiled shoes or "chappals" and still perform subsistence farming with a bullock-drawn wooden plough, you do not qualify to be a farmer. At least, that is what the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea are insisting. Such is the underlying contempt for the farming communities of the developing world that the industrialised countries have refused to talk in favour of farmers. In fact, backed by the richest trading block, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the US has been continuously making every possible effort to thwart the developing countries attempt to accord recognition to Farmers$B(B Rights -- an expression of the contribution of farming communities to their innovative capacity as breeders, and custodian of the traditional knowledge and biological resources. But why protect the rights of farmers ? Because, as the Canadian Seed Trade Association pointed out in its booklet, Seeds for a Hungry World: $(C(BIt borders on fantasy to believe the world$B(Bs first farmers knew they were improving the value of species for mankind.$(D(B The first people who decided to plant one kind of seed in preference to another did so because they had observed something -- perhaps better fruits or more grains per spike -- and wanted similar or better results the next season. Nonetheless, these early farmers were the forerunners of today$B(Bs plant breeders. And as The Economist suggested way back in 1954, $(C(BThe real experts in plant breeding are those millions of human beings who have inherited green fingers down through the centuries.$(D(B The debate, therefore, revolved around the definition of a farmer, justifying the need to bring in Farmers$B(B Rights, which led to the collapse of the fifth extraordinary session of Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, at Rome in June 1998. And yet, two significant developments emerged from the politically surcharged deliberations that continued for five days. First, India continued to lead the developing countries in protecting the rights of its farming communities in the face of a volte face being aggressively pursued by the rich trading block. Secondly, the European Union, which had so far resisted the developing countries stand on providing adequate protection and privileges to the farming community, preferred to withdraw support from the anti-farmer lobby. While the developed countries were keen that the gene rich countries of the South facilitate the access to plant germplasm, they refused to adhere to the accompanying principles enshrined in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Accordingly, the countries which use the plant resources from the developing world have to assure that the benefits accruing from the use of the germplasm is equitably shared with the communities which preserved and conserved the biological resources over centuries. This has to be accomplished by transfer of technology and by setting up of an international fund to support farmers$B(B efforts to protect plant biodiversity. Notwithstanding the defiant stand of the developing countries, the five foodgrain exporting countries, which stand isolated, are determined not to allow any move that strengthens the rights of the farming communities and thereby weakens the commercial interests of the seed and biotechnology industry. Knowing well that Farmers$B(B Rights are not compatible with the intellectual property rights system based on private monopoly control, these countries have waged an undeclared war that aims at eliminating any and all kinds of privileges for millions of resource-poor farmers. Their stand is very clear : the farmers who protected the plant biodiversity are not the modern farmers and hence the benefits should go to only those who are still engaged in subsistence and traditional farming systems. The issue has still not been resolved. Ostensibly, at the heart of the controversy is the issue of Farmers$B(B ights -- the collective right of the farmers to their resources and knowledge. It not only provides the farmers the right to benefit from the biological resources and related indigenous knowledge, their right to save, exchange and improve seeds also becomes inalienable. Since these rights will cut into the profits of the multinational seed and biotechnology industry, the developed countries have relentlessly been campaigning against its imposition. More so, because many of these countries have fewer farmers left and so have little interest in protecting them. For instance, with the number of farmers dwindling over the years, the US has decided not to count the number of farmers in the next population census. In other words, farmer as a community will soon become extinct in America. Working all along towards the derecognition of Farmers$B(B Rights, the US had not allowed international deliberations to proceed beyond treating Farmers$B(B Rights as a $(C(Bconcept$(D(B. At the fourth Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, held at Leipzig in Germany in June 1966, the US had blocked any move towards developing Farmers$B(B Rights. A few months later, at the technical advisory committee of the CBD, which met at Montreal in September 1966, it did not allow a conclusion to be arrived at on the vexed issue of Farmers$B(B Rights in the light of the discussion around genetic erosion in agriculture. All that the conference agreed to, thanks to the efforts of the US lobby, was to allow presentation of a paper at the November 1966 Buenos Aires meeting $(C(Breflecting the diverse views and suggestions$(D(B. The OECD has time and again reiterated that interpretation of the trade agreement by any other forum than WTO is out of question. And WTO does not recognise Farmers$B(B Rights. In other words, having lost its farming society, the west is keen to destroy the strong foundations of sustainable agriculture and crop husbandry in the developing countries. But given the political mayhem that prevails in India, the powers that be are not even remotely concerned at safeguarding and protecting the Indian farmers from an international onslaught that renders the farming society vulnerable to unbridled exploitation. # (Devinder Sharma is a New Delhi-based food and trade policy analyst. Among his recent works include two books: "GATT to WTO: Seeds of Despair" and "In The Famine Trap") Address: Post Box # 4, New Delhi-110 024, India. From chossudovsky at videotron.ca Tue Aug 24 10:34:19 1999 From: chossudovsky at videotron.ca (Michel Chossudovsky) Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 09:34:19 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1259] NATO's Reign of terror in Kosovo (revised text) Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990824093419.006a763c@pop.skyinet.net>
TimesReturn to: <NATO-Yugoslavia War Internet Resources
Times ---------- Author: Michel Chossudovsky ---------- Publisher/Date: Paper presented to the Independent Commission of Inquiry to Investigate U.S./NATO War Crimes Against The People of Yugoslavia, New York, July 31, 1999 ---------- Title: NATO has installed a reign of terror in Kosovo ---------- Original location: Submitted by author. ---------- ? Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, July 1999. All rights reserved. (See note at end of article). The author can be contacted at chossudovsky@videotron.ca, fax 1-514-425-6224. ---------- MASSACRES OF CIVILIANS While the World focusses on troop movements and war crimes, the massacres of civilians in the wake of the bombings have been casually dismissed as "justifiable acts of revenge". In occupied Kosovo, "double standards" prevail in assessing alleged war crimes. The massacres directed against Serbs, ethnic Albanians, Roma and other ethnic groups have been conducted on the instructions of the military command of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Yet because NATO ostensibly denies KLA involvement, these so-called "unmotivated acts of violence and retaliation" are not categorised as "war crimes" and are therefore not included in the mandate of the numerous FBI and Interpol police investigators dispatched to Kosovo under the auspices of the Hague War Crime's Tribunal (ICTY). Moreover, whereas NATO has tacitly endorsed the self-proclaimed KLA provisional government, KFOR --the international security force in Kosovo-- has provided protection to the KLA military commanders responsible for the atrocities. In so doing both NATO and the UN Mission have acquiesced to the massacres of civilians. In turn, public opinion has been blatantly misled. In portraying the massacres, the Western media has casually overlooked the role of the KLA, not to mention its pervasive links to organised crime. In the words of National Security Advisor Samuel Berger, "these people [ethnic Albanians] come back ... with broken hearts and with some of those hearts filled with anger" 1. While the massacres are seldom presented as the result of "deliberate decisions" by the KLA military command, the evidence (and history of the KLA) amply confirm that these atrocities are part of a policy of "ethnic cleansing" directed mainly against the Serb population but also against the Roma, Montenegrins, Goranis and Turks: Serbian houses and business have been confiscated, looted, or burned, and Serbs have been beaten, raped, and killed. In one of the more dramatic of incidents, KLA troops ransacked a monastery, terrorized the priest and a group of nuns with gunfire, and raped at least one of the nuns. NATO''s inability to control the situation and provide equal protection for all ethnic groups, and its apparent inability or unwillingness to fully disarm the KLA, has created a serious situation for NATO troops...2 The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), confirms in this regard that: "more than 164,000 Serbs have left Kosovo during the seven weeks since... the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) entered the province... A wave of arson and looting of Serb and Roma homes throughout Kosovo has ensued. Serbs and Roma remaining in Kosovo have been subject to repeated incidents of harassment and intimidation, including severe beatings. Most seriously, there has been a spate of murders and abductions of Serbs since mid-June, including the late July massacre of Serb farmers" 3. POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS Under NATO's regency, the KLA has also ordered assassinations directed against political opponents including "loyalist" ethnic Albanians and supporters of the Kosovo Democratic League (KDL). These acts --ordered by the self-proclaimed Provisional Government of Kosovo (PGK)-- are being carried out in a totally permissive environment. The leaders of the KLA rather than being arrested for war crimes, have been granted KFOR protection. According to a report of the Foreign Policy Institute (published during the bombings): "...the KLA have [no] qualms about murdering Rugova's collaborators, whom it accused of the "crime" of moderation... [T]he KLA declared Rugova a "traitor" - yet another step toward eliminating any competitors for political power within Kosovo."4 Already in May, Fehmi Agani, one of Rugova's closest collaborators in the Kosovo Democratic League (KDL) was killed. The Serbs were blamed by NATO spokesperson Jamie Shea for having assassinated Agani. According to Skopje's paper Makedonija Danas, Agani had been executed on the orders of the KLA's self-appointed Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.5 "If Thaci actually considered Rugova a threat, he would not hesitate to have Rugova removed from the Kosovo political landscape."6 In turn, the KLA has abducted and killed numerous professionals and intellectuals: "Private and State properties are threatened, home-and apartment-owners are evicted en masse by force and threats, houses and entire villages are burned, cultural and religious monuments are destroyed... A particularly heavy blow... has been the violence against the hospital centre in Pristina, the maltreatment and expulsion of its professional management, doctors and medical staff."7 Both NATO and the UN prefer to turn a blind eye. UN Interim Administrator Bernard Kouchner (a former French Minister of Health) and KFOR Commander Sir Mike Jackson have established a routine working relationship with Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and KLA Chief of Staff Brigadier General Agim Ceku. ATROCITIES COMMITTED AGAINST THE ROMA Ethnic cleansing has also been directed against the Roma (which represented prior to the conflict a population group of 150,000 people). (According to figures provided by the Roma Community in New York). A large part of the Roma population has already escaped to Montenegro and Serbia. In turn, there are reports that Roma refugees --who had fled by boat to Southern Italy-- have been expelled by the Italian authorities.8 The KLA has also ordered the systematic looting and torching of Romani homes and settlements: "All houses and settlements of Romani, like 2,500 homes in the residential area called 'Mahala' in the town of Kosovska Mitrovica, have been looted and burnt down".9 With regard to KLA atrocities committed against the Roma, the same media distortions prevail. According to the BBC: "Gypsies are accused by [Kosovar] Albanians of collaborating in Serb brutalities, which is why they've also become victims of revenge attacks. And the truth is, some probably did." 10 INSTALLING A PARAMILITARY GOVERNMENT As Western leaders trumpet their support for democracy, State terrorism in Kosovo has become an integral part of NATO's post-war design. The KLA's political role for the post-conflict period had been mapped out well in advance. Prior to the Rambouillet Conference, the KLA had been promised a central role in the formation of a post-conflict government. The "hidden agenda" consisted in converting the KLA paramilitary into a legitimate and accomplished civilian administration. According to US State Department spokesman James Foley (February 1999): "We want to develop a good relationship with them [the KLA] as they transform themselves into a politically-oriented organization, ...[W]e believe that we have a lot of advice and a lot of help that we can provide to them if they become precisely the kind of political actor we would like to see them become.'"11 In other words, Washington had already slated the KLA "provisional government" (PGK) to run civilian State institutions. Under NATO's "Indirect Rule", the KLA has taken over municipal governments and public services including schools and hospitals. Rame Buja, the KLA "Minister for Local Administration" has appointed local prefects in 23 out of 25 municipalities.12 Under NATO's regency, the KLA has replaced the duly elected (by ethnic Albanians) provisional Kosovar government of President Ibrahim Rugova. The self-proclaimed KLA administration has branded Rugova as a traitor declaring the (parallel) Kosovar parliamentary elections held in March 1998 to be invalid. This position has largely been upheld by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) entrusted by UNMIK with the post-war task of "democracy ?building" and "good governance". In turn, OSCE officials have already established a working rapport with KLA appointees.13 The KLA provisional government (PGK) is made up of the KLA's political wing together with the Democratic Union Movement (LBD), a coalition of five opposition parties opposed to Rugova's Democratic League (LDK). In addition to the position of prime minister, the KLA controls the ministries of finance, public order and defence. The KLA has a controlling voice on the UN sponsored Kosovo Transitional Council set up by Mr. Bernard Kouchner. The PGK has also established links with a number of Western governments. Whereas the KLA has been spearheaded into running civilian institutions (under the guidance of the OSCE), members of the duly elected Kosovar (provisional) government of the Democratic League (DKL) have been blatantly excluded from acquiring a meaningful political voice. ESTABLISHING A KLA POLICE FORCE TO "PROTECT CIVILIANS" Under NATO occupation, the rule of law has visibly been turned up side down. Criminals and terrorists are to become law-enforcement officers. KLA troops --which have already taken over police stations-- will eventually form a 4,000 strong "civilian" police force (to be trained by foreign police officers under the authority of the United Nations) with a mandate to "protect civilians". Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien has already pledged Canadian support to the formation of a civilian police force.14 The latter --which has been entrusted to the OSCE -- will eventually operate under the jurisdiction of the KLA controlled "Ministry of Public Order". US MILITARY AID Despite NATO's commitment to disarming the KLA, the Kosovar paramilitary organisation is slated to be transformed into a modern military force. So-called "security assistance" has already been granted to the KLA by the US Congress under the `Kosovar Independence and Justice Act of 1999'. Start-up funds of 20 million dollars will largely be " used for training and support for their [KLA] established self-defence forces."15 In the words of KLA Chief of Staff Agim Ceku: "The KLA wants to be transformed into something like the US National Guard, ... we accept the assistance of KFOR and the international community to rebuild an army according to NATO standards. ...These professionally trained soldiers of the next generation of the KLA would seek only to defend Kosova. At this decisive moment, we [the KLA] do not hide our ambitions; we want the participation of international military structures to assist in the pacific and humanitarian efforts we are attempting here" 16. While the KLA maintains its links to the Balkans narcotics trade which served to finance many of its terrorist activities, the paramilitary organisation has now been granted an official seal of approval as well as "legitimate" sources of funding. The pattern is similar to that followed in Croatia and in the Bosnian Muslim-Croatian Federation where so-called "equip and train" programmes were put together by the Pentagon. In turn, Washington's military aid package to the KLA has been entrusted to Military Professional Resources Inc (MPRI) of Alexandria, Virginia, a private mercenary outfit run by high ranking former US military officers. MPRI's training concepts --which had already been tested in Croatia and Bosnia? are based on imparting "offensive tactics... as the best form of defence".17 In the Kosovar context, this so-called "defensive doctrine" transforms the KLA paramilitary into a modern army without however eliminating its terrorist makeup.18 The objective is to ultimately transform an insurgent army into a modern military and police force which serves the Alliance's future strategic objectives in the Balkans. MPRI has currently "ninety-one highly experienced, former military professionals working in Bosnia & Herzegovina".19 The number of military officers working on contract with the KLA has not been disclosed. A FORMER CROATIAN GENERAL APPOINTED KLA CHIEF OF STAFF The massacres of civilians in Kosovo are not disconnected acts of revenge by civilians or by so-called "rogue elements" within the KLA as claimed by NATO and the United Nations. They are part of a consistent and coherent pattern. The intent (and result) of the KLA sponsored atrocities have been to trigger the "ethnic cleansing" of Serbs, Roma and other minorities in Kosovo. KLA Commander Agim Ceku referring to the killings of 14 villagers at Gracko on July 24, claimed that: "We [the KLA] do not know who did it, but I sincerely believe these people have nothing to do with the KLA."20 In turn, KFOR Lieutenant General Sir Mike Jackson has commended his KLA counterpart, Commander Agim Ceku for "efforts undertaken" to disarm the KLA. In fact, very few KLA weapons have been handed in. Moreover, the deadline for turning in KLA weaponry has been extended. "I do not regard this as noncompliance" said Commander Jackson in a press conference, "but rather as an indication of the seriousness with which General Ceku is taking this important issue." 21 Yet what Sir Mike Jackson failed to mention is that KLA Chief of Staff Commander Agim Ceku (although never indicted as a war criminal) was (according to Jane Defence Weekly June 10 1999) "one of the key planners of the successful `Operation Storm'" led by the Croatian Armed Forces against Krajina Serbs in 1995. General Jackson --who had served in former Yugoslavia under the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)-- was fully cognizant of the activities of the Croatian High Command during that period including the responsibilities imparted to Brigadier General Agim Ceku. In February 1999, barely a month prior to the NATO bombings, Ceku left his position as Brigadier General with the Croatian Armed Forces to join the KLA as Commander in Chief. FROM KRAJINA TO KOSOVO: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME According to the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Operation Storm resulted in the massacre of at least 410 civilians in the course of a three day operation (4 to 7 August 1995). 22 An internal report of The Hague War Crimes Tribunal (leaked to the New York Times), confirmed that the Croatian Army had been responsible for carrying out "summary executions, indiscriminate shelling of civilian populations and "ethnic cleansing" in the Krajina region of Croatia...."23 In a section of the report entitled "The Indictment. Operation Storm, A Prima Facie Case.", the ICTY report confirms that: "During the course of the military offensive, the Croatian armed forces and special police committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law, including but not limited to, shelling of Knin and other cities... During, and in the 100 days following the military offensive, at least 150 Serb civilians were summarily executed, and many hundreds disappeared....In a widespread and systematic manner, Croatian troops committed murder and other inhumane acts upon and against Croatian Serbs" 24. US "GENERALS FOR HIRE" The internal 150 page report concluded that it has "sufficient material to establish that the three [Croatian] generals who commanded the military operation" could be held accountable under international law. 25 The individuals named had been directly involved in the military operation "in theatre". Those involved in "the planning of Operation Storm" were not mentioned: "The identity of the "American general" referred to by Fenrick [a Tribunal staff member] is not known. The tribunal would not allow Williamson or Fenrick to be interviewed. But Ms. Arbour, the tribunal's chief prosecutor, suggested in a telephone interview last week that Fenrick's comment had been ?a joking observation'. Ms. Arbour had not been present during the meeting, and that is not how it was viewed by some who were there. Several people who were at the meeting assumed that Fenrick was referring to one of the retired U.S. generals who worked for Military Professional Resources Inc.... Questions remain about the full extent of U.S. involvement. In the course of the three-year investigation into the assault, the United States has failed to provide critical evidence requested by the tribunal, according to tribunal documents and officials, adding to suspicion among some there that Washington is uneasy about the investigation... The Pentagon, however, has argued through U.S. lawyers at the tribunal that the shelling was a legitimate military activity, according to tribunal documents and officials.26. The Tribunal was attempting to hide what had already been revealed in several press reports published in the wake of Operation Storm. According to a US State Department spokesman, MPRI had been helping the Croatians "avoid excesses or atrocities in military operations."27 . Fifteen senior US military advisers headed by retired two star General Richard Griffitts had been dispatched to Croatia barely seven months before Operation Storm. 28 According to one report, MPRI executive director General Carl E. Vuono: "held a secret top-level meeting at Brioni Island, off the coast of Croatia, with Gen. Varimar Cervenko, the architect of the Krajina campaign. In the five days preceding the attack, at least ten meetings were held between General Vuono and officers involved in the campaign..."29 According to Ed Soyster a senior MPRI executive and former head of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) (interviewed by Time Magazine in early 1996): "MPRI's role in Croatia is limited to classroom instruction on military-civil relations and doesn't involve training in tactics or weapons. Other U.S. military men say whatever MPRI did for the Croats--and many suspect more than classroom instruction was involved--it was worth every penny. "Carl Vuono and Butch [Crosbie] Saint are hired guns and in it for the money," says Charles Boyd, a recently retired four-star Air Force general who was the Pentagon's No. 2 man in Europe until July [1995]. "They did a very good job for the Croats, and I have no doubt they'll do a good job in Bosnia. " 30. THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL'S COVER UP The untimely leaking of the ICTY's internal report on the Krajina massacres barely a few days before the onslaught of NATO's air raids on Yugoslavia was the source of some embarrassment to the Tribunal's Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour. The Tribunal (ICTY) attempted to cover up the matter and trivialise the report's findings (including the alleged role of the US military officers on contract with the Croatian Armed Forces). Several Tribunal officials including American Lawyer Clint Williamson sought to "discredit the Canadian Peace-keeping officers' testimony" who witnessed the Krajina massacres in 1995".31 Williamson, who described the shelling of Knin as a "minor incident," said that the Pentagon had told him that Knin was a legitimate military target... The [Tribunal's] review concluded by voting not to include the shelling of Knin in any indictment, a conclusion that stunned and angered many at the tribunal"...32 The findings of the Tribunal contained in the leaked ICTY documents were downplayed, their relevance was casually dismissed as "expressions of opinion, arguments and hypotheses from various staff members of the OTP during the investigative process".33 According to the Tribunal's spokesperson "the documents do not represent in any way the concluded decisions of the Prosecutor." 34 The internal 150 page report has not been released. The staff member who had leaked the documents is (according to a Croatian TV report) no longer working for the Tribunal. During the press Conference, the Tribunal's spokesman was asked: "about the consequences for the person who leaked the information", Blewitt [the ICTY spokesman] replied that he did not want to go into that. He said that the OTP would strengthen the existing procedures to prevent this from happening again, however he added that you could not stop people from talking". 35 THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN CROATIA The massacres conducted under Operation Storm "set the stage" for the "ethnic cleansing" of at least 180,000 Krajina Serbs (according to estimates of the Croatian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International). According to other sources, the number of victims of ethnic cleansing in Krajina was much larger. Moreover, there is evidence that chemical weapons had been used in the Yugoslav civil war (1991-95).36 Although there is no firm evidence of the use of chemical weapons against Croatian Serbs, an ongoing enquiry by the Canadian Minister of Defence (launched in July 1999) points to the possibility of toxic poisoning of Canadian Peace-keepers while on service in Croatia between 1993 and 1995: "There was a smell of blood in the air during the past week as the media sensed they had a major scandal unfolding within the Department of National Defense over the medical files of those Canadians who served in Croatia in 1993. Allegations of destroyed documents, a coverup, and a defensive minister and senior officers..." 37. The official release of the Department of National Defence (DND) refers to the possibility of toxic "soil contamination" in Medak Pocket in 1993 (see below). Was it "soil contamination" or something far more serious? The criminal investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) refers to the shredding of medical files of former Canadian peace-keepers by the DND. In other words, did the DND have something to hide? The issue remains as to what types of shells and ammunitions were used by the Croatian Armed Forces -- ie. were chemical weapons used against Serb civilians? OPERATION STORM: THE ACCOUNT OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN REGIMENT Prior to the onslaught, Croatian radio had previously broadcasted a message by president Franjo Tudjman, calling upon "Croatian citizens of Serbian ethnicity... to remain in their homes and not to fear the Croatian authorities, which will respect their minority rights". 38. Canadian peace-keepers of the Second Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment witnessed the atrocities committed by Croatian troops in the Krajina offensive in September 1995: "Any Serb who had failed to evacuate their property were systematically "cleansed" by roving death squads. Every abandoned animal was slaughtered and any Serb household was ransacked and torched". 39. Also confirmed by Canadian peace-keepers was the participation of German mercenaries in Operation Storm: Immediately behind the front-line Croatian combat troops and German mercenaries, a large number of hard-line extremists had pushed into the Krajina.... Many of these atrocities were carried out within the Canadian Sector, but as the peacekeepers were soon informed by the Croat authorities, the UN no longer had any formal authority in the region.40. How the Germans mercenaries were recruited was never officially revealed. An investigation by the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) confirmed that foreign mercenaries in Croatia had in some cases "been paid [and presumably recruited] outside Croatia and by third parties"41 THE 1993 MEDAK POCKET MASSACRE According to Jane Defence Weekly (10 June 1999), Brigadier General Agim Ceku (now in charge of the KLA) also "masterminded the successful HV [Croatian Army] offensive at Medak" in September 1993. In Medak, the combat operation was entitled "Scorched Earth" resulting in the total destruction of the Serbian villages of Divoselo, Pocitelj and Citluk, and the massacre of over 100 civilians.42 These massacres were also witnessed by Canadian peace-keepers under UN mandate: "As the sun rose over the horizon. It revealed a Medak Valley engulfed in smoke and flames. As the frustrated soldiers of 2PPCLI waited for the order to move forward into the pocket, shots and screams still rang out as the ethnic cleansing continued.... About 20 members of the international press had tagged along, anxious to see the Medak battleground. Calvin [a Canadian officer] called an informal press conference at the head of the column and loudly accused the Croats of trying to hide war crimes against the Serb inhabitants. The Croats started withdrawing back to their old lines, taking with them whatever loot they hadn't destroyed. All livestock had been killed and houses torched. French reconnaissance troops and the Canadian command element pushed up the valley and soon began to find bodies of Serb civilians, some already decomposing, others freshly slaughtered.... Finally, on the drizzly morning of Sept. 17, teams of UN civilian police arrived to probe the smouldering ruins for murder victims. Rotting corpses lying out in the open were catalogued, then turned over to the peacekeepers for burial. 43. The massacres were reported to the Canadian Minister of Defence and to the United Nations: Senior defence bureaucrats back in Ottawa had no way of predicting the outcome of the engagement in terms of political fallout. To them, there was no point in calling media attention to a situation that might easily backfire.... So Medak was relegated to the memory hole - no publicity, no recriminations, no official record. Except for those soldiers involved, Canada's most lively military action since the Korean War simply never happened. 44 NATO'S POST-CONFLICT AGENDA IN KOSOVO Both the Medak Pocket massacre and Operation Storm bear a direct relationship to the ongoing security situation in Kosovo and the massacres and ethnic cleansing committed by KLA troops. While the circumstances are markedly different, several of today's actors in Kosovo were involved (under the auspices of the Croatian Armed Forces) in the planning of both these operations. Moreover, the US mercenary outfit MPRI which collaborated with the Croatian Armed Forces in 1995 is currently on contract with the KLA. NATO's casual response to the appointment of Brigadier General Agim Ceku as KLA Chief of Staff was communicated by Mr. Jamie Shea in a Press Briefing in May: "I have always made it clear, and you have heard me say this, that NATO has no direct contacts with the KLA. Who they appoint as their leaders, that is entirely their own affair. I don't have any comment on that whatever.45 While NATO says it "has no direct contacts with the KLA", the evidence confirms the opposite. Amply documented, KLA terrorism has been installed with NATO's tacit approval. The KLA had (according to several reports) been receiving "covert support" and training from the CIA and Germany's Bundes Nachrichten Dienst (BND) since the mid-nineties. Moreover, MPRI collaboration with the KLA predates the onslaught of the bombing campaign.46 The building up of KLA forces was part of NATO planning. Already by mid-1998, "covert support" had been replaced by official ("overt") support by the military Alliance in violation of UN Security Council Resolution UNSCR 1160 of 31 March 1998 which condemned: "...all acts of terrorism by the Kosovo Liberation Army or any other group or individual and all external support for terrorist activity in Kosovo, including finance, arms and training." NATO officials, Western heads of State and heads of government, the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan not to mention ICTY chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour, were fully cognizant of General Brigadier Agim Ceku's involvement in the planning of Operation Storm and Operation Scorched Earth. Canadian Major General Lewis McKenzie who served under the United Nations confirmed that "the same officer who masterminded the 1993 Medak offensive in Croatia that saw Canadian soldiers using deadly force to stop horrendous atrocities against Serb civilians [had also] ordered the overrunning of lightly armed UN outposts, in blatant contravention of international law. His influence within the KLA does not augur well for its trustworthiness during Kosovo's political evolution". 47 Surely, some questions should have been asked.... Yet visibly what is shaping up in the wake of the bombings in Kosovo is the continuity of NATO's operation in the Balkans. Military personnel and UN bureaucrats previously stationed in Croatia and Bosnia have been routinely reassigned to Kosovo. KFOR Commander Mike Jackson had previously been responsible --as IFOR Commander for organising the return of Serbs "to lands taken by Croatian HVO forces in the Krajina offensive".48 And in this capacity General Mike Jackson had "urged that the resettlement [of Krajina Serbs] not [be] rushed to avoid tension [with the Croatians]" while also warning returning Serbs "of the extent of the [land] mine threat "49. In retrospect, recalling the events of early 1996, very few Krajina Serbs were allowed to return to their homes under the protection of the United Nations. According to "Veritas" (a Belgrade based organization of Serbian refugees from Croatia), some 10-15,000 Serbs were able to resettle in Croatia. And a similar process is unfolding in Kosovo, --ie. the conduct of senior military officers conforms to a consistent pattern, the same key individuals are now involved in Kosovo. While token efforts are displayed to protect Serb and Roma civilians, those who have fled Kosovo are not encouraged to return under UN protection... In post-war Kosovo, "ethnic cleansing" implemented by the KLA has been accepted by the "international community" as a "fait accompli"... Moreover, while calling for democracy and "good governance" in the Balkans, the US and its allies have installed in Kosovo a paramilitary government with links to organised crime. The foreseeable outcome is the outright "criminalisation" of civilian State institutions and the establishment of what is best described as a "Mafia State". The complicity of NATO and the Alliance governments (namely their relentless support to the KLA) points to the de facto "criminalisation" of KFOR and of the UN peace-keeping apparatus in Kosovo. The donor agencies and governments (eg. the funds approved by the US Congress in violation of several UN Security Council resolutions) providing financial support to the KLA are, in this regard, also "accessories" to the de facto criminalisation of State institutions. Through the intermediation of a paramilitary group (created and financed by Washington and Bonn), NATO ultimately bears the burden of responsibility for the massacres and ethnic cleansing of civilians in Kosovo. STATE TERROR AND THE "FREE MARKET" State terror and the "free market" seem to go hand in hand. The concurrent "criminalisation" of State institutions in Kosovo is not incompatible with the West's economic and strategic objectives in the Balkans. Notwithstanding the massacres of civilians, the self-proclaimed KLA administration has committed itself to establishing a "secure and stable environment" for foreign investors and international financial institutions. The Minister of Finance Adem Grobozci and other representatives of the provisional government invited to the various donor conferences are all KLA appointees. In contrast, members of the KDL of Ibrahim Rugova (duly elected in parliamentary elections) were not even invited to attend the Stabilisation Summit in Sarajevo in late July. "Free market reforms" are envisaged for Kosovo under the supervision of the Bretton Woods institutions largely replicating the structures of the Rambouillet agreement. Article I (Chapter 4a) of the Rambouillet Agreement stipulated that: "The economy of Kosovo shall function in accordance with free market principles". The KLA government will largely be responsible for implementing these reforms and ensuring that loan conditionalities are met. In close liaison with NATO, the Bretton Woods institutions had already analysed the consequences of an eventual military intervention leading to the military occupation of Kosovo: almost a year prior to the beginning of the War, the World Bank conducted "simulations" which "anticipated the possibility of an emergency scenario arising out of the tensions in Kosovo". 50. The eventual "reconstruction" of Kosovo financed by international debt largely purports to transfer Kosovo's extensive wealth in mineral resources and coal to multinational capital. In this regard, the KLA has already occupied (pending their privatisation) the largest coal mine at Belacevac in Dobro Selo northwest of Pristina. In turn, foreign capital has its eyes rivetted on the massive Trepca mining complex which constitutes "the most valuable piece of real estate in the Balkans, worth at least $5 billion." 51. The Trepca complex not only includes copper and large reserves of zinc but also cadmium, gold, and silver. It has several smelting plants, 17 metal treatment sites, a power plant and Yugoslavia's largest battery plant. Northern Kosovo also has estimated reserves of 17 billion tons of coal and lignite. In the wake of the bombings, the management of many of the State owned enterprises and public utilities were taken over by KLA appointees. In turn, the leaders of Provisional Government of Kosovo (PGK) have become "the brokers" of multinational capital committed to handing over the Kosovar economy at bargain prices to foreign investors. The IMF's lethal "economic therapy" will be imposed, the provincial economy will be dismantled, agriculture will be deregulated, local industrial enterprises which have not been totally destroyed will be driven into bankruptcy. The most profitable State assets will eventually be transferred into the hands of foreign capital under the World Bank sponsored privatisation programme. "Strong economic medicine" imposed by external creditors will contribute to further boosting a criminal economy (already firmly implanted in Albania) which feeds on poverty and economic dislocation. "The Allies will work with the rest of the international community to help rebuild Kosovo once the crisis is over: The International Monetary Fund and Group of Seven industrialized countries are among those who stand ready to offer financial help to the countries of the region. We want to ensure proper co-ordination of aid and help countries to respond to the effects of the crisis. This should go hand in hand with the necessary structural reforms in the countries affected -- helped by budget support from the international community.52 Morever, the so-called "reconstruction" of the Balkans by foreign capital will signify multi-billion contracts to foreign firms to rebuild Kosovo's infrastructure. More generally, the proposed "Marshall Plan" for the Balkans financed by the World Bank and the European Development Bank (EBRD) as well as private creditors will largely benefit Western mining, petroleum and construction companies while fuelling the region's external debt well into the third millennium. And Kosovo is slated to reimburse this debt through the laundering of dirty money. Yugoslav banks in Kosovo will be closed down, the banking system will be deregulated under the supervision of Western financial institutions. Narco-dollars from the multi-billion dollar Balkans drug trade will be recycled towards servicing the external debt as well as "financing" the costs of "reconstruction". The lucrative flow of narco-dollars thus ensures that foreign investors involved in the "reconstruction" programme will be able reap substantial returns. In turn, the existence of a Kosovar "narco-State" ensures the orderly reimbursement of international donors and creditors. The latter are prepared to turn blind eye. They have a tacit vested interest in installing a government which facilitates the laundering of drug money. The pattern in Kosovo is, in this regard, similar to that observed in neighbouring Albania. Since the early 1990s (culminating with the collapse of the financial pyramids in 1996-97), the IMF's reforms have impoverished the Albanian population while spearheading the national economy into bankruptcy. The IMF's deadly economic therapy transforms countries into open territories. In Albania and to a lesser extent Macedonia, it has also contributed to fostering the growth of illicit trade and the criminalisation of State institutions. ---------- ENDNOTES 1. Jim Lehrer News Maker Interview, PBS, 26 July 1999. 2. Stratfor Commentary, "Growing Threat of Serbian Paramilitary Action in Kosovo", 29 July 1999 3. Human Rights Watch, 3 August 1999. 4. See Michael Radu, "Don't Arm the KLA", CNS Commentary from the Foreign Policy Research Institute, 7 April, 1999). 5. Tanjug Press Dispatch, 14 May 1999 6. Stratfor Comment, "Rugova Faced with a Choice of Two Losses", Stratfor, 29 July 1999. 7. Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Yugoslav Daily Survey, Belgrade, 29 June 1999. 8. Hina Press Dispatch, Zagreb, 26 July 1999 9. Ibid. 10. BBC Report, London, 5 July 1999. 11. New York Times, 2 February 1999 12. Financial Times, London, 4 August 1999. 13. See Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Mission in Kosovo, Decision 305, Permanent Council, 237th Plenary Meeting, PC Journal No. 237, Agenda item 2, Vienna, 1 July 1999 . 14 Statement at the Sarajevo Summit, 31 July 1999. 15. 106th Congress, April 15, HR 1425. 16. Interview with KLA Chief of Staff Commander Agim Ceku, Kosovapress, 31 July 1999 17.See Tammy Arbucki, Building a Bosnian Army", Jane International Defence Review, August 1997. 18. Ibid. 19. Military Professional Resources, Inc, "Personnel Needs", http://www.mpri.com/current/personnel.htm 20. Associated Press Report 21. Ibid. 22. The actual number of civilians killed or missing was much larger. 23. Quoted in Raymond Bonner, War Crimes Panel Finds Croat Troops Cleansed the Serbs, New York Times, 21 March 1999). 24. Ibid. 25. Ibid. 26 Raymond Bonner, op cit. 27. Ken Silverstein, "Privatizing War", The Nation, New York, 27 July 1997. 28. See Mark Thompson et al, "Generals for Hire", Time Magazine, 15 January 1996, p. 34. 29. Quoted in Silverstein, op cit. 30. Mark Thompson et al, op cit. 31. Raymond Bonner, op cit: 32. Ibid. 33. ICTY Weekly Press Briefing, 24 March 1999). 34. Ibid. 35. Ibid 36. See inter alia Reuters dispatch, 21 October 1993 on the use of chemical grenades, a New York Times report on 31 October 1992 on the use of poisoned gas. 37. Lewis MacKenzie, "Giving our soldiers the benefit of the doubt", National Post, 2 August 1999 38. Slobodna Dalmacija, Split, Croatia, August 5 1996. 39. Scott Taylor and Brian Nolan, The Sunday Sun, Toronto, 2 November 1998. 40. Ibid. 41. United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-first session, Item 9 of the provisional agenda, Geneva, 21 December 1994). 42. (See Memorandum on the Violation of the Human and Civil Rights of the Serbian People in the Republic of Croatia, http://serbianlinks.freehosting.net/memorandum.htm). 43. Excerpts from the book of Scott Taylor and Brian Nolan published in the Toronto Sun, 1 November 1998. 44. Ibid. 45. NATO Press Briefing, 14 May 1999. 46. For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Kosovo `Freedom Fighters' Financed by Organized Crime, CAQ, Spring-Summer 1999. 47.Lewis McKenzie, "Soldier's View Nato Should Disarm the KLA Before It's Too Late', The Vancouver Sun, June 12, 1999. 48. Jane's Defence Weekly, Vol 25, No. 7, 14 February 1996. 49. Ibid. 50. World Bank Development News, Washington, 27 April 1999. 51. New York Times, July 8, 1998, report by Chris Hedges. 52. Statement by Javier Solano, Secretary General of NATO, published in The National Post, Toronto May 1999. ----------
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Michel Chossudovsky Department of Economics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N6N5 Voice box: 1-613-562-5800, ext. 1415, Fax: 1-514-425-6224 E-Mail: chossudovsky@videotron.ca (Alternative Email: chossudovsky@sprint.ca) Recent articles: Post-war Kosovo http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/yugo_archive/19990816mcpaper.htm Overview on the War: http://www.transnational.org/features/Yuoverview.html On the role of the KLA: http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/co/2743/1.html Breakup of Yugoslavia: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/62/022.html Impact of the bombings: http://www.diaspora-net.org/food4thought/chossudovsky.htm On The Globalisation of Poverty and the Financial Crisis: http://wwwdb.ix.de/tp/english/special/eco/6373/1.html http://www.transnational.org/features/chossu_worldbank.html http://www.transnational.org/features/g7solution.html http://www.twnside.org.sg/souths/twn/title/scam-cn.htm http://www.interlog.com/~cjazz/chossd.htm http://www.heise.de/tp/english/special/eco/ http://heise.xlink.de/tp/english/special/eco/6099/1.html#anchor1 http://www.ased.org/resources/global/articles/chossu.htm From rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org Tue Aug 24 14:32:54 1999 From: rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org (Roberto Verzola) Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 14:32:54 Subject: [asia-apec 1260] y2k analysis Message-ID: <199908240730.PAA00629@phil.gn.apc.org> Y2K: The Homestretch by Roberto Verzola As Y2K preparations reach their homestretch, fund movements caused by the Y2K problem's differential effect on the perception of financial risk associated with various countries, markets and firms will become a major concern. This concern should be especially intense in Asia. It is here where fund movements in 1997 caused a currency crisis that triggered bankruptcies, recessions and devaluations in vulnerable countries that eventually included Russia and Brazil. State of Y2K readiness Last July 22, Inspector General Jacquelyn Williams-Bridgers of the U.S. Department of State testified before a U.S. Senate Special Committee on the Y2K Problem, where she reviewed Y2K-readiness worldwide: * "Approximately half of the 161 countries assessed are reported to be at medium-to-high risk of having Y2K-related failures in their telecommunications, energy, and/or transportation sectors. The situation is noticeably better in the finance and water/wastewater sectors, where around two-thirds of the world's countries are reported to have a low probability of experiencing Y2K-related failures"; * "Industrialized countries were generally found to be at low risk of having Y2K-related infrastructure failures, particularly in the finance sector. Still, nearly a third of these countries (11 out of 39) were reported to be at medium risk of failure in the transportation sector, and almost one-fourth (9 out of 39) were reported to be at a medium or high risk of failure in the telecommunications, energy or water sectors"; * "Anywhere from 52 to 68 developing countries out of 98 were assessed as having a medium or high risk of Y2K-related failure in the telecommunications, transportation, and/or energy sectors. Still, the relatively low level of computerization in key sectors of the developing world may reduce the risk of prolonged infrastructure failures"; and * Key sectors in Eastern Europe and the former USSR are "a concern because of the relatively high probability of Y2K-related failures". Failures in every sector, region and level Bridgers did not report how much of her assessment was based on self-reported progress, and how much was based on independently-audited reports. Since many Y2K progress reports are not audited and therefore tend to be too optimistic, the situation could actually be more serious than reported. One also wonders how the financial sector can be at a low risk while sectors it totally depends on like energy and telecommunications are at high-to-medium risk. Bridgers concludes: "the global community is likely to experience varying degrees of Y2K-related failures in every sector, in every region, and at every economic level. As such, the risk of disruption will likely extend to the international trade arena, where a breakdown in any part of the global supply chain would have a serious impact on the U.S. and world economies." As actual reports/rumors of Y2K failures come in, the perceived risks per firm, sector, and country will change. And as these perceived risks change, fund managers and depositors will keep moving their funds away from high-risk areas towards low-risk areas. This is simply rational economic behavior, part of the cold logic of finance and investment. This is exactly how fund managers behaved, when they withdrew their funds from Asia in 1997 to move them into areas of lower risk. These sudden fund flows bear watching. Most well-informed fund managers would have access to similar information and will therefore tend to move in similar directions. Those who lack information will tend to follow the placement decisions of the better-informed. This leads to "herd behavior," a follow-the-leader or follow-the-crowd strategy which tends to magnify small changes and cause huge impacts. Beware of herd behavior and positive feedback With feedback, the situation is worse. If the resulting effects in turn intensify the causes, this leads to even greater effects, which then further feed back into the causes. This positive feedback loop is a formula for rapid change, explosive growth, and extreme instability. By removing barriers to capital flows, financial liberalization increased the possibility of such positive feedback loops. When foreign speculators in 1997, for instance, rushed to sell their Thai baht for US dollars in fear of a baht depreciation, the sudden demand for dollars caused the baht to depreciate. This further fuelled the baht-to-dollar panic and eventually triggered the global financial crisis whose repercussions we still feel, two years later. If Y2K problems change risk perceptions, which then trigger fund movements that lead to herd behavior, the resulting rush can break the weakest links in the system. Failures in the weakest links can then lead to a bigger rush, which can overstress other links and cause even worse failures, if not panic and collapse. Globalization has made economies tightly interconnected. So, failures in vulnerable countries and firms can propagate to others, including countries and firms that are fully Y2K-compliant and those that are not even automated. Avoiding collapse: options Governments will presumably do everything to control the situation and ensure a "business as usual" post-Y2K scenario. They can either: 1) dampen changes in the risk perceptions, so that risk-avoidance becomes unnecessary, 2) dampen fund movements, to minimize herd behavior, or 3) improve the system's capacity to absorb the stresses of herd behavior. Unfortunately, it is too late for the first option to be effective. Because of late conversion efforts, Y2K failures will surely occur. The Bridgers report makes this clear. As failures occur, are confirmed or even simply rumored, risk perceptions per firm will fluctuate, triggering all kinds of risk-avoiding fund flows. Ironically, even Y2K conversion successes and failure-free claims can encourage their own fund flows, as investors seek low-risk shelters for their funds. Dampening fund movements Critics of financial liberalization had long advocated the second option. The proposed Tobin tax, China's highly regulated stock and currency markets, and Malaysia's fixed exchange rate are variations of this theme. However, neo-liberal economists and the IMF have invariably resisted these proposals to restrain gain-maximizing capital. They can hardly be expected to restrict capital that is minimizing its risk and even trying to preserve itself. To impose such restrictions as bank holidays and withdrawal ceilings today would also simply erode the public confidence and trust upon which the whole system stands. Surely, the banking system cannot survive the loss of confidence by the owners of even just 10% of its deposits. Raising reserve requirements The third option is to improve the financial system's capacity to absorb the stresses of huge fund movements and herd behavior, if that is at all still possible. Central banks can do this by raising bank reserve requirements one or more percentage points every month until they peak in the most critical months before and after the Y2K rollover. This way, banks would be flush with cash for responding to all but the worst kind of mass withdrawals by depositors worried about the safety of their funds. Some governments had actually done this in the past, under the guise of "mopping up excess liquidity". This reduced the money in circulation and, as banks scrambled to retain their profitability and borrowers competed over less money, increased interest rates. In reality, governments did this to 1) finance their deficits by borrowing from the public, which would be attracted by the higher interest rates, or 2) make their local currency appreciate vis-a-vis the dollar, which would be attracted into the country by the higher interest rates. Because these policies increased debt stock and encouraged speculation, they contributed to what later became the Asian financial crisis. In a critical situation such as the Y2K transition, however, such emergency measure can prepare banks against panicky depositors. In the past months, however, countries like the Philippines have actually been reducing, instead of increasing, their mandatory bank reserve requirements. While this move reduces interest rates and leads to an appearance of recovery from the crisis, it makes the banking system even more vulnerable to excessively large withdrawals. There is still time for the system to correct this perverse policy and gradually raise bank reserves -- but the banks must do it right away. As depositors and fund managers get their funds out of high-risk areas, where will they put them? Presumably in real, tangible assets which do not lose their value so easily -- land, production facilities and tools, goods, precious metals, and so on. As most who are familiar with financial statistics know, however, some $20 to $50 of money or its equivalent is circulating today for every dollar of real goods and services. If these floating money now simultaneously try to convert themselves into real goods and services, we'd have the equivalent of some 20 cars racing for the parking space for one. Given these narrow options, perhaps the final option should now also be seriously considered: that of preparing for the highly probable and working out the least painful way of transforming what is turning out to be a fundamentally flawed system. From notoapec at clear.net.nz Thu Aug 26 00:18:01 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 08:18:01 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1261] ABAC on APEC Message-ID: <000f01beef0d$065994e0$0c3661cb@notoapec> Business Challenges Apec Leaders To Speed Up Press Release ABAC 24/08/99 17:16:00 In a frank and challenging report, business leaders from around the APEC region say individual member economies are not moving fast enough to achieve their deadlines for free and open trade and investment. The ABAC (APEC Business Advisory Council) report to the APEC chair, New Zealand?s Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jenny Shipley, was made public this afternoon (3pm New Zealand time). The report sets down the directions the Asia-Pacific business community believes APEC must follow, and includes a series of specific recommendations. ABAC chair, New Zealand?s Philip Burdon (a former New Zealand Trade Minister and Chair of Asia 2000) says APEC has achieved a great deal in the past ten years. ?APEC has become a major force for economic reform and growth, having put in place far-reaching programmes for trade liberalisation, economic and technical cooperation between members, and the removal of red tape and unnecessary costs to business,? Mr Burdon says. ?But like all processes which move by consensus and which are subject to the pressures of domestic politics, APEC has at times lost sight of its own goals.? Today?s report challenges APEC leaders to work more vigorously to achieve their agreed free trade and investment goals by 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies. It also calls on APEC leaders to work together in the WTO to achieve comprehensive multilateral trade liberalisation. ?Trade and investment liberalisation is vital to improve the competitiveness of our businesses, to encourage economic growth, and to increase the welfare of our communities,? the report says, emphasising that the dates of 2010 and 2020 are coming up fast, particularly for developed member countries. It says individual action plans by member economies are ?not ambitious enough, in content or timeframe, to meet the goals of free trade and investment by 2010/2020?. ENDS From notoapec at clear.net.nz Thu Aug 26 03:55:07 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 11:55:07 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1262] Fw: WTO Director-Elect Moore: WTO Must Help Its Poorer Members Message-ID: <001501beef2b$5a65b640$013661cb@notoapec> >>From mritchie@iatp.org Wed Aug 25 00:16:32 1999 > >August 24, 1999 >Dow Jones Newswires >Director-Elect Moore: WTO Must Help Its Poorer Members >WELLINGTON (AP)--Mike Moore, who becomes director-general of the World >Trade Organization next month, said Tuesday the WTO must allow its >smaller and poorer members to play a greater role in the organization's >efforts to promote free trade. >In an interview, Moore said he has asked wealthy member countries to >contribute to a support budget for the world's poorest nations. >Such a move would allow them to fully participate in negotiations in >Geneva, where the WTO is based, and in ministerial meetings such as the >one scheduled in November in the U.S. >"There are countries which feel they've been locked out...and they're >right," said Moore. "I want to be their champion." >Moore added the WTO would also contribute to the budget out of existing >funds. "While I'm unbiased, as I must be, the poorer, the smaller >economies need to have a down payment. They need to get results," he >said. >Moore said he particularly wants to help the 30 less fortunate states >among the WTO's 134 members, some of which can't even afford to have a >representative in Geneva. >Nov. 30, the group's ministers begin meeting in Seattle, Washington, for >talks aimed at rolling back trade barriers around the world in an effort >to boost international prosperity. >Moore, a former prime minister of New Zealand, fills the vacant position >of WTO director-general Sept. 1. After a long, bitter debate the group >chose Moore and Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand >as its new leaders. Both will serve three-year terms, with Moore's >starting first. >- >Moore Chooses Developing Nations Meeting Over APEC >- >Moore said he would not attend next month's annual summit meeting by the >Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Auckland, New Zealand, >choosing instead to travel to a meeting of developing nations being held >at the same time in Marrakech, Morocco. >He acknowledged WTO officials haven't even finished putting together the >agenda for their meeting in Seattle, adding only that agriculture and >service industries are two areas that will be discussed, and refusing to >speculate on the others. >European Union states reportedly want to discuss 16 areas of world >trade. APEC and other trade groups want a shortened agenda that can be >completed within three years. >The last WTO meetings, known as the Uruguay round, lasted seven years. >"About the only thing we agree on is this round must be shorter than >Uruguay. Some are even saying three years is too long," Moore said. Key >issues for the Seattle talks include the implementation of major >agreements from the Uruguay Round. >Asked about China's long-term efforts to become a new member of the >World Trade Organization, Moore said doing that in the next three years >would be a "splendid achievement." >When asked whether labor standards would be an issue at the Seattle >round, Moore would only say the WTO will work more closely with the >International Labor Organization and other international bodies such as >the World Bank on Third World debt issues. >He also said he would like up to five deputy director-generals to form a >cabinet-style management team at the top of the WTO. > >Mark Ritchie, President >Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy >2105 First Ave. South >Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 USA >612-870-3400 (phone) 612-870-4846 (fax) >mritchie@iatp.org www.iatp.org > From notoapec at clear.net.nz Thu Aug 26 12:10:26 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 20:10:26 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1263] APEC and Auckland's homeless Message-ID: <000701beef70$8d65fec0$11c6a7cb@notoapec> NZ Herald, Auckland, NZ, August 25, 1999 By Peter Calder Homeless feel pressure of Apec cleanup [Photo: APEC HASSLES: Street-dweller "Gee" says she has been picked up by police eight times in the past fortnight.] The street-front window dressing in the Methodist Mission's inner-city ministry in Auckland, just across Queen Street from Aotea Square, makes it clear that the organisation is no friend of Apec. "Apec-it's not worth it," one display proclaims. Another overlays a deep blue globe with the legend, "We are concerned for a global underclass. Is Apec?" But lately the mission's clients have been getting the distinct impression that Apec is no friend of theirs either. The police deny it, but mission staff and clients insist that the long arm of the law has been flexing more muscle. The homeless say they are being hassled more often, and that police are taking action over matters they once ignored. Some say police patrols have told them directly that - just as the intersections are being resealed, the gardens replanted, the kerbside bins replaced - they are going to be cleaned up. The mission's Airedale St building is the hub of daily life for many of those to whom the streets are home. Each day at least a few dozen of them sit down to a free bowl of soup at lunchtime and a more substantial meal in the late afternoon for $1. "They pay a dollar, they owe nothing, says George Hill, the smiling giant who manages the mission's foodbank and meals. "One dollar allows them to keep their dignity and it helps those who need to realise that everything's not for free." A couple of dozen showed up for lunch yesterday - though numbers can get as high as 80. Mr Hill made me welcome. With him sitting nearby, some of his clients trusted me as much as they are likely to trust anyone with a notebook. Stories get better when notebooks are flipped open, of course, and some of the people I talked to were a bit vague on the details. But they are used to attention from passing police patrols and they are used to keeping a low profile to avoid it. And they are unanimous that the frequency, the vigour, the detail of police scrutiny are picking up as Apec approaches. Natasha, aged 19, said a police officer had told her as she sat on a bench outside McDonalds that "we are going to clear you street kids off the streets because you make the place look bad." Charlie, 20 years on the street, who gave his age as "old enough", reckoned "they are trying to make out we are a nuisance to the public when we just want to mind our own business." And another, who declined to be named but whom Mr Hill described as "one of the real hard core", was in no doubt about why it was happening. "They want every country in the world to say what a wonderful place New Zealand is. There is no poverty, no crime, no problems." Superintendent Howard Broad, the manager of the Auckland police district, said the weekend's arrest tally was higher than normal and there might have been an operational reason for that. But there had "certainly been no instruction" issued to or by police about cleaning up the streets, except for the requirement to maintain security in the Domain - where at least 20 of the city's homeless have shelters - immediately before and during the leaders' summit. Someone needs to tell the street people. Up the hill at the Auckland City Mission, the clients are also uneasy. Missioner Diane Robertson said those with mental illnesses led simple, predictable lives that were about to be upended. "There is a real sense of concern". From notoapec at clear.net.nz Fri Aug 27 04:58:50 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 12:58:50 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1264] Last call for registrations for Alternatives To the APEC Agenda forum Message-ID: <000201beeffd$d56ce340$573661cb@notoapec> 26 August 1999 Dear friends, There are still a number of spaces left for overseas and New Zealand participants to register for this conference. Please register as soon as possible and let us know that you intend to come. Thanks Aziz Choudry > >Details of the Alternative to the APEC Agenda conference, >Auckland, September 10-12. > >AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND APEC MONITORING GROUP > >Auckland Office >Ground Floor, >Methodist Mission Building >370 Queen Street >Box 106 233 >Auckland >Phone (64) 9 302 5390 extn 833 >or (64) 9 8463227 >Fax (64) 9 846 3297 > >Mobile 021 217 3039 > >Email: notoapec@clear.net.nz > >Christchurch Office >Box 1905 Christchurch >Phone (64) 3 3662803 >Fax (64) 3 3668035 > >Email: notoapec@clear.net.nz > >Website: www.apec.gen.nz > > >Alternatives to the APEC Agenda Conference >Programme and Registration Details >___________________________________________________________________________ __ > >Organised by the Aotearoa/New Zealand APEC Monitoring Group >Sponsored by GATT Watchdog, CAFCA, and the New Zealand Trade Union >Federation > > >10-12 September 1999 >Auckland >Aotearoa/New Zealand > >The Alternatives to the APEC Agenda Conference will build on a >year-long education and action programme opposed to APEC and the >global freemarket economic agenda which it is part of. This has >included forums, public meetings and other activities in >Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Rotorua and other centres. > >Alternatives to the APEC Agenda will have a strong domestic focus >on the impact of the free trade and investment, free market model >on Aotearoa/New Zealand. It will draw the links between this form >of "development", colonisation, and the extreme market reforms >which successive governments have implemented. Speakers from >around the Asia-Pacific region will discuss the implications of >this agenda on their communities, and their peoples' responses. >The conference aims to develop concrete strategies to expose and >oppose corporate-driven processes like APEC and work on genuine >alternatives to a fundamentally flawed globalisation agenda. > >Alternatives to the APEC Agenda is completely independent of >official APEC activities and is not funded or sponsored in any way >by any government or political party. > >*********************************************************************** > >The APEC Monitoring Group > >Since the 1994 APEC Summit in Indonesia, the Aotearoa/New Zealand >APEC Monitoring Group has been involved with ongoing research, >education, media and campaign work on the Asia Pacific Economic >Cooperation forum, and the implications of its agenda for >Aotearoa/New Zealand and other APEC member countries. Members of >the Monitoring Group have attended alternative meetings on APEC in >Jakarta (1994), Osaka/Kyoto (1995), Manila (1996), Vancouver >(1997) and Kuala Lumpur (1998) as well as monitoring the official >APEC meetings themselves and their impact on the cities that have >hosted the events. The APEC Monitoring Group is a member of the >GATT Watchdog coalition and works closely with Corso and the Trade >Union Federation. > >*********************************************************************** >PROGRAMME > >Public Meeting > >7.30 pm Friday 10 September 1999 >Methodist Mission, 370 Queen St, Auckland > >Speakers: > >Dr Jane Kelsey, Professor of Law, Auckland University, >Author of "The New Zealand Experiment" > >Antonio Tujan, Director, IBON Databank, Philippines > >Moses Havini, Representative, Bougainville Interim Government > >Annette Sykes, Ngati Pikiao, Treaty of Waitangi activist > > >Conference > >Where: University of Auckland Conference Centre >26 Symonds St, Auckland > >When: Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 September 1999 >_______________________________________ > >Saturday 11 September > >9am Welcome >Session One: Implications of the APEC Agenda > >9.30 Opening Speaker: Moana Jackson - Ngati Kahungunu; Director, >Nga Kaiwhakamarama I Nga Ture (Maori Legal Service) > >10 International Panel >Sunera Thobani, Ruth Wynn Woodward Professor of Womens Studies, >Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada Dr Alejandro Villamar, RMALC (Mexican Action Network on Free Trade) Reiko Inoue, Co-President of Pacific Asia Resource Centre (PARC), Japan speaker from Korea to be confirmed > >11.15 Local Panel > >Robert Reid, Trade Union Federation > >Bill Rosenberg, CAFCA (Campaign Against Foreign Control of >Aotearoa) researcher > >Peter Wills, biologist, GE activist > >Leonie Pihama, Ngati Mahanga/Te Atiawa, Maori educationalist > >12.15pm Report back from the APEC Monitoring Group on the forums >throughout 1999 > >1pm Lunch > > >Session Two: Alternatives to the APEC Agenda > >1.45pm Keynote speaker: Antonio Tujan, Director, IBON Databank, >Philippines > >2.15 Panel Discussion > >Prue Hyman, Associate Professor of Economics, Victoria University, >Wellington > >Jane Kelsey, Professor of Law, Auckland University, Author of "The >New Zealand Experiment" > >Rex Varona, Executive Director, Asian Migrant Centre, Hong Kong > >Annette Sykes, Ngati Pikiao, Treaty activist > >3.45 Thematic Workshops > >5.30 Report back > >7pm Film: The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas (1996) by Saul >Landau (Drinks and Nibbles will be available. Saul Landau will be present to introduce the film) > > > >Sunday 12th September > >Session Three: Strategies for the Future > >9.30am Keynote Speaker: Moses Havini, Bougainville Interim >Government > >10 Panel discussion > >Mereana Pitman, Ngati Kahungunu, Treaty educator > >Aziz Choudry, GATT Watchdog > >Radha D'Souza, Asia Pacific Workers Solidarity Links > >Crispin Beltran, unionist, chairman of KMU, Philippines > >11.30 Thematic Workshops > >1pm Lunch > >1.45 Report Back > >3.30 End > >4.00 Rally Against APEC (meet Band Rotunda, Albert Park) > >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > >REGISTRATION FORM: > >(Please note: Due to venue restraints we have limited the number of >overseas registrations to 40 places and local participants to 140. >Priority will be given to ensure a broad representation of sectors >and community interests.) > >Name...................................................................... > >Organisation.............................................................. > >Brief description of organisation..................... >.......................................................................... >......................................................................... > >Address.................................................................. >......................................................................... > >Phone................................................................... > >Email.................................................................. > >Please register me for the > >( ) Alternatives to the APEC Agenda Conference 11/12 September >1999 > >I enclose a registration fee of >( ) $50.00 waged ( ) $25.00 low waged >( ) $15.00 unwaged ( ) $ .......Donation > >( ) High waged people or organisations suggested fee $75.00 > >( ) I plan to attend the film showing and social > >( ) Accommodation. We ask that participants try and find their >own accommodation. If you need help in this please tick here. > > >Please make cheques payable to: >Aotearoa/New Zealand Monitoring Group > >Please send your registration form to APEC Monitoring Group, Box >106 233, Auckland, as soon as possible > >Enquiries to: notoapec@clear.net.nz From rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org Thu Aug 26 12:31:57 1999 From: rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org (Roberto Verzola) Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 12:31:57 Subject: [asia-apec 1265] Approved Message-ID: <199908260530.NAA13846@phil.gn.apc.org> Here's one response to the Y2K article I posted. I am just wondering if any of the anti-APEC campaigners who will be in New Zealand are looking at this issue... Hello? -- Roberto Verzola From: "Jan Wyllie" Subject: RE: [interdoc-y2k 325] y2k analysis Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 19:01:08 +0100 Here is some even more crucial analysis. It is an extract from our Y2K Update on http://www.trendmonitor.com. Of course, we are also desperately trying to create the urgent action which this knowledge demands. I believe such action is necessary, if we are to have a chance to "work out the least painful way of transforming what is turning out to be a fundamentally flawed system". RISKS Energy Implications If the Russian natural gas pipeline supplying both Eastern and Western Europe is interrupted, as Russian experts say it almost certainly will be, it will be a very difficult to start the gas flowing again with an uncertain electricity supply and sub-zero temperatures. Oil stops flowing at freezing temperatures which means that pipelines and refineries are at risk, even if there are relatively short power outages. In the US, which is far ahead of Russia in its preparations for the energy sector, "major" oil companies are reported adopting a fix on fail (FOF) policy on wells, pipelines and refineries. Another reported implication is that if the electricity fails, some nuclear plants may have difficulty cooling their cores if they are to be shut down, creating a real danger of accidental melt-downs. The economic, environmental and social implications of the failure of the Russian gas and oil pipeline network are so enormous - for Europe and the rest of the world - that the necessary resources must be made available on an international level to ensure that: i. the operation of the Siberian gas pipeline network is made secure, ii. nuclear reactors everywhere have sustainable back up electrical systems which do not depend on national grids, iii. as many alternative local electricity sources are built as possible. All the countries of Europe and all the people of Europe are at risk of having to deal with the consequences of severe energy shortages and consequent energy price increases. Although it is not certain that this scenario will come true, even if no remedial action is taken, the seriousness of the multiple risks warrants emergency action now on a "just in case" basis. A huge investment in sustainable energy systems is required, both for deployment around nuclear sites and within communities. The task could be doable in the time remaining if an international crash programme were to be implemented in the next few weeks. It is a question of mobilising people and money to secure the future very quickly. Not only would the short-term problem be solved, but also the implementation of an economical long-term solution could be accomplished at the same time. A first step would be a comprehensive upgrade and support programme for Emergency Diesel Generators worldwide. Continuing denial by governments and the media of the possible magnitude of the risk to key energy systems is the greatest danger at the moment because it is preventing people and companies from making appropriate contingency preparations. Stories An April 1999, article in Computer Business Review quotes Professor Andrey Terekhov, a Russian Y2K expert, saying "the gas and electricity started work so late that their systems simply will not be ready in time". The article concludes that this news has "ominous implications", not just for Russia, "but also for the countries in Europe which are dependent on Russian gas". [1] In March 1999, UK energy companies are seen as well prepared, according both to their own spokesmen and to Action 2000's colour coding scheme. [2] However, in June 1999, the Financial Times reports that the energy industry is still "spending heavily to ensure that their complex computer systems suffer no ill effects" from the millennium change over. The article warns that "anticipation of chaos" is liable to push up the price of oil as the end of the year approaches. The article also questions the well publicised confidence of the energy sector citing Chevron which said "it could not tell whether it would suffer significant business interruptions, including the shut down of its entire oil and gas production", although the company expected disruptions to be "localised". [3] Sources within the US oil industry are quoted in an Editorial appearing on the Golden Eagle Website saying: "Overall, these sources estimate that based on prior limited testing, they are expecting a 10 to 20% ratio of failure, or multiple embedded systems going down on each oil well. There will be no parts to fix them and no replacement systems available for quite a long while. These sources tell me that the major oil companies have adopted a FOF policy (fix on fail), because it is the only affordable and practical approach." "The bottom line: Most oil well embedded systems were never, and are never going to be checked or tested for Y2K compliance. Its a virtual impossibility PLUS... And even if they did, most likely the parts to replace them will no longer be available. It's now become very difficult to find anyone who can supply a replacement system before 1/1/2000. Some easier testing was done on more accessible systems, which are usually newer. Understandably, fail rates have soared 25% in some areas. On the subject of oil and gas pipelines, the author says, "The same that was said about the well heads and embedded systems is true for the pipelines. It's just too complicated - and the major companies decided to adopt the FOF policy - and wait to see what breaks down and to subsequently try to fix it. Another consideration is loss of electricity for any significant length of time." The other point made in the article is that the oil industry -- like so many others -- works on the basis of a just in time supply principle. Consequently stocks of oil and natural gas are very low. [4] This perception is confirmed by the International Energy Authority which says in a July 1999 report, "One of the most important findings is that just-in-time energy supplies present the greatest risk of failure. These energy supplies, electricity and gas, are dependent on a complex delivery infrastructure". The report says "Vulnerabilities still exist at all levels of the oil supply chain". Specifically, "Oil and gas pipelines have been identified as an area of ongoing concern. Most potential problems lie in pipeline control and monitoring systems and a vulnerability to disruptions in the electricity supply." Offshore production is seen to be "generally at greater risk" than onshore production "because of the accessibility problems encountered when testing subsea equipment". [10] Although there is nothing reported in the UK newspaper and magazine source base on the risks of nuclear energy plants, Reuters reported from the US on June 18, 1999 in an article entitled "US proposes stock piling radiation antidote", that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had proposed the stockpiling of potassium iodide, which helps "prevent radioactive iodine from being lodged in the thyroid gland, where it could lead to thyroid cancer or other illness". [5] In an article entitled, "The accidental Armageddon", Helen Caldicott, an anti-nuclear energy campaigner, warns that the circulation of coolant water is "dependent on an external electricity supply and an intact telecommunications system. If the millennium bug causes power failures and/or telecommunication malfunctions, reactors will be vulnerable. Because of this possibility, each US reactor has been equipped with two back-up diesel generators. But at best these are only 85 per cent reliable. So, in the event of a prolonged power failure, the back-up diesel generators will not necessarily prevent a nuclear catastrophe. And 67 Russian-built reactors are even more vulnerable, because they have no back-up generators. "What is more, the Russian electricity grid is itself at great risk because, as one might expect, the political and economic turmoil in that country means the Y2K problem has hardly been examined. There are 70 old nuclear reactors on old Russian submarines moored at dock in the Barents Sea. If they were to lose the electricity grid powering their cooling systems, they would melt." The article advocates a crash program to provide all the world's nuclear reactors with Wind and Solar electricity generators in order to insure that enough electricity is always available for cooling necessary to prevent meltdowns. [6] An article in the Indpendent on July 4, 1999 cites an internal memo circulated in the British Embassy in Moscow, which says that Russia is "one of the countries most vulnerable to Y2K problems". Among the concerns listed in the article is "back up generators for nuclear power stations". [7] "Midnight Crossing" published in the July 1999 issue of the US Airforce Magazine, says: "US officials are very concerned that a computer failure in Russia's interconnected power grid could cascade through the entire nuclear system and lead to a massive power outage. Such an event could easily end in catastrophe at one of the 65 Soviet-made nuclear reactors." Human error by "an undermanned and unmotivated" (and often unpaid) nuclear work force is increasing "the possibility that a power outage at a nuclear reactor could lead to a catastrophe". Even if the nuclear reactors are managed well, the article says, "loss of power and cooling at the numerous waste pools where atomic fuel rods are kept could cause the water to boil away and permit the release, into the local atmosphere, of lethal levels of radioactivity. Recently loaded rods -- those placed in the waste pools within the past two years -- could begin to melt down within 48 hours of a loss of power". [8] According to a database called "Diesel Generator Defects at US Nuclear Plants" compiled by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, reports from January 1, 1999 to the present "show that defects and problems occur on a weekly basis in the US nuclear power industry. There are 27 reports affecting 41 plants; or 40% of all US commercial nuclear plants so far this year." Scott D. Portzline of Three Mile Island Alert comments in "The Weakest Link: Emergency Diesel Generators (EDGs)" that during a "station blackout" (loss of offsite power) these generators "supply the electricity needed to bring the plant to a safe shutdown". If they fail, it is said that the chance of an accident "approaches certainty". Former NRC Chairman Dr. Shirley Jackson is also quoted saying, "NRC reviews in recent years have left no doubt that a station blackout at a nuclear power station is a major contributor to reactor core damage frequency." Although the NRC is reported to be claiming a 97.5 per cent reliability, "watchdogs say it is lower". [9] References [1] Russian bug threatens cold winter of discontent - Computer Business Review, Apr 1999 [2] Questions linger on energy - Financial Times, Mar 3, 1999 [3] Industry tries to avoid hazardous flare-ups - Financial Times, Jun 22, 1999 [4] Oil and Natural Gas: Are They the Real Problems in Y2K? - Jun 21, 1999 http://Www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_99/rc062199.html, [5] US proposes stockpiling radiation antidote, By Tom Doggett - Reuters WASHINGTON, Jun 18, 1999 [6] Accidental Armageddon - The Age (Australia), Jun 20, 1999 http://www.theage.com.au/daily/990620/news/news22.html [7] Diplomats warned off Y2K Russia - Independent, July 4, 1999 [8] Midnight crossing - Airforce Magazine, July 1999 [9] Emergency Diesel Generators: The Weakest Link - Three Mile Island Alert, July 1999 http://www.tmia.com/EDGs.html [10] Update on the IEA's Y2K Activities - International Energy Authority, July 1999 http://www.iea.org/ieay2k/homepage.htm From davidweb at home.com Thu Aug 26 07:01:29 1999 From: davidweb at home.com (David Webster) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 15:01:29 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1266] CBC: Chretien aide denies APEC interference Message-ID: <19990825220441.BUGD9566.mail.rdc1.bc.home.com@[24.113.53.168]> Chretien aide denies APEC interference WebPosted Tue Aug 24 08:13:16 1999 VANCOUVER - A former top aide to Prime Minister Jean Chretien has denied he did anything to interfere in the security arrangements during the controversial APEC summit in Vancouver in 1997. Jean Carle told the APEC inquiry that he suggested a fence on the University of British Columbia campus be moved back, but he denied he interfered in any serious way with the security arrangements for the conference. Yet commission counsel Marvin Storrow proceeded to pull out memo after memo. They all seemed to point to the prime minister's desire to see demonstrators kept away from leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. At one point, Storrow read from a police memo saying the PMO had made it clear to APEC officials "do anything to ensure the President of Indonesia attends the Vancouver meetings." At first, Carle said the memo only reflected Chretien's wish that all leaders attend. Although Storrow pressed for more, Carle said he couldn't give "a definition of anything." Not surprisingly, Carle's answers didn't satisfied protester Jonathan Oppenheim. "It's pretty clear that he's contradicting a lot of people's testimony, and a lot of the documents, and he can't explain a lot of the documents. So it seems pretty clear that he's covering for the prime minister to a very large extent," he said. Carle was the prime minister's operations director during the conference. He was also the liaison with agencies such as the RCMP. Carle testified on Monday he was not concerned about the protesters or their signs. But he said there were concerns that the noise from the demonstrations would distract the leaders during their meetings. The inquiry is looking into RCMP actions during the APEC summit, which included pepper spraying some of the protesters. Carle is expected to testify for at least one more day. The student protesters say his testimony is crucial to forcing the prime minister into the witness box before the inquiry ends. ----- From davidweb at home.com Thu Aug 26 07:03:32 1999 From: davidweb at home.com (David Webster) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 15:03:32 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1267] Van Sun: more testimony Message-ID: <19990825220644.BVFB9566.mail.rdc1.bc.home.com@[24.113.53.168]> >Last updated: Wednesday 25 August 1999 > >NATIONAL NEWS >--------------------------------------------------------- >APEC leaders too busy to give protesters time to move, says aide >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > VANCOUVER > (CP) - Presidents and prime ministers attending the 1997 APEC >summit were too busy to allow protesters time to clear a motorcade route, a >former aide to Prime Minister > Jean Chretien says. > > Instead of allowing demonstrators to move away on their own, RCMP >decided to pepper spray protesters to speed things up, critics have suggested. > > "The police had to take an action," said Jean Carle, Chretien's >operations director between 1993 and 1998 and the prime minister's point >man on the summit, told an > inquiry into RCMP treatment of protesters. > > Carle - an aide so close to Chretien he has been described as >being like a son to the prime minister - said he was not responsible for >the police action. > > But the soft-spoken witness, delivering terse answers, conceded >he told RCMP that the leaders were ready to go following their talks at the >University of British > Columbia campus on Nov. 25, 1997. > > "Some leaders had a specific timetable to respect," Carle told >anti-APEC protester Jaggi Singh, who was cross-examining him. > > "Often these leaders come to these summits with another agenda as >well, planned for immediately after such a summit," Carle said as he >wrapped up two days of testimony > in front of inquiry head Ted Hughes. > > Anti-APEC protesters Jonathan Oppenheim said outside the hearing >room that activists paid a painful price for the rush. > > "Pressure put on the RCMP by the Prime Minister's Office clearly >resulted in the people being given a nine-second warning before they were >pepper-sprayed," said > Oppenheim. > > The reference alludes to widely broadcast television footage >which shows a senior Mountie barking an order to disperse, then nine >seconds later dousing protesters with > pepper spray to clear the motorcade route at the university. > > Documents show Sgt. Hugh Stewart - a senior officer on RCMP >security lines - was ordered to clear the road because leaders were in a >rush to leave the meeting. > > The APEC inquiry is being held by the RCMP Public Complaints >Commission, an independent body that is processing more than 40 public >complaints about the way the Mounties > treated protesters during the 1997 summit. > > The RCMP was at the forefront of a massive security force rallied >to protect leaders during the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit >that brought 18 Pacific leaders > to Vancouver in November 1997. > > As leaders held talks Nov. 25, 1997, protesters and police >clashed. Protesters were pepper sprayed and detained. Female protesters >were strip searched while males were > not. > > Hughes is assessing various issues but the role of the prime >minister has loomed large. > > Some critics have suggested Chretien or his staff may have >manipulated security plans to shield leaders from embarrassing protest. > > Protesters and lawyers representing them want the prime minister >to be called to testify at the inquiry, something Hughes has not ruled out. > > Carle did not leave a paper trail to help their efforts. > > On Tuesday, he said he kept no notes about his APEC work, which >took up most of 1997. > > The only APEC-related document with Carle's signature on it is a >letter to UBC president Martha Piper on the size of protest area. > > "We don't have from you one scrap of paper with a note, a letter, >a reference to you sending an e-mail - not one," said protesters' lawyer Joe Arvay. > > "I don't use e-mail," Carle responded. > > "Do you use a pen?" retorted Arvay. > > "Sometimes," Carle replied. > > The absence of any notes meant Carle had no reference with which >to refresh his memory on meetings, conversations and other matters. > > "It's very hard to cross-examine Jean Carle when he has no >notes," said Oppenheim. > > Anti-APEC activists have said Carle's vagueness bolsters their >argument that Chretien must testify. > > As Carle left the inquiry Tuesday, he refused to comment on >whether Chretien should testify. > > "It was an experience," a grinning Carle said of his appearance >before the inquiry. > > Tuesday's hearing was notable because it was dominated by >cross-examination of Carle by anti-APEC protesters, including Singh and Oppenheim. > > It marked the first time that the activists have had direct >contact with a representative of Chretien's office. > > Four months after the APEC summit, Carle left Chretien's office >to become a senior vice-president with the Business Development Bank of Canada. > From davidweb at home.com Fri Aug 27 03:12:05 1999 From: davidweb at home.com (David Webster) Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 11:12:05 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1268] Van Sun: Indonesia, APEC & Jose Ramos Horta Message-ID: <19990826181519.TTHZ9566.mail.rdc1.bc.home.com@[24.113.53.168]> VANCOUVER SUN Last updated: Thursday 26 August 1999 NATIONAL NEWS --------------------------------------------------------- Indonesians wanted delay in alternative conference to quell embarrassment ------------------------------------------------------- DAVID HOGBEN, Vancouver Sun VANCOUVER (CP) - Indonesian officials tried to pressure APEC and government organizers to delay a simultaneous alternative conference so then-president Suharto wouldn't be embarrassed by the presence of Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta, a Canadian official testified Wednesday. Len Edwards, Canada's chairman of senior APEC officials during the 1997 conference in Vancouver, said Canada refused outright to interfere with the People's Summit, of which it was a major sponsor. "It was unequivocal," Leonard said of Canada's response to the pressure. "It was that they were not going to interfere with the plans of the People's Summit." Edwards, now Canada's ambassador to Japan, was testifying at the RCMP Public Complaints Commission hearing into allegations of police misconduct at the November 1997 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The People's Summit was established to provide a forum for groups and individuals opposed to the APEC economic agenda and discuss the impact of preferential trade deals on Asian workers, indigenous peoples, workers' rights, education, the arms trade and the environment. Ramos-Horta, who won the peace prize for his opposition to more than two decades of Indonesian occupation of East Timor, told the summit that APEC leaders were courting revolution if they continued to focus exclusively on economic issues, instead of the needs of the people. Edwards testified about how the concerns of the Indonesian government shifted in September 1997, from Suharto's security and reluctance to being embarrassed by democratic protests, to the attendance of Ramos-Horta. At that time, the Indonesians became aware that Ramos-Horta was to address the alternative summit. Leonard said the Indonesians were continually attempting to push the envelope of security measures Canadian officials thought were necessary to provide a secure meeting for the 18 Asia Pacific economic leaders. "The Ramos-Horta situation was simply the latest and the most difficult one for them to face up to. We were not prepared to take the measures that they wanted us to," Leonard said. During questioning by federal government lawyer Ronald Snyder, Leonard said the Indonesians received no commitments from Canada that they would receive any greater degree of shielding from protesters than representatives of any other country. When Snyder asked what guarantees were given to Suharto that were not given to others, Leonard responded: "There were no such guarantees." Leonard also told the inquiry that Prime Minister Jean Chretien gave him no instructions that the Indonesians should have added security measures or other precautions. Last updated: Thursday 26 August 1999 NATIONAL NEWS --------------------------------------------------------- APEC leaders too busy to give protesters time to move, says aide ------------------------------------------------------------------------ VANCOUVER (CP) - Presidents and prime ministers attending the 1997 APEC summit were too busy to allow protesters time to clear a motorcade route, a former aide to Prime Minister Jean Chretien says. Instead of allowing demonstrators to move away on their own, RCMP decided to pepper spray protesters to speed things up, critics have suggested. "The police had to take an action," said Jean Carle, Chretien's operations director between 1993 and 1998 and the prime minister's point man on the summit, told an inquiry into RCMP treatment of protesters. Carle - an aide so close to Chretien he has been described as being like a son to the prime minister - said he was not responsible for the police action. But the soft-spoken witness, delivering terse answers, conceded he told RCMP that the leaders were ready to go following their talks at the University of British Columbia campus on Nov. 25, 1997. "Some leaders had a specific timetable to respect," Carle told anti-APEC protester Jaggi Singh, who was cross-examining him. "Often these leaders come to these summits with another agenda as well, planned for immediately after such a summit," Carle said as he wrapped up two days of testimony in front of inquiry head Ted Hughes. Anti-APEC protesters Jonathan Oppenheim said outside the hearing room that activists paid a painful price for the rush. "Pressure put on the RCMP by the Prime Minister's Office clearly resulted in the people being given a nine-second warning before they were pepper-sprayed," said Oppenheim. The reference alludes to widely broadcast television footage which shows a senior Mountie barking an order to disperse, then nine seconds later dousing protesters with pepper spray to clear the motorcade route at the university. Documents show Sgt. Hugh Stewart - a senior officer on RCMP security lines - was ordered to clear the road because leaders were in a rush to leave the meeting. The APEC inquiry is being held by the RCMP Public Complaints Commission, an independent body that is processing more than 40 public complaints about the way the Mounties treated protesters during the 1997 summit. The RCMP was at the forefront of a massive security force rallied to protect leaders during the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit that brought 18 Pacific leaders to Vancouver in November 1997. As leaders held talks Nov. 25, 1997, protesters and police clashed. Protesters were pepper sprayed and detained. Female protesters were strip searched while males were not. Hughes is assessing various issues but the role of the prime minister has loomed large. Some critics have suggested Chretien or his staff may have manipulated security plans to shield leaders from embarrassing protest. Protesters and lawyers representing them want the prime minister to be called to testify at the inquiry, something Hughes has not ruled out. Carle did not leave a paper trail to help their efforts. On Tuesday, he said he kept no notes about his APEC work, which took up most of 1997. The only APEC-related document with Carle's signature on it is a letter to UBC president Martha Piper on the size of protest area. "We don't have from you one scrap of paper with a note, a letter, a reference to you sending an e-mail - not one," said protesters' lawyer Joe Arvay. "I don't use e-mail," Carle responded. "Do you use a pen?" retorted Arvay. "Sometimes," Carle replied. The absence of any notes meant Carle had no reference with which to refresh his memory on meetings, conversations and other matters. "It's very hard to cross-examine Jean Carle when he has no notes," said Oppenheim. Anti-APEC activists have said Carle's vagueness bolsters their argument that Chretien must testify. As Carle left the inquiry Tuesday, he refused to comment on whether Chretien should testify. "It was an experience," a grinning Carle said of his appearance before the inquiry. Tuesday's hearing was notable because it was dominated by cross-examination of Carle by anti-APEC protesters, including Singh and Oppenheim. It marked the first time that the activists have had direct contact with a representative of Chretien's office. Four months after the APEC summit, Carle left Chretien's office to become a senior vice-president with the Business Development Bank of Canada. From notoapec at clear.net.nz Sat Aug 28 03:25:47 1999 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 11:25:47 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1269] APEC in NZ - from Scoop Online Message-ID: <003a01bef0b9$981854e0$693661cb@notoapec> A Scoop Exclusive - Inside APEC Series Thursday, 26 August 1999, 4:52 pm Article: Selwyn Manning - Scoop Auckland by Selwyn Manning As the third reading of the SIS Amendment Bill No. 2 is put before the New Zealand Parliament, a Canadian Anti-APEC campaigner warns of spy infiltration of New Zealand groups. Those particularly targeted are organisations and individuals openly critical of the coming Auckland APEC leader?s summit. But he also warns, passive groups and letter to the editor writers must also be aware. He backs up his claims by pointing to official Canadian documentation produced at the ongoing Royal Canadian Mounted Police public complaints commission in Vancouver. The documents reveal how he and his outspoken colleagues were bugged, watched, taped, photographed and videoed in the run up to, and during, Canada?s APEC leader?s meetings in Vancouver 1997; how groups were infiltrated by agency spies. New Zealand, the campaigner says, can expect even more covert operatives than what was discovered in Vancouver. He cites moves by New Zealand Police to crackdown on protesters, arresting them for using loud-hailers close to constables is a sign of harder things to come. He says the drafting of SIS Amendment legislation which straightens the SIS?s arm in collecting its information from New Zealand citizens, and the paving of way for overseas security agents to carry weapons on New Zealand soil, is all part of a hardening state attitude to those who possess opposing views. The bungled burglary by New Zealand SIS agents on GATT-Watchdog spokesperson Aziz Choudry?s house in 1996 also shows, he says, how determined the SIS is to search for information. The break-in occurred just before APEC trade ministers met in Christchurch in July 1996. Two SIS agents were caught at Choudry?s home. They had entered his house, disturbing documents, but nothing seemed to have been taken. The break-in also coincided with an alternative forum on free trade organised by GATT Watchdog, a coalition of NGOs and community groups campaigning against GATT/WTO, APEC, the MAI and other free trade and investment arrangements. All this mirrors his Canadian experience prior to APEC 1997 in Vancouver. Then, the Canadian authorities set up a special organisation called Threat Assessment Group [TAG] to gather intelligence on anti-APEC groups, student organisations, unions, groups protesting Canadian indigenous rights; even the Canadian Catholic Church came under the spies eyes. TAG included agents from the Canadian Secret Intelligence Service, Defence Department officers, Royal Canadian Mounted Police special branch, and customs officers. Other countries also were involved, particularly with security. CIA and FBI were active. Other countries undertook their own covert surveillance. Indonesia got into trouble with the Canadian authorities for overstepping the mark. Indonesian agents wanted to know what rights they had if they shot protesters. Five were later arrested while doing their own surveillance on anti-APEC groups, two were arrested for being inside a secure area and mounting recording electronic equipment on top of a hotel roof. The Canadian campaigner?s name is Jonathan Oppenheim, a leader in the Canadian organisation APEC Alert. Oppenheim was and is an outspoken critic of APEC and the free-trade ideology which drives the meetings. He became one of a large number of so-called leaders which were targeted by intelligence agents. All associates of the leaders were scrutinised. The information passed on to elite security officers charged with creating a cacoon of silence and peace around those attending the 97 APEC leader?s summit. ?TAG was set up to monitor protest groups. They were also concerned about people who came to our meetings. If we talked to someone they monitored that as well. If someone wrote a letter to the editor with a view which criticised APEC, they too were monitored. ?It is incredible how paranoid they [TAG] were. APEC is a pretty unpopular organisation and to monitor everyone who is opposed to it is a pretty big job. ?They even monitored the Anglican Church of Canada, which was basically a bunch of 60s plus grannies who sang a few anti-tunes.? Oppenheim says anyone, any group which had a view contrary to APEC was investigated by TAG?s agents: ?It wasn?t intelligence gathering of groups suspected of acts of terrorism, it was any organisation, even those most passive.? At the time, Oppenheim and his associates knew little of what cloak and dagger operatives were taking place around them: ?We didn?t have a clue at the time that we were being monitored. They never did openly come to our meetings. They never made direct contact or talked to us. There was never any overt presence. But since we have waded through their paper trail, notes after notes after notes on anything from a talk to a discussion to a rally was recorded. ?They would take pictures, they had profiles of all of us, they even checked to see if we were on welfare. They then used the photographs to identify us. A number of us were arrested.? TAG mounted a pre-emptive strike on APEC Alert members. Jaggi Singh another leader was arrested prior to any protest action taking place. The pre-arrest of Jaggi Singh surprised the groups and the Canadian public at how determined the authorities were to prevent those critical of APEC for having their say. Singh told Scoop this week: ?You can be sure that all anti-APEC groups [in New Zealand] are being monitored in some way, as well as various ?radical? Maori groups. The documents I have seen from APEC Vancouver show that even mainstream groups are the subject of monitoring. For example, here the British Columbia Federation of Labour, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Canadian Federation of Students were all targeted.? Oppenheim says members were arrested on warrants they knew nothing about and later found out the warrants did not exist: ?I?m sure the same is about to happen in Auckland, if not worse,? he says. ?Worse because of the clamp down on megaphone use, the breaking into people?s homes, it is all the same as what we witnessed.? Here in New Zealand, seasoned campaigners also expect the spies are watching. Scoop met this week with APEC Monitoring Group spokesperson Aziz Choudry. He confirms that like in Canada, police have been taking photographs and videoing while anti-APEC campaigners protest. They are building up a identikit file on all those who believe APEC is wrong, he says. Choudry says the invasion of privacy experienced by Canadian APEC critics is a clear indication of what is happening here and of what the security agencies of other countries expect of New Zealand authorities. Oppenheim says official Canadian documents obtained after APEC show the intelligence gathering didn?t stop once the APEC leader?s returned home: ?The police continued to gather information on protesters, it became quite obvious that they regard activists with a huge amount of suspicion. Any decent is regarded quite antagonistically. Certainly they saw a terrorist in every corner.? New Zealand anti-APEC groups, Oppenheim says, should not get too paranoid about infiltration: ?We had nothing to hide. We were peaceful but the police and TAG still felt they had to infiltrate us. It was a huge invasion of privacy. And it is important to expose the paranoia and infiltration. I think it is pretty serious how anyone who showed any view contrary to pro-APEC was and is regarded as an enemy of the state.? His advice to New Zealanders is: stick to your views, let your views be known, disregard any infiltration of your organisations: ?It is important just to be open. In our [the Canadians] case it was the Government that had things to hide. The documents which have become known through the courts and official investigations have shown that to be the case.? ENDS Visit Scoop for all your APEC news. * Scoop?s Inside APEC Series: - Stories To Come: An Exclusive Interview With Aziz Choudry - An Interview with Canada?s Jaggi Singh - the Police?s Response - APEC Releases - and much much more. Other Scoop APEC Stories: Police Radio Telephone Woes http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK9908/S00129.htm Crack Down on Sex Workers http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK9908/S00117.htm APEC Traffic http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK9908/S00112.htm Albright To Attend APEC Summit http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK9908/S00077.htm Home Page | Auckland | Previous Story | Next Story Copyright (c) Scoop Media From davidweb at home.com Sat Aug 28 04:02:29 1999 From: davidweb at home.com (David Webster) Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 12:02:29 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1270] Van Sun: No special security deals, Chretien aide says Message-ID: <19990827190543.PUXH9566.mail.rdc1.bc.home.com@[24.113.53.168]> VANCOUVER SUN Last updated: Friday 27 August 1999 NATIONAL NEWS --------------------------------------------------------- No special security deals at APEC: Chretien aide ------------------------------------------------------- IAN BAILEY VANCOUVER (CP) - Visiting Indonesians were paranoid about embarrassing protest, but they didn't get special breaks on security at the controversial 1997 APEC summit, says Jean Chretien's top aide. It was one of few key security areas that Jean Pelletier, the prime minister's chief of staff, could address with confidence Thursday as he testified at an inquiry into RCMP treatment of protesters. On many other issues, the seasoned Chretien aide and former Quebec City mayor admitted he was out of the loop - not present at meetings, not presented with documents. "We wouldn't do anything special for any leader - including Suharto," said Pelletier, the second senior Chretien aide to appear in a week before the RCMP Public Complaints Commission hearing. Each of the 18 visiting leaders, including U.S. President Bill Clinton, got the same security treatment, Pelletier told inquiry head Ted Hughes, who has been hearing evidence for six months. "It was not more or less," said Pelletier. "It was the normal (security) practise - period." The priority was to balance the rights of Canadian protesters with the "common-sense dignity" of Pacific leaders. "In no way have I seen or heard any expression of opinion wanting to, let's say, diminish the freedom of expression of Canadians on Canadian soil," Pelletier said. All of this is important to the APEC inquiry because of allegations that Chretien's office browbeat Mounties into adopting security plans aimed at limiting protest embarrassing to leaders at the summit. Indonesian officials were wary about the summit due to fears their then-president Suharto would face protest linked to his widely criticized record on human rights. During the summit, Mounties clashed with protesters as leaders met in a retreat on the campus of the University of British Columbia on Nov. 25, 1997. Protesters were pepper sprayed and detained. Female protesters were strip searched while males were not. The melee was prompted more than 40 public complaints, which have fuelled the elaborate hearing by Hughes. More than 130 witnesses are expected to testify. Pelletier said the Indonesian concern "was not a great problem." Later Thursday, a senior Canadian official involved in organizing APEC said Canadian officials held meetings with wary Indonesians as part of a program of "reassurance" they would have offered other similarly worried leaders. "It was important for all leaders to be present," Len Edwards, now Canada's ambassador to Japan, told the inquiry. The meetings included a session between Chretien and Indonesia's Canadian ambassador, Benjamin Parwoto, held two months before the summit. "These were steps of reassurance," said Edwards. "We were simply reassuring (the Indonesians) our normal procedures would meet (Suharto's) requirements." At the Chretien-Parwoto meeting, the prime minister said Canada had experience in dealing with "difficult" visits, citing a 1995 tour by Chinese Premier Li Peng, according to a secret memo entered as evidence. Canadian measures during that visit included back-door hotel entries by Li so he could avoid protesters as well as the use of a black curtain drawn across a hotel lobby so the premier would not have to see protesters. Pelletier's testimony prompted one flare-up. Anti-APEC protester David Malmo-Levine got into a shouting match with Hughes when Malmo-Levine was asking about future measures to deal with demonstrators. "I want to know whether protesters are to expect to be pepper-sprayed and punched in the future," said Malmo-Levine, who varies the colour of his hair with each day of the hearing. "Now, you're not going to put those questions to this witness," Hughes said, his voice rising. "If not this witness.?.?.?," asked Malmo-Levine. "You are not going to," yelled Hughes. "I have ruled, Mr. Malmo-Levine!" Later, a subdued Hughes asked the commission's lawyers to find a witness who could deal with Malmo-Levine's concerns. In other testimony Thursday, Pelletier denied that any Chretien official would have overstepped their powers in dealing with police. "Freedom of speech is something (Chretien's) got in his heart so I would imagine nobody on our team deliberately acting in such a way that would confront the philosophy of the PM in these matters," he said. Pelletier did concede to a role in one security and protest-related matter, suggesting he mediated a dispute between another Chretien aide, Jean Carle, and the University of British Columbia on a security fence. From tpl at cheerful.com Mon Aug 30 09:26:24 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 08:26:24 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1271] Fwd: DILI, EAST TIMOR -- Emergency Call to Action! Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990830082624.006a61ec@pop.skyinet.net> From: ASA Secretariat EMERGENCY CALL FOR SOLIDARITY ACTION! KESHAV PANDEY, ASA SECRETARIAT REPORTS FROM DILI, EAST TIMOR Six Confirmed Dead! More deaths believed but unconfirmed as anti-independence groups fire and bomb East Timorese in Dili! Scores Lying in the Streets of Dili as Indonesian Police and Pro-Indonesian Militia wage violent attack yesterday, August 26! Condemn the Violence Done by Indonesian Police and Pro-Indonesian Militia! Support the Independence of East Timor from Indonesian Occupation! Today, August 27, friday, ASA is spearheading a protest rally in front of the Indonesian Consulate at 2pm. WE ARE REQUESTING YOU TO CONTRIBUTE IN AN INTERNATIONAL-SCALE ACTION FOR SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY FOR THE EAST TIMORESE PEOPLE. YOU MAY: * SEND LETTERS OF PROTEST TO THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT * CONDUCT A PROTEST RALLY IN FRONT OF THE INDONESIAN CONSULAR OFFICES IN YOUR COUNTRIES * SEND MESSAGES OF SOLIDARITY TO PRO-INDEPENDENCE GROUPS IN EAST TIMOR * Circulate this appeal PLEASE ADVICE US IF YOU ARE TO RESPOND TO THIS URGENT CALL. Attached below tells what happened as narrated by Keshav Pandey, ASA Secretariat member who is currently in East Timor observing the Referendum Process. Keshav is safe (for the moment) although they do not know when they shall move next because the situation is still tense. Violence in East Timor may Postpone Referendum Eyewitness Account by Keshav Pandey, Asian Students Association Regional Secretariat, member of International Observer's Team in cooperation with UN Assessment Mission on East Timor (UNAMET) At around 5 pm today, August 26, Norman Uy Carnay (ASA Secretariat) made a call to Keshav Pandey who is now in East Timor as part of the International Observers Team. Keshav informs Norman that the situation is quite tense now because violence has erupted in Dili and other parts of East Timor which already claimed 4 dead ( confirmed) from the pro-independence East Timorese. He reports that many bodies are still lying in the streets of Dili after pro-Indonesian militias attacked pro-independence East Timorese. He cannot account for the number since the area is a No Man's Land and no one dares to approach the scene. The following is the narration of events as given by Keshav Pandey: August 25 A big pro-indepence rally has been staged with CNRT and RENETIL and other groups. More than half of the 80,000 population of Dili participated in the event, including Keshav Pandey. August 26, morning This day is allotted for the rally and campaigning of those who are in favor of autonomy within Indonesia. Pro-autonomy groups (pro-Indonesia) and militia are distributing white t-shirts and blue caps. Keshav notices that some Indonesian police (who are responsible for the security of the campaign and referendum) changed from their uniform and wore these shirts and caps. Deputy Chief of the Militia, UREURICO GUTTERES, was speaking on the balcony of the Militia Headquarters in Lecidere and forcing the militia and other people to join pro-Indonesia rally. Keshav observes that Indonesian police are sequestering cars and motorcycles of people. August 26, 2:00 pm The pro-Indonesian militia and groups gathered at Bemuri. Keshav Observes that most of them were drunk and agitated. They started tearing and pulling-out posters and campaign materials of pro-Independence groups. In return, the pro-Independence groups defended themselves because they were physically being attacked. After this, the CNRT office in Lecidere was attacked and ransacked By pro-Indonesian militia and by elements of the KODIM - the Indonesian District Command and the ANGKATAN LAUT - the navy forces. It has been confirmed by RENETIL, the East Timorese youth and Student organization, that in the ensuing confusion, two people were forcibly abducted. Their identities still remain unknown and so are their disposition. Hotel Dili has also been attacked. Other places targetted by the pro-Indonesian militia and the Indonesian police are KOLMERA and LIQUICA where refugees stay. Public housing where Chinese nationalities lived are reportedly Also burned. Three cars were set fire upon. The CNRT branch, International Political Front has also been burned. The UN Regional Office in Lecidere has also been attacked. As of now, the pro-Independence groups can only ascertain to 6 deaths. Among them: DEDINHO GUTERRES from RENETIL AEMETA (surname not known) AGILDO DE JESUS (both from KULUHUN) It is also said that 2 members of the militia were killed. Some other information: UNAMET has said that the UN Security Council will meet on Friday, August 27 to discuss whether to postpone the Referendum set for August 30. Pro-Independence groups retort by demanding that the Referendum take place at the assigned date and that UN peacekeeping forces be deployed to ensure that it does happen. Update August 27, 1:00 a.m. We speak with Keshav and he has informed us that two more have been positively identified as killed by Indonesian forces. One is named Adelino de Jesus. Also, observers and journalists, some Portugese and other Europeans were also shot at. Two of these are now confined in the hospital and being treated for bullet wounds in the legs. Reference: Norman Uy Carnay Asian Students Association Tel: (85-2) 23880515 Fax: (85-2) 27825535 Email: asasec@netvigator.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Mon Aug 30 09:26:24 1999 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 08:26:24 +0800 Subject: ***no article*** Message-ID: ***no article***