From amittal at foodfirst.org Sat Jan 5 10:41:40 2002 From: amittal at foodfirst.org (Anuradha Mittal) Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 01:41:40 +0000 Subject: [asia-apec 1839] Powerful New Documentary: Life and Debt Message-ID: <0.700000824.1298371663-1463792638-1010194903@topica.com> Please help us promote an amazing new film on globalization called "Life and Debt" by Stephanie Black. Life and Debt is a powerful educational tool on the real life impacts of the global economy. Life and Debt is truly a work of art and an educational opportunity not to be missed. Let's make sure it plays to sold out audiences when it comes to the Bay Area. The film is also showing at cities around the country - check the website www.lifeanddebt.org for more information. P L E A S E C I R C U L A T E W I D E L Y "If you're curious about why the demonstrators are so angry, this is why they're so angry." --Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times "The movie offers the clearest analysis of globalization and its negative effects that I've ever seen on a movie or television screen." --Stephen Holden, New York Times Don't miss the amazing new documentary "Life and Debt". This film provides an incredible opportunity to raise global awareness and deepen our understanding of the impacts of globalization and free trade on countries like Jamaica. The reggae soundtrack and entertaining storytelling brings a heartwarming spirit to the film as well. LIFE AND DEBT OPENS JAN 18 in San Francisco at the Lumiere - California at Polk (415) 352-0810 and the Shattuck IV - 2230 Shattuck Ave (510) 843-FILM Two special events: Wed. Jan. 16, Life and Debt Benefit Screening at the Lumiere Theater, California at Polk, 7PM. Panel discussion with film maker Stephanie Black and Kevin Danaher will follow. Tickets $10-20. Life and Debt Film Premier Benefit Concert featuring reggae artist from Jamaica YAMI BOLO and spoken word dub poet MUTABARUKA JANUARY 18 at Studio Z (11th and Folsom), doors open at 8pm $18 in advance (buy tickets online at www.studtioz.tv) / $20 door The excellent NY Times review below makes it clear just how timely and important this film is in the debate over the role of the IMF, World Bank, and World Trade Organization in countries in the Global South, in this case Jamaica. The movie is remarkable because it not only deals with all of the human and labor rights, environmental and economic policy issues deftly but also because it works artistically. Don't miss it! 'Life and Debt': One Love, One Heart, or a Sweatshop Economy? MOVIE REVIEW By Stephen Holden in the New York Times Among the prominent Jamaicans interviewed the most eloquent voice belongs to Michael Manley, the former prime minister who reluctantly signed some of the agreements that have damaged the country's economy. Speaking more in sorrow than in anger, he acknowledges that his country made mistakes along the way. But the overall impression left by this devastating film is of the global economy as a dog-eat-dog world where the usual culprits, the United States and its multinational corporate clients, have the advantage. LIFE AND DEBT Produced and directed by Stephanie Black; narration written by Jamaica Kincaid, based on her book "A Small Place"; directors of photography, Malik Sayeed, Kyle Kibbe, Richard Lannaman and Alex Nepomniaschy; edited by Jon Mullen; music by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, Bob Marley, Dean Fraser, Buju Banton, Sizzla, Harry Belafonte, Mutabaruka, Rolando E. McLean, Peter Tosh and Anthony B.; released by Tuff Gong Pictures. September 2001 www.lifeanddebt.org Running time: 86 minutes. ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: asia-apec@jca.ax.apc.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?aVxil2.aVxCnz Or send an email to: fianusa-news-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ From notoapec at clear.net.nz Sun Jan 13 09:26:04 2002 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (GATT Watchdog) Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 13:26:04 +1300 Subject: [asia-apec 1840] ZNet: Choudry on "civil society" Message-ID: <00a601c19bc8$e4179600$86cca7cb@apecgrou> Sustainers PLEASE note: --> Sustainers can change your email address or cc data or temporarily turn off mail delivery via: https://www.zmag.org/sustainers/members --> If you pass this comment along to others -- periodically but not repeatedly -- please explain that Commentaries are a premium sent to Sustainer Donors of Z/ZNet and that to learn more folks can consult ZNet at http://www.zmag.org --> Sustainer Forums Login: https://www.zmag.org/sustainers/forums Today's commentary: http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2002-01/09choudry.cfm ================================== ZNet Commentary All This "civil Society" Talk Takes Us Nowhere January 13, 2002 By Aziz Choudry If there's one phrase I could do with hearing less of during 2002, it's "civil society". I'm not alone. Many of my friends, community activists and organisers in a number of countries also cringe at the ritualized, ubiquitous usage of the phrase. We shudder at the thought that we might be mistaken for being part of it. John Grimond, in The Economist's "The World In 2002" says of the phrase: "It is universally talked about in tones that suggest it is a Great Good, but for some people it presents a problem: what on earth is it? Unless you know, how can you tell if you would want to join it?" I couldn't agree more. And if you found out, would you want to? I still don't know what the hell "civil society" is supposed to mean, let alone "international civil society". Is it the name given to a group of representatives from various NGOs deliberating the latest sign-on statement or declaration at a meeting? It certainly seems to have become a kind of grandiose shorthand to describe groupings of NGOs which may or may not be connected with communities and broader peoples' movements in the countries in which they are based. Or is it something else? Who gets to be in civil society and how? Are the people taking direct action on the streets against the authorities and being teargassed, pepper-sprayed, beaten and arrested part of civil society? Who gets to represent civil society and decide what, for whom, and on whose behalf? There is no shortage of definitions of civil society, Gramsci, de Tocqueville, Putnam, Hegel, Marx, and many others have written volumes on the subject. But other than general agreement that it spans all forms of organisations between the household and the state, the notion seems to mean all things to all people. I cannot see how uncritical adoption and use of this term advances peoples' struggles for basic rights, for self-determination, liberation, and decolonisation, and against imperialism and the neoliberal agenda in all their various guises. This is not a matter of a term emerging from peoples' struggles being coopted by the power elites and subverted - although the terminology lends itself entirely to the service of divide and rule strategies, and the marginalisation of social movements and more critical voices. Civil society is a construct which allows politically and economically powerful institutions to decide who is in, and who is out, when and if it suits their interests. Furthermore, it has the added value of sounding broad and inclusive enough to add a gloss of legitimacy to any institution, programme, or system which can be shown to the public as somehow engaging with civil society, whoever that is. Referring to the use of the phrase in the Philippines, after the recent mass mobilizations to oust President Estrada, Edmundo Santuario III observes "it is now likewise being claimed by civic clubs, groups of rightist military elements, and politico-religious organisations, some legislators and others." Moreover, he argues, "civil society is actively bannered not necessarily as an antidote to poverty, corruption or as a vehicle for democratization, but to steer grassroots organisations away from the radical influence of political organisations calling for radical comprehensive revolutionary reforms." In New Zealand, the Trade Liberalisation Network, a new business organization, entirely business led- and driven, which was set up just prior to the Doha WTO Ministerial to promote "better public understanding and support for trade liberalisation" claims to be part of civil society. And of course, it is. So is the Mafia. So are feudal landlords, financial speculators, neoliberal thinktanks, corporate front groups, public relations spindoctors and CEOs of the most rapacious corporations. Yep, they're all part of the wondrous diversity of civil society, too. James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer note in "Globalisation Unmasked" (Madhyam Books, New Delhi, 2001) that: "Most of the greatest injustices against workers are committed by the wealthy bankers in civil society who squeeze out exorbitant interest payments on internal debt; by landlords who throw peasants off the land; and by industrial capitalists who exhaust workers on starvation wages in sweatshops". In their incisive chapter on "NGOs in the Service of Imperialism", they add: "By talking about "civil society", NGOers obscure the profound class division, class exploitation and class struggle that polarizes contemporary "civil society"". At a time when the most powerful nation in the world has been pursuing the near obliteration of a country in a naked show of 21st century imperialism is this really a time to be "civil"? In confronting the power of global capital and exposing the role of neoliberal policies in inflicting misery and poverty in our communities and across the planet can we, should we, be "civil"? There are now numerous foundations, institutions, courses, publications - and NGOs dedicated to studying, strengthening or building civil society. Over the past few years, astronomical sums of funding seem to have been sloshing around in the NGO world on "civil society"-related projects. The Bretton Woods institutions, the "baby banks", many governments and big business are full of civil society rhetoric. The World Bank says it "welcomes the opportunity to work with civil society". According to its official documents, The Inter-American Development Bank's "work with civil society takes on many forms. At the operational level the Bank and its borrowers consult with civil society organisations (CSOs) and affected populations during the course of project preparation and implementation". The Asian Development Bank seeks to "strengthen cooperation with civil society actors and to respond to their concerns." WTO Director-General Mike Moore says he welcomes scrutiny from civil society and that their engagement with the WTO "informs us and encourages us to do better." How very nice. While their policies are helping to deepen poverty, inequality, desperation, injustice, and environmental destruction, we can all feel so much better because these agencies will be engaging in "constructive dialogue" or consulting with carefully selected "representatives" of civil society. There is no shortage of exhortations to "civil society" to form "partnerships" with business, government, and international institutions in order to supposedly eradicate poverty, save the environment or work towards some other noble-sounding goal. And plenty of takers in the NGO world where the term "civil society" seems well and truly entrenched and many seem willing to walk through fire to earn the right to mingle and meet with those in power. Maori lawyer Moana Jackson says: "One of the difficulties we confront in the struggle against globalisation and the terrible things that neoliberalism, capitalism do to us is that we give away, we forfeit the right to name our world. We seek to demolish or deconstruct globalisation with the naming tools and ideologies of the capitalists who have constructed it. We seek to oppose the weapons of colonization with the language and words of colonization." We need to have some clear starting points for how we define ourselves. And some clear values. As someone who has long described myself - for want of a better phrase - as part of "uncivil society" I won't be queueing to join civil society. And as a Filipina activist said to me recently, I think we need less NGOs, and more mass movements. If we are to successfully dismantle the oppressive economic world order and create real alternatives to the neoliberal agenda, we need to stop defining ourselves in half-baked terms. We need much more precision. And we must develop strategies and campaign plans that are not driven by the frameworks of the institutions and processes which we oppose - urgently. From fbp at igc.org Tue Jan 15 08:48:51 2002 From: fbp at igc.org (John M. Miller) Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 18:48:51 -0500 Subject: [asia-apec 1841] Indonesian Judges Will Not Provide Long-Delayed Justice for East Timor Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20020114184809.04bdc840@pop.igc.org> For Immediate Release Contact: John M. Miller, 718-5967668; mobile: 917-690-4391; john@etan.org Newly Appointed Indonesian Judges Will Not Provide Long-Delayed Justice for East Timor Rights Group Urges International Tribunal Covering Entire Occupation January 15, 2002 -- The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) said today that Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's last minute approval of judges for an ad hoc court on East Timor does not alter its view that the court will not bring to justice all, or even most of, those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in East Timor. "The multiple delays in establishing the court, its limited jurisdiction, and the continued impunity with which the Indonesian military operates throughout the archipelago only reinforce our belief that the special Indonesian court will be a sham," said John M. Miller, spokesperson for ETAN. "The Indonesian military remains too powerful and the courts too corrupt. Without an international tribunal, those most responsible for Indonesia's scorched earth campaigns in East Timor will escape punishment," he added. Over the weekend, Indonesia's chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Megawati had finally approved the names of judges to the court. It remains unlikely that any trials will actually begin this month as previously announced. As head of the team deciding prosecutions for crimes in East Timor, M.A. Rahman, now Attorney General, advocated only prosecuting low-ranking officers. In September 2000, Indonesian prosecutors named 23 suspects, the highest ranking a two-star general, for violence surrounding 1999's referendum on independence. The list was later whittled down to just 19, following the murder of one militia leader and the claim by the Attorney General's office that they could not find several others. The list of suspects, shortened from a January 2000 list issued by the Indonesian Human Rights Commission, does not reach to the highest levels of the military command implicated by United Nations and other investigations. Last August, the Megawati administration amended the decree establishing a special human rights court on East Timor. The revised decree falls far short of fully addressing the military's role in orchestrating the violence and devastation. It only covers selected incidents from April and September 1999 in three out of East Timor's 13 districts. "No one will be tried for the many atrocities that occurred outside of those time periods and locations, or for the coordination of the scorched-earth campaign by senior level security forces personnel. The many crimes specifically directed at women will also not be prosecuted. Many East Timorese victims and witnesses will be too afraid to travel to Indonesia and will not testify," said Miller. "These limitations mean that the military's role in orchestrating the violence and devastation throughout 1999 will not be fully addressed and meaningful convictions are unlikely. Further, no one responsible for Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor and most of the massive crimes committed during Indonesia's two decades of occupation will be held accountable," he added. On October 24 2001, a coalition of East Timorese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) wrote the United Nations, "We all must face the reality that... [Indonesian courts are] not capable of holding those responsible to account. After initial glimmers of hope, subsequent political turmoil and instability and ensuing continual revisions to the mandate and scope of any Ad Hoc Tribunal which is to be established, ha[ve] clearly demonstrated that Indonesia is both incapable and unwilling to take responsibility for prosecuting those culpable for the crimes against humanity in East Timor." The NGOs called for an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible. The same conclusion was reached by the UN's International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. The NGOs said that prosecutions are "necessary for the nation building process of and reconciliation for East Timor. Instead, we are facing the dark reality of such impunity characterizing our future." Last September, a U.S. District Court held Indonesian General Johny Lumintang liable for $66 million in damages. The judge's decision, in a lawsuit on behalf of six East Timorese victims of military and militia violence in 1999, found Lumintang, vice chief of staff of the army at the time, "both directly and indirectly responsible for human rights violations committed against" East Timorese in 1999. Lumintang is not among the suspects to be prosecuted by Indonesia. Following the August 30, 1999 UN-organized referendum, the Indonesian military and their militia systematically destroyed East Timor, murdering at least 1500 East Timorese, destroying over 70 percent of the infrastructure and raping hundreds of women. Hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes. The East Timor Action Network/U.S. (ETAN) supports human dignity for the people of East Timor by advocating for democracy, sustainable development, social, legal, and economic justice and human rights, including women's rights. ETAN has 28 local chapters throughout the U.S. For additional information see ETAN's web site (http://www.etan.org). -30- etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan John M. Miller Internet: john@etan.org Media & Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network 48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA Phone: (718)596-7668 Fax: (718)222-4097 Mobile phone: (917)690-4391 Web site: http://www.etan.org Support ETAN, to contribute go to http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm Send a blank e-mail message to info@etan.org to find out how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan From fbp at igc.org Thu Jan 31 11:53:21 2002 From: fbp at igc.org (John M. Miller) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 21:53:21 -0500 Subject: [asia-apec 1842] Attorneys and Legal Scholars Call for International Tribunal for East Timor Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20020130215217.045727d0@pop.igc.org> For Immediate Release Contact: Anthony DiCaprio, (212)614-6456, apdicap@aol.com John M. Miller (718)596-7668, fbp@igc.org Attorneys and Legal Scholars Call for International Tribunal for East Timor January 31, 2002 - In a statement issued today, attorneys and legal scholars urged the UN to establish an international tribunal to prosecute crimes against the people of East Timor. "The time to prosecute the crimes inflicted upon the East Timorese through the establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal is now. Each step by the international community to prosecute the acts perpetrated against the East Timorese advances the rule of law, and signals that neither state-condoned nor state-perpetrated terror, wherever it occurs, will be tolerated," said the statement signed by nearly four dozen legal experts from around the world. "We intend to keep pressing for justice for the people of East Timor, and will continue to collect signatures in support of a tribunal," said Anthony DiCaprio, the statement's organizer. "A tribunal is necessary to hold those high ranking officials who organized and implemented the destruction of East Timor accountable. The international community cannot countenance impunity." DiCaprio of the Center for Constitutional Rights was lead attorney, in a civil action in U.S. court, which resulted in a $66 million judgment against General Johny Lumintang, deputy chief of staff of the Indonesian Army in 1999. The statement was released on the second anniversary of the publication of the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. This comprehensive investigation found that the Indonesian governmental and military personnel at all levels participated in and were complicit in organizing and committing the violence in 1999. On August 30 of that year, the East Timorese people voted overwhelmingly for independence in a UN organized referendum. The Commission's January 31, 2000 report also recommended that the UN Security Council establish an International Criminal Tribunal for East Timor to try war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the territory which will become independent on May 20. The Security Council has yet to create a tribunal, citing promises by Indonesia that it would prosecute high-level Indonesian military perpetrators. The statement says that Indonesian actions to date do not "justify confidence in the [Indonesian] process." UN prosecution of serious crimes in East Timor is limited to mostly lower-level militia physically present in the territory. East Timor was invaded by Indonesia on December 7, 1975. During Indonesia's 24-year occupation, more than 200,000 East Timorese, approximately one third of the population, were killed or disappeared. Following the August 30, 1999 vote, the Indonesian military and militia killed several thousand East Timorese, destroyed nearly all infrastructure, and forced some 250,000 East Timorese into Indonesian West Timor. The full statement and signatures to date can be found on-line at http://www.etan.org/news/2002a/01law.htm. - 30 - LAWYERS AND LAW PROFESSORS CALL FOR EAST TIMOR JUSTICE Justice for the people of East Timor can no longer be delayed or denied; the time has come to establish an International Criminal Tribunal for East Timor. Thousands of East Timorese have been raped and otherwise tortured, arbitrarily detained, summarily executed, disappeared, and have had other atrocities inflicted upon them by the Indonesian military and its militia since Indonesia's invasion of the country in 1975. During Indonesia's twenty-four year occupation, more than 200,000 East Timorese, approximately one third of the population, were killed or disappeared. When the East Timorese, relying on assurances from the United Nations, Indonesia, and the international community, voted for independence from Indonesia in the August 30, 1999 Popular Consultation, the Indonesian military and militia responded by killing and torturing thousands of East Timorese, destroying nearly all infrastructure, and forcing some 250,000 East Timorese into Indonesian West Timor. Most East Timorese lost their loved ones, their homes, or their property. East Timor's destruction was so complete and its economy so devastated, that the vast majority of its people remain unemployed with little hope of employment in the near future. Medical care is limited to a small percentage of the population who are lucky enough to be treated in one of the country's few under-staffed and under-funded medical clinics. Mental health care, desperately needed by the East Timorese as a result of their horrific suffering, is non-existent. In response to the post-Popular Consultation violence, the United Nations convened an International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. On January 31, 2000, the Commission determined that Indonesian governmental and military personnel at all levels participated in and were complicit in organizing and committing the violence. Indonesia's "Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations in East Timor" (KPP-HAM) issued a report in January of 2001 making similar findings. On September 10, 2001, Judge Alan Kay of the United States District Court rendered a judgment in the sum of $66 million against the second highest-ranking officer in the Indonesian Army, Major General Johny Lumintang, for his role in the referendum-related violence in 1999. The UN International Commission's January 31, 2000 report also recommended that the UN Security Council establish an International Criminal Tribunal for East Timor. However, the Security Council has declined to establish a tribunal, in large part due to promises by Indonesia that perpetrators in that country would be prosecuted, and because of the work of the Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor in pursuing prosecutions there. To date, both systems have proven inadequate to hold high-level Indonesian military perpetrators accountable. The Serious Crimes Unit does not have jurisdiction to prosecute individuals who are not present in East Timor, and given the current political climate in Indonesia, convictions of high-level military personnel seem unlikely. President Megawati Soekarnoputri's mid-January appointment of ad hoc judges to the Indonesian Tribunal on East Timor, after months of delay, does not justify confidence in the process. President Megawati has not provided any measures to protect the safety of judges or witnesses despite the fact that an Indonesian Supreme Court judge was assassinated last year after investigating corruption and human rights abuses. The judges receive low pay and are unknown academics from provincial law schools with little human rights background. Moreover, the Attorney General has declined to include General Wiranto among the list of suspects to be investigated, despite substantial evidence of his direct involvement. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 without dissent, begins with the recognition of the "inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family" as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. To effectuate these principles by creating fully enforceable obligations under international law, in 1998, one hundred and thirty nine countries signed the Rome Statute to create the International Criminal Court (ICC). Sixty countries have ratified the treaty, moving closer to the sixty ratifications necessary to bring the ICC into being. But the jurisdiction of the ICC will be prospective only, so that forum is not available to the people of East Timor. The world community recognizes that all victims of gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law have an inherent right to seek justice and to demand that the international community bring perpetrators to justice. Indeed, international law imposes a duty to prosecute such transgressions. As UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in his January 31, 2000 letter to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, the International Commission of Inquiry "found that the United Nations and the international community had a particular responsibility to the people of East Timor in connection with investigating the violations, establishing responsibilities, punishing those responsible and promoting reconciliation." The time to prosecute the crimes inflicted upon the East Timorese through the establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal is now. Each step by the international community to prosecute the acts perpetrated against the East Timorese advances the rule of law, and signals that neither state-condoned nor state-perpetrated terror, wherever it occurs, will be tolerated. -end- etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan John M. Miller Internet: john@etan.org Media & Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network 48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA Phone: (718)596-7668 Fax: (718)222-4097 Mobile phone: (917)690-4391 Web site: http://www.etan.org Support ETAN, to contribute go to http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm Send a blank e-mail message to info@etan.org to find out how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan