From bayan at iname.com Wed Dec 1 07:25:00 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (bayan) Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 06:25:00 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1353] 10 Reasons to Dismantle the WTO Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991201062500.006b8df4@pop.skyinet.net> >Sender: corp-focus@essential.org >From: Robert Weissman >Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 11:14:14 -0500 (EST) > >10 Reasons to Dismantle the WTO >By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman > >Add a new constituency to the long list of World Trade Organization (WTO) >critics which already includes consumers, labor, environmentalists, human >rights activists, fair trade groups, AIDS activists, animal protection >organizations, those concerned with Third World development, religious >communities, women's organizations. The latest set of critics includes WTO >backers and even the WTO itself. > >As the WTO faces crystallized global opposition -- to be manifested in >massive street demonstrations and colorful protests in Seattle, where the >WTO will hold its Third Ministerial meeting from November 30 to December 3 >-- the global trade agency and its strongest proponents veer between a >shrill defensiveness and the much more effective strategy of admitting >shortcomings and trumpeting the need for reform. > >WTO critics now face a perilous moment. They must not be distracted by >illusory or cosmetic reform proposals, nor by even more substantive >proposals for changing the WTO -- should they ever emerge from the >institution or its powerful rich country members. Instead, they should >unite around an uncompromising demand to dismantle the WTO and its >corporate-created rules. > >Here are 10 reasons why: > >1. The WTO prioritizes trade and commercial considerations over all other >values. WTO rules generally require domestic laws, rules and regulations >designed to further worker, consumer, environmental, health, safety, human >rights, animal protection or other non-commercial interests to be >undertaken in the "least trade restrictive" fashion possible -- almost >never is trade subordinated to these noncommercial concerns. > >2. The WTO undermines democracy. Its rules drastically shrink the choices >available to democratically controlled governments, with violations >potentially punished with harsh penalties. The WTO actually touts this >overriding of domestic decisions about how economies should be organized >and corporations controlled. "Under WTO rules, once a commitment has been >made to liberalize a sector of trade, it is difficult to reverse," the WTO >says in a paper on the benefits of the organization which is published on >its web site. "Quite often, governments use the WTO as a welcome external >constraint on their policies: 'we can't do this because it would violate >the WTO agreements.'" > >3. The WTO does not just regulate, it actively promotes, global trade. Its >rules are biased to facilitate global commerce at the expense of efforts >to promote local economic development and policies that move communities, >countries and regions in the direction of greater self-reliance. > >4. The WTO hurts the Third World. WTO rules force Third World countries to >open their markets to rich country multinationals, and abandon efforts to >protect infant domestic industries. In agriculture, the opening to foreign >imports, soon to be imposed on developing countries, will catalyze a >massive social dislocation of many millions of rural people. > >5. The WTO eviscerates the Precautionary Principle. WTO rules generally >block countries from acting in response to potential risk -- requiring a >probability before governments can move to resolve harms to human health >or the environment. > >6. The WTO squashes diversity. WTO rules establish international health, >environmental and other standards as a global ceiling through a process of >"harmonization;" countries or even states and cities can only exceed them >by overcoming high hurdles. > >7. The WTO operates in secrecy. Its tribunals rule on the "legality" of >nations' laws, but carry out their work behind closed doors. > >8. The WTO limits governments' ability to use their purchasing dollar for >human rights, environmental, worker rights and other non-commercial >purposes. In general, WTO rules state that governments can make purchases >based only on quality and cost considerations. > >9. The WTO disallows bans on imports of goods made with child labor. In >general, WTO rules do not allow countries to treat products differently >based on how they were produced -- irrespective of whether made with >brutalized child labor, with workers exposed to toxics or with no regard >for species protection. > >10. The WTO legitimizes life patents. WTO rules permit and in some cases >require patents or similar exclusive protections for life forms. > >Some of these problems, such as the WTO's penchant for secrecy, could >potentially be fixed, but the core problems -- prioritization of >commercial over other values, the constraints on democratic >decision-making and the bias against local economies -- cannot, for they >are inherent in the WTO itself. > >Because of these unfixable problems, the World Trade Organization should >be shut down, sooner rather than later. > >That doesn't mean interim steps shouldn't be taken. It does mean that >beneficial reforms will focus not on adding new areas of competence to the >WTO or enhancing its authority, even if the new areas appear desirable >(such as labor rights or competition). Instead, the reforms to pursue are >those that reduce or limit the WTO's power -- for example, by denying it >the authority to invalidate laws passed pursuant to international >environmental agreements, limiting application of WTO agricultural rules >in the Third World, or eliminating certain subject matters (such as >essential medicines or life forms) from coverage under the WTO's >intellectual property agreement. > >These measures are necessary and desirable in their own right, and they >would help generate momentum to close down the WTO. > >------------------------------------------------------------------- >Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime >Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based >Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: The >Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Common Courage Press, >http://www.corporatepredators.org). > >(c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman > >Focus on the Corporation is a weekly column written by Russell Mokhiber >and Robert Weissman. Please feel free to forward the column to friends or >repost the column on other lists. If you would like to post the column on >a web site or publish it in print format, we ask that you first contact us >(russell@essential.org or rob@essential.org). > >Focus on the Corporation is distributed to individuals on the listserve >corp-focus@essential.org. To subscribe to corp-focus, send an e-mail >message to listproc@essential.org with the following all in one line: > >subscribe corp-focus (no period). > >Focus on the Corporation columns are posted at >. > >Postings on corp-focus are limited to the columns. If you would like to >comment on the columns, send a message to russell@essential.org or >rob@essential.org. > From bayan at iname.com Wed Dec 1 07:59:12 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (bayan) Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 06:59:12 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1354] Bayan condemns violent dispersal of ASEAN protest Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991201065912.006ac850@pop.skyinet.net> MEDIA RELEASE 24 November 1999 Bayan condemns violent dispersal of ASEAN protest The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today condemned the violent dispersal by the Philippine National Police (PNP) of a peaceful picket-rally held near the Philippine International Convention Center this morning. The rally was meant to oppose the anti-people agenda of the 3rd ASEAN Informal Summit which opened today. Water jets from three fire trucks hit protesters who numbered around 300 compared to hundreds of Special Action Forces elements who pushed, shoved, and hit the picketers with truncheons. Those at the frontlines were women from Gabriela and Lila Pilipina, the organization of comfort women. For 30 minutes, high pressure water jets hit the demonstrators who were chased by the fire trucks and riot police as they retreated. The trucks stopped only because it could no longer cross the island in the middle of the street. At least 50 protesters suffered cuts, bruises and welts. Teodoro Casi?o, Bayan Secretary General, said the violent dispersal was a betrayal of an agreement made the night before with PNP-NCR Chief Gen. Aglipay, Gen. Maganto and Gen. Fernandez. At that meeting, the generals assured the rallyists that their right to peaceful assembly would be respected and that they would be at the site of the protest to negotiate. Meanwhile, in nearby Barrio Dabu-Dabu, the urban poor community located near the Summit venue was completely bulldozed this morning to erase any sign of poverty around the Summit venue. The 'clean-up' is reminiscent of the violent demolition of urban poor communities in 1996 as preparation for the APEC Leaders Summit hosted by the Philippine goivernment in that year. Among the other organizations which joined the ant-ASEAN rally were the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), League of Filipino Students (LFS), Anakbayan, Karapatan, Kadamay and Pamalakaya. From bayan at iname.com Thu Dec 2 07:53:06 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (bayan) Date: Thu, 02 Dec 1999 06:53:06 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1355] Fwd: Colombia strikes against IMF Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991202065306.006a0440@pop.skyinet.net> From: Robert Weissman NEWS FROM SEATTLE: For more information please contact: Ace Saturay, telephone 721-6355 in Seattle Anti-WTO Rally Defies Permit Denial Seattle, Nov 30. Delegates from the International Seattle Peoples Assembly will today hold a rally at Fourth and Jackson in Seattle's International before marching down Fourth Street despite being denied a permit to march a part of the International Day of Protest Against the WTO. A People's Permit, signed by community members and participants of the People's Assembly asserting the basic democratic right of the People's Assembly to voice their opposition to the World Trade Organization, will be carried throughout the March. The People's Assembly will march from the International District to Fourth and Pine where it will join with labor and other critics of the World Trade Organization. "The World Trade Organization is the current tool used to keep wealth and power in the hands of a few," said Fr. Art Balagat, member of the People's Assembly Organizing Committee. "We see the true meaning of globalization to the world's people every time we pick up the newspaper -- wage cuts and job loss, drastically reduced budgets for social needs, and the erosion of basic human rights. In short, it ravages the environment, devastates countries and subjugates entire peoples with unequaled ruthlessness. "The WTO is one of imperialism's latest instruments that multinational corporations and imperialist states use to dictate trade policy and achieve economic domination. Putting an end to the high human costs of trade requires the advancement of people's organizations to effectively challenge, tear down and not simply reform these oppressive institutions," said Ace Saturay, convenor of the People's Assembly. "The People's Assembly continues the tradition set in 1996 when the People's Campaign Against Imperialist Globalization was launched in Manila at the time of the APEC Leaders Summit. This proud tradition of anti-imperialist defiance continues to surge and we have brought the struggle to the "belly of the beast". The success of our organized resistance shows there is an alternative to the path of imperialist globalization." Dr. Carolina Araullo, representing BAYAN-Philippines and an international delegate to the People's Assembly, said, "There is a pattern of muzzling dissent against imperialist tools. We saw it in the Philippines, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand. We weren't stopped there and we won't be stopped here." Despite denial of a permit, the organizers of the People's Assembly said that the march and rally will go on as scheduled. Saturay said, "We will march peacefully, but militantly. This is not just a procession or a parade. It is a life and death issue that brought people to the People's Assembly to say 'No to the oppression of our people!' and 'No to WTO!" On November 28-29, the People's Assembly hosted a two-day gathering of international, national and local delegates at the Filipino Community Center in south Seattle. The march and rally will cap the Assembly. The delegates have come from around the world to criticize global trade plans of the WTO and talk about the disastrous impacts of globalization on their respective countries, on people's lives. They all say "No to WTO!" From panap at panap.po.my Thu Dec 2 17:34:08 1999 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Thu, 02 Dec 1999 16:34:08 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1357] Press Release from PAN AP - Global "No Pesticides Use Day" Message-ID: Press Release from PAN AP - Global "No Pesticides Use Day" This December 3rd, 1999, the global Pesticide Action Network (PAN) will be observing "No Pesticides Use Day" with a host of activities to draw attention to the life threatening impacts of chemical pesticides on people and the environment. The day is also being held in commemoration of the thousands who died, and the tens of thousands who still suffer as a resul t of the 1984 Bhopal disaster. The tragedy of Bhopal is an example of an intense instance of chemical pesticide contamination for which its victims continue to suffer to this day. Bhopal has been called the worst commercial industrial disaster in history - but not the last. Around the world the ongoing manufacture, distri bution, and use of chemical pesticides continues to reek devastating impacts on people and the environment. Every year about 3 million people are poisoned around the world and 200,000 die from pesticide use. While many of the reported ill effects constitute acute cases of pesticide poisoning, it is the chronic long-term effects such as cancers that are of increasing concern. "The current trends of globalization, and increasing commercialization of agriculture, is promoting intensive use of hazardous pesticides. This has intensified the suffering of millions of people in rural agriculture and the plantation sector the world over!" states Sarojeni V. Rengam, Executive Director of PAN Asia and the Pacific. While most pesticide-related deaths occur in the South, pesticides also pose serious problems in industrialized countries. In both rich and poor countries however, the effects of pesticide poisoning are suffered disproportionately by the poor and disadvantaged, and children are particularly vulnerable! Activities in the Region Asia: Throughout the month of December, PAN Asia and the Pacific will be collaborating with partner groups in the region to observe global "No Pe sticides Use Day" by launching the Asian Safe Food Campaign. This year, the Campaign tackles Endocrine Disruptors - exposing the threats man-made chemicals pose in disrupting the hormone systems of human beings and wildlife, with a particular focus on pesticides. "The Campaign upholds peoples' right to know about the dangerous effects of endocrine disrupters, and to demand precautionary and protective measu res towards a safer, more sustainable environment for present and future generations" explains PAN AP Safe Food Campaign Coordinator, Jennifer Mou rin. The Campaign will take off in countries like Malaysia, Philippines, India and Sri Lanka with a flurry of activities ranging from Public Health Forums and Seminars, Indigenous/Safe Food Festivals and Farmers' Gatherings. Africa: PAN Africa will sensitise decision-makers, crop protection workers, agricultural extension workers and trainers, peasant groups, NGOs working towards sustainable agriculture, the chemical industry and the general public in different African countries with regards to the issue. The hazards that pesticide production units and warehouses represent for surrou nding inhabitants will be particularly emphasised, as the fact is that 50 % of all pesticides actually used for global crop protection can be suppressed without any significant consequence on world food production. Sever al researchers in Senegal will undertake to publish articles related to some of the adverse effects of pesticides. North America: As part of the observation of "No Pesticides Use" day, PAN North America (PANNA) will be launching its campaign to stop the spread of genetically engineered crops. "Genetic engineering is often portrayed as a silver bullet that will reduce pesticide use and feed the world. In reality however, it is nothing more than a way to expand corporate control of our food supply. And it's brought to us by the very same companies that push pesticides," states Ellen Hickey, Director of Research at PAN North America. Also this month, PANNA will launch a joint project with U.S. farm worker organizations to provide much needed information on the poisons these workers encounter in the fields. In addition, PANNA is leading a delegation of PAN groups to the December meeting of the Montreal Protocol in Beijing . The groups are there to ensure that the deadly pesticide methyl bromide is phased out according to international deadlines and replaced with ecologically sound alternatives. Latin America: In Latin America, the activism and message of "No Pesticid e Use" is ongoing. As commented on by Luis Gomerro, Coordinator of PAN L atin America based in Peru, "We need to take the 'No Pesticides Use' mess age to the grassroots, to every village... every person needs to understand the dangers that pesticides pose to human health and the environment!" In Latin America, PAN is working to take the message of "No Pesticide Use " to every community and every legislator. "Especially now, in the wake of the death of 24 children in Peru who drank milk contaminated with parathion, PAN will mobilise to petition the regional and national governments to ban the extremely toxic Category 1a and 1b pesticides, which both pre sent unacceptable dangers to public health and the environment," added Gomerro. Europe: Representatives from the Pesticides Trust of the U.K. will be travelling to Bhopal to join in the activities to commemorate 15th annivers ary of the worst chemical disaster in history. Launch of PAN Website! One major collaborative effort of the PAN regional centres, in the Africa , Asia, Latin Amreica, Europe and the U.S., Europe, will be the launch th e PAN International website! The PAN international website will also be launched on the "No Pesticides Use" day. The site was developed by PAN No rth America in collaboration with the regional centres. According to Skip Spitzer, PANNA Internet developer, "Visitors to the PAN international we bsite will be able to learn not only about PAN campaigns around the world , but they can also access vital information about hazardous pesticides, genetic engineering and sustainable alternatives." Background to the Pesticide Action Network Pesticide Action Network (PAN) is a global coalition of citizen's groups and individuals who oppose the misuse and overuse of pesticides, and supp ort the reliance on safe and sustainable alternatives. PAN links over 300 groups in 50 countries and operates through 5 regional centers: PAN Centre Regional Pour L'Afrique in Senegal, for Africa. Tel: (221) 2 54 914 Fax: (221) 254 914 E-Mail: panafric@telecomplus.sn PAN AP in Penang, Malaysia, for Asia and the Pacific. Tel: (604) 657 02 71/656 0381 Fax: (604) 675 7445. E-Mail: panap@panap.po.my Red de Accion en Alternativas al Uso de Agroquimicos (RAAA) in Lima, Peru , for Latin America. Tel: (51-1) 421 0826 Fax: (51-1) 440 4359. E-mail: raaaper@mail.cosapidata.com.pe The Pesticides Trust in London, England, for Europe. Tel: (44-171) 274 8895 Fax: (44-171) 274 9084. E-Mail: pesttrust@gn.apc.org PAN North America (PANNA) in San Francisco, U.S.A, for North America. Tel: (1-415) 981 1771 Fax: (1-415) 981 1991. E-Mail: panna@panna.org Brief Background to Bhopal On the evening of December 3rd 1984, Union Carbide's pesticide-manufactur ing plant in Bhopal, India leaked 42 metric tonnes of methyl isocyanate, a heavy deadly gas, into a sleeping, impoverished community - killing over 2,500 people and injuring up to 200,000 others. The Bhopal tragedy exposed the negligence and culpability of transnationa l corporations. The company attributable for the tragedy, Union Carbide Corporation accepted 'moral responsibility' for the Bhopal massacre, but then denied and evaded any other kind of responsibility. While it eventually agreed to pay $470 million in compensation, for most victims this was not even enough to pay their medical bills. Since the incident, Union Carbide has closed and abandoned its Bhopal plant which produced pesticides for use in cotton production. But it refused to clean up the substantial pollution of water and soil it left and has forsaken the estimated 140 ,000 survivors who still suffer from a range of diseases linked to exposure to the gas that leaked from the site. As the years pass, the harms attributable to the Bhopal disaster grow worse as more and more health impac ts are continuously uncovered. Although no criminal verdicts have been issued in the Bhopal case, Union Carbide settled with the Indian Government for US$ 470 million in 1989. To date, individual settlements have been in the range of US$ 3300 for loss of life and US$ 800 for permanent disability. Union Carbide has since a bandoned the Bhopal plant that produced pesticides for use in cotton production, and has not cleaned up its legacy of extensive soil and water pollution. Criminal cases against Union Carbide are still pending in the Bhopal district court. On August 4, 1999, Dow Chemical Company announced that it would acquire Union Carbide Corporation, creating the world's second largest chemical company after Du Pont Corporation. Dow Chemical gained notoriety in the 1960's as one of the makers of the herbicide known as 'Agent Orange', used a s a defoliant during the Vietnam War. Today, news of the merger still evokes strong protests from the survivors of the disaster. For years, the Bhopal survivors' organizations have called upon Union Car bide to release precise details of the chemicals released during the acci dent and results of tests conducted by Union Carbide to further assess the effects of methyl isocyanate on animals. This information has been with held by Union Carbide because the company claims it is 'confidential business information'. However, such data is necessary to enable effective treatment of those who remain ill as a result of the tragedy. The merger between Dow and Union Carbide, estimated to be worth approximately US$ 11.6 billion, is expected to materialise during the first three months of 2000. The new Dow would operate in 168 countries and have more than US$ 24 billion in revenue. According to the President and Chief Executive Officer, the company would "save at least US$ 500 million annually" as a result of the merger. A spokesperson for the Bhopal disaster victims' organizations said "Dow Chemicals has made a serious mistake if it thinks that the disappearance of the Union Carbide name will bring the Bhopal issue to a close. Dow will inherit all of Union Carbide's liabilities and responsibilities. Dow needs to know that Bhopal gas victims will never give up their fight for justice and fair compensation." Read more about the disaster at http://www.bhopal.org and about the Remember Bhopal campaign at http://www.EssentialAction.org/bhopal/index.html For more information please contact: Jennifer Mourin, Safe Food Campaign Coordinator / Thirunavukkarasu Jr., Research Officer, PAN AP, Penang. Tel: (604) 657 0271 / 656 0381; Fax: (60 4) 657 7445. Internet: http://www.poptel.org.uk/panap/ E-mail: panap@pana p.po.my Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Asia and the Pacific is one of the regiona l centre's for PAN International - a global coalition of citizen's groups and individuals who are working to promote sustainable agriculture, and oppose the use of pesticides. PAN Asia and the Pacific is dedicated to en suring the empowerment of people, especially women, agricultural workers, peasant and indigenous farmers. We are specially committed to protect the safety and health of people and the environment from pesticide use. PAN - Asia and the Pacific P.O. Box 1170 11850 Penang Malaysia Web : http://www.poptel.org.uk/panap Tel. : 604-6570271/6560381 Fax : 604-6577445 From sap at web.net Fri Dec 3 06:56:24 1999 From: sap at web.net (Faruq Faisel) Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 16:56:24 -0500 Subject: [asia-apec 1358] Afghanistan: Ottawa Conference Message-ID: <016b01bf3d10$6f386080$1a0000c0@web.net> The Afghanistan Working Group (AWG) Is pleased to invite you to a conference on: AFGHANISTAN: People and Programming- Voices from Within NGO FOLLOW-UP OF 6TH ASG MEETING Date: Friday, December 10, 199 Venue: Parliament Hill (West Block), Ottawa Time: 9 AM to 5 PM The Conference: This one-day conference is a follow-up of the Ottawa Consultation on Afghanistan held in February, this year and will be preceded by the 6th meeting of the International Afghan Donors Coordinating Body (Afghanistan Support Group- ASG). At this conference, representatives from Afghan NGOs and International NGOs will speak about their experiences from the field. Participants: The following representatives from Afghan and International NGOs are coming to Ottawa to attend the ASG meeting: ? Dr Anwar ul Haq Jabharkhail, Chairman, ACBAR ? Eng Sayed Rahim Sattar, Chairman, ANCB ? Eng Sayed Jawed, Director HAFO ? Ander Fange, Director Swedish Committee ? Shon Campbell, Porgramme manager, Afghanistan, Save the Children UK ? Stuart Worsley, Director, CARE Afghanistan ? Andrew Wilder, Director, Afghanistan, Save the Children USA All of them are invited to speak at the 10th December Conference. Registration: Registration fee is $15. This includes lunch and coffee. As space is limited, all interested participants are requested to register by December 8, 1999. For preliminary agenda and the registration form, please send request to: Faruq Faisel Canadian Program Manager South Asia Partnership (SAP) Canada 1 Nicholas Street, Suite 200 Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7B7 Canada Phone: (613) 241 1333 Fax: (613) 241 1129 E-mail: sap@web.net From byn_us at hotmail.com Thu Dec 2 09:09:53 1999 From: byn_us at hotmail.com (Bayan International - USA) Date: Thu, 02 Dec 1999 08:09:53 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1359] Live from Seattle! Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991202080953.006a258c@pop.skyinet.net> LIVE FROM SEATTLE! Dear friends, Shut down the WTO! Greetings from Seattle, especially to those who were not able to make it to Seattle. Those of us who are here feel privileged to be on the scene of this historic moment. . . . Some of us agree that today, November 30, 1999, was the best or one of the best days of our lives. The power of the people is truly awesome when set in motion! The day began with thousands of demonstrators blocking the streets around the convention center, and delaying the opening of the WTO ministerial meeting for hours. There was tremendous creativity, with protestors taking the portable wire fence that the police had put up as barricades against us, and moving/transforming it into barricades against the WTO! Some protestors locked themselves down in the intersection, others sat down, linked arms. Still others would dance out of the intersection when forced to by the police, and then dance back in. So far the news coverage I've seen has failed to convey the extraordinary festival atmosphere that prevailed during most of the day. When we chanted "Whose Streets? Our Streets!" it was not just a slogan. There was an anti-fascist marching band, there were hundreds dancing to amplified techno music, there were the two hundred people dressed as sea turtles, there were people on stilts, in all kinds of costumes, there were tons of contingent marches--the environmentalists, the IWW, the people's assembly's march against imperialist globalization and more, each with their distinct character. There were steelworkers engaging in direct action alongside anarchists. This all lasted from about 7:30 a.m. until nightfall, when the state of emergency and curfew was declared, and the police stepped up their level of aggression. Nevertheless, at about 9 p.m. we saw a crowd of college students still demonstrating at Seattle University and raising clenched fists of defiance to the helicopter overhead. Quite a few people, including many from L.A., who were in the thick of the action, got tear gassed. Apparently, the independent media center, for which I was in the field most of the day, was attacked by the police in the evening. To my knowledge, none of the 22 arrests were from our group--if anyone hears otherwise, please let me know. By the way, there seems to be many people here from Southern California. I hope we'll be able to figure out approximately how many. And then, the AFL-CIO march! I walked from the front to the back--it took an incredibly long time-- I think the news estimates of 50,000 are low. One reason I think that, is that Monday night the Jubilee 2000 debt relief human chain (in raging wind and rain!) was estimated by police at 14,000, and this was clearly many times more. Speaking of Monday, the demonstrations also lasted all day, beginning with thousands joining in an environmental march which included many labor unions, especially the Steelworkers, UFW. After the official rally ended, the demonstration continued for many hours taking on a life of its own, snaking its way around the city. There was an especially great rally outside McDonalds, where Jose Bove, the French farmer, alongside Canadian and Indian farmers, spoke from the roof of a van. Some of you know and make fun of my preference for action, but I must also mention that there have been dozens and dozens of panel discussions by a tremendous variety of speakers on every possible topic connected to the WTO, and that this event is producing an army of thousands of incredibly well informed activists. These presentations have been distinguished by their internationalism. . . . Tomorrow afternoon the steelworkers union is sponsoring a march to the harbor for a kind of Boston Tea Party -- hopefully this won't be prevented by the presence of the National Guard! . . . Solidarity, Leone From tpl at cheerful.com Fri Dec 3 20:39:50 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 19:39:50 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1360] Not so sweet sixteen under US-Estrada regime (Erap's HR violations in first 16 months of presidency) Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991203193950.006a17dc@pop.skyinet.net> From: Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) EMJP (Ecumenical Movement for Justice & Peace) SELDA (Organization of Former Political Prisoners) Desaparecidos (Families and Friends of the Disappeared) NOT SO SWEET SIXTEEN UNDER THE US-ESTRADA REGIME (Estrada's human rights record in his first 16 months as president) 538 documented cases of human rights violations (HRVs) or 8 HRVs per week 116 new political prisoners added to the remaining 68 of previous regimes 82 arbitrary arrests (no warrants) 228 total arrests 7 disappeared 74 civilians killed by mitary, police and para-military units - 12 killed in strafing incidents - 23 'salvaged' or summarily executed - 39 massacred - 25 of the fatalities were children, the youngest at one year old plus undocumented cases of HRVs against the Moro people, ethnic minorities and others. A nationally-coordinated rally will be held on December 10, 1999 to condemn the human rights violations of the US-Estrada regime. From tpl at cheerful.com Sun Dec 5 07:21:46 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Sun, 05 Dec 1999 06:21:46 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1361] Women's Statement Against AOA/WTO Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991205062146.006a0d44@pop.skyinet.net> Please write GABRIELA a short note if you have decided to sign or endorse the statement below so your name and/or that of your organization can be added to the list of signatories. >----------------------------------------------- > >Join the fight against WTO and globalization! >Be a signatory or endorse this statement. >Please pass it on to others. > >WOMEN'S STATEMENT AGAINST AOA/WTO >presented by GABRIELA and AMIHAN >in the Peoples' Assembly Session: Women Say NO to WTO! >November 29, 1999 >Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. > >Stop Trading Off Peoples' Lives and Future! >Take Agriculture Out of WTO! >Junk WTO! >Women Say NO to Imperialist Globalization! > >In Seattle, the stage is set for another trading event that will barter the >lives and future of women, men and children in exchange for super profits >for monopoly capital. The Millennium Round of negotiations of the World >Trade Organization (WTO) will definitely be dominated by the US, >Japan, Germany and the rest of the Group of 7. Majority of their people and >the rest of the world will once more be shoved into economic and political >maelstrom. > >We, the impoverished producers of Asia, await with much apprehension the >outcome of the 3rd WTO Ministerial Meeting, one of which main agenda is a >review of the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA). And not without enough basis. >Most of our governments are gearing to further open up our markets for >agricultural products and our lands and other resources to corporate >plunder. The same formula that is whittling away whatever control we still >have on our products and resources. > >No doubt the dominant players in the game, the US, Japan and EU will >again battle to squeeze out more concessions despite the astonishing array >of concessions already gained in the previous rounds. > >No doubt governments of developing countries, will beg for more favors, >promise more bargains and make more compromises to keep them on board ship. > >In the end, among the major losers in this trading game are the poor >producers: the peasants, farmers, agricultural workers, the women and the >children without whose labor there could be no products to be traded, >without whose labor there could be no trade in agriculture to speak of. > >In the end, the gainers are the national ruling elite, made up of the big >landowners and big business, and the transnational corporations (TNCs)whose >monopoly control of the land, trade and production technology already >assures them of the lion's share of the region's productive output. Once >more, monopoly capital gets the loot. > >We, who toil daily under the scorching sun to produce 91% of the world's >rice, barely have enough rice to eat. We, who work in the plantations of >bananas, pineapples, rubber and palm oil, barely have enough cash to send >our children to school and buy medicine when we get sick. Official data tell >it all. Asia is home to rich natural resources and strong human power. It is >home to an unparalleled ecological heritage, yet it remains the home of 70% >of the world's poor. > >We therefore re-state in the strongest terms: We have never benefited from >our governments' commitments to the AOA and the rest of the WTO agreements. > >The market access provision of the AOA, which provides for tariff >reduction, is skewed to the advantage of industrialized countries which >start off with high tariff rate bases and therefore end up still being >able to protect their local markets. The developing countries are left with >their local markets wide open for imports thus displacing their local >products. > >But developing countries have to sell and trade, say our governments >which are still keeping blind to the fact that all of globalization's >promises have failed. "Equal playing field" under imperialist globalization >is a lot of nonsense. There can be no free trade nor fair trade in a world >system dominated by monopoly capital. > >Our governments continue to offer us as sacrificial lambs to the >so-called 'global competitiveness'. Intensification of exploitation of our >labor and the natural resources are resorted to in order to produce >products at the cheapest price possible. Men, women and children are made >to work almost as slaves on mere pittance. Family labor is mobilized in >exchange for compensation fit for paupers. > >Another anomaly is the domestic support provision of the AOA which >mandates a reduction of production subsidies for the farmers. Various >estimates point, that even with a 20% subsidy reduction, governments of >developed countries can still can afford to provide billions of subsidies >to their farmers in various forms without them being declared WTO illegal. > >One the other hand, we from the developing countries have to fend for >ourselves. Our cash-strapped and debt-burdened governments are only too >happy to take away our already low subsidies. With little or no support >from government, and with high production inputs, our local products cannot >compete with the cheap, highly subsidized imported products that flood our >markets. > >The WTO has spelled disaster on us and our natural resources. Large >tracts of lands devoted for the production of staple food are converted >for the cultivation of products for trade. Worse, our lands and forests are >taken away from us to pave the way for conversion to golf courses and other >tourism resorts, grandiose mal-development projects like dams, mining and >logging concessions and so-called industrial centers. We are left landless >and ruined. > >Of great concern is our food security, our capacity to produce our own food >and its accessibility to every one. We can never subscribe to the idea >peddled by most of our governments that food security is simply the >availability of food and that we are better off importing cheap food from >other countries. > >These products have been flooding the local market, competing with >locally produced ones which have become relatively more expensive because >of higher production cost due to withdrawal of subsidies and lower tariff >for the imported ones. Imported products continue to threaten, if not >already putting an end to, the viability of local products. Worse, with >the trade of even our staple food like rice and corn, in the hands of >cartels, price manipulation resulting into steep increases in the prices of >these commodities, have been resorted to. Heavier pressure is created on >our already very tight food budget. > >Our health suffers from all the chemicals introduced in agricultural >production and the pollutants from mining and industrial operations that >poison our lands, air, seas, rivers and other bodies of water. > >For us, WTO means greater exploitation of our labor and resources, >further ruin of our sources of livelihood and steady deterioration of our >already meager income. These further translate to hunger, malnutrition and >worsening of our life situation. > >For us women, the squeeze is even tighter. As our meager family income is >further reduced, our husbands are forced to depart from our villages in search of jobs. Many do not return, leaving us women on our own to keep the rest of >the family alive. Our working hours are doubled or tripled to augment our >income and find food for the children. > >Hundreds of thousands of us are likewise forced to leave for the urban >areas and even other countries in the hope of finding jobs. Many end up >being victimized by labor and sex traffickers. And some of us have >prostituted ourselves as unwilling commodities in the sex trade. > >To make matters worse, the collusion among the imperialist powers, the >local ruling elite and the state, that they dominate, goes beyond the >economic sphere. To stifle peoples' opposition and to protect monopoly >capital business interests, the state unleashes its military and >paramilitary forces against the women, men and communities resisting >globalization. Militarist aggression is the imperialists' and the state's >answer to legitimate peoples' demands. > >We, therefore, affirm our commitment to resist and fight imperialist >globalization and its newest conduit - the WTO. Let their trading begin. But >let us fight to have our lives and our future spared. > >Take Agriculture out of WTO! >Junk WTO! >Strengthen international solidarity >and advance the peoples' struggle against imperialism! > >[Initiated by AMIHAN, GABRIELA, KMP and BAYAN. Please send to friends, colleagues and networks. Please write Gabriela at if you have decided to sign or endorse the statement.] > > >Printed Name Organization Country Tel/Fax/Email > > From tpl at cheerful.com Sun Dec 5 07:56:21 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Sun, 05 Dec 1999 06:56:21 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1362] Not so sweet sixteen under US-Estrada regime (Erap's HR violations in first 16 months of presidency) Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991205065621.0069e02c@pop.skyinet.net> From: Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) EMJP (Ecumenical Movement for Justice & Peace) SELDA (Organization of Former Political Prisoners) Desaparecidos (Families and Friends of the Disappeared) NOT SO SWEET SIXTEEN UNDER THE US-ESTRADA REGIME (Estrada's human rights record in his first 16 months as president) 538 documented cases of human rights violations (HRVs) or 8 HRVs per week 116 new political prisoners added to the remaining 68 of previous regimes 82 arbitrary arrests (no warrants) 228 total arrests 7 disappeared 74 civilians killed by mitary, police and para-military units - 12 killed in strafing incidents - 23 'salvaged' or summarily executed - 39 massacred - 25 of the fatalities were children, the youngest at one year old plus undocumented cases of HRVs against the Moro people, ethnic minorities and others. A nationally-coordinated rally will be held on December 10, 1999 to condemn the human rights violations of the US-Estrada regime. From amittal at foodfirst.org Fri Dec 10 04:04:13 1999 From: amittal at foodfirst.org (Anuradha Mittal) Date: Thu, 09 Dec 1999 11:04:13 -0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1363] Attend the Largest Rally Against the GE Foods Message-ID: <0.700000824.1547701128-212058698-944766253@topica.com> ACTION ALERT: CIRCULATE WIDELY LAST WEEK SEATTLE……..THIS WEEK OAKLAND Attend the largest rally against genetically engineered (GE) foods in the U.S. to date! This Monday in Oakland, the FDA is holding a public meeting to get feedback on their policies related to GE foods.Let the FDA know that the American public demands GE foods be thoroughly tested and labeled before they reach supermarket shelves. Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires no pre-market testing or labeling of genetically engineered food. Corporations developing GE foods are merely encouraged to consult with the FDA if they think there may be any health related risks. Yet every day whether we know it or not, most of us eat foods containing genetically engineered ingredients. The rally will include speakers, street theatre and more!!!! When: Monday, December 13, 1999 at 12 noon Where: Oakland Federal Office Building, 1301 Clay St @ 13th St. Oakland, CA. (Oakland City Ctr/12th St. Bart Station) What to Bring: Banners, signs, friends, costumes and information We need volunteers to help us spread the word by passing out leaflets, making phone calls and helping us to organize the day of the event. To get involved now please call Simon Harris at (415) 981-6205 x 324 or by email: simon@organicconsumers.org Join the fight against hunger. For more information contact foodfirst@foodfirst.org. _____________________________________________________________ Start the new year off right by referring a list to Topica. You'll earn $300 and your list owner friends will thank you. http://www.topica.com/t/9 From tpl at cheerful.com Fri Dec 10 07:28:39 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 06:28:39 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1364] The Ruckus in Seattle: Eye Witness as Opposed to TV/News Junk Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991210062839.0069e1c8@pop.skyinet.net> Please circulate to your networks. Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 1999 11:11 AM Subject: The Ruckus in Seattle - eye witness as opposed to TV/News JUNK Hi Friends and Strangers, it's said that one of the great benefits of the Internet is that we can communicate directly with one another; and exchange information that our media don't necessarily think we should bother our pretty little heads about. I'm writing this to a diverse group of people, most of whom exchange great jokes and worthy sayings (the former more than the latter!) with each other. I'm hoping that some of you will send this out over your own networks; so that a more balanced picture of what happened in Seattle yesterday will reach real people. I'm not trying to tell you what to think, I assume that some have one opinion, others another, about the WTO, demonstrators, police actions, and so on and so fifth. I just want as many people as possible to base those opinions on a resemblance to what happened * not what we were being spoon fed by the suits and hairdos on TV. I understand, incidentally, that national press and even international press, did a much more even handed job of reporting than did the Seattle hairdos. The lopsided information I saw on Seattle television and in the Seattle Times was 10 times more scary than what was going on in the streets! Here is what I saw in person: a march of between 40,000 and 50,000 people - every possible skin hue, every conceivable race, ages between early 20s and late 60s, fat, thin, and in between, from all over the U.S. I saw Women of Steel - women steelworkers from Boulder, CO next to the association of airline pilots. I saw tool and die workers walking next to the association of professional engineers; well, you get the picture. Thousands of diverse people together in good fellowship, wanting to have a voice in an organization (WTO) that is trying to exclude them. Being in the middle of this group was simply amazing. While many of these people feel strongly enough about the issue to have come by bus from far away to be heard, I saw no anger expressed. No hint of violent behavior. I saw positive statements: "If it doesn't work for working families, it doesn't work" was the most common placard being held. I saw smiling faces and camaraderie. If you think, as I do, that this group is a true cross section of the people in this country, you must be as impressed as I am. It was beyond words inspiring. Imagine my amazement when I went home, hoping to see pictures of the march on television, when this march was not shown on any of the local television stations! I switched channels and followed the news for some time (I heard one 2 second reference to it.) How can this immense show of people not be news? I eagerly opened the Seattle Times hoping for some pictures of this incredible event. Not a one! It simply boggled my mind. What was being shown? Tear gas, people blocking intersections, and looters that had no connection to the protest at all. However, it was when I saw the news broadcasts this morning that I really knew I had to write this. According to all the Seattle TV news stations, police presence had become more aggressive because of the "looting and violence of some of the protesters last night." Absolutely unbelievable -- and I mean that literally! Here are a couple of scenes that were shown on TV, given to you raw, before the news people started rewriting history-and this involves now not the union protesters, but the people who were on the street getting up close and personal: Early on in the day, at an intersection a couple of blocks from the session location, was shown. The intersection was at the bottom of a hill, with heavy police presence, and many protesters at both top and bottom. Some protesters on top of the hill had started rolling barrels down the hill. Another protester went up the hill and talked to those people, and asked them to stop. They did. No tear gas was needed, no police action-the peaceful protesters were keeping their own people in line. No matter how hard the press tried, they were unable to show violence of any kind instituted by the protesters. The delegates joined arms, and formed a cordon, and some got up on top of buses that had been ringed around the Paramount Theater, but no one had a weapon of any sort, and the only punches thrown were by a delegate! Also, another delegate brandished a gun at the protesters. Whether you think the protesters were right or wrong in general, it's important to know that they did behave nonviolently. Another scene shown live on local TV, which was later narrated in a very different way: A small group of young men dressed in black, with hoods and masks began breaking windows and spraying graffiti. There was one newswoman, from KIRO, on the scene with a cameraman, and she reported on this and followed them as the action was happening. She reported that the protesters were actually yelling at the vandals and trying to get them to stop. At one place the protesters formed a cordon and tried to prevent vandalism by this group. As it happened, there were no police in the area. Later reports of this event left out the attempts of the protesters to stop the vandalism. Today, reports of this event claim that vandalism was done by part of the protest group! Another report: later in the evening King TV was showing looters and vandals running around the streets -- a young, probably 14-16 year old guy, who clearly wouldn't know a political or social issue if it were being pounded into his head with a two by four, was shown running down the street with a big grin on his face; after heaving rocks through windows. Jean Ennerson, veteran Seattle anchorwoman, announced that there was a protester who was showing no remorse. This was such a palpable falsehood that her co-anchor, to do him justice, came on soon after and pointed out that the looting and vandalism was being done by people taking advantage of the situation, not by protesters. As to the police - I wouldn't have wanted their job, any of them, and am not going to do any second guessing here. I do think, however, that in the pursuit of something sensational, anything sensational, they were treated somewhat unfairly by the press. One delegate to WTO complained about the police and said they should have been more aggressive. This delegate was from a country where it would have been business as usual to call out tanks and guns with bullets (not rubber) and use them liberally. He clearly didn't think the police here have a grip on how to keep order. Which is one reason so many people are protesting the WTO! The police did appear to be trying as much as possible to let things happen as long as they were peaceful -- although they did not allow delegates to be physically kept out of the building. They seemed to be acting with restraint through most of the day, although there would be a strong contingent that disagree with me on this. However, unlike what one newswoman on KIRO claimed, this was definitely nothing like Chicago in 1968. No heads were beaten with clubs, although it seemed as though pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets were being slung around pretty liberally. . . . Okay, I'll let go of this; having hopefully set a bit of the record straight for some people. If you feel like it, I would appreciate you passing this along your own networks. Thanks. Yours for some small bit of the truth trickling down to us regular folks. Terry McCormick mailto:TJmcweiss@aol.com From bayan at iname.com Fri Dec 10 07:25:22 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (bayan) Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 06:25:22 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1365] Fwd: Condemning the State of Siege in Seattle Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991210062522.0069e1c8@pop.skyinet.net> Please circulate to your networks. STATEMENT OF THE SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY CONDEMNING THE STATE OF SIEGE IN SEATTLE December 3, 1999 The Seattle International People's Assembly -- Say NO to WTO! -- vehemently condemns the use of state, police and military violence unleashed on peaceful protesters and residents of Seattle who are in opposition to the World Trade Organization (WTO), on media people, and even on innocent bystanders during the past few days! The international monopoly bourgeoisie and its representatives, led by US President Bill Clinton, would like the world to believe that they are open to listening to the widespread people's protests, but nothing is further from the truth! The use of repressive violence and imposition of martial law in downtown Seattle truly exposes the fascist lengths that they will go in ensuring that the WTO forges ahead in furthering imperialist globalization with greater harm to the working class and the world's peoples. Even before the violence, the suppression of democratic rights was evident when the Mayor of Seattle explicitly denied the People's Assembly its right to hold its march and rally in downtown Seattle. But permit or none, and notwithstanding menacing police lines and teargas, this did not stop international delegations and several hundred militant Filipino and other youth-student and women activists of color from marching on our planned route and joining over 50,000 protesters coming from many cities throughout the US, Canada and worldwide to condemn the WTO! The WTO is implementing policies and trade laws of imperialist globalization, which are devastating for the world's peoples, and sentence them to increased poverty and more intensified exploitation. The significance of the WTO's 1999 Seattle Ministerial Meeting is its agenda to open up a so-called Millennium Round of "trade talks" to further expand laws not covered in its previous General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 agreements, and to expand its Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) at the expense of the world's peasantry. It comes as no surprise that the Seattle police and US National Guard storm troopers have been violently dispersing and arresting several hundreds of the protesters in an indiscriminate fashion in the last two days. The message is unmistakable: dissent of any form will not be tolerated, much less heard. This is the true modus operandi of those who do imperialism's bidding! We have witnessed this sort of state police and military repression during anti-APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) protests in Manila (1996), Vancouver (1997), Kuala Lumpur (1998), and New Zealand (September 1999). It confirms what has been happening all along, that on a wider scale, with "globalization" comes US aggression. The longstanding US economic blockade of Cuba, the US-led NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the US genocide in Iraq immediately come to mind. Free All Incarcerated Anti-WTO Protesters Now! Broaden the Resistance and Unite All Peace-Loving and Democratic Forces in Condemning US State Fascism! Step Up the Peoples' Protests to Junk the WTO! NO to Imperialist Globalization! Down with US Imperialism--the Main Enemy of the World's Peoples! Long Live International Solidarity! From kmp at quickweb.com.ph Thu Dec 9 22:15:23 1999 From: kmp at quickweb.com.ph (KMP) Date: Thu, 09 Dec 1999 21:15:23 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1366] [Fwd: People's Victory in LA] Message-ID: <384FAB6B.A0B295DA@quickweb.com.ph> -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "Bayan International - USA" Subject: People's Victory in LA Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 11:22:54 PST Size: 3691 Url: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/asia-apec/attachments/19991209/abbc7d1c/nsmailVA.mht From tpl at cheerful.com Sat Dec 11 06:50:12 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 05:50:12 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1367] Say No to WTO! Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991211055012.006b34a4@pop.skyinet.net> Please circulate to your network. > >UNITY STATEMENT >Seattle International People's Assembly: >SAY NO TO WTO! >November 28-29, 1999 >Seattle, Washington, USA > >We, participants to the Seattle International People's Assembly coming >from the First and Third Worlds, close our two-day meeting -- "Say No to >WTO!" -- firmly united in the task of exposing and opposing the WTO and >advancing the people's resistance to imperialist globalization. > >Imperialist globalization must be unmasked and fully discredited. We see >it as nothing but monopoly capitalism masquerading as a new and wonderful >product of the electronic age. But in truth it ravages the environment, >devastates countries and subjugates entire peoples with unequaled >ferocity and ruthlessness. > >The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the instrument of multinational >corporations (MNCs) and imperialist states for dictating trade policy on >client states even as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dictates >financial and monetary policy and the World Bank, fiscal policy. US imperialism controls the WTO contrary to the official propaganda that 134 member states enjoy equality and decide by consensus. > >Imperialist states, acting as protectors and promoters of the >superprofits of giant monopoly firms, are the masterminds of the >anti-worker "contractualization" policy, the chief instigators of human >rights violations, and the biggest plunderers and polluters of the >environment. > >Imperialist globalization is not inevitable. It is not unstoppable. We >have proven this time and again in tactical battles against the neoliberal >policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization, against the >debt trap, and in the recent highly successful anti-MAI (Multilateral >Agreement on Investments) campaign. In this spirit, we support the call >of peasant movements, including La Via Campesina and KMP (Kilusang >Magbubukid ng Pilipinas -- Peasant Movement of the Philippines), to take agriculture out of the WTO. It is a call that supports the peasants' >and farm workers' fight against landlessness, feudal and semi-feudal >bondage. > >But while we struggle for reforms and try to achieve palpable gains on >immediate issues, we make sure that we are not distracted from the >overall struggle against the main enemy of the world's peoples >today -- imperialism -- specifically the No. 1 imperialist power, the USA. > >We vow to close ranks to confront the imperialist monster that has taken >away our lands, jobs and livelihood and has further displaced, >commodified and turned women into modern-day slaves. We denounce >imperialism that has impoverished us and left us hungry, sick, without >decent housing, and has stolen our youth's future. > >We commit ourselves to bring down this system which is bringing genocidal >wars of imperialist intervention and domination upon the peoples of the >world. We demand an end to the economic blockade of Cuba, the ongoing >bombing of Iraq and the depredations on Yugoslav independence and >sovereignty and the use of United Nations sanctions to bring sovereign >countries to heel. > >We firm up our resolve to promote and develop the anti-imperialist and >democratic struggle of the workers and oppressed peoples against the >inhuman policies and acts of the MNCs, their governments and international instruments such as the IMF, World Bank, WTO and military alliances. > >We support the calls of the International League of People's Struggle >which will be founded at the end of the year 2000. > >Finally, we stand ready to fight for the following: > >1. National and social liberation from imperialism and all reaction; > >2. Human rights in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural >fields; > >3. The cause of peace against wars of aggression and against nuclear and >genocidal weapons; > >4. Workers' rights and reduction of working hours at full pay against >mass unemployment and decreasing wage levels; > >5. Rights of peasants, farm workers and fisherfolk against feudal and >semi-feudal exploitation and oppression; > >6. Women's rights against discrimination and sexual exploitation; > >7. The rights of gays and lesbians against discrimination; > >8. Children's rights against child labor and other forms of >exploitation; > >9. Rights of indigenous peoples and nationalities against chauvinism and >racism; > >10. The rights of teachers and the youth against the privatization of >education and to academic freedom; > >11. Rights and welfare of refugees and migrant workers; > >12. Environmental protection against plunder and pollution, towards the >survival of all species; > >13. The right to safe and healthy food free from genetic manipulation, >hazardous chemicals and processes. > >We call on all the oppressed peoples to strengthen international solidarity >and advance the peoples' struggle against imperialism! > From kmp at quickweb.com.ph Mon Dec 13 09:12:21 1999 From: kmp at quickweb.com.ph (KMP) Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 08:12:21 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1368] Say NO to WTO! Unity Statement Message-ID: <385439E4.1AAACB9F@quickweb.com.ph> UNITY STATEMENT Seattle International People's Assembly: SAY NO TO WTO! November 28-29, 1999 Seattle, Washington, USA We, participants to the Seattle International People's Assembly coming from the First and Third Worlds, close our two-day meeting -- "Say No to WTO!" -- firmly united in the task of exposing and opposing the WTO and advancing the people's resistance to imperialist globalization. Imperialist globalization must be unmasked and fully discredited. We see it as nothing but monopoly capitalism masquerading as a new and wonderful product of the electronic age. But in truth it ravages the environment, devastates countries and subjugates entire peoples with unequaled ferocity and ruthlessness. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the instrument of multinational corporations (MNCs) and imperialist states for dictating trade policy on client states even as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dictates financial and monetary policy and the World Bank, fiscal policy. US imperialism controls the WTO contrary to the official propaganda that 134 member states enjoy equality and decide by consensus. Imperialist states, acting as protectors and promoters of the superprofits of giant monopoly firms, are the masterminds of the anti-worker "contractualization" policy, the chief instigators of human rights violations, and the biggest plunderers and polluters of the environment. Imperialist globalization is not inevitable. It is not unstoppable. We have proven this time and again in tactical battles against the neoliberal policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization, against the debt trap, and in the recent highly successful anti-MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investments) campaign. In this spirit, we support the call of peasant movements, including La Via Campesina and KMP (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas -- Peasant Movement of the Philippines), to take agriculture out of the WTO. It is a call that supports the peasants' and farm workers' fight against landlessness, feudal and semi-feudal bondage. But while we struggle for reforms and try to achieve palpable gains on immediate issues, we make sure that we are not distracted from the overall struggle against the main enemy of the world's peoples today -- imperialism -- specifically the No. 1 imperialist power, the USA. We vow to close ranks to confront the imperialist monster that has taken away our lands, jobs and livelihood and has further displaced, commodified and turned women into modern-day slaves. We denounce imperialism that has impoverished us and left us hungry, sick, without decent housing, and has stolen our youth's future. We commit ourselves to bring down this system which is bringing genocidal wars of imperialist intervention and domination upon the peoples of the world. We demand an end to the economic blockade of Cuba, the ongoing bombing of Iraq and the depredations on Yugoslav independence and sovereignty and the use of United Nations sanctions to bring sovereign countries to heel. We firm up our resolve to promote and develop the anti-imperialist and democratic struggle of the workers and oppressed peoples against the inhuman policies and acts of the MNCs, their governments and international instruments such as the IMF, World Bank, WTO and military alliances. We support the calls of the International League of People's Struggle which will be founded at the end of the year 2000. Finally, we stand ready to fight for the following: 1. National and social liberation from imperialism and all reaction; 2. Human rights in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural fields; 3. The cause of peace against wars of aggression and against nuclear and genocidal weapons; 4. Workers' rights and reduction of working hours at full pay against mass unemployment and decreasing wage levels; 5. Rights of peasants, farm workers and fisherfolk against feudal and semi-feudal exploitation and oppression; 6. Women's rights against discrimination and sexual exploitation; 7. The rights of gays and lesbians against discrimination; 8. Children's rights against child labor and other forms of exploitation; 9. Rights of indigenous peoples and nationalities against chauvinism and racism; 10. The rights of teachers and the youth against the privatization of education and to academic freedom; 11. Rights and welfare of refugees and migrant workers; 12. Environmental protection against plunder and pollution, towards the survival of all species; 13. The right to safe and healthy food free from genetic manipulation, hazardous chemicals and processes. We call on all the oppressed peoples to strengthen international solidarity and advance the peoples' struggle against imperialism! From gab at info.com.ph Tue Dec 14 08:18:21 1999 From: gab at info.com.ph (GABRIELA-Philippines) Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 07:18:21 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1369] Women Workers in Triumph Int'l on Strike Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991214071821.006db21c@pop.skyinet.net> GABRIELA SUPPORTS WOMEN BEHIND MILLENNIUM BRA The Millennium Bra weighs 8 times heavier than a regular one. It is made with gold thread. A diamond is imbedded at its center. It costs $1.9 M. But behind this extravagance is more than a thousand women who couldn't get a decent wage increase. In a press conference this morning, the women's group GABRIELA said that the 1,139 workers under the union, Bagong Pagkakaisa ng mga Manggagawa sa Triumph International (BPMTI-Ind.), were forced to go on strike last November 18 following a deadlock in the CBA negotiations. Management is offering only P45 in response to the union's demand of P140 wage increase. Management, likewise, refuses to meet the other economic demands of the workers. "While Triumph Philippines registers an annual 10% increase in its sales, it refuses to accommodate the very basic right of women workers for a decent wage. This is a concrete example of how global competetiveness in the era of "globalization" bleeds dry women workers by undervaluing women workers' labor," said Nanette Miranda-Tampico, secretary general of Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan (KMK) - GABRIELA. "These women spend the prime of their life working in Triumph. Their skills are the reason why Triumph Phils. is among the top earners of Triumph International" said Tampico. The women's group said that the average age of workers, mostly women, in Triumph Phils. is 40 years old, with some having worked for as long as 25 years. Their average daily income only amounts to P300 while the cost of living in the National Capital Region is already pegged at P446. According to KMK-GABRIELA, the job security of Triumph workers is also in danger. Women workers of Triumph fear that they will lose their jobs in the event of a plant transfer set in 2004. According to the women's group, the Triumph workers' fear is not unfounded. "Contractualization is widely implemented in sectors dominated by women such as service and garments manufacturing. Contractual hiring is the current by-word ruining the lives of workers, again, in the name of global competetiveness." GABRIELA and KMK expressed its support to the striking workers of Triumph International Philippines, the same way that they supported the Shoemart (SM) union. The latter won in the collective bargaining agreement negotiations after having been forced to call a strike which drew wide support from the people's movement and the different sectors of society. From KarapatanBayArea at aol.com Tue Dec 14 08:01:53 1999 From: KarapatanBayArea at aol.com (by way of tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 07:01:53 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1370] No to WTO Victory Draws 100 Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19991214070153.0069dc84@pop.skyinet.net> From: KARAPATAN - Bay Area, USA December 11, 1999 NO TO WTO VICTORY DRAWS 100 San Jose, California. Labor leaders, environmentalists, Filipino immigrant and other youth activists of color joined hands to celebrate the peoples' victory against the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle on the eve of December 10, International Human Rights Day. More than 100 people filled the Teamsters Local 2853 Union Hall to capacity to listen to the report back of delegates to the Seattle International Peoples' Assembly, the account of the big November 30 rally in downtown Seattle, the subsequent police assaults and roundups of peaceful protesters as well as the three days of picketing which took place locally while the week-long "Battle of Seattle" was raging. Shiloh Ballard of the South Bay Network Opposed to the WTO! gave a brief overview on the WTO. Mario Santos of KARAPATAN-Filipino Center for Human Rights, and a member of the Peoples' Assembly Organizing Committee, spoke of how the two-day conference and march/rally which followed brought together workers and oppressed peoples of the Third and First Worlds in solidarity against the WTO and against imperialist globalization. Raj Jayader of the International Youth and Student Caucus recounted how his group of 45 Bay Area youth identified with and joined the Peoples' Assembly. He said that they were delighted to come across folks with whom they could relate on the sharp analysis on imperialism and the WTO and they were only too happy to join the rallyists to whom the Seattle Mayor and Police Chief had denied a permit. Rachel Redondiez of the Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP-SF) shared her groups' plans to organize an integration/exposure trip to the Cordilleras in the Philippines this coming April 2000, and called on the audience to join them in the effort so that they can actually feel what it's like to be at the forefront of a Third World peoples' movement confronting imperialism. She also introduced "The Golf War" video teaser of the film slated to be premiered in the Bay Area this coming February 2000. The documentary, which portrays how globalization is disastrously converting farm lands into golf courses in countries like the Philippines and why agriculture must be taken out of the WTO, was also shown at the Peoples' Assembly on the night before the big rally. Teamster union representative and activist Miguel Acosta gave a brief rundown of labor's participation in the November 30 rally. Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 9423 President Louie Rocha noted that, "it mattered little that Sweeney and the top AFL-CIO leadership wafted in its stance on the WTO. What's more significant is that the widespread labor rank-and-file participation in the November 30 rally made a strong anti-WTO mark." "Out of the experience of having marched together, labor learned a whole lot more from environmentalists, and vice versa," Rocha added. "I was particularly proud of the fact that my 12 year-old son marched with me. It is for the youth and the future that we do these things. We sure as hell won't allow the WTO to mess it up! Hell No WTO!" Footage of the Peoples' Assembly march and rally was also shown to sustained applause from the audience. The short clip captured some of the finest moments of how the Peoples' Assembly march and rally, with the help of Direct Action Network folks, adroitly maneuvered its way around tear gas and a police blockade to find its way at the head of the big march on Pine Street in downtown Seattle. Bill Ferguson of 50 Years is Enough! and Jubilee 2000 shared his experience of being arrested and incarcerated for several days. The police just encircled about 150 of them and picked them all up. But all throughout this time the demeanor of the protesters was peaceful and non-violent and the morale of the protesters was extremely high. Roz Dean of LACES recounted how those who stayed behind in San Jose conducted three consecutive days of picketing when hundreds were being arrested in Seattle. "The people have definitely won this round against the WTO. However, imperialism and the WTO are still standing. We have only succeeded in preventing the imperialists from gaining further inroads. The destructive effects are very much in place. Much remains to be done. There's a need to do more organizing and a need to close our ranks even more. So when the WTO returns to meet, the peoples' movement can respond with a force ten or even a hundred times mightier than before," Santos noted. There was unanimity among the audience about the need to continue the activities in opposition to the WTO. The next coalition meeting was set for January 13th 7:00 p.m. . . . The entire program elicited thunderous applause and spirited anti-WTO chanting throughout the evening. "Hell No WTO! Se puede? Si se puede! Long live international solidarity!" roared the crowd. Copies of the Seattle International Peoples' Assembly Unity Statement, the papers presented during the Peoples' Assembly, as well as the proposal for the International League of Peoples' Struggle, were distributed during the event. The audience sang along with Mark Wallace and danced to the Latin rhythms of the "Kool Katz." A modest amount of canned goods and several hundreds of dollars were also raised for the Teamsters strike support food drive.# KARAPATAN Filipino Center for Human Rights PO Box 7091 Fremont CA 94537-7091 USA Phone: (510) 739-3596 E-mail: or From rcpd at mail.info.com.ph Tue Dec 14 10:06:48 1999 From: rcpd at mail.info.com.ph (rcpd@mail.info.com.ph) Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 09:06:48 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1371] unity statement of Philippine NGOs on the WTO fiasco in Seattle Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19991214090648.007f9100@mail.info.com.ph> Dear Friends, Below is a joint statement/analysis of various Philippine NGOs, social movements, labor and people's organizations on the WTO fiasco in Seattle. Please feel free to disseminate. For comments and responses, contact: Resource Center for People's Development International South Group Network - Manila secretariat Apologies for cross-posting. _______________________________________ THE WTO DEBACLE IN SEATTLE (A Unity Statement of Philippine social movements, labor groups, people's organizations and NGOs) December 10, 1999 Manila, Philippines The Seattle events are a confluence of two politically significant factors: the massive and popular street protests that denounced the WTO and the whole "free trade" dogma; and the disunities and contradictions within the WTO itself that eventually led to the collapse of the trade talks. In both counts, i.e. both inside and outside the WTO convention hall, the US failed to bully its way through. Outside the convention hall, the US government and western media had difficulty downplaying the massive street protests. They blamed the monstrous street riots to the handiwork of a few anarchists without saying that on the first day itself of the WTO meeting, dockworkers and cabdrivers in Seattle were on strike, residents were pouring into the streets offering food and water to the embattled protesters. Demonstrators in Seattle swelled to 70,000 while simultaneous rallies ranging from 50,000 to 70,000 were also happening in Paris, London, Geneva, India and other parts of the globe. The "battle in Seattle" may not have directly caused the collapse of the trade talks but its political value lies in having stirred public consciousness on the evils of "free trade" and the WTO, which the general public previously thought to be a benign trade body. It serves to inspire a resurgence of people's struggles worldwide even if Seattle was only a spontaneous convergence of diverse political initiatives. If there is one lesson to be learned from the Seattle street protests, it was the significance of diverse ideological groups coming together in a common trajectory of rejecting the WTO and exposing all its evils. It is unfortunate for some Filipino groups to claim that the "battle in Seattle" was a mountain that grew out of a molehill, belittling all other groups' efforts while taking credit for everything. Inside the convention hall, developing nations were one in blaming the WTO trade regime of delivering more benefits to the developed nations than to developing and least developed nations. Such collective dismay was to be fired up later by the US high-handed approach in introducing labor and environment issues into the domain of the WTO which developing nations view as a protectionist ploy intended to discriminate against third world exports. Aside from disagreement on many issues, developing nations decried the lack of transparency in the meeting where substantive talks are taking place through "green room" negotiations without the knowledge and participation of most members. The big players on the other hand (like the US, EU and Japan) were outdoing each other in protecting their own economies over agricultural subsidies and anti-dumping laws and eventually competing over who gets the bigger pie in a "globalized" economic order. Such contradiction among competing monopoly powers also contributed to the breakdown of trade talks in Seattle. Western media alleged that we, after having exulted on the success of frustrating the millenium round, were later sulking with the fact that labor and environment failed to be introduced into the WTO. This is completely misleading. As far as we in the social movements, labor and environmental groups are concerned, we have always upheld the promotion of labor rights and welfare and protection of the environment as key issues in our advocacy against "globalization". The logic of global corporate rule is to keep wages and labor standards low in developing countries to facilitate capital mobility and realize maximum profits from cheap and docile labor. It is also in developing countries where global capital engage in extractive industries to supply them cheap raw materials causing irreversible destruction to the environment and natural resource base of the third world. Clinton's agenda on these issues is hypocritical and a double-bladed weapon intended to give the WTO extra powers in micro-managing the economies of third world nations in addition to what the IMF and the World Bank have already been doing. The collapse of the 3rd WTO ministerial meeting is therefore more than a matter of Clinton being ill-prepared with his agenda nor a case of the Seattle mayor's mishandling of the street protests. More than anything else, the WTO fiasco surfaced the internal contradictions within the multilateral trading system and current crisis of the global capitalist system. A contradiction of global corporate rule versus the workers and the masses of oppressed peoples; of global capital represented by governments of developed nations versus developing and least developed nations; and contradiction among competing global economic powers. Trade has been one major battleground so that global capital can conquer markets elsewhere while being able to protect their own home markets. For this purpose, the WTO was created using "free trade" as a pretext to pry open the economies of the third world in accordance with the dogma of "globalization" where supposedly no country can exist outside a "globalized" world economy. The WTO fiasco proved the bankruptcy of the "free trade" and "globalization" ideology. The magnitude of people's protests and the shaping up of collective resistance by third world nations signaled a renewed challenge to the dominance of global capital. The battle in Seattle won political gains for the people's struggle against the WTO and global capital but the war is far from over. The WTO is still in place and will resume talks on key areas like agriculture, services and intellectual property rights. We should not let our guards down and vigorously oppose all attempts by the US to introduce new powers to the WTO. We must support the call of peasant movements worldwide to get agriculture out of the WTO even as we find ways of diminishing the hold of the WTO on such key areas of the economy. We should reject further liberalization of third world economies and work for a united front of all developing and least developed nations in fighting for their national economic sovereignty and genuine development. In the Philippines, we must continue to resist the Estrada government's plans of foolishly dragging the economy further to the control of foreign capital. Our campaign against charter change is a campaign for national sovereignty that should be pursued more resolutely. In the face of the WTO fiasco, we must urge the Estrada government to align itself with the growing anti-WTO sentiment of developing nations. It must review its negotiating position in the WTO and reverse previous commitments that have proven to be detrimental to workers, farmers, local producers and the whole economy. A legislative inquiry and review of the country's fate under the WTO must be supported. "Shut down the WTO!" was the battlecry in Seattle that reverberated in all parts of the globe. We, in the Philippine social movements, labor organizations, peasant associations, NGO's and other people's organizations are committed to pursue this battlecry in solidarity with other oppressed peoples and nations of the world. Signed: Eduardo Mora Pambansang Katipunan ng Makabayang Magbubukid (PKMM, National Assoc. of Patriotic Peasants) Sonia Soto Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (KPD, Movement for Nationalism and Democracy) Cris Gaerlan ALAB KATIPUNAN Prof. Walden Bello AKBAYAN Joel Rodriguez Management and Organizational Development for Empowerment (MODE) Lidy Nacpil Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) Sonny Melencio Sosyalistang Partido ng Paggawa (SPP, Socialist Party of Labor) Arze Glipo Integrated Rural Development Foundation (IRDF) Primo Amparo Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan (MAKABAYAN, Workers for Social Liberation) Jaime Regalario KATAPAT(Movement for National Patronage) Eric Guitterrez Institute for Popular Democracy (IPD) Fr. Albert Suatengco Philippine-Asia Jubilee Campaign Against the Debt (PAJCAD) Alice Raymundo PKMM-women's committee Susan Granada Philippine Jubilee Network (PJN) Sr. Arnold Maria Noel Association of Local Women Religious of the Archdiocese of Manila Naty Bernardino International South Group Network - Manila (ISGN) Francisco Pascual Resource Center for People's Development (RCPD) Resource Center for People's Development #24, Unit 7, Mapang-akit St, Pinyahan, QC, Philippines telefax- (632)4361831 tel - 4350815 email: rcpd@info.com.ph From rcpd at mail.info.com.ph Tue Dec 14 10:51:28 1999 From: rcpd at mail.info.com.ph (rcpd@mail.info.com.ph) Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 09:51:28 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1372] unity statement/analysis of Philippine NGOs, social movements on Seattle WTO Fiasco Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19991214095128.00811cb0@mail.info.com.ph> Dear Friends, Below is a joint statement/analysis of various Philippine NGOs, social movements, labor and people's organizations on the WTO fiasco in Seattle. Please feel free to disseminate. For comments and responses, contact: Resource Center for People's Development International South Group Network - Manila secretariat Apologies for cross-posting. _______________________________________ THE WTO DEBACLE IN SEATTLE (A Unity Statement of Philippine social movements, labor groups, people's organizations and NGOs) December 10, 1999 Manila, Philippines The Seattle events are a confluence of two politically significant factors: the massive and popular street protests that denounced the WTO and the whole "free trade" dogma; and the disunities and contradictions within the WTO itself that eventually led to the collapse of the trade talks. In both counts, i.e. both inside and outside the WTO convention hall, the US failed to bully its way through. Outside the convention hall, the US government and western media had difficulty downplaying the massive street protests. They blamed the monstrous street riots to the handiwork of a few anarchists without saying that on the first day itself of the WTO meeting, dockworkers and cabdrivers in Seattle were on strike, residents were pouring into the streets offering food and water to the embattled protesters. Demonstrators in Seattle swelled to 70,000 while simultaneous rallies ranging from 50,000 to 70,000 were also happening in Paris, London, Geneva, India and other parts of the globe. The "battle in Seattle" may not have directly caused the collapse of the trade talks but its political value lies in having stirred public consciousness on the evils of "free trade" and the WTO, which the general public previously thought to be a benign trade body. It serves to inspire a resurgence of people's struggles worldwide even if Seattle was only a spontaneous convergence of diverse political initiatives. If there is one lesson to be learned from the Seattle street protests, it was the significance of diverse ideological groups coming together in a common trajectory of rejecting the WTO and exposing all its evils. It is unfortunate for some Filipino groups to claim that the "battle in Seattle" was a mountain that grew out of a molehill, belittling all other groups' efforts while taking credit for everything. Inside the convention hall, developing nations were one in blaming the WTO trade regime of delivering more benefits to the developed nations than to developing and least developed nations. Such collective dismay was to be fired up later by the US high-handed approach in introducing labor and environment issues into the domain of the WTO which developing nations view as a protectionist ploy intended to discriminate against third world exports. Aside from disagreement on many issues, developing nations decried the lack of transparency in the meeting where substantive talks are taking place through "green room" negotiations without the knowledge and participation of most members. The big players on the other hand (like the US, EU and Japan) were outdoing each other in protecting their own economies over agricultural subsidies and anti-dumping laws and eventually competing over who gets the bigger pie in a "globalized" economic order. Such contradiction among competing monopoly powers also contributed to the breakdown of trade talks in Seattle. Western media alleged that we, after having exulted on the success of frustrating the millenium round, were later sulking with the fact that labor and environment failed to be introduced into the WTO. This is completely misleading. As far as we in the social movements, labor and environmental groups are concerned, we have always upheld the promotion of labor rights and welfare and protection of the environment as key issues in our advocacy against "globalization". The logic of global corporate rule is to keep wages and labor standards low in developing countries to facilitate capital mobility and realize maximum profits from cheap and docile labor. It is also in developing countries where global capital engage in extractive industries to supply them cheap raw materials causing irreversible destruction to the environment and natural resource base of the third world. Clinton's agenda on these issues is hypocritical and a double-bladed weapon intended to give the WTO extra powers in micro-managing the economies of third world nations in addition to what the IMF and the World Bank have already been doing. The collapse of the 3rd WTO ministerial meeting is therefore more than a matter of Clinton being ill-prepared with his agenda nor a case of the Seattle mayor's mishandling of the street protests. More than anything else, the WTO fiasco surfaced the internal contradictions within the multilateral trading system and current crisis of the global capitalist system. A contradiction of global corporate rule versus the workers and the masses of oppressed peoples; of global capital represented by governments of developed nations versus developing and least developed nations; and contradiction among competing global economic powers. Trade has been one major battleground so that global capital can conquer markets elsewhere while being able to protect their own home markets. For this purpose, the WTO was created using "free trade" as a pretext to pry open the economies of the third world in accordance with the dogma of "globalization" where supposedly no country can exist outside a "globalized" world economy. The WTO fiasco proved the bankruptcy of the "free trade" and "globalization" ideology. The magnitude of people's protests and the shaping up of collective resistance by third world nations signaled a renewed challenge to the dominance of global capital. The battle in Seattle won political gains for the people's struggle against the WTO and global capital but the war is far from over. The WTO is still in place and will resume talks on key areas like agriculture, services and intellectual property rights. We should not let our guards down and vigorously oppose all attempts by the US to introduce new powers to the WTO. We must support the call of peasant movements worldwide to get agriculture out of the WTO even as we find ways of diminishing the hold of the WTO on such key areas of the economy. We should reject further liberalization of third world economies and work for a united front of all developing and least developed nations in fighting for their national economic sovereignty and genuine development. In the Philippines, we must continue to resist the Estrada government's plans of foolishly dragging the economy further to the control of foreign capital. Our campaign against charter change is a campaign for national sovereignty that should be pursued more resolutely. In the face of the WTO fiasco, we must urge the Estrada government to align itself with the growing anti-WTO sentiment of developing nations. It must review its negotiating position in the WTO and reverse previous commitments that have proven to be detrimental to workers, farmers, local producers and the whole economy. A legislative inquiry and review of the country's fate under the WTO must be supported. "Shut down the WTO!" was the battlecry in Seattle that reverberated in all parts of the globe. We, in the Philippine social movements, labor organizations, peasant associations, NGO's and other people's organizations are committed to pursue this battlecry in solidarity with other oppressed peoples and nations of the world. Signed: Eduardo Mora Pambansang Katipunan ng Makabayang Magbubukid (PKMM, National Assoc. of Patriotic Peasants) Sonia Soto Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (KPD, Movement for Nationalism and Democracy) Cris Gaerlan ALAB KATIPUNAN Prof. Walden Bello AKBAYAN Joel Rodriguez Management and Organizational Development for Empowerment (MODE) Lidy Nacpil Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) Sonny Melencio Sosyalistang Partido ng Paggawa (SPP, Socialist Party of Labor) Arze Glipo Integrated Rural Development Foundation (IRDF) Primo Amparo Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan (MAKABAYAN, Workers for Social Liberation) Jaime Regalario KATAPAT(Movement for National Patronage) Eric Guitterrez Institute for Popular Democracy (IPD) Fr. Albert Suatengco Philippine-Asia Jubilee Campaign Against the Debt (PAJCAD) Alice Raymundo PKMM-women's committee Susan Granada Philippine Jubilee Network (PJN) Sr. Arnold Maria Noel, SSps Association of Local Women Religious of the Archdiocese of Manila Sr. Rosalima Ladrido, r.a. Justice and Peace Desk, Assumption religious congregation Naty Bernardino International South Group Network - Manila (ISGN) Francisco Pascual Resource Center for People's Development (RCPD) Resource Center for People's Development #24, Unit 7, Mapang-akit St, Pinyahan, QC, Philippines telefax- (632)4361831 tel - 4350815 email: rcpd@info.com.ph From amittal at foodfirst.org Fri Dec 17 10:41:54 1999 From: amittal at foodfirst.org (Anuradha Mittal) Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 17:41:54 -0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1373] FOOD RIGHTS WATCH Volume 7, Number 8 Message-ID: <0.700000824.594611796-212058698-945394914@topica.com> FOOD RIGHTS WATCH Volume 7, Number 8 December 16, 1999 Food First/ Institute for Food and Development Policy believes that true food security can be achieved only if national governments and other international institutions of power recognize that the right to feed oneself is an inalienable human right which must not be violated under any circumstances. The right to food has been touted ceremoniously in numerous international agreements, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), yet continues to be practically ignored in an increasingly greedy New World Order. Food Rights Watch is dedicated to gathering and distributing information about food rights issues, as well as other economic and social human rights issues, in the belief that education leads to action. Subscriptions to the electronic version (e-mail) are free. To subscribe, send a message to foodfirst@foodfirst.org. We welcome submissions to Food Rights Watch. E-mail news about activities, events, and new resources to foodfirst@foodfirst.org or call (510) 654-4400 (x 108). National News: "This city, what a magnificent place. If only the world could be like Seattle." ---Mike Moore, WTO Director-General, 12/2/99 * FROM YOUR MOUTH TO GOD’S EARS, MIKE: ASSESSING THE BATTLE OF SEATTLE… * AND A WORD FROM THE WASHINGTON STATE ACLU * THE MINIMUM WAGE AND WOMEN’S POVERTY: A FEW QUICK NUMBERS * POLICY SHIFTS NEEDED TO SUPPORT CONTRACT FARMERS International News: * IT’S THE WTO, NOT CHINA, THAT’S INHUMANE * FIFTEEN YEARS ON, UNION CARBIDE ONCE AGAIN IN COURT OVER BHOPAL * PTO REVOKES U.S. PATENT ON PLANT SACRED TO AMAZON NATIVES ************************************************************************************************************************** ASSESSING THE BATTLE OF SEATTLE Democracy was certainly in the streets of Seattle last week, and a whiff—perhaps carried by tear gas—even made it into the convention center where trade ministers from the World Trade Organization (WTO) member states met. Many factors contributed to the collapse of the current round of WTO talks—an effort to expand the scope of the trade agency’s authority—but there is no question that popular protests played a central role. Tuesday saw at least 40,000 people take to the streets to protest the corporate tilt of the WTO. A stunning coalition of teamsters, consumers, environmentalists, religious and women’s groups, students, anti-corporate youth and many, many others joined to "Just Say No to the WTO." Approximately 10,000 people—primarily students and youth—joined together in an extraordinarily well-organized and highly disciplined direct action to block every access way to the convention center, stopping most of the official and negotiating activities scheduled for the WTO meeting’s first working day. Despite city efforts to clamp down on public dissent in the downtown area, protests continued throughout the week, with thousands demonstrating at separate environmental, farmer, steel worker and women’s marches and rallies. On Friday, perhaps ten thousand joined in a labor-led march—organized on about 24 hours notice—in part to oppose the city’s infringements on civil liberties through the creation of a "no protest" zone. Inside the convention center, where proceedings began on Wednesday after riot-gear-equipped police and national guard forces cordoned off downtown from most protesters, turmoil was building as well. When separate working groups negotiating over a wide array of sectors failed to produce compromise agreements, the United States sought to forge a deal through the WTO’s heavy-handed old-style tactics. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and the rest of the U.S. negotiating team picked a handful of countries to commence bargaining in a closed "Green Room." The idea was that the arbitrarily selected bunch would work out a comprehensive deal, then present it to the entire membership as a fait accompli for adoption. But even the Green Room gambit failed, and the talks ended in complete disarray. The complexity of trade talks—with compromises made in one sector dependent on unrelated compromises in another—means that no single factor can explain their failure. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify a few key reasons for the collapse: 1) The European Union and the United States could not work out an agricultural accommodation, with the EU’s commitment to export subsidies a critical stumbling block. 2) Many Third World countries revolted against the negotiating process and their complete exclusion from Green Room discussions. More than 70 developing nations, primarily from Africa and the Caribbean, declared on Thursday that they would not sign a final declaration written without their input or consent. 3) Many developing countries also resisted the U.S. call for formation of a working group to study the relationship between trade and labor issues. 4) A compromise deal floated early Friday morning would have entailed compromises on issues of concern to U.S. labor unions—namely, anti-dumping (rules permitting countries to block below-market-cost imports) and some progress on rules to promote adherence to core labor standards. On each of these issues, the street demonstrations helped heighten contradictions and conflicts. The mere prevention of proceedings on Tuesday helped impede agreement in the agricultural sector. A delegate from Zimbabwe affirmed that the protests emboldened the Third World negotiators to object to the exclusionary processes inside the WTO. For now, street heat has stifled the corporate elite. Just as they blocked delegates from entering the convention center, protesters blocked corporations’ attempt to extend the WTO’s reach even further into national economies and societies. But as spectacular as was the Seattle victory, achieving the second half of one of the week’s primary slogans—"No New Round, Turnaround"—will be even more daunting. Launching a new negotiating round is nowhere near as important to corporate interests as maintaining existing WTO rules and the prevailing model of corporate globalization. Still, a little bit of democratic empowerment can be a dangerous thing. If the broad coalition that came together in Seattle can stay together—a big if—it may eventually be able to force new rules for the global economy, so that trade is eventually subordinated to the humane values of health, safety, ecological sustainability and respect for human rights, rather than the reverse. Source: Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, "USA: A Whiff of Democracy in Seattle", Focus on the Corporation, December 6, 1999, posted to www.corpwatch.org ************************************************************* A WORD FROM THE WASHINGTON STATE ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington is closely monitoring police treatment of WTO protesters and residents of Seattle. We are looking for incidents of police action against citizens that occurred during the WTO conference. We need personal reports of any of the following activities if they happened to you or if you were a witness: 1) unprovoked physical aggression by police—shoving, kicking, hitting with billy clubs, overly forceful restraint; 2) use of pepper spray, tear gas, CS gas, shots of rubber bullets against non-violent protesters or onlookers either without warning or in excess; 3) pursuit or chase by police while trying to flee or disperse; 4) encountering any of these activities as a bystander or within an area that is NOT designated a "no-protest zone"; 5) other unreasonable restrictions on your civil liberties. We need details on what happened to you or what you witnessed. Please contact the ACLU of Washington right away! Go to our web page at www.aclu-wa.org and click on the WTO: ACLU response, or call our Complaint and Referral Line at 206-624-2180. ************************************************************* THE MINIMUM WAGE AND WOMEN’S POVERTY: A FEW QUICK NUMBERS In 1979, a woman working at the minimum wage earned 70 percent of the hourly wage of the median female worker. By 1998, that ratio had fallen to 52 percent. Similarly, in 1979 a single mother working full time at the minimum wage earned enough to lift a family of three (herself and two children) above the poverty line. By 1998, that same family would be 18 percent below the poverty line. Since the minimum wage is not indexed to inflation, worker purchasing power declines when the minimum stagnates, as was the case throughout the 1980s. Even with two increases thus far this decade, the rate lags far behind inflation-adjusted 1979 levels. As Congress considers raising the federal minimum wage from its current level of $5.15 per hour to $6.15, it is important to note that working women, almost one million of whom are single mothers, stand to gain the greatest benefit from the proposed increase. Of the 11.8 million workers who would receive a pay increase as a result of this higher minimum wage, 58 percent would be women, simply because they earn lower wages than men overall. Thus the increase would help reduce the pay gap between men and women. About 7 million women nationally—12.6 percent of all working women—earn an hourly rate between $5.15 and $6.14, the range that would be directly affected by an increase in the minimum wage. In certain states, including West Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Montana and Oklahoma, the share of working women that would benefit rises to one-fifth or higher. The vast majority of these women are adults age 20 or older. Although most are white (65.4 percent), African-American and Hispanic women are over-represented in low-wage jobs. African-American women are 13.1 percent of all women workers, but 16.2 percent of those in the affected range; Hispanic women are 9 percent of all women workers, but 14.4 percent of those affected. Parents with children under 18 years old represent 32.9 percent of the beneficiaries of the proposed increase, while such workers make up 40.4 percent of the total workforce. More than two million men and women with children would benefit, and within these families, women are disproportionately the direct beneficiaries. Almost one million single mothers would receive a pay increase as a result of a one-dollar hike in the minimum wage. Single mothers are over-represented in the affected workforce, at 10 percent of those affected compared to 5.7 percent in the overall workforce. All the evidence suggests that that the minimum wage increase is well-targeted, providing significant benefits to poor and middle-income households. About 18 percent of the benefits of a one-dollar increase would go to households with incomes below $10,000 per year; another 32 percent would go to households with annual incomes between $10,000 and $25,000. Among affected single mothers, 85 percent have household incomes below $25,000, underscoring the importance of this change for these low-wage and low-income families. Source: Heidi Hartmann, Jared Bernstein, John Schmitt, "The Minimum Wage Increase: A Working Woman’s Issue", Economic Policy Institute and Institute for Women’s Policy Research, reprinted in Nebraska Report, Nebraskans for Peace, 941 ‘O’ Street, Suite 1026, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508, November/December 1999, p. 9 ************************************************************* POLICY SHIFTS NEEDED TO SUPPORT CONTRACT FARMERS As Congress rushed to pass legislation to help America’s faltering farmers, the needs of farmers who use contracts to sell their product—which is fast becoming a way of life for many—were not addressed. A few short years ago, "contract farmer" usually meant a poultry grower who, since he did not own his product (unless the bird died), was not considered a real farmer. Today in agriculture contracts of all types are common, including forward contracts for cattle in feedyards as well as row crop contracts covering gm soybeans and high oil content corn. Nuts, vegetables and many other commodities are produced on contract. Farmers are being told that the American taxpayer is tired of bailing them out, whether for a disaster or for overproduction. A recent editorial in Feedstuffs warns that "American agriculture must now quickly consolidate all farmers and livestock producers into about 50 production systems." The bigger-is-better strain is not new in our national agricultural policy: the 1962 report of the Committee for Economic Development advocated the removal of one-third of America’s farmers, reducing the number in production to about 400,000 to 500,000. Recent predictions say only 25,000 to 50,000 farms are needed in the United States to produce for the global food system. Farmers are also being told that free market processes must reign and should not be legislated or regulated. Yet the government is responsible for legislation and regulation that has harmed farmers in the past; it is irresponsible to assert that none is needed now. To do so would be to abandon family farmers and change the landscape of America. Polls show that Americans want to retain the family-sized farm and keep rural towns alive. How are we to reconcile these opposing views? Contract farmers require action on the following seven policy points: 1) national legislation assuring fair contracts and prohibiting unjust behavior by contractors; 2) creation and funding of a section within the USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory section that deals with al aspects of contract farming; 3) extension of indemnity guarantees to cover income losses by contract growers, just as is done for farmers who own their products; 4) passage of H.R. 2830, The Family Farmer Cooperative Marketing Amendments Act of 1999, providing for good faith bargaining between processors and voluntary cooperative associations of agricultural producers; 5) adequate funding to Packers & Stockyards Programs, to make use of the recent reorganization and hiring of economists to investigate complaints of deceptive and non-competitive marketing practices; 6) passage of H.R. 2829, which gives the USDA the same administrative authority over poultry as it has over red meat (currently any poultry complaint from Packers & Stockyards must be taken to the Department of Justice, which has not brought a poultry case in modern history); 7) development of other model contract legislation, with particular attention to companies’ use of farmers’ independent contractor status to escape state and federal taxes, unemployment insurance and withholding tax. Most of the criteria used by the IRS to determine independent contractor status are not being met in poultry and hog production contracts. Contractors are also without recourse to the protections provided by the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. In recent years two government reports have shed light on the inequities contract growers face as companies use their dominant positions to impose unfair, unjust and discriminatory terms and conditions. Many of the above solutions are recommended in these reports. It is time to act on them. Source: Ina Young, "Contract Farmers Need Help", The Progressive Populist, volume 5, number 13, December 1, 1999 IT’S THE WTO, NOT CHINA, THAT’S INHUMANE U.S. labor union leaders are pledging to block Congressional approval of the Clinton administration's deal with China signed Nov. 15, which paves the way for that country's entry into the WTO. Congress members say they feel betrayed that President Clinton, who once promised to put a "human face to the global economy," is willing to reach a trade liberalization pact with a country that has a dubious human rights record. They want to add a social clause and a labor clause to the WTO agreement which would allow members to restrict imports from other members by citing human rights offenses. Those castigating China, however, need to recognize that using trade sanctions to punish countries that violate human rights is just another way of forcing Western morality on the rest of the world. They forget that countries including the United States continue to spurn half the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)--economic and social human rights which guarantee the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being. Anyone who is opposed to the Chinese joining the WTO needs to be reminded that the United States' own economic system is not a paragon of virtue, and has aspects of the system of a rogue nation. We have prison labor and sweat shops. And many WTO members -- including democratic countries like India -- have child labor. Maybe some WTO members are offended by the quasi-slavery conditions faced by many farm workers in parts of the United States. A member country could say that U.S. law which makes it possible to execute a teenager is an offense against humanity. The proposed social clauses mean these and other charges might form the justification for an embargo on U.S. exports. Of course it is appropriate to castigate China for accepting only those human rights which suit its political and economic interests. Different cultures might nurture different values, but the UDHR was drafted 50 years ago to reflect universal aspirations and standards for human dignity. But the U.S. conditions placed on China amount to a policy of moral imperialism, clearly framed to suit rich countries. They would result in a ban on child labor without any guarantee that parents could find jobs; but inhuman treatment of migrant farmworkers would not be affected. Many of the developing nations that belong to the WTO complain that the previous Uruguay Round of trade talks (1986-94) only yielded benefits for industrialized countries. Mostly they are right. Northern countries have continued to protect their home markets while dumping surplus production on the poorer southern countries, undercutting local production and driving unemployment. Today we need to point the finger at trade agreements such as the WTO and NAFTA rather than at China. Let's not forget that NAFTA eliminated over 400,000 jobs in the U.S., and drove some 28,000 small enterprises in Mexico out of business. The WTO and NAFTA are a direct cause of unemployment and poor working conditions, not the tool to correct these problems. Instead of adding hollow social clauses, we should block these inherently inhuman treaties. The time has come to step back from this mania for free trade at any cost , and the selective bashing of some countries while turning a blind eye to others, and seek a new start. The bottom line is that while China should have the same right as any nation to join the WTO, we should recognize that in fact the WTO is bad for people everywhere, whether they are Chinese, American, Mexican or Indian. It's not China joining the WTO that hurts American workers--it is the WTO itself. Source: Pacific News Service, Anuradha Mittal, Policy Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy www.foodfirst.org. FIFTEEN YEARS ON, UNION CARBIDE ONCE AGAIN IN COURT OVER BHOPAL A lawsuit was filed in New York in mid-November charging the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and its former CEO, Warren Anderson, with violating international law and the fundamental human rights of the victims and survivors of the 1984 release of lethal gases from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. The toxic gases killed at least 6,000 people; another 520,000 were injured, many of them blinded, by the gas. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges that "the defendants are liable for fraud and civil contempt for their total failure to comply with the lawful orders of the courts of both the United States and India." The plaintiffs in the case include individual survivors as well as victims’ organizations in Bhopal that have been representing survivors and next-of-kin of victims for the past 15 years. On the night of December 2, 1984, an explosion at a Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India released a cloud of poison gas. During routine maintenance operations at the methyl isocyanate plant, a large quantity of water entered one of the storage tanks through leaking valves and corroded pipes, triggering a runaway reaction in tank no. E-610 containing 60 tonnes of methyl isocyanate. This reaction produced enormous heat and pressure and 40 tonnes of a deadly cocktail of methyl isocyanate, hydrogen cyanide, monomethyl amine, carbon monoxide and possibly 20 other chemicals, spewed forth in the form of dense clouds. A northerly wind carried the clouds over half a million sleeping people. By one the next morning, an entire city had been turned into a gas chamber. Doctors at Bhopal hospitals were helpless to treat the dying people crowding their wards. They called Union Carbide’s medical officer, who asserted that the gas was akin to tear gas and advised them to simply wash it out with water. Meanwhile, the hospital mortuaries were overflowing, and graveyards and cremation grounds were unable to cope with the flow. Citizens’ groups battling over the issue charge that plant safety systems were either switched off, malfunctioning or under repair. Kenneth McCallion, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, alleged in his complaint that "Union Carbide (since) demonstrated a reckless and depraved indifference to human life in the design, operation and maintenance of the Union Carbide of India Ltd. (UCIL) facility." The Indian Council of Medical Research, a government agency, concluded that over 520,000 exposed persons had poisons circulating in their bloodstream that caused damage to almost all the systems in the body. Over 120,000 of the survivors are still in need of medical attention. Ten to fifteen people die every month from exposure-related illnesses. Breathlessness, persistent cough, diminished vision, early age cataracts, loss of appetite, menstrual irregularities, recurrent fever, neurological disorders, fatigue, weakness, anxiety and depression are the most common symptoms among survivors. Campaigners charge that Union Carbide continues to withhold information on the composition of the leaked gases and their effects on the body. The corporation claims these are "trade secrets." But in the absence of this information, doctors in Bhopal still do not know the proper treatment for exposure-related illnesses. Company-sponsored studies have confirmed that carelessly dumped toxic sludge has seeped into local soil and drinking water. The Indian government initially claimed a compensation of over $3 billion on behalf of the victims. Several years of litigation later, Union Carbide paid out a mere $470 million. Over 95 percent of the claimants who received payments have been paid only $600 in the case of injuries or less than $3,000 in the case of death. The suit recently filed in New York asserts that the Indian Supreme Court, in a judgement of October 1991, held that the criminal investigation and prosecution of Union Carbide should proceed and stated that failure to accomplish this would constitute "a manifest injustice." Satinath Sarangi, founder of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA), a plaintiff in the suit, asserts that "tens of thousands continue to suffer from what amounts to the largest industrial disaster in history." In an open letter to concerned citizens worldwide, Sarangi writes, "Union Carbide continues to operate in 40 countries around the world and shows annual profits of over $1 billion. Warren Anderson, the Union Carbide chairman, jumped bail and is now a fugitive from justice. The disaster in Bhopal is a dramatic example of what goes wrong when corporations rule the world…Today, wherever we may be, there are slow and silent Bhopals happening all around us…We look forward to the day when communities will win back control of their environments, their health, and what goes into their bodies...every day, in every corner of the world, communities and individuals are confronting giant corporations. And, increasingly, we are winning." Sources: Frederick Noronha: "Union Carbide Sued in U.S. for 1984 Bhopal Gas Release", Environment News Service, November 16, 1999 Satinath Sarangi, open letter calling for solidarity in campaign against Union Carbide, November 1, 1999 ************************************************************* PTO REVOKES U.S. PATENT ON PLANT SACRED TO AMAZON NATIVES Indigenous peoples from nine South American countries won a precedent-setting victory in November, when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) canceled the patent issued to a U.S. citizen for the ayahuasca vine. The plant, Banisteriopsis caapi, is native to the Amazon rain forest, and thousands of indigenous people of the region use it in religious and healing ceremonies. The PTO’s decision came in response to a request for reexamination of the patent filed with the PTO in March by the Coordinating Body for the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), the Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment, and lawyers at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). "Our shamans and elders were greatly troubled by this patent. Now they are celebrating. This is an historic day for indigenous peoples everywhere," said Antonio Jacanamijoy, General Coordinator of COICA. David Rothschild, director of the Amazon Coalition, said, "Given that ayahuasca is used in sacred indigenous ceremonies throughout the Amazon, this patent never should have been issued in the first place." The PTO based its rejection of the patent on the fact that publications describing Banisteriopsis caapi were "known and available" prior to the filing of the patent application. According to patent law, no invention can be patented if described in printed publications more than one year prior to the date of the patent application. William Anderson, director of the University of Michigan Herbarium, agreed that the PTO needs to improve its procedures for researching applications. CIEL lawyer David Downes noted that "while we are pleased that the PTO has canceled this flawed patent, we are concerned that the PTO still has not dealt with the flaws in its policies that made it possible for someone to patent this plant in the first place. The PTO needs to change its rules to prevent future patent claims based on the traditional knowledge and use of a plant by indigenous people…[it] should face the issue head-on of whether it is ethical for patent applicants to claim private rights over a plant or knowledge that is sacred to a cultural or ethnic group." In a separate proceeding, the three groups have called for changes in Patent Office rules. They argue that it should be mandatory for patent applicants to identify all biological resources and traditional knowledge used in developing a claimed invention. Applicants should also disclose the geographical origin of resources used, and provide evidence that the source country and indigenous community consented to its use. Source: "U.S. Patent Office Admits Error, Cancels Patent On Sacred ‘Ayahuasca’ Plant", no author, date or source indicated, posted to www.sacredearth.com/ethnobotany/ayapatent.html ************************************************************* EDITOR’S NOTE I would appreciate any input on the stories found in this issue or those you would like to see in the future. Please help our efforts to publicize issues of poverty and hunger in the U.S. and around the world by sending story ideas to: Food First 398 60th Street Oakland, California 94618 USA Tel: (510) 654-4400 Fax: (510) 654-4551 foodfirst@foodfirst.org Thank you for your interest, comments and support. Joan Powell, editor Join the fight against hunger. For more information contact foodfirst@foodfirst.org. _____________________________________________________________ You share a similar passion. You align with common interests. You connect over a favorite topic. You belong at Topica. http://www.topica.com/t/10 From amittal at foodfirst.org Tue Dec 21 05:20:33 1999 From: amittal at foodfirst.org (Anuradha Mittal) Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 12:20:33 -0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1374] URGENT: IPR ALERT Message-ID: <0.700000824.528489956-212058698-945721233@topica.com> THE FAILURE OF WTO AT SEATTLE AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TRIPS The Government of India is rushing in a series of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) related legislation on grounds that these are needed to meet the obligations under the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPs) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by 1 January 2000. These IPR legislation include: Ø The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Bill, 1999 Ø The Patent (Amendment) Act, 1999 Ø The Trade Marks Bill, 1999 Ø The Copyrights Bill, 1999 Ø The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Bill, 1999 However there are four reasons why the Government's rush to enact these laws is not justified: 1. Many critical aspects of TRIPs are under review and the Government should ensure that TRIPs is reviewed to guarantee protection of national and public interest and implement national laws only after it has played a leading role in reshaping the TRIPs Agreement. All the countries of Africa have demanded a five-year delay in implementation in TRIPs while these changes are effected. The date of 1 January 2000 as the deadline for implementation is itself under flux an India does not need to rush to implement. As a member of WTO, India can join the African countries in changing the implementation period. 2. The collapse of the Seattle Round of WTO should be used by India to increase its national sovereign space in shaping national legislation and national economic policies. 3. The US which is the country applying the maximum pressure to implement TRIPs and had initiated a TRIPs dispute against India is itself going to vote on whether to remain a member of the WTO and whether to continue to pay dues to the Geneva-based organisation. There is therefore no justification in exaggerating the role and power of WTO internationally and in India's national affairs. 4. Notwithstanding all the above the contents of the laws are anti-people and anti-national. The drafts have all gone way beyond the mandate of the TRIPs Agreement. ****************** IPR ALERT ON PLANT VARIETY LAW The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Bill, 1999 (Bill No. 123 of 1999) is ANTI-FARMER, ANTI-NATIONAL and will promote BIOPIRACY THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THE BILL SEEKS TO: Give effect to Article 27.3(b) of Part II of the TRIPs Agreement of WTO [Statement of Objects and Reasons, page 32,33 of Bill] HOW THE BILL UNDERMINES FARMERS' RIGHTS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS: This Article of TRIPs is under review and is already being challenged by India in the WTO and the Organisation of African Unity and the Central American countries. These reviews are calling for fundamental changes in Article 27.3(b) and a five year extension in implementation of TRIPs. [Review submissions to WTO TRIPs Council] Given the ongoing rewiew aimed at changing TRIPs there is no justification to rush to implement the TRIPs Articles undergoing change. THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THE BILL SEEKS TO: Give an effective system for protection of the rights of farmers [Clause 31] HOW THE BILL UNDERMINES FARMERS' RIGHTS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS: The Bill openly promotes piracy of farmers' varieties such as Basmati, by failure to register and protect farmers' varieties, which account for 80% of the seed used in the country. (Clauses 11 & 12) It fails to recognise farmers as breeders whose collective and cumulative innovation through time has built the crop diversity that is the basis of food security and further breeding. [Clause 2(j)] Clause 31 referring to "farmers' rights" is not a farmers' rights clause, since farmers' rights in IPRs laws are rights as breeders. The Clause merely refers to farmers as cultivators with a right to cultivate and sell farm produce, not to farmers as innovators or to farmers' inalienable right to save, produce and freely exchange seeds and propagative material. It fails to grant protection to farmers breeding and farmers innovation in the form of community rights, which is the basis of "sui generis" laws being drafted around the world. THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THE BILL SEEKS TO: Give an effective system for protection of the rights of plant breeders [Clause 2] HOW THE BILL UNDERMINES FARMERS' RIGHTS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS: Exaggerates the rights of breeders (MNCs) to cover "discovery" of plant varieties which amounts to license to pirate indigenous varieties. Nowhere in the world has discovery of varieties been the basis of granting IPRs. THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THE BILL SEEKS TO: Provide for rights of the village or farming community [Clause 48] HOW THE BILL UNDERMINES FARMERS' RIGHTS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS: The clause is not about the rights of communities to their inalienable right to use, save, breed and exchange varieties and nor about the protection of the community rights to collective innovation embodied in farmers' varieties. The Clause assumes the rights will only belong to breeders (MNCs).The original innovators, India's farming communities, will not have rights but might have a small chance of a small compensation through a highly bureaucratised and arbitrary system spanning form local officials to national Authorities through all the hierarchies of corruption and bureaucratic decision-making. The fundamental rights of farmers and farming communities and India as a nation to her collective intellectual and biological heritage are not being protected in this Bill. On the other hand cases where piracy occurs are being reduced to local conflicts in which the local bureaucracy (District Magistrate) is the ultimate arbitor. [Clause 26(7)] Clause 48 makes it very clear that the rights of communities as innovators will not be recognised since the arbitrarily fixed compensation as the bureaucracy "deems fit" will be deemed to be an arrear of land revenue [Clause 48(5)] not a royalty paid to farming communities as breeders by commercial entities. This is a clear evidence of a strategy to deny the intellectual contribution of our farmers through thousands of years and negate the "prior art" embodied in farmers' varieties to give far reaching monopoly rights to seed corporations. THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THE BILL SEEKS TO: Encourage the development of new varieties of plants [Statement of Objects and Reasons] HOW THE BILL UNDERMINES FARMERS' RIGHTS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS: The Bill will encourage the pirating and monopolising of indigenous farmers' varieties, and will increase the financial burden on farmers who are already indebted and committing suicides due to spread of costly and unreliable seeds. ************** IPR ALERT ON TRADE MARKS LAW The Trade Marks Bill, 1999 (No. XXXIII of 1999) is a draconian legislation that limitlessly enlarges the scope of trade marks and their infringement, creates unaccountable structures of power and decision making, shifts economic acts from a civil domain to a criminal domain and offers no protection to the citizens of India either as producers or as consumers. The Bill will have far-reaching consequences for the manufacturing and services sector in the country, both in the organised industrial sector and in the informal cottage industry sector. The issue of trade marks is not just a technical issue of the use of signs, words and symbols. Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) like trade marks are primarily a market instrument and a form of economic policy. The shape of the trade mark legislation is therefore a reflection of the economic policy that this government is promoting, and it determines which economic actors will have protection and control over markets and who will be excluded. This Bill needs to be redrafted because it fails the test of democratic criteria and the test of economic criteria of protecting the livelihoods and markets of millions of small producers of goods and providers of services in India. It is blatantly against the Constitution of India, especially the protection of fundamental rights of citizens, in terms of far reaching changes introduced without adequate reflection or democratic participation. This Bill is a mode of political control and social accountability systems for curtailing the commercial malpractice by corporations. The Bill enlarges the subject matter of trade marks from "goods" to "goods and services". Since the large multinationals are engaged in the production and distribution of both good and services, this enlarged coverage is both necessary and desirable for them. However, in terms of interests of the Indian society, the joining of goods with services in trade mark law is neither necessary nor desirable. The scope of trade mark law has also been expanded in the definition "infringement" as in Clause 29 of the Bill. The scope of infringement has been taken beyond the commercial domain into the democratic space of citizens. If such clauses are not deleted from the bill these can be used by the MNCs to silence all citizen actions against them. It thus curtails the civil liberties of citizens. Such clauses sound the death knell for all environmental movements, all consumer rights and awareness movements and the foundation of democracy itself. In this bill, infringement has been expanded to include not just deceptively similar but similar marks, [Clause 29(2)(b)], similar goods or services, [Clause 29(2)(a)] and even goods similar to those for which the trade mark is registered, [Clause 29(4)(b)]. The scope of infringement is even taken beyond the commercial domain into the democratic space of citizens through Clause 29(8) and Clause 29(9). Clause 29(8)(c) quite clearly is not related to the activities of the traders but to citizens' action. Clause 29(9) so delineates infringement so as to bring within its ambit, apart from printed and written words per se, the spoken use of these words as well as their visual representation and reference. There is no way the Fundamental Right to the freedom of speech can survive such sweeping powers in the hands of corporations who want to use trade mark laws not just to monopolise markets but to use them to monopolise the very political space of civil society by silencing democratic movements for corporate accountability. Another major shift towards lack of democratic functioning and public accountability proposed through the 1999 Bill is the criminalisation of civil offences. This Bill has added a new Clause vide Clause 115 which makes trade mark infringement a cognizable offence. In addition this Clause gives arbitrary power to police without cases of violation; likely to occur". Clause 115(4) states that any police officer, if he/she is satisfied that any of the offences referred to in sub-clause (3) has been, is being, or is likely to be, committed, search and seize without warrant the goods, die, block, machine, plate, other instruments or things involved in the offences, wherever found. These far-reaching arbitrary police powers have no place in a democracy; they are a part of the economic arsenal being built to declare economic warfare against the people of India in the name of IPRs. ************************************************************************ Join the fight against hunger. For more information contact foodfirst@foodfirst.org. _____________________________________________________________ You share a similar passion. You align with common interests. You connect over a favorite topic. You belong at Topica. http://www.topica.com/t/10 From s.h.toh at ualberta.ca Tue Dec 28 00:07:56 1999 From: s.h.toh at ualberta.ca (Swee-Hin Toh) Date: Mon, 27 Dec 1999 10:07:56 -0500 Subject: [asia-apec 1375] Peoples Human Rights Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19991227100756.00744d74@pop.srv.ualberta.ca> The International Society for Peace and Human Rights and the World Comission for Peace and Human Rights are hosting a joint conference for May 1-7, 2000. Summary We wish to hold a People's Human Rights Conference that will be a voice for the voiceless. Our Conference will enable victims of human rights abuses from all over the world to come together in Edmonton, Alberta on May 1-7,2000,to share their pain, their challenges and their successes, to make connections with others who share their values and to form a new, international network of grassroots human rights workers. The University of Alberta is providing us with free meeting space and will likely also provide free conference facilities. We are attempting to locate a high profile person to be our keynote speaker, but this person must abide by our principles of serving without remuneration (expenses only). The Conference itself will consist of a Plenary Session and workshops on the following 3 themes: Women and Children, Aboriginal People and the Environment, and a third to be named that will include other topics such as torture, prisoners of conscience, freedom of expression etc. Sunday will focus on The Future, organizing to stay in contact, discussing how we can help each other and setting up whatever organization the participants think will be the most beneficial. We will have Country Profiles on that will include a brief history of the country and its political situation, a summary of its human rights record, and contact people. Goals We have two main goals for our project. The first is to educate the participants on human rights issues throughout the world via the Country Profiles and our international guests. The second goal is to obtain the commitment of the participants to engage in concrete action to attempt to alleviate these abuses. To facilitate this, we are hoping to establish an International Network of grassroots human rights workers for the purpose of mutual education, support and action. Target Audience We expect 550 people and more to attend the conference. At least 100 will be from outside Canada, all grassroots human rights workers. The other 450 will be primarily Canadians, mostly youth 18-30. The benefits will be the contact with each other, the learning that comes from intense interaction and the ongoing network that we hope to establish. For the Canadian young people, this conference will provide what will likely be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to interact with people who have dedicated their lives, often at the risk of their lives, to attaining the basic dignities of life that Canadians take for granted. As a result of this experience, it is hoped that these young people will commit to working to achieve peace, justice and human rights throughout the world. Through the Conference we seek to establish a truly meaningful international network of activism. We are asking you to help us. We know we are asking a lot but we do so with the belief that our collective efforts can help make a just and equal society based on ideals of truth and compassion. 1) Your organization: Please send us information on the function and mandate of your organization. Where does your group operate and are your members national or internationally located. We would also like you to outline and identify any potential for or interest in collaborating with our organization, the International Society for Peace and Human Rights, to improve living conditions of humans and preserving wildlife and the environment. 2) Documentation: Your help is needed by documenting human rights abuses and environmental degradation in your country. If possible we would like to receive the report by January 15. Please be clear, objective and factual about the cause of the abuse and include logical, objective and practical ideas for improvement. If applicable highlight in a short list the names of International corporations and/or governments involved in perpetrating these human rights or environmental abuses. The sources of all information will remain confidential but the facts will be publicized. Through sharing our voices an undeniable bond will help strengthen a future to be founded on peace. 3) Speakers: We would like you to list one or two speakers with a national or international reputation to speak at the conference. Please inform us of the lowest cost for bringing your guest speaker to the conference. Please note that we are not yet in a position to make any commitments. 4)Contact other groups: Write and inform us of other grassroots human rights and environmental oranizations in your country. Please try and contact as many of these groups as possible and inform them of the conference and the International Society for Peace and Human Rights (ISPH) Please visit our website at www.ualberta.ca/~hudema/people.htm We would like to keep the costs of our conference minimal to allow as many grassroots organizations as possible to participate in this event. We have secured some professional fundraisers who have volunteered on our behalf to obtain funding and we would like to use these funds to subsidize the conference costs. Our main priorities will be to cover the cost of renting the venue, covering the expenses of our invited speakers and subsidizing the food costs of all participants. If we are successful in our fundraising efforts, we would of course be happy to subsidize as many participants as possible from under represented regions but we cannot make any promises at this time. As a result, we ask all organizations and individuals to please consider fundraising on their own to send representatives to Edmonton. We have looked into guest accomodations and will be able to house people in student dormitories. For a single room, the cost is $31.36/night or $192.64 for the week. For a twin room, the cost is $40.32/night and $248.64 for the week. Local hotels are $80-$100/night. All costs are given in Canadian dollars. We will provide more information as it becomes available. Please contact us if you have any questions in the meantime. (For Filipino delegates who are willing to be billeted in Filipino-Canadian homes in Edmonton, please contact for details.) We have invited several international speakers to speak about various regions and issues and will post these as soon they are confirmed (see below for latest update). Ona'je Mu'id International Co-commissioner of N'COBRA (National Council of Blacks for Reparations in America) Ona'je will be holding a preparatory session for the UN sponsored World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance to be held in South Africa in the summer of 2001. This will give our conference delegates the opportunity to provide their input for this very important event. More details Joseph Rotblat Great Britain Joseph Rotblat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 along with the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs for their work to reduce the role of nuclear arms in international affairs. He has written numerous books and will speak about the connection between science and human rights issues. Zohra Rasekh Senior Health Researcher (Afghanistan), Physicians for Human Rights Boston, USA Ms. Rasekh was born in Afghanistan and now lives in Boston and works as a researcher for Physicians for Human Rights. Her research centres on women's health and human rights in Afghanistan, and in a recent research project, she interviewed 200 women living in Afghanistan as well as refugee women living in Pakistan. She will present findings from this research at the conference. More details Mary Jo Leddy Romero House, Toronto Mary Jo Leddy will speak on refugee issues. Dr. Owens Sara-Wiwo MOSOP Owens Sara-Wiwo is the brother of the late Nigerian activisit Ken Sara-Wiwo and will speak about the Ogoni in Nigeria. Leo Saldana Environmental Support Group, South India We will make the full agenda available in January which will outline our planned sessions. We plan to hold sessions and invite representatives to speak about the current situation of human rights and the environment in various regions and to also hold sessions on conflict resolution, effective activism strategies and other solution based issues. Please continue to check our website in the coming months and contact us if you have any questions or suggestions. If you have any questions or comments, or if you wish to send us information, please contact: Saren Azer 574- MHRC, Dept. of Medicine University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Canada Tel (780) 492-5014 Home (780) 436-0210 e-mail: sm10@sprint.ca Mike Hudema Apt. 1503 10883 Saskatchewan Dr. Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6E 4S6 e-mail: hudema@ualberta.ca To add your organization to our links, please email Jennifer at jv3@ualberta.ca Toh Swee-Hin (S.H.Toh) PhD Director, CIED & Professor, Ed Policy Studies 7-104 Educvation North Univrsity of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G5 Ph: (780) 492-2556 Fax: (780) 492-0762 e-mail: s.h.toh@ualberta.ca From rcpd at mail1.info.com.ph Tue Dec 28 11:37:48 1999 From: rcpd at mail1.info.com.ph (rcpd@mail1.info.com.ph) Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 10:37:48 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1376] ISGN Forum in Bangkok Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19991228103748.007d3330@mail.info.com.ph> Dear Friends, If you happen to be in Bangkok for the UNCTAD X events in February, we are inviting you to participate in a series of NGO forum organized by the International South Group Network (ISGN): February 9-10: "Post-Seattle Forum on Trade and Agriculture---Advancing the Call to Take Agriculture Out of the WTO" (in cooperation with Focus on the Global South and PKMM-Philippines) February 12: "Forum on Trade, Finance Liberalization and Implications on the Debt Crisis" (in cooperation with Focus and Jubilee South) Please find below the program/theme of both forum. For reservations and more information, contact: Naty Bernardino ISGN-International Secretariat c/o Resource Center for People's Development rcpd@info.com.ph, isgn@tri-isys.com or Alice Raymundo PKMM-Philippines alice@info.com.ph, pkmm_phil@hotmail.com ------------------ Post-Seattle Forum on Trade and Agriculture: Advancing the Call to Take Agriculture out of the WTO February 9-10, 2000 Bangkok, Thailand The massive street protests and collapse of the 3rd WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle highlighted the bankruptcy of the "free trade" dogma that rules the multilateral trading system. It was a significant advance in the people's struggle against the WTO especially since the US and other big players failed to introduce new issues into the domain of the WTO. The sharpening of contradictions within the WTO, most significantly the growing collective challenge posed by the developing and least developed nations is a positive development that has to be pushed and supported. However, even if the 3rd WTO ministerial meeting failed to agree on a broad agenda for a millenium round of negotiations, the trade body will resume talks on key areas such as agriculture, services, and intellectual property rights, as mandated under the 1994 Marrakesh agreement. Agriculture remains a contentious issue not only between the big players and developing nations but also among the developed nations themselves. Talks remain deadlocked between the US/Cairns Group and the EU on the issue of subsidies, and between the powerful and developing nations on the issue of market access and special and differential treatment, among others. Peasant movements worldwide have already put forward the call, Take Agriculture Out of WTO. The call aptly mirrors the position and perspective of small farmers, peasants and marginalized rural sectors who have been the worst victims of agricultural trade liberalization. It is a radical departure from simply pleading the WTO for more export market access in favor of developing countries or dismantling subsidies in the North to make third world exports competitive. Small farmers in the third world do not gain anything from increased exports. Only big agribusiness TNCs and the local landed elite benefit from it. In fact, it is the orientation towards export agriculture that has made the third world perpetually underdeveloped and which has exacerbated peasant landlessness, food insecurity and environmental degradation. On February 12-19, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development will hold its tenth quadrennial conference in Bangkok. Since the WTO came to existence, big players in the global trading regime have sidetracked the vital link of trade to development, relegating such concerns to the UNCTAD. While it is a non-binding trade body in contrast to the WTO, the UNCTAD has more or less served as a forum of developing nations to raise development issues in relation to trade. The aftershock from Seattle is bound to shape the outcome of UNCTAD X . It will be worthwhile to observe and explore possibilities of pushing developing nations into firming up a collective position in support of people's demands in Seattle. >From Seattle to Bangkok and then on to Geneva, we should not let our guards down and vigorously oppose all moves by the US and other big economic powers to pursue their failed agenda in Seattle. We must support the call to get agriculture out of the WTO even as we find ways of pushing the processes of the WTO towards emasculating its hold on key and related issues around agriculture and stopping further liberalization of third world economies. We must work for a united front of all developing and least developed nations in fighting for national economic sovereignty and genuine development. Tentative Program: February 9 (Wednesday) 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Opening and Welcome Remarks: Assembly of the Poor (Thailand) ISGN Focus on the Global South Plenary Forum I: The WTO Fiasco in Seattle: Analysis and Prospects - Dr. Walden Bello UNCTAD and Which Way Forward for Developing Nations - Dr. Yash Tandon Lessons from Seattle and Challenges on People's Struggles and Movements - Dr. Alejandro Bendana February 10 (Thursday) 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon Plenary Forum II: The Political Economy of Trade Liberalization in Agriculture - Francisco Pascual The WTO Review of the Agreement on Agriculture: Issues and Problems - IATP The Global Farmers' Campaign to Take Agriculture Out of the WTO - La Via Campesina Lunch Break: 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Plenary Forum III: Perspective and Positions of Farmers and Peasant Organizations 1. Brazil 2. Africa 3. Philippines 4. Mexico 5. India 6. Norway 7. USA Synthesis and Closing Remarks ------------------------------- The forum is being organized by the International South Group Network (ISGN) in cooperation with Focus on the Global South. For more information, contact: Naty Bernardino ISGN-Manila c/o Resource Center for People's Development (RCPD) e-mail address: rcpd@info.com.ph or isgn@tri-isys.com Tel/fax: (632)-436-18-31 or Alice Raymundo PKMM (National Association of Patriotic Peasants -Philippines) e-mail: alice@info.com.ph or pkmm_phil@hotmail.com Tel/fax: (632)-912-39-62 ------------------ International South Group Network (ISGN) Forum on Trade, Financial Liberalization and Implications on the Debt Crisis February 12, 2000 Bangkok, Thailand 9:00 a.m.- 12:00 noon Welcome and Opening Remarks Alejandro Benda?a (ISGN/ Jubilee South) Plenary I : Trade Liberalization and Debt Panelists: Yash Tandon (SEATINI/ISGN) Eric Toussaint (CADTM-Belgium) Martin Khor (Third World Network) Lunch Break: 12:00 - 1:30 Plenary II: Capital Market Liberalization and the Debt Crisis Panelists: Prof. Michel Chossudovsky (University of Ottawa) Prof. Walden Bello (Focus on the Global South) Hero Vaswani (KATAPAT-Philippines) Coffee Break: 3:45-4:00 p.m. Plenary III: Status and Prospects of the Jubilee and Global Campaign against Third World Debt Panelists: John Dillon (Ecumenical Campaign for Economic Justice -Canada) Brian Ashley (Jubilee 2000 South Africa/Jubilee South) Lidy Nacpil (Freedom from Debt Coalition/Jubilee South) Synthesis and Closing Remarks: Francisco Pascual (Resource Center for People's Development) -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Bangkok Forum on Trade and Agriculture.doc Type: application/msword Size: 7951 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/asia-apec/attachments/19991228/b5b2c1c7/BangkokForumonTradeandAgriculture.doc -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ISGN Forum on Trade, Finance and Debt.doc Type: application/msword Size: 4964 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/asia-apec/attachments/19991228/b5b2c1c7/ISGNForumonTradeFinanceandDebt.doc -------------- next part -------------- Resource Center for People's Development #24, Unit 7, Mapang-akit St, Pinyahan, QC, Philippines telefax- (632)4361831 tel - 4350815 email: rcpd@info.com.ph