From bayan at iname.com Sun May 2 08:00:48 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (BAYAN) Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 07:00:48 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1103] SF Labor Council Says No to U.S./Nato Bombings of Yugoslavia Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990502070048.0069c3dc@pop.skyinet.net> From: BAYAN FOR YOUR INFORMATION Date: 04/22 4:48 PM From: Ed Rosario, unite@igc.org Voted and Passed unanimously By the Executive Board of the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) on April 21, 1999. Whereas, NATO forces under the leadership of the United States have unleashed massive air strikes against Yugoslavia designed, in the words of NATO officer in charge, U.S. General Wesley Clark, to "demolish, destroy, devastate, degrade, and ultimately eliminate the essential infrastructure" of the country, and, Whereas, the U.S. government is allocating billions for war to destroy among other things, bridges, apartment buildings, and factories, as opposed to spending our resources to improve the quality of life in the U.S., and to assist in the productive development of the Balkans and elsewhere, and, Whereas, the massive bombing is contributing to and has in fact severly exacerbated the plight of the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo who are persecuted by the Milosevic regime but whose right to self-determination has never been supported or recognized by the United States or NATO. Therefore Be It Resolved, that the San Francisco Labr Council call for an end to the war, an immediate halt to the NATO/U.S. bombing of Yugoslavia, and an end to the intervention. Be It Further Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council rejects the notion that the U.S. government has, by military might, the legal, or moral right to intervene and police the world in such disputes, and, Be It Further Resolved, that this resolution be sent to the National AFL-CIO, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and to President William Clinton. From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Sun May 2 17:19:26 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 20:19:26 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1104] GATT Watchdog Media Release 2/5/99 Message-ID: <4i8m8e1w165w@corso.ch.planet.gen.nz> GATT Watchdog PO Box 1905 Christchurch Aotearoa (New Zealand) MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 2 May 1999 The $3500+ Question: MAF's APEC Official Information Act stance outrageous Fair trade coalition GATT Watchdog is outraged at a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) response to an Official Information Act request for information relating to moves to liberalise trade in the forest products sector at APEC and the World Trade Organisation. In a letter of 30 April 1999, writing on behalf of MAF's Director-General, Alan Kerr told GATT Watchdog that before work can begin on its request of 15 April the group will have to agree to pay an estimated $3,500 for staff time alone - on top of which photocopying in excess of 20 pages will be charged at 20 cents a page. "The Official Information Act is supposed to make official information more freely available to the public. What a joke! MAF's response amounts to a dishonest attempt to withhold official information. How many community organisations can afford over $3500 for official information - especially when there is a high chance that much of it will be heavily censored or withheld?" asked GATT Watchdog spokesman, Aziz Choudry. "This is the most outrageous in a long series of unsatisfactory APEC-related Official Information Act replies from government ministries. It really gives the lie to government claims of openness in relation to APEC. However it is entirely consistent with the government's "communications strategy and branding exercise" for APEC 1999 which, according to Cabinet strategy papers obtained last year, aims to quickly establish "an overall brand image in the market place" but "will not focus on the complex substance of the APEC process such as trade liberalisation or facilitation"". "Unlike the government, GATT Watchdog believes that there needs to be informed debate about free trade and its impact. Timely access to official information is vital for any in-depth analysis and contest of policy decisions and processes". "By charging like a wounded bull, we can only assume that MAF objects to any independent scrutiny of its position. So much for all the government's talk about transparency in relation to APEC policy processes," says Mr Choudry. In his letter to GATT Watchdog, MAF's Alan Kerr writes: "You have asked whether the Ministry has carried out an assessment of the likely impacts of the APEC and/or WTO moves to liberalise trade in forest products on New Zealand and the APEC region as a whole. The Ministry has not yet undertaken a stand-alone assessment of the likely impacts. There are no plans to carry out such an assessment in the near future." "This admission makes MAF's deliberately obstructive, exorbitant request for thousands of dollars even more outrageous. Despite the failure to conclude the APEC Early Voluntary Sectoral Liberalisation negotiations on trade in forest products in Kuala Lumpur last year, New Zealand, along with the USA and Canada continues to support a forest trade liberalisation agreement at the WTO. And yet there is no sign of any assessment of the impact of this being contemplated. For all of its clean green talk, the New Zealand government chooses to ignore the environmental consequences of its negotiating positions. And it clearly doesn't want to risk any independent assessment being carried out by anyone else," says Mr Choudry. "This global forestry industry push to liberalise trade in forest products threatens environmental safeguards and trade controls. These include tariffs and non-tariff measures, import restrictions on forest products that carry invasive pests, certification or eco-labelling schemes and "unreasonably" high standards for forest management and production. Liberalisation of the global forest product trade will lower prices, and increase consumption and the volume of trade in forest products. It will allow forest industry giants to get governments to sweep away regulations which might stand in the way of their increased exploitation of this dwindling resource and increased profits. Apparently this does not concern MAF," he said. GATT Watchdog has written to the Office of the Ombudsmen asking for a review of the MAF decision. For further comment: ph Aziz Choudry, GATT Watchdog (03) 3662803 From bayan at iname.com Sun May 2 21:08:22 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (BAYAN) Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 20:08:22 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1105] MNC/TNC EXODUS PRETEXT FOR WAGE FREEZE Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990502200822.006a2888@pop.skyinet.net> From: BAYAN Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 MNC/TNC EXODUS BEING USED AS PRETEXT FOR WAGE FREEZE Business leaders, government officials and now the editorial pages of some Manila major dailies are sounding alarm bells over the announced pullout of several big multinational corporations (MNC) from the Philippines. But what is truly alarming is how the pullout or downsizing of MNCs is invariably attributed to "uncompetitive wages" prevailing in the country. One cannot help but note that the issue is being highlighted in the run-up to Labor Day (May 1) when the momentum for workers' demand for wage increases picks up. Indeed, it dovetails neatly with the call of big business for a wage freeze and "flexible minimum wage rates". But lest workers and their welfare are further sacrificed at the altar of investments and capital this Easter, let us also give due column space to a discussion of the issue from the workers' point of view. First, MNCs are not pulling-out because of high wage levels in the Philippines since wages account for a minor share of production costs of companies operating in the country -- around 10-14% according to Professor Rene Ofreneo of UP. In fact, unit labor costs in the Philippines, or the cost of labor per unit of value-added, has been falling since 1992 according to the World Bank. At P198 per day, the minimum wage for Metro Manila is currently pegged at less than half the daily cost of living for a family of six according to IBON computations and further being eroded by inflation. It is not even enough to meet the minimum food requirements as identified by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute. Second, lower wages do not necessarily attract more investments. Around 80% of the global flow of foreign direct investments are concentrated in the US, Japan and the other rich countries of Western Europe. Even in Asia, countries with higher wage levels compared to the Philippines such as HongKong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, attract greater foreign direct investments. Third, foreign investments do not spell salvation for the Philippines notwithstanding the persistent crowing of World Bank and local technocrats. The dollar inflows they provide (together with foreign loans and OCW remittances) merely help temporarily in papering over the structural defects of the economy that lead to chronic crisis in the first place. In the longer-term, they siphon out those same dollars and more in the form of profit remittances, royalties, transfer pricing, interest payments and so on - resources that could have been reinvested for national industrialization. After decades of trying to attract foreign investments into the country, the economy remains basically agrarian, backward and pre-industrial. The so-called "export-oriented industries" located in the Export Processing Zones and Special Economic Zones only develop within these enclaves - virtually detached from the rest of the economy except in sourcing labor. MNCs and MNC subcontractors merely take advantage of generous incentives and subsidies from government, and cheap unorganized labor for assembling imported components for re-export to other countries. They are vertically integrated with the international production network of MNCs but not with the domestic economy. Without significant backward and forward linkages to the local economy, these export-oriented industries offer little potential for sustained industrial deepening at a scale that would generate mass employment and provide adequate income for workers. The current MNC exodus from the Philippines must be seen in its proper light. In the wake of massive mergers among international monopolies and the depressed incomes of the broad masses, the global crisis of overproduction now affecting all types of goods - from raw materials to light consumer goods to high value-added manufactures - is forcing MNCs to shutdown plants or downsize operations. Neo-liberal globalization is prompting MNCs to "rationalize" their operations by closing down plants in many countries while expanding their production in other plants in a few countries according to the global profit calculus of international monopolies. In the Philippines, the flood of imports due to import liberalization, a constricted market due to mass poverty, systemic corruption, and state abandonment of its duties including the provision of adequate public infrastructure and utilities have rendered domestic production more costly and less rewarding compared to mere trading, finance and betting on the lotto. The pullout of MNCs is just a pretext for cornering workers in a job versus wages & rights equation being used by big business and their client technocrats. Competing for foreign investments against 120 or so countries that make up the rest of the Third World by offering ever cheaper labor, more tightly fettered unions and workers deprived of security and democratic rights will only condemn workers to suffer an unending downward spiral of wretchedness and indignity. The current crisis should compel us to seek structural changes in Philippine society. First, we must break the land monopoly and free the broad masses in the countryside from the exploitative and immiserizing grip of landlords, traders and usurers through a genuine and thoroughgoing land reform. This would raise the incomes of the vast majority, expand demand for manufactures, unleash farmers productivity and generate surplus for reinvestment in industry. Second, national industrialization must be actively promoted, expanded and deepened with the prevailing neglect of science and technology and capital goods production corrected. We must free the country from the grip of foreign monopoly capital and the local trading and financial elite. We need to redefine foreign and domestic economic and trade relations according to the genuine national interest and social goals instead of a blind adherence to neo-liberal dogma. We need to develop an economy that caters to the needs of the population, generates mass employment, provides adequate incomes for the mass of the population, and ensures the sustained and sustainable improvement in the quality of life of the people. - Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research E I L E R, Inc. Snail Mail: Rm. 704, Culmat Bldg. 127-133 E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave. Quezon City 1102 Philippines Telephone: (63-2) 721-5776 Telefax: (63-2) 723-4240 E-mail : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From tpl at cheerful.com Mon May 3 19:57:48 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 18:57:48 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1106] Message to KMU's International Solidarity Affair Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990503185748.006aba04@pop.skyinet.net> From: KMU (May First Movement) MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY TO THE 16TH KMU INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY AFFAIR By Jose Maria Sison May 1 1999 Let me convey my warmest and most militant greetings of solidarity to all the foreign delegates and participants in the 16th International Solidarity Affair of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). I agree with the call, "Intensify the Resistance Against Imperialist and Local Reactionary Attacks on Jobs, Wages and Trade Union Rights". I commend the KMU for organizing this yearly event which serves as a very important forum for representatives of workers' organizations from different parts of the world to come together to exchange experiences in the struggle, agree on common analyses and courses of action on specific and general issues, and build mutual support and cooperation in the struggle against the oppression and exploitation inflicted on the people by the imperialists and all sorts of reactionaries. We are in transition from the 20th century to the 21st century. I presume that, even as you focus on the current circumstances and immediate aims of the working class, you take a comprehensive view of the outgoing century and you brace yourselves for the great challenges and opportunities in the coming century. The 20th century has been so precisely called the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution by a great leader of the working class. The economic crises and wars brought about by a parasitic and moribund kind of capitalism in this century have been the favorable objective conditions for successful socialist revolutions and new democratic revolutions under the leadership of the working class. Unfortunately, the socialist revolutions have been betrayed and the new bourgeoisie has overthrown the working class in the former socialist countries. But so long as oppression and exploitation persist and intensify, the proletariat and the rest of the people have no choice but to struggle for people's democracy and socialism against imperialism and all reaction. The era of imperialism and proletarian revolution extends to the 21st century. Imperialism or monopoly capitalism is the last stage of capitalism but certainly it is not the end of history. The proletariat and people continue to make revolution and to make history. They will put an end to imperialism. In the last decade of the current century, the monopoly bourgeoisie and their servitors have mocked at the proletariat and the people and pushed an offensive under the piratical banner of "free market" globalization to accelerate the rate of exploitation, push down wage levels, cause high rates of mass unemployment, take away hard-won social benefits, suppress trade union and other democratic rights and impose the most outrageous terms of international usury on the client countries of imperialism. But it has been self-defeating for the imperialists to combine the adoption of higher technology with the accelerated concentration and centralization of capital in their hands. They have ruined their own market by drastically reducing the income of the world proletariat and people. Now, there is a severe global crisis of overproduction in all types of goods. The imperialist countries themselves are now afflicted by a severe crisis. The monopoly bourgeoisie counters the tendency of profit rates to fall by massacring jobs and further raising the rate of exploitation. Whatever are their export specialties, the so-called emergent markets have been depressed since 1997. The raw-material exporting countries, which are the most numerous in the world, have sunk further into depression. All basic contradictions in the world are intensifying. The working class is fighting back against the monopoly bourgeoisie in imperialist countries. The oppressed peoples are resisting the imperialists. More and more frictions are developing among the imperialists even as they continue to unite against the proletariat and people of the world. The revisionist betrayal of socialism and the erosion of the working class movement in the second half of the 20th century has exacted a high cost from mankind. The monopoly bourgeoisie is unbridled in oppressing and exploiting the people. Social and political turmoil is widespread. More and bigger wars are in the horizon. The intensification of oppression and exploitation engenders the rise of revolutionary resistance. We are confident that in the 21st century the proletariat and the rest of the people will fight ever more fiercely and prevail over the imperialists and all reactionaries. Like the rest of Southeast Asia, the Philippines is ravaged by the global crisis of overproduction in low value-added semimanufactures for export (semiconductors, garments, shoes, toys and the like) and is crushed by a huge debt burden resulting from chronic trade deficits and the costly consumption of the local exploiting classes (cars, office and residential towers and the like). The Estrada regime aggravates the economic and social crisis. It outdoes the preceding regime in harping on the line of liberalization, privatization and deregulation. It assists the IMF, World Bank and WTO to tighten their stranglehold over the Philippines and further opens up the country to the multinational firms, which are being offered unlimited ownership and control of all types of assets and businesses in the Philippines. To serve the foreign monopolies and the local big compradors, the current regime further carries out the "flexible labor" policy of violating basic workers rights and labor standards, busting unions, increasing mass unemployment, reducing the ranks of regular workers and pushing down wages. It promotes industrial estates and export processing zones that are de-facto protected as union-free and strike-free areas. The so-called Presidential Task Force on Labor Policy, composed of representatives of big business, high bureaucrats and labor aristocrats, is now laying the groundwork for further attacks on the rights and livelihood of the workers. It is cooking up proposals for executive implementation as well as for legislation of amendments to worsen what is already an antiworker Labor Code of the reactionary government. The proposals include a freeze on wages, the hiring of regular workers at apprentice rates, a ban on strikes under various pretexts and the eventual dismantling of the minimum wage structure. They seek to promote "social accords" at the national and factory level between workers and capitalists that will contain the provision imposing a ban on strikes. The daily minimum wage of P198 is less than half the cost of living which is about P441 in Metro Manila. Unemployment has risen from year to year since 1997, as a result of plant closures and production cutbacks. With the recent oil price hike of 50 centavos, the reactionary regime is again rewarding the greedy foreign oil companies (despite their P6.10 B earnings and 1,090% increase in profits last year) while imposing on the entire people another round of price increases in prime commodities. The regime knows no bounds for its obsequiousness and subservience to the imperialists. It goes around begging for loans and yet allots USD 500 million from the Miyazawa fund and five billion pesos of "special financing" for bailing out big business. It also offers further tax exemptions, power rate discounts and other privileges to the multinational firms. It is pushing the Senate ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement in order to give to US military forces free rein to trample upon the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines and to further strengthen US hegemony and to protect and advance US economic interests. In exchange for the ratification of the VFA, it expects to get more military supplies from the US in order to launch campaigns of suppression against the Filipino people. The Estrada regime is carrying out an undeclared martial rule against the working class. Workers strikes are violently dispersed and union leaders are being harassed, abducted or, worse, summarily executed by military agents and hired killers. At the same time, the regime collaborates with the labor aristocrats and the most notorious racketeers to hoodwink and mislead the workers. The proletariat has no choice but to fight back. There is an upsurge of the trade union and strike movement, precisely because of the vicious attacks on the working class. In the forefront of the workers' movement are the KMU and its federations and unions. In this regard, let me congratulate all of them for their militant struggles and success. Complementary to the attacks on the working class are those on the peasant masses. Feudal and semifeudal exploitation is intensified. Land accumulation by old and new landlords, including the foreign monopolies, is accelerated. The regime has nullified even the token land reform concessions of previous regimes. To oppress the peasant masses and grab the land from them, the regime has escalated military campaigns of suppression in the countryside. The growth of surplus population in the countryside and the displacement of peasants from the land increase the reserve army of labor. The imperialists and the local reactionaries take advantage of the great mass of unemployed to press down the wage levels of the working class, in the absence of a simultaneous program of national industrialization and land reform. The working class and peasantry are strengthening their own unity in order to fight for national independence and democracy against the imperialists and local reactionaries. They struggle for the completion of the national of the national-democratic revolution and look forward to a socialist future. The entire Filipino people can fight for their national and democratic rights and interests beyond the confines of reformism and they can hope for a better future because they have a revolutionary party of the proletariat, a people's army and a united front as instruments for waging revolution. I anticipate that in the course of the 16th ISA the Filipino trade unionists and the foreign delegates can learn from each other about the conditions of their respective countries and the struggle of the working people and develop a higher level of mutual understanding and cooperation. More than ever, there is the need for the workers and the people of all countries to unite and to fight for their liberation from the clutches of imperialism and all reaction.# From panap at panap.po.my Tue May 4 11:56:19 1999 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Tue, 04 May 1999 10:56:19 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1107] Re: Final Report/contacts for June 18th Message-ID: Dear Mark, The sum listed was for Malaysian ringgit. It was only an approximation because i wasn't sure wht the actual amount was. RM 10,000 is about 1,500 pounds. about june 18. i'm sure the low response has little to do with concerns about imperialism. actually, the asia-apec listserv tends to generate very little debate. people post to it, but few people ever respond. it's a real problem. i think part of the reason is that it's fairly big and has tended to operate primarily as an information list for people's assembly events. but, at our last meeting of the malaysian working committee, we discussed june 18 and we're trying to organise something for it-- most likely a forum on the wto agriculture agreement. glad you liked the report. kind regards, devlin >Dear yap, > >> >>Thank you for sending the money. Is it thru demand draft or telergraphic >>transfer? When was this? I hope it is T.T, because it would take a month for >>the bank here to process a demand draft from overseas! >Not sure! It says 'Request for Transfer of Funds Overseas' on the form... >> > >>Attached is the contact list (in Excel format) of APPA participants. I hope >>it would be useful to you. >Thanks - definitely useful. But I'm afraid my computer won't open it - would >it be possible to convert it into a more standard text file? Sorry for the >inconvenience. > >>By the way, can you tell us more about the "June >>18 networking group"? >This is people in the UK working to get word of the action out as far and >wide as possible. I've sent a few messages to the Asia-Apec list, but, >disappointingly, have notoced no response. Do you have any clues as to what >may be going wrong in this form of networking? Feel free to suggest that it >may be a very understandable resistance to what could be seen as the >imperialisation of resistance! Any tips on the best way to present an >invitation to the groups who attended the conference would be very welcome. > >Please take a lok at the website if you'd like more general background on >the day. > >Cheers, > >Mark > >>thanks. >> >>in solidarity, >> >>yap >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Mark Brown >>To: appasec >>Cc: Devlin Kuyek >>Date: Sunday, May 02, 1999 7:04 PM >>Subject: Final Report/contacts for June 18th >> >> >>Dear yap swee seng, >> >>Thanks very much for sending the Final Report, which I found fascinating and >>inspiring. >> >>I was a little concerned that you had listed the Network for Social Change >>on the list of funders. I hadn't made it clear, but we do in fact have a >>policy of not publicising ourselves in this way, mainly because we can't >>accept unsolicited applications for funding; (every application needs a >>Networker to sponsor it.) So apologies for not explaining that before, but >>perhaps you could bear it in mind in future. >> >>By the way, the second attempt to pass the funds to you has been sent off by >>now (I hope!) Please let me know when/if it reaches you. A figure of >>'10,000' is mentioned in the letter accompanying the Report. Could you tell >>me what currency that is? Thanks. >> >>And lastly, I was wondering if you have an electronic copy of the contacts >>list at the back of the Report, because the June 18th networking group would >>like very much to send them an invitation to participate. At the moment >>there are over 35 countries from every continent involved (including South >>Korea), but it would be great to see that rise! I would understand if this >>was problematical in terms of security etc, but it would just save us many >>hours of manual transcription... >> >>Anyway, good luck with everything, >> >>In solidarity, >> >>Mark Brown >>#########@@@@@@@@@@@{{{{{{{{{{££££££££££££££££******************* >>Don't be the last to get on board JUNE 18th 1999: COMPOST NOT >>COMMERCE! >> +++++++++$$+++++++++++ >>For info on resistance to Big Oil in the Niger Delta, see >>www.oilcompanies.org >> *********££*********** >>INTER-CONTINENTAL CARAVAN (22.5.- 20.6.1999): icc99uk@hotmail.com for >>details >> ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## >>Oh, and Go here today: www.gn.apc.org/rts/ >> >> >> >>Attachment Converted: c:\mail\particip.xls >> >#########@@@@@@@@@@@{{{{{{{{{{££££££££££££££££******************* >Don't be the last to get on board JUNE 18th 1999: COMPOST NOT >COMMERCE! > +++++++++$$+++++++++++ >For info on resistance to Big Oil in the Niger Delta, see www.oilcompanies.org > *********££*********** >INTER-CONTINENTAL CARAVAN (22.5.- 20.6.1999): icc99uk@hotmail.com for details > ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## >Oh, and Go here today: www.gn.apc.org/rts/ > > > From panap at panap.po.my Tue May 4 11:47:01 1999 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Tue, 04 May 1999 10:47:01 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1108] Seeds of Controversy (IPS Article) Message-ID: RIGHTS-THAILAND: Rice Project Plants Seeds of Controversy By Prangtip Daorueng BANGKOK, Apr 28 (IPS) - A plan to train rice farmers in north-east Thailand in ''modern'' technologies has been mired in claims that it would kill off traditional methods that are far more sustainable in the long run. The project seeks to get farmers to use technologies such as the conservation tillage, land leveling, use of herbicides and seeds ''with improved quality and traits''. The farmers, who would be brought such technology through microcredit, are then to teach others to use the same methods. This may sound harmless to the farmers in the Nong Yang and Lamplaymart districts in Buriram province, but activists say this is an introduction to large-scale farming that has often benefited corporate interests, excessively relied on chemicals and undercut food security. ''Converting these farmers into large-scale mechanised farms will force farmers to buy extensive machinery, inputs (chemical fertilizer and pesticides) and seeds, driving them into debt and eventually off their lands,'' Sarojeni Rengam of the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Asia-Pacific wrote in a letter to the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a well- known Thai NGO involved in the project. The project, called Innovative Partnership for Agricultural changes is Technology (INPACT), is also controversial in activist circles because of who is involved in it. The partners of PDA, led by well-known Thai campaigner Mechai Viravaidya, are the Thai agriculture department and the U.S. transnational company Monsanto, the world's largest herbicide company and third largest seed company. Activists say the proposed project also involves the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). But IRRI says it is not directly involved with Monsanto, though it works with local groups including PDA. Activists are now lobbying against the project and to get PDA, whose reputation they say is being used by Monsanto, to back out. The call was also made by Rengam in an Apr 22 letter to PDA. According to PAN Asia-Pacific and BIOTHAI, an NGO working on biodiversity issues, the project is no ordinary agricultural training. Monsanto aims to develop large-scale extensive and industrial rice farming in Thailand, which involves increased use of its herbicides, they say. The implications of these changes are particularly serious for north-east Thailand, which is where the country's best rice is produced and where extensive industrial farming is largely alien to the local rice-growing structure. For instance, Biothai's Witoon Lianchamroon said: ''The percentage of pesticide use in this area is lower than other parts of the country. Farmers here can produce the best rice by using seeds that have been passed on from generations.'' This may well change once Monsanto gets local farmers to use its conservation tillage technology, which the firm says will help farmers cut back on tillage activates, increase the use of mechanical methods and help in conserving soil and hike yields. But critics say the north-east relies on small, non-highly mechanised operations not suited to complex machinery and inaccessible to most industrial farming technology. Monsanto Thailand says it plans to introduce its herbicides, whose performance it says has been proven in countries like the United States and Indonesia. But critics doubt this, saying Monsanto wants to get as many farmers to keep using its products. Thai activists also warn that the INPACT project may end up allowing firms like Monsanto to introduce transgenic seeds that supposedly require less pesticides and chemicals. Even this claim is doubtful though, they add, saying such plants in fact need more herbicides. They cite statistics by the U.S. agriculture department that show that in 1997, expanded plantings of herbicide tolerant soybeans resulted in a 72 percent increase in the use of Monsanto's herbicide. Besides, local campaigners say introducing a seed supposed to need less herbicides is not necessarily relevant in Thailand, because developing countries often have small farmers who use much less pesticides than those in developed countries. Likewise, the use of seeds ''with improved quality and traits'' under the north-east Thailand project implies the use of hybrid seeds which critics fear will lead to heavy use of chemical fertilisers and herbicides. Sanya Bhumichitra, marketing manager of Monsanto Thailand, said in an interview the firm's involvement in the project is only in conservation tillage. There are some 1,500 rice growers in Thailand participating in the use of this technology, including 100 in the north-east, he said. Sought for comment, IRRI said in a statement that does not ''push pesticides on farmers''. It says it has not entered into any formal agreement for the Thailand project, but that its workplan for the country includes joint activities with the agriculture department and PDA, which in turn enters into partnerships with other private groups. ''Some of our NGO partners in Thailand have been exploring partnerships with the private sector, but IRRI has not entered into any formal agreements with private companies, including Monsanto, for technology transfer activities,'' IRRI said. BIOTHAI and PAN Asia-Pacific also point to Monsanto's controversial record elsewhere in Asia. They cite how the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, a pioneer of the micro-credit system for the poor, pulled out of its joint project with Monsanto, called the ''Grameen Monsanto Centre for Environmental-Friendly Technologies''. Monsanto had initially offered 150,000 dollars for soft loans for Bangladeshi farmers to buy agricultural and rural technology, including Monsanto's proprietary herbicides, hybrid rice, hybrid maze and cotton seeds. But protests by environmental and community-based groups, saying the project aimed only to create markets for Monsanto's own products and neglected local knowledge, drove the Grameen Bank to withdraw from it. Noted Witoon: ''The way Monsanto joins hand with a well- respected NGO in developing countries is to build up its image and it has happened before''. ''We want to urge PDA to think twice about joining with Monsanto. Technologies promoted by the company goes against the country's aim at self-sufficient way of life. It will lead to the more poverty among Thai farmers,'' he said. Monsanto Thailand's Sanya says the fears about widespread introduction of transgenic seeds is baseless because Thai laws do not allow their importation. As for Monsanto wanting to see INPACT boosting its image, Sanya said: ''To promote ourselves is to tell society what we are doing. I want to ask you if there is anything wrong with that.'' Copyright IPS (END/IPS/ap-dv-hd/pd/js/99) From panap at panap.po.my Tue May 4 17:13:01 1999 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Tue, 04 May 1999 16:13:01 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1109] rafi@rafi.org, rafican@web.apc.org, beb@igc.apc.org, sun@igc.org, prangtip@samart.co.th, grain@baylink.mozcom.com, acfgenet@peg.apc.org Message-ID: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Asia and the Pacific Press Release May 2, 1999 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- rBGH Unlikely to be Registered in New Zealand New Zealand High Commission's First Secretary in Kuala Lumpur Unofficially States "No Registration of rBGH" during meeting with Activists At a meeting on Friday April 30th, the First Secretary of the New Zealand High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Robyn Bickford, stated "unofficially" that the recombinant bovine growth hormone, rBGH, "is not registered, and is unlikely to be registered" in New Zealand. This was the response she claimed she had received upon "making enquiries" with relevant officials in New Zealand, including the Ministry of Agriculture. The first secretary made these comments in response to a meeting with representatives of the Malaysian Vegetarian Society (MVS) and Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP). Both groups had approached the High Commission to vigorously protest the possible registration of the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rBGH) for use in the New Zealand dairy industry. Called upon to unhold New Zealand's claims of being "clean and green" in its exports to other countries, Bickford commented that "New Zealand is going towards being totally organic by the year 2020". In the letter of protest sent to the New Zealand Minister of Food and Fibre, John Luxton, MVS President Dr Wong Ang Peng stated: "We view the threat of genetically engineered food as potentially more dangerous than even nuclear contaminants. We are very concerned about the health implications of this growth hormone and we will be advising consumers in our country not to buy New Zealand dairy products, if this registration proceeds. Hundreds of thousands of vegetarians, people of various faiths especially Tao, Buddhism and Hinduism, and also Malaysians from all walks of life who are very health conscious, fully respect the views of our society". "We do not have labelling requirements here (in Malaysia) and if the application goes through, we will not be able to make an informed choice when buying the products," argued PAN AP Safe Food Campaign Coordinator, Jennifer Mourin, at the meeting. Stressing that PAN AP had also sent letters of concern to both the New Zealand High Commission, and Ministry of Food and Fibre, Mourin handed over PAN AP's Press Release on this issue to Ms Bickford. Upon the First Secretaries "unofficial" comments, regarding the "unlikelihood" of registering the growth hormone for use in New Zealand, both MVS and PAN AP stressed that they would be awaiting "official" responses from the Minister of Food and Fibre, and would be holding the High Commission and Ministry to their assurances. The groups pledged to continue action on the issue in the interim. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For further information contact: Jennifer Mourin, Safe Food Campaign Coordinator, at PAN AP. Tel: (604) 657 0271/656 0381. Fax: (604) 657 7445 E-Mail: panap@panap.po.my ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Asia and the Pacific P.O. Box: 1170, 10850 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: (604) 657 0271/656 0381. Fax: (604) 657 7445 E-Mail: panap@panap.po.my Homepage: http://www.poptel.org.uk/panap/ Pesticide Action Network (PAN) is an international coalition of citizen's groups and individuals who oppose the misuse and overuse of pesticides, and support the reliance on safe and sustainable alternatives. PAN Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) is the regional office for Asia and the Pacific. PAN AP prescribes to the following development principles: a participatory holistic approach; a commitment to gender equity and genuine partnership; the need to confront social injustice and global inequities; the value of biodiversity, appropriate traditional and indigenous knowledge systems; and the recognition that our earth is one interdependent living system. From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Thu May 6 14:04:34 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 17:04:34 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1110] What Price Debate? GATT Watchdog on NZ Official Info. Act Message-ID: GATT Watchdog PO Box 1905 Christchurch Aotearoa (New Zealand) MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 6 May 1999 What Price Debate? Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Official Information Act Response on APEC/WTO slammed GATT Watchdog is unimpressed with an MFAT response to an Official Information Act request relating to APEC and the World Trade Organisation liberalisation of trade in the forest products sector. Yesterday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade faxed a request for a ten-day extension and $3164 for providing the information. This follows an April 30th decision by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to charge the group $3500 (plus photocopying expenses likely to run to several hundred dollars) for working on a similar Official Information Act request. "What price does the government put on debate about the pros and cons of free trade and investment?" asked Aziz Choudry of GATT Watchdog. "For us, this has the same effect as a flat refusal to provide the information. Do MFAT and MAF officials regard their work to be above public scrutiny?" "We have little sympathy with government ministries' requests for outrageous amounts of money in return for official information on APEC. The government has the money to spend on glossy leaflets and brochures which merely trot out the same old hype about APEC - regardless of the poverty of evidence that there appears to be to back up its claims. If it can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in a facile feelgood public relations campaign to promote the message that "APEC is good" while deliberately avoiding focussing on "the complex substance of the APEC process such as trade liberalisation or facilitation" it can afford to pay the wages of officials and photocopying costs of making official information freely available so that there can be an informed debate on the issues. It can find around $50 million to host APEC for a pre-election photo-op, but wants to charge the earth for releasing important information to a non-profit organisation." "MFAT has suggested that we revise our original request to narrow its scope. This is not possible. In order for any in-depth policy analysis, and without the knowledge of the precise dates and nature of the documents in existence, such an OIA request cannot be more specific." GATT Watchdog has lodged letters calling for an investigation and review of both the MAF and MFAT decisions with the Ombudsmen's Office. Today it sent an Official Information Act request to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It requests "all and any official documentation, memos and correspondence (including electronic correspondence) in relation to guidelines and strategies for government ministers and ministries in responding to Official Information Act requests on APEC and the upcoming WTO negotiating round". It has also informed MAF and MFAT that it will not pay for the information. "Perhaps the government has a problem justifying the positions it is taking in relation to its participation within fora like APEC and the WTO beyond the rhetorical public statements which it tends to make about such matters." "Perhaps it is scared of a repeat of the vigorous debate and opposition around the stalled Multilateral Agreement on Investment - the provisions of which have strong parallels with APEC's non-binding investment principles - and which was only made possible because a leaked draft of the MAI was distributed internationally by concerned critics of unrestricted trade and investment in North America," said Mr Choudry. For further comment, contact Aziz Choudry ph (03) 3662803 From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Thu May 6 17:26:36 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 20:26:36 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1111] NZ Government NGO Strategy on APEC Exposed Message-ID: <2imu8e1w165w@corso.ch.planet.gen.nz> Government NGO Strategy on APEC 1999 Exposed - Aziz Choudry, GATT Watchdog & Aotearoa/New Zealand APEC Monitoring Group Official documents show Government strategies to bring about "constructive participation by NGOs in the APEC process" to be a cynical cosmetic exercise. While consulting with businesses about their priorities for APEC 1999, it does not propose to consult with NGOs or Maori about issues of substance - but wants to bring them onside in promoting the supposed benefits of APEC's free trade, free market agenda. The more people and organisations that it can get to participate in this year's APEC meetings, the more support Wellington will claim for APEC's free-market goals. APEC promotes a regional version of the New Zealand Experiment. APEC's supporters say that what is good for business is good for the peoples of the region, that inequality is inevitable and desirable, and that there are no alternatives to the free market. To engage with APEC and seek to change it from within is to misunderstand the nature of the forum. As Joan Spero, US Undersecretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs told US Congress in 1995 "APEC is not for governments; it is for business. Through APEC, we aim to get governments out of the way, opening the way for business to do business." To become involved in the APEC circus is to help legitimise and stabilise a forum which lacks political legitimacy - and to accept its redefinition of basic rights on APEC's terms. As a community of "economies" APEC conveniently excludes from consideration the social, political, environmental, and cultural effects of its narrow economic programme. Robert Reid argues that trying to get a seat at the APEC table for "civil society" "will be as successful as urging a tiger to become a vegetarian. For those organising at the grassroots...exploitation, discrimination and repression in the workplace are the natural consequences of globalisation, not an unfortunate byproduct that can be fixed by a social contract". APEC is a creature of the market. It has always been heavily influenced and its work programme directed by private sector free marketeers. Previous APEC host governments have tried to stave off criticism of the secretive, anti-democratic nature in which APEC operates, sometimes throwing the mildest critics a bone - a marginal role on the fringes of official events. Some unions and environmental NGOs sympathetic to APEC's goals have been selected to take part in low-level APEC working groups. The government has hired an NGO Liaison Officer for the APEC Taskforce whose job is to co-opt NGOs into the APEC programme. It believes that: "ensuring constructive participation by NGOs in the APEC process will be a critical part of communicating the what, why and how of APEC to the New Zealand community. It would also serve to demonstrate to the international community New Zealand's ability to accommodate debate and dissent among a variety of NGOs". This will require "engaging effectively" with "responsive" groups and "helping to meet, as far as possible, their own objectives of being seen to influence outcomes...and "involves building broad public support for APEC and actively managing the risk of disruption." Cabinet papers on the APEC NGO strategy state: "It will be important to avoid getting bogged down in long, resource-intensive consultations." The government has absolutely no intention of engaging seriously with informed analysis or debate about the package of reforms which APEC promotes. After all: "Advertising and public relations activities will be required to get the APEC 1999 brand in the market place as quickly as possible, but will not focus on the complex substance of the APEC process such as trade liberalisation or facilitation." Such moves must be seen in the context of the crisis of credibility engulfing APEC and other forums promoting unrestricted trade and investment. And it's election year. The economic model underpinning APEC is being challenged. Many governments have become more ambivalent about further trade and investment liberalisation. For years, people's movements, many NGOs, unions and community groups throughout the region have condemned APEC as yet another forum which puts economic growth and a "free" market over the rights of the peoples of the region and the environment. APEC's solution to this crisis? Better public relations strategies. At the November 1997 Vancouver APEC Summit, APEC ministers endorsed a public relations campaign because "support among the people of the region for continuing trade and investment liberalisation is essential." Last May, the Singapore-based APEC Secretariat called for proposals from communications consultants to help raise "understanding and support for liberalisation". And in Kuala Lumpur last November, APEC ministers "tasked officials to develop effective communication strategies to build community understanding for liberalisation". So government overtures to NGOs to get involved with APEC are driven by desperation. Other APEC host governments, notably the Philippines and Canada, have tried to mute debate and dissent about APEC by funding parallel People's Summits in Manila, Vancouver and Kuala Lumpur. Official documents show that the Canadian government saw such moves as useful to "vent steam" and display an image of democratic debate to domestic and international audiences. The quest is on to find new ways to sell the message that APEC is good for us all. Through APEC, the government wants to showcase "the New Zealand Experiment" to internationally. This April, Jenny Shipley told the Christchurch APEC Ministerial Meeting to follow New Zealand-style reforms, urging other APEC countries to go further and faster down the free trade and investment track. While community organisations are being expected to provide relief for the many casualties of free market policies, the government apparently views the same groups as potential vehicles for selling APEC to the public. As it retreats from the provision of social services, as health and education become market-driven and the privatisation of the country's infrastructure continues, it wants the same NGOs to operate as the social safety net which is rapidly being ripped asunder, and to compete with each other for funding and political power. There are alternatives to APEC's global freemarket agenda. But they are emerging from the grassroots peoples' struggles. Organisations like GATT Watchdog, the Aotearoa/New Zealand APEC Monitoring Group and Corso have long been promoting open, informed, genuine debate about the market model and globalisation. But as we work to build just alternatives in our communities, perhaps we need to ask some hard questions about the real motives of the government in promoting "constructive engagement" and "dialogue" with NGOs about issues like APEC. From tpl at cheerful.com Thu May 6 13:18:30 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 12:18:30 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1112] Message to KMU's International Solidarity Affair Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990506121830.0069b94c@pop.skyinet.net> >For Circulation >From: KMU (May First Movement) > >MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY >TO THE 16TH KMU INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY AFFAIR >By Jose Maria Sison >May 1 1999 > >Let me convey my warmest and most militant greetings of solidarity to all the foreign delegates and participants in the 16th International Solidarity Affair of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). I agree with the call, "Intensify the Resistance Against Imperialist and Local Reactionary Attacks on Jobs, Wages and Trade Union Rights". > >I commend the KMU for organizing this yearly event which serves as a very important forum for representatives of workers' organizations from different parts of the world to come together to exchange experiences in the struggle, agree on common analyses and courses of action on specific and general issues, and build mutual support and cooperation in the struggle against the oppression and exploitation inflicted on the people by the imperialists and all sorts of reactionaries. > >We are in transition from the 20th century to the 21st century. I presume that, even as you focus on the current circumstances and immediate aims of the working class, you take a comprehensive view of the outgoing century and you brace yourselves for the great challenges and opportunities in the coming century. > >The 20th century has been so precisely called the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution by a great leader of the working class. The economic crises and wars brought about by a parasitic and moribund kind of capitalism in this century have been the favorable objective conditions for successful socialist revolutions and new democratic revolutions under the leadership of the working class. > >Unfortunately, the socialist revolutions have been betrayed and the new bourgeoisie has overthrown the working class in the former socialist countries. But so long as oppression and exploitation persist and intensify, the proletariat and the rest of the people have no choice but to struggle for people's democracy and socialism against imperialism and all reaction. > >The era of imperialism and proletarian revolution extends to the 21st century. Imperialism or monopoly capitalism is the last stage of capitalism but certainly it is not the end of history. The proletariat and people continue to make revolution and to make history. They will put an end to imperialism. > >In the last decade of the current century, the monopoly bourgeoisie and their servitors have mocked at the proletariat and the people and pushed an offensive under the piratical banner of "free market" globalization to accelerate the rate of exploitation, push down wage levels, cause high rates of mass unemployment, take away hard-won social benefits, suppress trade union and other democratic rights and impose the most outrageous terms of international usury on the client countries of imperialism. > >But it has been self-defeating for the imperialists to combine the adoption of higher technology with the accelerated concentration and centralization of capital in their hands. They have ruined their own market by drastically reducing the income of the world proletariat and people. Now, there is a severe global crisis of overproduction in all types of goods. > >The imperialist countries themselves are now afflicted by a severe crisis. The monopoly bourgeoisie counters the tendency of profit rates to fall by massacring jobs and further raising the rate of exploitation. Whatever are their export specialties, the so-called emergent markets have been depressed since 1997. The raw-material exporting countries, which are the most numerous in the world, have sunk further into depression. > >All basic contradictions in the world are intensifying. The working class is fighting back against the monopoly bourgeoisie in imperialist countries. The oppressed peoples are resisting the imperialists. More and more frictions are developing among the imperialists even as they continue to unite against the proletariat and people of the world. > >The revisionist betrayal of socialism and the erosion of the working class movement in the second half of the 20th century has exacted a high cost from mankind. The monopoly bourgeoisie is unbridled in oppressing and exploiting the people. Social and political turmoil is widespread. More and bigger wars are in the horizon. > >The intensification of oppression and exploitation engenders the rise of revolutionary resistance. We are confident that in the 21st century the proletariat and the rest of the people will fight ever more fiercely and prevail over the imperialists and all reactionaries. > >Like the rest of Southeast Asia, the Philippines is ravaged by the global crisis of overproduction in low value-added semimanufactures for export (semiconductors, garments, shoes, toys and the like) and is crushed by a huge debt burden resulting from chronic trade deficits and the costly consumption of the local exploiting classes (cars, office and residential towers and the like). > >The Estrada regime aggravates the economic and social crisis. It outdoes the preceding regime in harping on the line of liberalization, privatization and deregulation. It assists the IMF, World Bank and WTO to tighten their stranglehold over the Philippines and further opens up the country to the multinational firms, which are being offered unlimited ownership and control of all types of assets and businesses in the Philippines. > >To serve the foreign monopolies and the local big compradors, the current regime further carries out the "flexible labor" policy of violating basic workers rights and labor standards, busting unions, increasing mass unemployment, reducing the ranks of regular workers and pushing down wages. It promotes industrial estates and export processing zones that are de-facto protected as union-free and strike-free areas. > >The so-called Presidential Task Force on Labor Policy, composed of representatives of big business, high bureaucrats and labor aristocrats, is now laying the groundwork for further attacks on the rights and livelihood of the workers. It is cooking up proposals for executive implementation as well as for legislation of amendments to worsen what is already an antiworker Labor Code of the reactionary government. > >The proposals include a freeze on wages, the hiring of regular workers at apprentice rates, a ban on strikes under various pretexts and the eventual dismantling of the minimum wage structure. They seek to promote "social accords" at the national and factory level between workers and capitalists that will contain the provision imposing a ban on strikes. > >The daily minimum wage of P198 is less than half the cost of living which is about P441 in Metro Manila. Unemployment has risen from year to year since 1997, as a result of plant closures and production cutbacks. With the recent oil price hike of 50 centavos, the reactionary regime is again rewarding the greedy foreign oil companies (despite their P6.10 B earnings and 1,090% increase in profits last year) while imposing on the entire people another round of price increases in prime commodities. > >The regime knows no bounds for its obsequiousness and subservience to the imperialists. It goes around begging for loans and yet allots USD 500 million from the Miyazawa fund and five billion pesos of "special financing" for bailing out big business. It also offers further tax exemptions, power rate discounts and other privileges to the multinational firms. > >It is pushing the Senate ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement in order to give to US military forces free rein to trample upon the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines and to further strengthen US hegemony and to protect and advance US economic interests. In exchange for the ratification of the VFA, it expects to get more military supplies from the US in order to launch campaigns of suppression against the Filipino people. > >The Estrada regime is carrying out an undeclared martial rule against the working class. Workers strikes are violently dispersed and union leaders are being harassed, abducted or, worse, summarily executed by military agents and hired killers. At the same time, the regime collaborates with the labor aristocrats and the most notorious racketeers to hoodwink and mislead the workers. > >The proletariat has no choice but to fight back. There is an upsurge of the trade union and strike movement, precisely because of the vicious attacks on the working class. In the forefront of the workers' movement are the KMU and its federations and unions. In this regard, let me congratulate all of them for their militant struggles and success. > >Complementary to the attacks on the working class are those on the peasant masses. Feudal and semifeudal exploitation is intensified. Land accumulation by old and new landlords, including the foreign monopolies, is accelerated. The regime has nullified even the token land reform concessions of previous regimes. To oppress the peasant masses and grab the land from them, the regime has escalated military campaigns of suppression in the countryside. > >The growth of surplus population in the countryside and the displacement of peasants from the land increase the reserve army of labor. The imperialists and the local reactionaries take advantage of the great mass of unemployed to press down the wage levels of the working class, in the absence of a simultaneous program of national industrialization and land reform. > >The working class and peasantry are strengthening their own unity in order to fight for national independence and democracy against the imperialists and local reactionaries. They struggle for the completion of the national of the national-democratic revolution and look forward to a socialist future. > >The entire Filipino people can fight for their national and democratic rights and interests beyond the confines of reformism and they can hope for a better future because they have a revolutionary party of the proletariat, a people's army and a united front as instruments for waging revolution. > >I anticipate that in the course of the 16th ISA the Filipino trade unionists and the foreign delegates can learn from each other about the conditions of their respective countries and the struggle of the working people and develop a higher level of mutual understanding and cooperation. > >More than ever, there is the need for the workers and the people of all countries to unite and to fight for their liberation from the clutches of imperialism and all reaction.# > From smurphy at iatp.org Fri May 7 04:59:50 1999 From: smurphy at iatp.org (Sophia Murphy) Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 14:59:50 -0500 Subject: [asia-apec 1113] meeting on WTO and agriculture Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19990506145950.0081d140@iatp.org> For those following the trade and agriculture debates: ************************** 2nd INITIAL NOTICE date: 3 May 1999 To: People from NGOs interested in the Agricultural Negotiations of the WTO and to the Participants of the international NGO Workshop on "Agriculture, Trade and the WTO in Geneva, May 15-20, 1998 Dear friends, One of the results of last year's workshop in Geneva was that we promised to meet again in a year's time. The follow-up of that workshop is now scheduled. On behalf of the IATP / Minneapolis (Sophia Murphy) and of the World Council of Churches I would like to invite you to the WORKSHOP ON "AGRICULTURE, TRADE AND THE WTO", JUNE 21-23, 1999 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (starting in the morning) At the "Centre OecumOnique" (CE) - World Council of Churches, Rue de Ferney The programme is currently being prepared. We have foreseen the following structure: Monday 21 June: afternoon: Introduction/ review of key issues related to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture Tuesday 22 meeting the Negotiators from the various groups of countries at the Centre OecumOnique (CE). Wednesday 23 1) Conceptualising an NGO strategy for the Agricultural Negotiations of the Millennium Round 2) Getting prepared for the WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle / USA, 28 Nov. - 4 Dec. 3) Discussion over the draft NGO position paper. The workshop will finish on Wednesday at 5 p.m. We have reserved a number of inexpensive beds at the "Magnet International". The cost for participants from the South is 19 Swiss francs a night for bed and breakfast (approximately US $13). Those of you who are attending and need a bed, please confirm this per e-mail or fax to: Protestant Farmers' Association Rudi Buntzel-Cano Hohebuch D- 74638 Waldenburg Phone: + 49 7942 10776 fax: + 49 7942 10777 e-mail: ABP@ebw.imosnet.de Unfortunately, we do not have funds available for sponsoring anyone's travel expenses or the cost of participation. Please look for your own funding. The Workshop takes place right after the World Summit of the G 7, which is taking place in Cologne/Germany. We hope that those of you coming to Europe for that occasion can stay on for our meeting. If you cannot participate but would like to stay in touch and receive the documents and information about the proceedings, just drop me a line. We are very happy to hear that the WCC has agreed to host our meeting and to be co-organisers for the first day by inviting the negotiators. Thanks to the high credibility that the WCC enjoys, we will be certain of the participation of many governmental delegations. Some of us are already working in order to be well prepared for the discussions we may have, for example vis-a-vis the Cairns Group, the EU, Japan, South Korea, the USA of the Net-Food Importing Developing Countries. We will be sending a more-detailed programme early in May to those interested. I hope that you can make it to the workshop. With best regards Rudi Buntzel-Cano ABP@ebw.imosnet.de Sophia Murphy From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Fri May 7 14:00:22 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 17:00:22 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1114] Apec critic to boycott 2nd SIS Amendment Bill process Message-ID: Aziz Choudry PO Box 1905 Christchurch MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 7 May 1999 APEC critic to boycott submission process for second SIS law change Aziz Choudry, the GATT Watchdog organiser whose ongoing legal case against the NZ Security Intelligence Service has prompted two legislative amendment bills will not be making a submission to the Prime Minister's Intelligence and Security Committee. Mr Choudry boycotted the submission process for the first legislative amendment earlier this year. Written submissions on the SIS Amendment Bill (No 2) close today (7 May). "This bill is a bone which the Shipley government and its compliant buddies in Labour have thrown out in the hope that the public will be too busy chewing on it to realise that these amendments substantially extend, rather than rein in, SIS powers. They hope that it will divert us away from asking hard questions about the role of state intelligence agencies in 1999 - not to mention their role in spying on opponents of APEC in the run-up to the Auckland Leaders Summit." "The timing of this bill will give Jenny Shipley a chance to deliver another "critics of APEC have nothing to fear from the SIS" statement in the lead-up to the Auckland APEC Leaders Summit and the election. Yet she, Helen Clark, and other senior politicians of the parties that support the SIS's right to home invasion have explicitly linked the law change to the hosting of this year's APEC meetings." "This week in Canada, during hearings into complaints about the heavy-handed security crackdown in Vancouver for the 1997 APEC Summit, documents outlining the extent of a massive intelligence operation aimed at non-violent anti-APEC groups and organisers in the weeks prior to the 1997 APEC Summit are now being released for the first time." "This year's SIS Amendment bills have drawn on a number of aspects of the legislation governing the Canadian security intelligence agencies. Just as many groups and individuals were subject to "threat assessments" and surveillance in Canada in relation to the Vancouver APEC Summit for legitimate, lawful political activity, the New Zealand government will be following suit." "The cosmetic amendments in this bill won't allay the well-founded concerns about SIS powers in relation to lawful dissenters. It is a mixture of luck, hard work and court action which has brought us to where we are now in relation to both uncovering the 1996 SIS bungled operation at my house and the wider debate about the activities of the SIS - not any of the supposed checks and balances enshrined in statute." "The Intelligence and Security Committee is a kangaroo court. Despite the fact that an overwhelming number of submissions on the SIS "break-in" bill opposed the expansion of SIS powers, the Prime Minister's committee had already made up their minds on the matter and pushed the legislation through as fast as it could." "Having sat through a day of the February hearings in support of friends and colleagues who were making submissions on the recently passed SIS Amendment legislation I saw that many of them - and others opposed to the expansion of SIS powers - were treated with contempt by most, if not all of the senior politicians who sit on this committee. This committee, the amendment bill and the submission process are all flawed beyond redemption". "Long before the controversial "international wellbeing and economic wellbeing" was added to the definition of "security", the SIS had been spying on - and no doubt breaking into the houses and offices of - people involved in entirely lawful political activities on the premise that the targets were involved in "subversion". Who defines that? That word is yet another charter for abuse by an overzealous, unaccountable spy agency like the SIS" "The proposed further tinkering with the definition of security, the involvement of a retired High Court judge to jointly issue "domestic" interception warrants and other such clauses in the bill are designed to give the impression of the committee having listened to people's concerns about the SIS - but they obscure the real issues," he said. For further comment, contact Aziz Choudry, ph (03) 3662803 or 021 217 3039 From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Fri May 7 15:51:55 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 18:51:55 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1115] NZ media: Doubts on Apec meeting Message-ID: <9scw8e1w165w@corso.ch.planet.gen.nz> NZ Herald, Auckland, 26/4/99 Doubts on Apec meeting By John Armstrong, Political Editor Some Government officials questioned the value of New Zealand's hosting this week's meeting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) business ministers when the $700,000-plus event was being organised last year. Cabinet documents obtained under the Official Information Act also show the Treasury worried that the meeting could promote business assistance policies which will embarrass New Zealand's more hands-off approach to helping local enterprises. The three-day meeting began in Christchurch yesterday, attended by at least 19 Apec country ministers, with responsibilities for policies affecting small- and medium-sized enterprises. Costs of hosting the meeting are estimated at between $700,000 and $965,000. It is one of a string of ministerial talk shops scheduled ahead of September's summit of Apec leaders in Auckland. The Minister for Enterprise and Commerce, Max Bradford, yesterday described the meeting as an important opportunity for high-ranking ministers to discuss issues surrounding the economies of Apec. But ministers were warned last August that elements of the meeting's agenda were at odds with Government policy, such as initiatives promoting concessional and export finance to help small business. The papers, issued last week by anti-Apec campaigner Aziz Choudry, said New Zealand would have to "carefully manage" the results of the Christchurch meeting. The Treasury noted that New Zealand was alreadyu hosting an Apec business symposium in Auckland in June. From ngls at undp.org Sat May 8 03:30:51 1999 From: ngls at undp.org (UN-NGLS (NY Office)) Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 18:30:51 +0000 Subject: [asia-apec 1116] Opportunity for NGO Input Message-ID: <199905072239.SAA01508@nygate.undp.org> Dear Friends, Below is an NGLS fact-sheet regarding NGO input to the Secretariat on the interaction of NGOs in all activities of the UN System. NGOs have been invited by the Secretary-General to give written input which will be considered in preparing the S-G's report for the 54th General Assembly. This is a unique opportunity for NGOs to offer their views. The deadline for written comments is 7 June, 1999. The SG's report (A/53/170) is available on the web, at , or from the UN-NGLS office (see below). If you are planning to submit comments, please send an e-mail to us at and we can fax you the cover questionnaire. Please consider taking advantage of this opportunity. We apologise for any cross-postings! =================================================================== UN Requests NGO Input on Arrangements and Practices for the interaction of Non-governmental organizations in all activities of the UN system [Report of Secretary-General A/53/170] Written NGO input due by 7 June 1999 At the request of the General Assembly (GA), the Secretary-General is currently soliciting the views of member states, UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) regarding UN/NGO relations. Non-governmental organizations have had a major presence in UN fora over the last decade, particularly through the UN global conferences on such issues as sustainable development, human rights, women, social development, and population and development. NGOs are accredited through the Economic and Social Council to participate in ECOSOC-related Commissions and meetings. The General Assembly has passed resolutions on a case-by-case basis for NGO participation in Special Sessions of the GA, including the follow-up (or "plus five") processes to the major inter-governmental global conferences of the nineties. The UN has experimented with diverse ways of hearing from NGOs within inter-governmental fora. Formal NGO participation at the UN, for example, ranges from brief NGO presentations in some ECOSOC Commission meetings to extensive multi-stakeholder dialogues in the Commission on Sustainable Development. The Secretary-General has welcomed and encouraged the increasing role and influence of NGOs, which "is contributing to a process of enlargement of international cooperation and spurring the UN system...towards greater transparency and accountability..." (A/53/170 para 71). This is evidenced in increased Secretariat outreach and support for NGO presence in UN fora, and access to UN information via a web-site. "At the same time, a number of questions have arisen with regard to the participation of NGOs in UN activities, linked both to the financial and legal constraints within which the Organization operates and to the fast-growing number and diversity of NGOs engaged in collaboration with the UN" (A/53/170 para 71). Background: At the request of member states, in July 1998 the Secretary-General issued a report to the Fifty-third Session of the General Assembly under the agenda item "Strengthening of the UN system" (A/53/170). That report, Arrangements and practices for the interaction of non-governmental organizations in all activities of the United Nations system, reviews the UN's relationship with civil society, including institutional arrangements, operational partnership, the participation of NGOs from all regions, and enhancing the participation of NGOs in all areas of the UN system. UN General Assembly decision (A/53/452) of 17 December 1998 requested the Secretary-General to: (a) seek the views of Member States, members of the specialized agencies, observers and intergovernmental organizations, as well as the views of non-governmental organizations from all regions, on the report A/53/170; b) submit a further report to the General Assembly, at its fifty-fourth session, taking into account the submissions received; The Secretariat is now gathering this input, and has invited written NGO responses to A/53/170. NGOs are requested to submit their views on the report, together with an accompanying questionnaire, by 7 June 1999. How to submit your views regarding NGO participation in the UN system: 1. Obtain a copy of document A/53/170. The English language version of the report can be found on the United Nations web page at . If you prefer to receive it as an e-mail message, please request it from the Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) at A hard copy of the report, in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish, can be mailed to you, on request by NGLS (fax no: 212 963 8712). The hard copy report, in six language versions, may also be obtained from United Nations Information Centres and UNDP country offices. 2. In preparing your submission, please format your views according to the six sections outlined in the Secretary-General's report A/53/170. These include: 1) introduction 2) institutional arrangements 3) a growing operational partnership 4) building bridges between civil society and the UN 5) participation of NGOs from all regions, and 6) enhancing the participation of NGOs in all areas of the UN system. You may also wish to suggest further measures for improving the current arrangements for the interaction of non-governmental organizations in the activities of the United Nations. Your submission should be concise, type-written and no longer than four pages. 3. Complete the cover questionnaire (available from UN-NGLS) and submit it with your written comments. It should be mailed to NGLS, Room FF-346, United Nations, New York, NY 10017, to arrive no later than 7 June 1999. (Fax: +1-212/ 963 8712. If you fax a copy, please mail a hard copy as well). This is an extremely important, but time-sensitive, opportunity which will shape the future of UN/NGO relations. For further information, contact: UN-Non-governmental Liaison Service Room FF-346, United Nations New York, NY 10017 telephone: +1-212/963-3125 fax: +1-212/963-8712 e-mail: From ngls at undp.org Sat May 8 03:34:22 1999 From: ngls at undp.org (UN-NGLS (NY Office)) Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 18:34:22 +0000 Subject: [asia-apec 1117] UNICEF Statement: Public, Private and Civil Society Message-ID: <199905072248.SAA02730@nygate.undp.org> Below is the text of an address to the Harvard International Development Conference, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, on 16 April by UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, which we think may be of interest to you. _____________________________________________________________ Public, private and civil society Statement of UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy to Harvard International Development Conference on 'sharing responsibilities: public, private & civil society' Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 16 April 1999 Ladies and gentlemen, the United Nations was founded to end the scourge of war; to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights; and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. For more than half a century, the UN and its agencies - including the United Nations Children's Fund - have vigorously pursued these and related objectives, and they have done so by working almost exclusively with governments. But the end of the Cold War and the growing economic interdependence among nations have led to a profoundly important perceptual shift. As Secretary-General Kofi Annan put it recently, we now know that peace and prosperity cannot be achieved without a broad expanse of active partnerships - partnerships that involve sharing responsibilities not only with governments, but with international organisations, civil society and the business community. There has been particular attention paid to the necessity of a UN alliance with the private sector, a theme that the Secretary-General addressed a few months ago at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "In today's world," he told corporate leaders, "we depend on each other. The business of the United Nations involves the businesses of the world." Indeed, it is abundantly clear that without development and peace, trade and investment cannot occur and business cannot grow. By the same token, thriving markets can help create the conditions necessary for development and peace - by creating jobs, by improving standards of living, and by making it possible for developing countries to share in the benefits of the world economy. Let no one doubt the urgency of this task. In a global economy worth nearly $30 trillion, a billion and a half people - a quarter of the human race - are living in conditions of almost unimaginable suffering and want. Six hundred and fifty million of them are children - a figure more than twice the population of the United States. Never in history have we seen such numbers. And never in history have we seen overall aid to the world's neediest countries fall to such shameful levels as they have in recent years. Yet there has never been a time when development assistance has been more needed - or the evidence of its past success more compelling. The United Nations System has been active in promoting a variety of approaches to development and in laying the groundwork for greater development cooperation - including cooperation to promote the survival, protection and full development of the world's children. With aid levels plummeting as the number of people trapped in absolute poverty continues to rise, it is clear that the mission of UNICEF - and that of the entire UN System - is more relevant than ever. Only the United Nations, with its universal and comprehensive mandate, can offer a central forum to address sustainable human development in all its aspects - and to build the consensus needed to achieve it Only the United Nations has the operational potential to address the global imperatives that must be met - from humanitarian relief and peacekeeping to peace-building and development cooperation. And amid all this, the UN is working to promote private-sector development and direct foreign investment. It is helping countries to join the international trading system and to enact legislation aimed at encouraging responsible business practices. And it is promoting micro-finance for women, small-traders and entrepreneurs. As the Secretary-General has said, business has a compelling interest in the success of these efforts, for thriving markets and human security go hand in hand. We cannot have one without the other. One widely talked-about rationale for the UN working in partnership with industry and the business community is based on the assumption that the resources of government are not plentiful enough - and that if development is to succeed, we must look for those resources in the private sector and in the marketplace. I would submit that this is a very poor rationale for partnership. It is poor for two reasons: first, it is based on the mistaken idea that governments should be allowed to shirk their responsibility as the leading players in development - an issue that I want to return to shortly. Second, it is a poor rationale for partnership because it is based on a limited and almost patronising view of what the private sector can bring to a relationship with the UN - namely, money. The problem is that by itself, money is a poisonous commodity - it makes business and industry suspect that they are being courted for their dollars, not their capacity. In fact, the private sector has an immense store of knowledge and experience. It has vast numbers of talented and insightful people. And numerous companies have undertaken beneficial and innovative projects in countries in desperate need of help. Moreover, the private sector has a major role to play in the realisation of human rights, from such issues as child labour practices to gender equality and protection of the environment. Obviously the UN System looks to the private sector as a source of funding for multilateral development assistance - the kind of assistance that has always sought to address basic human needs, beginning with poverty eradication and the needs of the most vulnerable people - especially children. But it is also important to see the private sector in a more expansive context, as a source of knowledge and expertise for multilateralism. And we in the United Nations, we on the multilateral side, on the development side, must also be mindful of something else: that in dealing with the private sector, we cannot be uncritical. To begin with, it is dangerous to assume that the goals of the private sector are somehow synonymous with those of the United Nations, because they most emphatically are not. Business and industry are driven by the profit motive - as they should be and must be, both for their shareholders and their employees. The work of the UN, on the other hand, is driven by a set of ethical principles that sustain its mission - principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and elsewhere in the galaxy of international instruments and treaties that have been promulgated since the UN's founding in 1945. The founders had two things on their minds at the end of the Second World War. One was to prevent a third world war. The other was to avoid another global economic depression and to ensure universal economic and social well-being. That vision was based on a set of universal values: freedom, justice and the peaceful resolution of disputes; social progress and better standards of living; equality, tolerance and dignity. Just as the private sector is not embarrassed by the fact that it is driven by profits, the UN is hardly self-conscious that its work grows out of underlying ethical principles. It is perfectly right and legitimate for both to be pursuing their singular mandates - and where they can work together as partners, so much the better. But in coming together with the private sector, the UN must carefully, and constantly, appraise the relationship. It is one thing to say that we want to work in partnership with corporations that recognise their responsibility for human rights, who care about labour codes, working conditions, environmental protection and the like. But these are generalities. The heart of the matter is the exercise of "due diligence." The UN must look carefully at these companies. This does not mean putting them under a microscope, fixing them with a degree of scrutiny that few of us could pass. Rather, it means identifying organisations whose behaviour, on balance, shows evidence of a willingness to exercise corporate responsibility. And these are the businesses with which the UN can enter into fruitful partnerships. Without due diligence, one runs the risk of becoming associated with companies whose past records suggest that they may not be the best partners. At UNICEF, where I will start my fifth year as Executive Director next month, we have avoided such situations, despite the fact that UNICEF - now three years past the half-century mark - has the most extensive corporate involvement of any single UN agency. The reason is simple. We are exceedingly careful. For instance, UNICEF attaches ethical strings to its supply contracts, favouring companies that pledge to avoid links with such activities as landmine production and exploitative child labour. We do not deal with cigarette companies or accept contributions from manufacturers of infant formula. And with these sorts of ground rules as a foundation, we can enter into whatever partnerships make sense. For example, Warner Brothers, Turner Network Television, Time for Kids and Coinstar are all key supporters of the Trick or Treat for UNICEF campaign. And companies like British Airways, the Sheraton and Westin hotel chains and American Express are involved in UNICEF marketing efforts linked to specific fund-raising activities. In half a century, we have learned a few things about private-sector partnerships. We have learned that they should not exceed expectations. They should not be based on unwarranted assumptions. And they should not be focused solely on money, for that will surely sour the relationship. Let me turn now to another aspect of partnerships for development, those involving non-governmental organisations, or, as they are commonly known, NGOs. It is a truism that NGOs, in their numbers and diversity, have proved themselves absolutely indispensable in development efforts, especially given the perpetual crisis of multilateralism - a crisis that tends to revolve around funding and humanitarian capacity. But however generous and expansive their motives, many are not immune from legitimate criticism. For example, some humanitarian NGOs have come under fire because their work and very existence seems tied to catastrophe, and catastrophe alone. And there is also criticism of the NGO community for not being sufficiently sensitive to the fact that in some areas of NGO work, there is a great deal of overlap and redundancy among organisations, whether national or international. That said, it is also true that NGOs have not, in many cases, been sufficiently well treated by those who take the crisis of multilateralism seriously - and by well treated, I am not talking so much in terms of money as I am in terms of the recognition that NGOs deserve for what they do, and how well they do it. For example, NGOs have not been consulted nearly enough about the humanitarian imperative. They have not been part of the decision-making process over how priorities are set in the field. They have too few opportunities to meet with major multilateral agencies, and to help in devising ways to pool efforts and share operational authority. That is why, in 2001, when UNICEF holds its next great event for children, we intend to make it an occasion in which NGOs will be welcomed as full members, along with other representatives of civil society, the private sector, governments and UN agencies. This event, the first major meeting of what we are calling the Leadership Initiative for Children, will mark the start of a collaborative effort to draw up new global agenda for child survival, development and protection in the 21st Century. It will also stand as the culmination of the process that began in 1990 with the World Summit for Children, where a handful of NGOs were granted token representative status by governments - to the Earth Summit, where NGOs were directly involved for the first time in preparatory talks as well as the Summit, and on through to the Social Development Summit in Copenhagen, the Beijing Women's Conference, and the Habitat Conference in Nairobi - all of them events where NGOs moved closer and closer to full partnership. Now let me turn, in conclusion, to the central issue of sharing responsibility: the matter of partnerships with the public sector - namely, the governments. There has been considerable discussion in recent years of the potential for ending the crisis of development assistance through the natural workings of the global market economy. The chief evidence cited is the fact that private-sector funding and investment in developing countries has been rising dramatically. This is certainly true. Even as development overall aid has dropped, private capital flows have increased five-fold, and now represent close to 80 per cent of the total resources that go to developing countries each year - nearly twice what it was in 1990. But private capital seldom gravitates to the very neediest countries - in 1995, for example, all but 20 per cent of total private flows went to just 12 developing countries, while the 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa received only 5 per cent. Moreover, in those countries that it does reach, private capital often does little for the poor. It is true that in some places, transnational corporations do provide income opportunities for many people, including some of the literate poor. But for the most part, private capital is used to finance hard infrastructure, like roads, bridges and communications. Only rarely do we find it supporting the development of such essential social services as primary health care, or basic education. More to the point, private capital will not find its way to countries that lack an adequate social and economic infrastructure - which is precisely what multilateral aid is aimed at helping poor countries to build. Investors are well aware that there will be no return on their investment unless a society has the capacity to put its resources to effective use. This is why it is so important to help countries to improve health care services; to be able to offer basic quality education for all, especially girls; to have clean water and adequate sanitation; to practice good governance - and to use communication and information technology to promote knowledge and greater understanding among peoples and cultures. All of this is not only smart social policy - it is smart business. Multilateralism has always sought to address basic human needs. And it is now particularly consumed by questions of poverty eradication - the result of the mandates from the continuum of United Nations conferences on various aspects of development in the first half of this decade. The pledges made by governments at these conferences were reaffirmations of their fundamental commitment to provide an agreed-upon minimum level of development assistance to poor countries. The centrepiece was the 1969 pledge by the industrialised countries to earmark at least 0.7 per cent of their Gross National Product (GNP) for Official Development Assistance (ODA). Yet at a time when even modest increases in aid to the world's poorest countries could save the lives of millions of children and women, Official Development Assistance is in a state of virtual free-fall. The collective ODA of the 29-nation donor group known as the OECD - which includes the United States - has fallen to a record low of 0.22 per cent of GNP - less than one-third of the 0.7 per cent target. And since 1992, the G-7 nations' contribution to the general ODA fund has plummeted about $15 billion - a reduction of almost 30 per cent in real terms. Ladies and gentlemen, let us call this situation by its proper name: it is a scandal. The developed world, which is benefiting so vastly from globalisation, cannot be allowed to be deficient in its obligations to the developing world - which are not merely compassionate and generous but also a recognition that only by building an adequate human and developmental infrastructure in the developing world can you have a world economy that is one day stable and vibrant. For all the importance of NGOs and other representatives of civil society, for all the potential value of development partnerships with business and the private sector, we must never lose sight of the fact that it is governments that remain the primary actors in this fundamental relationship for development. It is the governments that have thought long and hard about the development imperatives; it is they who have set the targets and made the commitments. It is governments that sit on the executive boards of multilateral agencies. It is governments that think about development as a matter of social policy, who have development ministries and foreign ministries that fashion the world's humanitarian and political agendas. For practical, legal, and moral reasons, governments must be held to their commitments. No one should pretend that simply getting more money from the private sector will compensate for the failures of the public sector. The phenomenon of globalisation has opened the possibility of untold riches. But it has also shown its power to trigger the progressive impoverishment of large societies, such as Indonesia, where tens of thousands of families have fallen into abject poverty in the last two years. There is a belief among many people that globalisation is an ineluctable process, as irresistible and beyond human control as the tides. In fact, it is the product of deliberate, day-to-day policy choices. And that is why, ladies and gentlemen, we must not let governments off the hook. Thank you. From tpl at cheerful.com Sat May 8 21:46:28 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (BAYAN) Date: Sat, 08 May 1999 20:46:28 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1118] NATO Leaders Charged in International Criminal Tribunal Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990508204628.006a02e8@pop.skyinet.net> FYI from BAYAN and GABRIELA >Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 21:27:31 -0400 >From: Michel Chossudovsky > >PRESS RELEASE MAY 7, 1999 > >LAWYERS CHARGE NATO LEADERS BEFORE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL > >A group of lawyers from several countries has laid a formal >complaint with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia >against all of the individual leaders of the NATO countries and officials of >NATO itself. The group, lead by professors from Osgoode Hall Law School of >York University in Toronto --where Tribunal prosecutor Louise Arbour was >also a professor before becoming a judge -- have charged Bill Clinton, >Madeleine Albright, Javier Solana, Jamie Shea, Jean Chretien, Art Eggleton, >Lloyd Axworthy and 60 other heads of state and government, foreign ministers, >defence ministers and NATO officials, with war crimes committed in NATO's >six-week old bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. >The list of crimes includes "wilful killing, wilfully causing great >suffering or serious injury to body or health, extensive destruction of >property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and >wantonly, employment of poisonous weapons or other weapons to cause >unnecessary suffering, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or >devastation not justified by military necessity, attack, or bombardment, by >whatever means, of undefended towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings, >destruction or wilful damage done to institutions dedicated to religion, >charity and education, the arts and sciences, historic monuments and works >of art and science." >The complaint also alleges "open violation" of the United Nations >Charter, the NATO treaty itself, the Geneva Conventions and the Principles >of International Law Recognized by the Nuremberg Tribunal (the latter of >which makes "planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of >aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or >assurances" a crime). >Under the Statute "a person who planned, instigated, ordered, >committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or >execution of a crime shall be individually responsible for the crime" and >"the official position of any accused person, whether as Head of State or >Government or as a responsible Government official, shall not relieve such >person of criminal responsibility or mitigate punishment." >The complaint points to the bombing of civilian targets and alleges >that NATO leaders "have admitted publicly to having agreed upon and ordered >these actions, being fully aware of their nature and effects" and that >"there is ample evidence in the public statements of NATO leaders that these >attacks on civilian targets are part of a deliberate attempt to terrorize >the population to turn it against its leadership." >The complaint cites a recent statement of the President of the >Tribunal, Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, urging that: "All States and >organisations in possession of information pertaining to the alleged >commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal should make >such information available without delay to the Prosecutor." >The complaint also cites a statement of United Nations High >Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson in which she says that "large >numbers of civilians have incontestably been killed, civilian installations >targeted on the grounds that they are or could be of military application >and NATO remains sole judge of what is or is not acceptable to bomb...In >this situation, the principle of proportionality must be adhered to by those >carrying out the bombing campaign. It surely must be right to ask those >carrying out the bombing campaign to weigh the consequences of their >campaign for civilians in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." >Under the Statute, the Prosecutor is bound to "initiate >investigations ex-officio or on the basis of information obtained from any >source, particularly from Governments, United Nations organs, >intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations" and to "assess the >information received or obtained and decide whether there is sufficient >basis to proceed. Upon a determination that a case exists, the Prosecutor is >bound to "prepare an indictment containing a concise statement of the facts >and the crime or crimes with which the accused is charged under the Statute >and transmit it to a judge of the Trial Chamber." >The complaint asks Judge Arbour to "immediately investigate and >indict for serious crimes against international humanitarian law" the 67 >named leaders and whoever else shall be determined by the Prosecutor's >investigations to have committed crimes in the NATO attack on Yugoslavia >commencing March 24, 1999." >Copies of the charges have been sent to the accused. >Participating in the action are 15 lawyers and law professors as >well as the American Association of Jurists, a pan American organization of >lawyers, judges, law professors and students, with membership in all >countries of the American Continent from Tierra del Fuego to Canada, an NGO >with consultative status before the Social and Economic Council of the >United Nations. >Professor Michael Mandel, spokesperson for the group of complainants, >said in Toronto today: "The bombing of civilians is not only immoral, it is >criminal and punishable under the laws governing the Tribunal. You cannot >kill a woman and child in Belgrade on the theoretical possibility that it >might save a woman and child in Pristina. Even in a legal war you cannot >kill civilians and destroy an entire country as a military strategy. But >this is an illegal war and the NATO leaders are acting like outlaws. So far >they have risked nothing by sending others to do their killing and >destroying. We believe that if they are held individually responsible, as >the law requires, they won't feel so free to spill other peoples' blood." >For further information please contact: >Toronto: Professor Michael Mandel ( telephone 416-736-5039 e-mail >mmandel@yorku.ca or David Jacobs telephone 416-539---e-mail >david@ShellJacobs.com >Geneva: Alejandro Teitelbaum, e-mail Assemjur@aol.com > >********** > >Michel Chossudovsky >Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa >Member of the Ad Hoc Committee to Stop Canada's >Participation in the War in Yugoslavia > >Voice 613-5625800, Ext. 1415 >email chossudovsky@sprint.ca > >On Kosovo: http://www.transnational.org/features/crimefinansed.html >On the break-up of Yugoslavia: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/62/022.html From tpl at cheerful.com Sun May 9 13:25:25 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Sun, 09 May 1999 12:25:25 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1119] Women Chain Against VFA Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990509122525.006ac9dc@pop.skyinet.net> From: GABRIELA PRESS RELEASE 5 May 1999 WOMEN LINK ARMS AGAINST VFA AND US MILITARISM IN ASIA Thousands of women today formed a human chain spanning more than 3 kilometers from the Philippine Senate to the US Embassy in a symbolic protest against the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the US and Philippine governments. "We link arms today to show the Filipino women's strong opposition against the VFA. Much as our government choose to dismiss our protests against the VFA and its accompanying social costs, we refuse to be ignored and implore that the senate heed our call". This was the statement made by GABRIELA, which led the Women Chain Against VFA. A delegation composed of representatives of participating women and people's organizations headed by GABRIELA Secretary General Liza Maza presented to the Senate 10,000 signatures in a petition against VFA. "These signatures represent the voices of ordinary women seeking national sovereignty and security from threats to the lives and well-being of Filipino men, women and children." So far, only Senators Raul Roco, Sergio Osmena and Teofisto Guingona have expressed opposition to the VFA. The protesters, at the same time, criticised pro-VFA senators for opting to "secure their political power and personal interest" at the expense of our sovereignty and the lives and well-being of our people. Around 3,000 individuals representing more than 50 organizations took part in the Women Chain Against VFA. They included workers, peasants, urban poor, youth & students, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, church people, health workers & professionals, lawyers, teachers, artists and environmentalists. The VFA will allow US military access to as much as 22 ports all over the country and thus give American forces landing, berthing, and extraterritorial rights and privileges on any part of the Philippine territory. It also grants unhampered entry and virtual lifting of the constitutional ban on nuclear weapons. It will likewise lead to increased prostitution and trafficking of women and children, drug trafficking, sexual abuses, spread of STD's and HIV/AIDS and increased number of street children fathered by visiting US military men. These will happen as they did in the past in the Subic Naval Base, Olongapo City and Clark Air Base, Angeles City as well as other US military bases in the Pacific Rim such as South Korea and Okinawa. The VFA ensures U.S. military dominance in, and control of, the world's biggest and still fastest growing markets. It is a defilement of national sovereignty, security and safety. From tpl at cheerful.com Sun May 9 11:17:03 1999 From: tpl at cheerful.com (tpl@cheerful.com) Date: Sun, 09 May 1999 10:17:03 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1120] Women's Statement Against FVA Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990509101703.006ac9dc@pop.skyinet.net> From: GABRIELA WOMEN AGAINST VFA : A STATEMENT We stood firm against the ratification of the Military Bases Agreement in 1991. No amount of work, child care or household chores had stopped us from raising our voices in the streets, in the mass media, and in the halls of the Senate. We remain steadfast in our commitment against any and all forms of US military intervention. We vow to do this again with the pending ratification of a far-worse US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement. Never again shall we allow US military personnel to violate, degrade and rape our women and children for their unlimited pleasure and with impunity. The Visiting Forces Agreement allows indefinite US military presence anywhere in the country which will turn this archipelago into mini-islands of prostitution. So are we alarmed with the spread of AIDS and the increase in the number of Amerasian children abandoned by their fathers. Never again shall we allow weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological) to be brought into the country. They pose grave danger not only to the environment but more importantly to our people. Accidents and spills will most likely happen, not to mention the toxic wastes the military vessels will dump in our shores. We refuse to allow this condition that will endanger our lives and those of the men and our children. Never again shall we allow the unhampered entry and movement of US troops in Philippine territory as these trample upon our country's sovereignty. We do not want "visitors" who will likely stay permanently. Their continued presence in our country could easily draw us into war with our neighbors and even compel us to fight wars of aggression. In that eventuality, we women and our children will suffer most. We are aware that both the United States and the Estrada government are moving fast to have the Visiting Forces Agreement ratified. This is insane. The welfare of our people must come first before that of a foreign power. And so we challenge the members of the Senate, in the name of all the women and children in this country, to give us the numbers to thwart this insanity forever. We expect especially our women senators to lead the way. We made it in 1991. We will do it again in 1999. One hundred years ago, in 1898, women fought doubly hard with men in resisting the presence of the first American soldiers in the Philippines. The fight continues to this day. Count us in. From jaggi at tao.ca Sun May 9 14:58:23 1999 From: jaggi at tao.ca (Jaggi Singh) Date: Sun, 9 May 1999 01:58:23 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [asia-apec 1121] APEC "cleansing" in Auckland Message-ID: [According to the police operations commander below, the area around the APEC site in Auckland must be "free of people" during the Leader's Meeting. Nothing could better show what APEC-style globalization is all about. -- JBS] from The New Zealand Herald 07/05/99 - City vagrants get hurry-along for Apec By Bernard Orsman and Tony Wall Vagrants who sleep in the Auckland Domain will be kicked out during the Apec conference in September and offered free beds elsewhere. Police insisted yesterday that they were not planning to embark on a cleanup of the central city as occurred before the Apec meeting in Vancouver, Canada, in 1997 and in Harare, Zimbabwe, before Commonwealth leaders meet there in 1991. But homeless people spoken to last night said they had noticed a police crackdown on the streets and parks where they slept. Police say they will offer the dozen or so regulars who doss down in the Domain a comfortable bed elsewhere while world leaders gather at the Auckland Museum. The police operations commander for Apec, Detective Superintendent Peter Marshall, said it was central to security to keep the Domain free of people during the conference. It was planned to close it to the public for about 48 hours. A parliamentary select committee will hear submissions on the proposal in Auckland on Tuesday. Mr Marshall said the police had no intention of cleansing the streets of vagrants. They would be offered comfortable accommodation and possibly meals, although he did not know where they would go or how much it would cost. One man who sleeps in the Auckland Domain said police had begun issuing "no trespass" notices to homeless people sleeping there and in all areas around it as far as Parnell. He said the tough approach started about three weeks ago. A policeman roused him from a bush where he was sleeping, issued him with a trespass notice and told him to move along. He and friends had also been banned from using a shower under the Domain grandstand. Others spoken to said police were getting tough with the central city homeless. "I think they're pathetic," said Raymond Murphy at the Auckland City Mission last night. "They won't deal with the homeless problem long term; they just put us in a hotel." Another man said: "I wouldn't be within two miles of the Domain during the conference. I'll just go somewhere else and when they go away I'll come back." At the Auckland Central police station, Duty Inspector Peter Gibson said he was unaware of any specific directive on vagrants. Mayor Christine Fletcher said there was no intention of hiding people from view. Copyright 1999, NZ Herald From stpr8028 at BUREAU.UCC.IE Mon May 10 20:02:16 1999 From: stpr8028 at BUREAU.UCC.IE (Julian Oram) Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 11:02:16 +0000 Subject: [asia-apec 1122] CAP Booklet Message-ID: <01JB13BN0GQQ0035HE@BUREAU.UCC.IE> From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Tue May 11 15:31:53 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 18:31:53 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1123] NZ: Journalist barred from Apec meetings Message-ID: Evening Post, Wellington, New Zealand, 27/04/98 Journalist barred from Apec meetings A man has been refused media accreditation to this week's Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) meetings in Christchurch for what organisers say are security reasons. Joe Davies, who works for Corso's Overview magazine, said his previously approved media accreditation was revoked early yesterday. He planned to protest outside the Christchurch Convention Centre, where the event was being held, with tape over his mouth. "My only weapons are my tape recorder, my camera and my pen," Mr Davies said. "Why is Apec, a huge organisation...afraid of me?" Corso editor David Small said the decision was an "outrage against free speech and critical reporting". Apec Taskforce communications manager Brad Tattersfield confirmed Mr Davies had his media accreditation turned down on the advice of the police. However, he denied it was simply because Overview and Mr Davies were known to be anti-Apec. "Anti-Apec journalists have been accredited and have attended previous Apec meetings," Mr Tattersfield said. Of the 76 people who had applied for media accreditation only one, Mr Davies, had been declined, he said. Operation Apec 99 media manager Robyn Orchard said police had advised the taskforce of security concerns about Mr Davies. "Police believed there was potential, in respect of this person, for actions involving disorder," Mrs Orchard said. "The taskforce took notice of police concerns and subsequently declined his application for accreditation on the basis of security. "This was a matter we did not treat lightly and a recommendation was only made after considerable deliberation." - NZPA From fod346 at hotmail.com Tue May 11 16:16:39 1999 From: fod346 at hotmail.com (winner white) Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 16:16:39 PKT Subject: [asia-apec 1124] Environmental Magazine Subuh Theendo (Dawn Will Dawn) banned in Pakistan Message-ID: <19990511111649.73159.qmail@hotmail.com> Another Attack on Journalism LARGEST CIRCULATED MONTHLY SINDHI MAGAZINE BANNED Government has imposed ban on the first and the largest monthly environmental magazine of Sindh "Subuh Theendo" (Dawn Will Dawn) and its circulation has been prohibited with immediate effect. According to daily Kawish and Information Department spokesman Subuh Theendo has been banned due to it contents and articles published in November 1998, December 1998 and January 1999 issues. List of the articles published in those 3 issues: 1- Education, IT and 21st Century-----Ashraf Rind 2- Peace or War-----Faiz Ahmed Faiz 3- Dreams Never Die, China LEAD Conference-----Ayaz Latif Palijo 4- Social Justice-------Robert Green Ingersol / Prof. Ameer Ali Qadri 5- Falsehood (Punjabi Short Story)------Mensha Yad 6- Rasool Bux Palijo's Interview-----Trans:from Daily Osaf Islamabad 7- Doomsday in Hiroshima----Trans: Nawai Insan Lahore, Irfan Siddiqui 8- Handicapped-----(Pashto Short Story)------Sayeda Haseena Gul 9- Lahore session on Provincial Autonomy-----Irshad Ahmed Haqani 10- Human Resources & Ecosystem-----Gul Hasan Khoso 11- G. Plekhanov-----Pratab Lal 12- Socialism & Revolutionary Romanticism-----Karam Kaloi 13- Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement-----Sareer Sahto 14- South Asia Environment and IMF-----Dodo Khan 15- Deputy Commissioner's Diary, Pagree------Qudrat-ul-Lah Shahab 16- PNRDP, Kalabagh Dam & NDP (Drainage Program)-----Maqsud Memon 17- Legends of Shah Latif-----Mamur Yousfani 18- Pakistan Network of Rivers Dams & People-----Dr. Aslam Pervez 19- Free Legal Aid-----Ayaz Latif Palijo 20- Sustainable Development,Meetings & Workshops--Abid Shah Oxfam 21- Education Workshop-----Shahab Abro 22- Nadar Log----Abdullah Hussain This is the second time after 25 years, when the largest circulated Sindhi Magazine has been banned, prior to this a ban was imposed on Monthly Tahreek and Monthly Soohny in 1974. Subuh Theendo is being published from Hyderabad since 1990 quarterly but In 1994 SRC catalyzed the launching of monthly Subuh Theendo as the most popular and largest circulated Sindhi magazine on Environment, Politics and Sustainable Development. Ayaz Latif Palijo Sindh Research Council (SRC) Forwarded by M Ismail ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From fod346 at hotmail.com Thu May 13 14:57:33 1999 From: fod346 at hotmail.com (winner white) Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 14:57:33 PKT Subject: [asia-apec 1125] Sindhi Women, problems and destiny Message-ID: <19990513095738.94976.qmail@hotmail.com> WORKSHOP on “Sindhi Women, problems and destiny.” A workshop on “Sindhi Women, problems and destiny” was held in Hyderabad Sindh (Area of Sindh Province:140914 sq. k.m. Pop:Over 45 Millions)Pakistan on March 26th . The workshop was jointly organized by monthly Subuh Theendo magazine, Oxfam and Sindh Research Council (SRC). It was attended by the following participants: 1-Dr. Mrs. Mumtaz Bhutto (Professor of history) 2- Saher Imdad (poetess) 3-Prof. Saeeda Bashir (writer), 4-Zahida Thebo (writer and WORD activist) 5-Mrs. Nazeer Qureshi (Sindhiani Tahreek) 6- Khurshid Shah (Social worker) 7-Fahmida Qureshi (Qoumi Sath org) 8-Hidayet Narejo (Oxfam) 9-Ayaz Latif Palijo(SRC) 10- Shahzadi Tunio(Oxfam) 11-Humaira Hashmi(Oxfam) 12-Shahnaz Sheedi (social worker) 13-Sughra Shaikh (Incharge Darulaman) 14-Jivan Das (Oxfam) 15-Sakeena Bhatti (social worker) 16-Abid Shah (Oxfam) 17-Tahira Pirah Sindhi (Journalist) & others. The workshop unanimously adopted the following resolutions: Resolutions: 1-Informal education should be arranged for girls and women. 2-Only women should be employed as teachers in primary education. 3-Lady teachers should be employed and posted in their own villages. 4-Formal coordination should be improved between political parties, NGOs, writers and media on women issues. 5- Political and non-governmental organizations working on women issues should be made accountable. 6-Registration process for women organizations should be made easy and flexible. 7-A National Trust should be established for widows and handicapped women. 8-Coeducation should be adopted in Sindh’s primary and secondary educ. system. 9-Women should be given equal status in political parties. 10-Women should be made aware of political rights and injustices along with social and economical rights and injustices. 11-Voice should be raised on women’s issues through newspapers, magazines and electronic media. 12-Media should not glamorize women issues and atrocities made to them. 13-NGOs and political parties should establish free legal-aid committees at the district level. 14-Laws regarding marriage, nikah, divorce, rape and child custody should be translated into Sindhi and made available for women. 15-Strict laws should be enforced against KARO KARI and murderers of women should be provided death penalty. 16-A quota for women should be introduced in public as well as private employment 17-Adequate women representation should be made essential for national as well as provincial assemblies, technocracy and policy-making institutes. 18-Working women hostels and Darulamans should be established at the district level. 19-Women with minor children whose husbands have died or have become handicapped should be provided monthly living allowance. 20-Legislation should be made that if an unemployed woman does not marry after getting divorce her ex husband should provide her monthly living allowance. 21-Small loans for business should be given to women. 22-Health centers , hospitals and schools should be established in remote and ignored areas of Sindh like Thar, Kacho, Kohistan and Nara and coastal and riverine areas. 22-Women employees should be posted in their native/residential areas. (Report By Ayaz Latif Palijo, published in monthly Subuh Theendo) Forwarded by M Ismail ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From chossudovsky at sprint.ca Thu May 13 15:12:42 1999 From: chossudovsky at sprint.ca (Michel Chossudovsky) Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 14:12:42 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1126] Destruction of Albania (Part I) Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990513141242.006aaa34@pop.skyinet.net> THE ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION OF ALBANIA by Michel Chossudovsky Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and author of The Globalization of Poverty, Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms, Third World Network, Penang and Zed Books, London, 1997. C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, 1997. All rights reserved. (Internet version in two parts: part I: Historical background, Part II Criminalisation of the State) PART I HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CRISIS The following text was written in the wake of the 1997 protest movement which culminated in Western military intervention under a Multinational Protection Force (MPF). These events in Albania took place barely two years prior to the onslaught of the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia. Crippled by "free market" reforms imposed by donors and creditors since 1992, transformed into a de facto NATO military base, Albania has been stripped of its political and economic sovereignty. Contrary to what is heralded by the global media, the War in Yugoslavia is also a war against Albania and its people. Moreover, in the wake of the War, Albania will be afflicted by external debts contracted with the World Bank and the IMF to deal with the plight of the refugees. The macro-economic reforms implemented in Albania under the auspices of the Bretton Woods institutions have been conducive to the destruction of the national economy and the impoverishment of the Albanian population while transferring the control over Albania's extensive mineral deposits into foreign hands. Drug barons in Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia (with links to the Italian mafia) have become the new economic elites, often associated with Western business interests. Albania is the hub of the multi-billion dollar Balkans drug trade. In turn, the laundering of drug money has played an important role in "financing the conflict" in Kosovo. The economic reforms have also created in Albania an environment which favoured the criminalisation of State institutions and the development of an expansive illicit trade in arms and narcotics. And these structures in turn have played an important role in setting the stage for the conflict in Kosovo and NATO's criminal bombings. The War in the Balkans is also implemented on the economic front through the imposition of the IMF's deadly economic reforms. The latter are implemented in coordination with NATO's strategic and miltary objectives. Following the pattern set in Bosnia, NATO is in close liaison with the Bretton Woods institutions and the European Development Bank (EBRD) which have been called upon to play a crucial role in "post-war reconstruction". The "post-conflict" reforms envisaged for Kosovo are patterned on those adopted in Albania and Macedonia implying the setting up of a bogus democracy in an occupied territory. Moreover, with the KLA poised to play a central role in the formation of a "post conflict government", the tendency is towards the installation in Kosovo of a State system which maintains pervasive links to organised crime. In this regard, the US State Department's position (contained in the May 1999 G8 proposal) is that the KLA would "not be allowed to continue as a military force but would have the chance to move forward in their quest for self government" meaning the inauguration of a "narco-democracy" under NATO custody (according to US State Department spokesman James Foley quoted in the New York Times, 2 February 1999). FORWARD The Western media has distorted the Albanian protest movement which erupted in February 1997 following the collapse of the "ponzi" pyramid funds. The financial scam surrounding the "get-rich-quick schemes" was narrowly depicted by the global media as the sole source of social upheaval. An image of spontaneous street rioting was conveyed, spotlighting the misdeeds of armed gangs and the looting of State property. While the citizens' groups opposed to former President Berisha were branded as common criminals, the Western media failed to mention the links of the Albanian State to Italy's crime syndicates. Political dissent by civilians including the formation of the "salvation committees" was depicted as sabotaging the "transition" to a "free market" society... In the words of Italy's foreign minister, the revolt is being led by "delinquent bands incited by far left activists". In the southern city of Vlore, the headquarters of the Police and military were taken over in February by the salvation committees. From Vlore, the insurrection spread to other cities in southern Albania. Students, workers and farmers joined in. The Albanian Armed Forces and Police had become largely inoperative; not only soldiers but officers spontaneously joined the citizens' movement demanding the resignation of President Berisha: "in southern Albania, the army has gone over to the side of the people" (La Vanguardia, Barcelona, 10 march 1997). The commander of the military base of Pasha Limani in the Vlore region joined the insurrection and integrated the Vlore Defence committee together with members of his garrison. In the rebel strongholds of Delvine and Sarande, "the situation [had grown] rapidly out of control as it became apparent that President Berisha's men did not have the support of their police..." (The Times, London, 10 March 1997). Western powers were concerned that the insurrection may get out of hand. US military advisers were rushed to Tirana; a high tech predator drone aerial surveillance system was set up at the Gjader airfield close to Tirana with the capability of monitoring the insurgency in Southern Albania. In February 1997, the Commander of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Shalikashvili visited US Air Force personnel stationed in Albania. Not a word was mentioned in the international press concerning Shalikashvili's meetings with government officials and Albania's military establishment... In March 1997 a "Government of National Reconciliation" under a Socialist care-taker Prime Minister was installed under Western advice. With President Berisha discredited in the eyes of the people, both Europe and America were eager to develop new political alliances with the leadership of the Socialist Party. The latter had committed itself to the adoption of "sound macro-economic policies" under the guidance of the Bretton Woods institutions. The interim government's first task was to appease the rebellion in the South while laying the groundwork for the disarmament of the salvation committees. Leaders of the Socialist Party (former Communists) held discussions in March with Western governments and the United Nations concerning the dispatch of a so-called Multinational Protection Force (MPF)... In April following a UN Security council resolution, the MPF largely composed of Italian and Greek troops landed on the beaches of the Adriatic coast. Its mandate was "to protect the shipments of humanitarian aid"... However, rather than ensuring the delivery of emergency supplies, the first concrete action of the MPF was to provide support to the government's ailing Police and Military. The "hidden agenda" behind the Multinational Protection Force was to bolster the Albanian Military and Police forces with a view to effectively disarming the civilian population and quelling the rebellion. In the words of the Italian MPF General Girolamo Giglio: "We will help in increasing the efficacy of the police forces, by offering specialized means and professional assistance" (ATA Dispatch, 21 April 1997). The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly provided its rubber stamp to the MPF's de facto mandate by formally condemning the local level "salvation committees" and demanding for their disarmament (April 26, ATA Dispatch). The West's objectives were clear: disarm civilians and ensure the installation of a "democratically elected" successor regime which would continue to uphold the "free market" reforms initiated under President Berisha in 1992... Elections were held on the 29th of 1997 June leading to a landslide victory by the Socialist Party. In August 1997 following the installation of a new President, the last of 7,000 troops of the Multinational Protection Force were withdrawn. Greek and Italian military advisors remained in the country to assist the new authorities in "rebuilding the country's shattered armed forces" (Jane's Defence Weekly, Vol 28 No 7, 20 August 1997). HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CRISIS Following the demise of the Communist State in 1991, Western capitalism had come to symbolize for many Albanians, the end of an era as well as the uncertain promise of a better life. In a cruel irony, production and earnings had plummeted under the brunt of the free market reforms inflicted by donors and creditors. Since 1991, the national economy had been thoroughly revamped under the supervision of the Bretton Woods institutions. With most of the State owned enterprises spearheaded into liquidation, unemployment and poverty had become rampant. President Ramiz Alia, Enver Hoxha's chosen successor had already initiated an overture to Western capitalism. Diplomatic relations had been restored with Bonn in 1987 leading to expanded trade with the European Community. In 1990 at its Ninth Plenum, the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP) adopted an economic reform programme which encouraged foreign investment and provided greater autonomy to managers of State owned enterprises. These reforms also allowed for the accumulation of private wealth by members of the Communist nomenklatura. In April 1990, Prime Minister Adil Carcani announced confidently that Albania was eager to participate in the Conference on European Cooperation and Security opening the door to the establishment of close ties with Western Defence institutions including NATO. President Ramiz Alia was reelected by a multi-party Parliament in May 1991. The defunct Albanian Workers Party was rebaptised and a coalition government between the new "Socialists" and the opposition Democratic Party was formed. Also in 1991, full diplomatic relations with Washington were restored, Secretary of State James Baker visited Tirana and Albania requested full membership in the Bretton Woods institutions. Meanwhile, amidst the chaos of hyperinflation and street riots which preceded the 1992 elections, German, Italian and American business interests had carefully positioned themselves forging political alliances as well as "joint ventures" with the former Communist establishment. The opposition Democratic Party (in principle committed to Western style democracy) was led by Sali Berisha, a former Secretary of the Communist Party and a member of Enver Hoxha's inner circle. Berisha's election campaign had been generously funded by the West. THE IMF-WORLD BANK SPONSORED REFORMS Western capital was anxious to secure a firm grip over the reigns of macro-economic policy. The IMF-World Bank sponsored reforms were set in motion immediately after the electoral victory of the Democrats and the inauguration of President Sali Berisha in May 1992... Economic borders were torn down, Albanian industry and agriculture were "opened up"... Adopted in several stages, the ill-fated IMF sponsored reforms reached their inevitable climax in late 1996 with the ruin of the industrial sector and the near disintegration of the banking system. The fraudulent "pyramid" investment funds which had mushroomed under the Berisha regime had closed their doors. The faded promises of the "free market" had evaporated, millions of dollars of life long savings had been squandered; the money had been siphoned out of the country. One third of the population was defrauded with many people selling their houses and land. Some 1.5 billion dollars had been deposited in the "ponzi" schemes with remittances from Albanian workers in Greece and Italy representing a sizeable portion of total deposits. Yet the amounts of money which had transited in and out of the investment funds was significantly larger. The Puglian Sacra Corona Unita and the Neapolitan Camorra mafias had used the pyramids to launder vast amounts of dirty money, part of which was reinvested in the acquisition of State property and land under Tirana's privatisation programme. The ponzi schemes were allegedly also used by Italy's crime syndicates as a point of transit, --ie. to reroute dirty money towards safe offshore banking havens in Western Europe. These shady investment funds were an integral part of the economic reforms inflicted by Western creditors. The application of "strong economic medicine" under the guidance of the Washington based Bretton Woods institutions had contributed to wrecking the banking system and precipitating the collapse of the Albanian economy. Since their inception in 1991-92, the free market reforms had also generated an environment which fostered the progress of illicit trade (noticeably in narcotics and arms sales) as well as the criminalisation of State institutions. Controlled by the ruling Democratic Party, Albania's largest financial "pyramid" VEFA Holding had been set up by the Guegue "families" of Northern Albania with the tacit support of Western banking interests. According to one report, VEFA was [is] under investigation in Italy in 1997 for its ties to the Mafia which allegedly used VEFA to launder large amounts of dirty money (Andrew Gumbel, The Gangster Regime We Fund, The Independent, February 14, 1997, p. 15). The pyramids not only financed the campaign of the Democratic Party ahead of the June 1996 elections, they were also used by Party officials to swiftly transfer money out of the country. (Geopolitical Drug Watch, Albania, More than a Bankruptcy, the Theft of a Century, The Geopolitical Drug Dispatch, No. 66, April 1997, p. 1). "Several of the multi-million-dollar schemes lent their support to the ruling Democratic Party in last year's [1996] parliamentary and local elections. (...) To date, no country has investigated the link between governments and the schemes, and critics point to a dearth of fraud-related legislation". (Christian Science Monitor, 13 February 1997). "Foundation fever" was also used to bolster Berisha's euphoric 1996 re-election bid. Widely accused of poll-rigging, the Democratic Party had branded the logos of the pyramids in its 1996 campaign posters. Echoing the get-rich-quick frenzy of the ponzi schemes, the Berisha regime had promised: "with us everybody wins"... AN "ECONOMIC SUCCESS STORY" The alleged links of the Albanian state apparatus to organised crime were known to Western governments and intelligence agencies, yet President Sali Berisha had been commended by Washington for his efforts toward establishing a multiparty democracy "with legal guarantees of human rights". Echoing the US State Department, the Bretton Woods institutions (which had overseen the deregulation of the banking system), had touted Albania as a "economic success story": "Albania's performance on macroeconomic policy and structural reforms has been remarkably good since 1992" (World Bank Public Information Department, Washington, 5 December 1995). World Bank Director for Central Europe and Asia Mr. Jean Michel Severino on visit to Tirana in the Fall of 1996, had praised Berisha for the country's "fast growth and generally positive results"; The economy "has bounced back quicker than in other [transition] countries"... A few months later, the scam surrounding the fraudulent "pyramids" and their alleged links to organised crime were unveiled. "In all the euphoria about double-digit growth rates, few bothered to notice that the revenue was almost all coming from criminal activity or artificial sources, such as foreign aid and remittances sent home by Albanians working abroad. (Andrew Gumbel, The Gangster Regime We Fund, The Independent, February 14, 1997, p. 15). In February 1997, Prime Minister Alekxander Meksi grimly admitted in a statement to Parliament, that the country was on "the brink of macroeconomic chaos, (...) a real economic catastrophe (...) even worse than in 1992," following the initial injection of IMF "shock treatment". (Albanian Daily News, Tirana, February 28, 1997). President Berisha had himself reappointed by Parliament; a state of emergency was in force which "gave police power to shoot stone-throwers on sight. The main opposition newspaper was set afire, apparently by the secret police, less than 12 hours after the introduction of draconian press censorship laws" (Jane Perlez, Albanian Tightens Grip, Cracks Down on Protests, New York Times, March 4, 1997). Prime Minister Meksi was sacked in early March 1997, the Commander in chief of the Armed Forces General Sheme Kosova was put under house arrest and replaced by General Adam Copani. The latter --who over the years had established close personal ties to NATO headquarters-- was responsible for coordinating with Western governments, the activities of the military-humanitarian operation ordered by the UN Security Council... The economy had come to a standstill, poverty was rampant, the Albanian State was in total disarray leading to mass protest and civil unrest. Yet until the formation of an interim government in March 1997, the West's endorsement of the Berisha regime remained impervious... THE BANKRUPTCY PROGRAMME The pyramid scam was the consequence of economic and financial deregulation. Under the IMF-World Bank sponsored reforms initiated since the outset of the Berisha regime in 1992, most of the large public enterprises had been earmarked for liquidation or forced bankruptcy leading to mass unemployment. Under the World Bank programme, budgetary support for the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) would be slashed while "clearly identifying which enterprises are to be allowed access to public resources and under which conditions"( World Bank, Public Information Department, Washington, 5 December 1995). This mechanism contributed to rendering inoperative a large part of the nation's productive assets. Moreover, credit to State enterprises had been frozen with a view to speeding up the bankruptcy process. A bankruptcy law was enacted (modelled on that imposed on Yugoslavia in 1989); the World Bank had demanded that: "restructuring efforts include splitting of SOEs [state owned enterprises] to make them more manageable (...) and prepare them for privatization. The state-owned medium-sized and large enterprises including public utilities, would be privatized through the mass privatization program (MPP), (...), for which vouchers are being distributed to the citizens." (World Bank, Public Information Department, Washington, 5 December 1995). The most profitable State enterprises were initially transferred to holding companies controlled by members of the former nomenklatura. State assets within the portfolio of these holding companies were to be auctioned off to foreign capital according to a calendar agreed upon with the Bretton Woods institutions. The privatisation programme had led virtually overnight to the development of a property owning class firmly committed to the tenets of neoliberalism. In Northern Albania, this class was associated with the Guegue "families" linked to the Democratic Party. According to one report, the Northern tribal clans or "fares" had also developed links with Italy's crime syndicates (Geopolitical Drug Watch, Paris, No 66, p. 4.). In turn, this rapid accumulation of private wealth had led to the spurt of luxury housing and imports including large numbers of shiny Mercedes cars. Tirana has one of the largest per capita concentrations of Mercedes Benz automobiles in Europe (a large share are stolen vehicles smuggled into Albania). Almost every second car in the capital city is a Mercedes... The import of cars has been boosted by the influx of dirty money... Moreover, the gush of hard currency loans granted by multilateral creditors had also contributed to fuelling the import of luxury goods. (Imports had almost doubled from 1989 to 1995. Exports on the other hand had dwindled exacerbating the country's balance of payments crisis. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Economic Survey of Europe 1996, Geneva, 1996, p 188-189). FINANCIAL DEREGULATION The Albanian Parliament had passed a law in 1992 allowing for the creation (with little or no restrictions) of "foundations" and "holding companies" involved in commercial banking activities. The World Bank had insisted on "an appropriate framework for creating new [small and medium-sized] private banks and encouraging informal money lenders and non-bank financial intermediaries to enter the formal financial intermediation circuit"...(World Bank, Public Information Department, Washington, 5 December 1995). The freeze on commercial bank credit imposed under IMF advice had encouraged the development of the informal banking system: "We observed the development of informal financial schemes... the ceilings imposed [by the central bank] on the [State commercial banks] obliged them to freeze credit. Due to IMF restrictions, there was simply no credit available through the formal banking system. The informal banks were allowed to develop; remittances were channelled into "financial foundations" encouraging the development of a parallel banking system... Everybody knew it was a dirty game, nobody was interested in intervening" (Interview with an Albanian banking expert, Tirana, December, 1997). The "pyramids" had thereby become an integral part of the untamed banking environment proposed by the Bretton Woods institutions to the Berisha government. The various funds and "foundations" were to operate freely alongside the State banks composed of the National Commercial Bank, the Rural Commercial Bank and the Savings Bank. The law while spurting the expansion of private financial intermediaries, nonetheless, retained certain "supervisory functions" for the Central Bank authorities. Art. 28 of the law provided for the establishment of a Reserve Fund at the Central Bank with a view to "safeguarding the interests of depositors". (See F. M?nzel, IMF Experts Partially Responsible for Albanian Unrest, Kosova Information Office, Stockholm, 13 March 1997). The provisions of Article 28 were later incorporated into a special article on banks and financial institutions contained in the World Bank sponsored Draft Law on Bankruptcy presented to Parliament in late 1994. This article provided for the establishment of a "deposit insurance fund" under the supervision of the Central Bank. While the law was being debated in the Legislature, the IMF advisory team at the Central Bank intervened and demanded: "that this clause be scrapped because it was "at this time inconsistent with Fund staff advice". (No other reason was given.) Also, the IMF experts advised, normal bankruptcy procedure should not be applied to banks because that would have meant that the creditors of an insolvent bank could ask that bank to stop operations. This was inadvisable, an IMF expert claimed, because "in Albania, which has so few banks, this is perhaps a matter solely for the bank regulatory authorities" - and that meant the Central Bank".(ibid) In turn, the foreign consultant who had drafted the Bankruptcy Law (on behalf of the government with the endorsement of the Bretton Woods institutions) had advised the authorities that the removal of the deposit insurance clause from the draft law might result in: "`small creditors' rallies in front of closed banks, waving red flags and posters accusing National Bank officials of conspiracy with Western capital, or the Mafia, to exploit and destroy the people'. The IMF experts did not listen. On their advice, the deposit insurance scheme and the full application of insolvency law to banks were scrapped". (ibid) Despite this forewarning, the IMF's decision (over-ruling the government) and the World Bank] was to be formally embodied in the draft of a new banking law presented to Parliament in February 1996 "at a time when the danger represented by fraudulent banking enterprises should have been evident to everybody..."(ibid). The new banking law also scrapped the three tier banking system contained in the 1992 Law: "It [the 1996 draft law] was written in an Albanian so awful that the poor deputies can hardly have understood it; that may have been the reason why they passed it, certainly very much impressed by its arcane technicality. It evidently was a verbatim translation from an English original, so one may safely assume that this, again, was the work of those IMF experts at the Central Bank everybody believed in - just as, at that same time, nearly everybody believed in those pyramids".(ibid) The IMF team at the Albanian Central Bank had: "thwarted pending legislation for the safety of depositors (...) The IMF team at the Albanian Central Bank did not use its influence to make the Central Bank carry out its supervisory duties and stop the pyramids in time - perhaps because the IMF experts believed that Albania needed all the banks it could get, honest or fraudulent (Ibid). And it was only when the financial scam had reached its climax in late 1996, that the IMF retreated from its initial position and "asked President Berisha to act. At that time it was far too late, any sort of soft landing was impossible" (ibid). In parallel with these developments, the World Bank (which was busy overseeing the enterprise restructuring and privatisation programme) had demanded in 1995 the adoption of legislation which would transform the state-owned banks into holding companies. This transformation had been included in the "conditionalities" of the World Bank Enterprise and Financial Sector Adjustment Credit (EFSAC). The World Bank had carefully mapped out the process of industrial destruction by demanding a freeze of budget support to hundreds of SOEs targeted for liquidation. It had also required the authorities to set aside large amounts of money to prop up SOEs which had been earmarked for privatisation. Thus prior to putting the National Commercial Bank, the Rural Commercial Bank and the Savings Bank on the auction block, the government (following World Bank advice) was required to "help restore the banks' balance sheets by assuming their non-performing loan portfolio. `This will be done so that they can be really sound banks and be turned into shareholding companies, which will then be sold'". (Albanian Times) Making the SOEs (including State owned public utilities) "more attractive" to potential foreign investors had predictably contributed to fuelling the country's external debt. This "strengthening of SOEs in preparation for privatization" was being financed from the gush of fresh money granted by multilateral and bilateral creditors. Ironically, the Albanian State was "funding its own indebtedness" --ie. by providing financial support to SOEs earmarked for sale to Western investors... Moreover, part of the foreign exchange proceeds generated by the influx of overseas remittances and dirty money into the "foundations" was also being used to prop up the State's debt stricken enterprises ultimately to the benefit of foreign buyers who were acquiring State property at rock bottom prices. In 1996, the Tirana stock exchange was set up with a view to "speeding up the privatization programme". In the true spirit of anglo-saxon liberalism, only ten players (carefully selected by the regime) would be licensed to operate and "compete" in the exchange. (Albanian Times, Vol. 2, No. 18, May 1996). THE SCRAMBLE FOR STATE PROPERTY As the banking system crumbled and the country edged towards disaster, foreign investors (including Italy's crime syndicates) scrambled to take over the most profitable State assets. In February 1997, Anglo-Adriatic, Albania's first voucher privatisation fund, was busy negotiating deals with foreign investors in areas ranging from breweries to cement and pharmaceuticals. The Privatisation Ministry hastily set up in response to Western demands after the rigged June 1996 elections, reaffirmed the government's determination "to conclude this undertaking to privatise the economy and to do it soundly, steadily and legally. We are determined to go on."(Ibid): "At midday on March 10, on the third floor of the Albanian Finance Ministry, an auction is due to take place for the sale of a 70 per cent stake in the Elbasan cement plant for cash. A day later, a 70 per cent stake is due to be sold in the associated limestone quarry...." (Kevin Done, Financial Times, London February 19, 1997). The World Bank had also recommended that all public utilities including water distribution, electricity and infrastructure be placed in private hands... In turn, civil unrest had served to further depress the book-value of State assets to the benefit of foreign buyers: "`This is the Wild East', says one Western investor in Tirana. `There is going to be trouble for some time, but that also offers opportunities. We are pressing on regardless.'" (Ibid). SELLING OFF STRATEGIC INDUSTRIES Despite mounting protest from the trade-unions, the government had established (in agreement with Western financial institutions) a precise calendar for the sale of its strategic holdings in key industries including oil, copper and chrome. These sales had been scheduled for early 1997... With a modest investment of 3.5 million dollars, Preussag AG, the German mining group was to acquire an 80 percent stake in the chrome industry, giving it control over the largest reserves of chrome ore in Europe. The stakes in the 1996 elections were high for both America and Germany. The Adenauer Foundation had been lobbying in the background on behalf of German economic interests. Berisha's former Minister of Defence Safet Zoulali (alleged to have been involved in the illegal oil and narcotics trade) had been the architect of the agreement with Preussag against the competing bid of the US led consortium of Macalloy Inc. in association with Rio Tinto Zimbabwe (RTZ). Several Western oil companies including Occidental, Shell and British Petroleum had their eyes rivetted on Albania's abundant and unexplored oil-deposits in the regions of Durres, Patos, and Tirana. Occidental was also drilling off-shore on Albania's coastline on the Adriatic. A "favourable mining law" set up under Western advice in 1994 had enticed several Western mining companies into Mirdita, Albania's main copper producing area. But Western investors were also gawking Albania's gold, zinc, nickel and platinum reserves in the Kukes, Kacinari and Radomira areas. A spokesman for a major Western mining company had been inspired by the fact that "Albania [was] stable politically, unlike some of its Balkan neighbours". (Albanian Times, Tirana, Vol. 2, No. 19, 1996). In 1996, the government established regulations for the privatisation of the entire mining industry. FOREIGN CONTROL OVER INFRASTRUCTURE Under the agreements signed with the Bretton Woods institutions, the Albanian government was in a straightjacket. It was not permitted to mobilise its own productive resources through fiscal and monetary policy. Precise ceilings were imposed on all categories of expenditure. In other words, the State was no longer permitted to build public infrastructure, roads or hospitals without the assent of its creditors, ie. the latter had not only become the "brokers" of all major public investment projects, they also decided in the context of the "Public Investment Programme" (PIP) (established under the guidance of the World Bank) on what type of public infrastructure is best suited to Albania. THE GREY ECONOMY Alongside the demise of the State-owned corporations, more than 60,000 small scale "informal" enterprises had mushroomed overnight. According to the World Bank, this was clear evidence of a buoyant free enterprise economy: "the decline of the state sector was compensated by the rapid growth of private, small-scale, often informal, activities in retail trade, handicrafts, small-scale construction, and services" (World Bank, Public Information Department, 5 December 1995). Yet upon closer scrutiny of official data, it appears that some 73 percent of total employment (237,000 workers) in this incipient private sector was composed of "newly created enterprises [which] have only one employee" (Albanian Times, Vol. I, No. 8, Tirana, December 1995). An expansive "grey economy" had unfolded: most of these so-called "enterprises" were "survival activities" (rather than bona fide productive units) for those who had lost their jobs in the public sector. (WB Public Information Department, 5 December 1995). In turn, this "embryonic" market capitalism was supported by the Albanian Development Fund (ADF), a "social safety net" set up in 1992 by the World Bank, the European Union and a number of bilateral donors with a view to "helping the development of rural and urban areas by creating new jobs". ADF was also to provide support "with small credits and advice to the unemployed and economically disadvantaged people helping them start their own business". (Albanian Times, Vol 2, No. 19, Tirana, 1995). As in the case of VEFA Holdings, the ADF was managed by appointees of the Democratic Party... Albania had also become a new cheap labour frontier, competing with numerous low wage locations in the Third World: some 500 enterprises and joint ventures (some of them with suspected mafia connections) were involved in cheap labour assembly in the garment and footwear industries, largely for export back to Italy and Greece. Legislation had also been approved in 1996 to create "free economic areas" offering foreign investors among other advantages, a seven-year tax holiday. (Albania Times, Vol 2, No 7, Tirana February 1996). RURAL COLLAPSE The crisis had brutally impoverished Albania's rural population; food self-sufficiency had been destroyed; wheat production for sale in the domestic market had tumbled from 650,000 tons in 1988 (a level sufficient to feed Albania's entire population) to 271,000 tons in 1996. Local wheat production had declined by 33 percent in 1996. (Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Statistical Yearbook, Tirana, 1996, p. 25, see also FAO Release, 8 October 1996). In turn, the austerity measures imposed by the Bretton Woods institutions at the outset of the Berisha government, had led to the destruction of the country's agricultural infrastructure as well as the concurrent collapse of most public works programmes. Cooperative structures in production and marketing were disbanded. During the Berisha regime, the World Bank had largely supported a programme which favoured private construction companies including the outsourcing (through international tender) of most infrastructural programmes to Greek, Italian, German and Austrian construction companies. (Interview with senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Tirana, December 1997). The World Bank had also financed the purchase of some 4000 tractors which were purchased by rich farmers with links to foreign capital. With the demise of rural credit and the hikes of input prices and the fuel prices ordered by the World Bank, the use of farm machinery by the majority of farmers had been abandoned: "Farm equipment is now rented out by private farmers. But people cannot afford the use of farm machinery, so there is a return to manual farming" (Interview with senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Tirana, December 1997) The dumping of surplus agricultural commodities alongside the disintegration of rural credit, had contributed to steering Albania's agriculture into bankruptcy. The United States was supplying the local market with grain surpluses imported under the 1991 Food for Progress Act. The European Union initiated its food aid programme in 1991-92. It was interrupted in 1996. Its destabilising effects had already led to the demise of local production. Minimum tariffs on imported food had been implemented. Commercial imports of grain on a significantly larger scale were gradually replacing the influx of food aid. Government trading companies had also entered into shady deals through Swiss and Greek commodity brokers involving large shipments of imported wheat. Moreover, a large chunk of Western financial support was granted in the form of food aid. Dumped on the domestic market, "US Food for Progress" not only contributed to demobilising domestic agriculture, it also contributed to the enrichment of a new merchant class in control of the sale of commodity surpluses on the domestic market. Locally produced food staples had been replaced by imports. In turn retail food prices had skyrocketed. In the 1980s, Albania was importing less than 50,000 tons of grain (World Bank, World Development Report 1992); in 1996 wheat imports were (according to FAO estimates) of the order of 472,000 tons (a more than ten-fold increase in relation to the 1980s). According to official data, the import of wheat and flour (in value terms) increased almost four times: from 32.2 million dollars in 1994 to 123.7 million in 1996. By 1996, more than 60 percent of the food industry was in the hands of foreign capital (Albanian Times, Vol 2. No. 15). Agro-processing for export to the European Union had developed largely to the detriment of the local market. The World Bank was providing low interest loans, seeds and fertilizers solely in support of non-traditional export crops. According to one observer, neither credit nor seeds were available to produce grain staples obliging farmers to "shift away from wheat and corn into higher value added products like fruits, vegetables, and pork".(Albanian Times, Vol 1, No. 2, Tirana, 1995). What goes unmentioned, however, is that one of the "high value crops" for the export market was the illicit production of marijuana which is produced all over the country... Moreover, Italian intelligence sources have confirmed the establishment of coca plantations in mountainous areas on the border with Greece. "The Sicilian Mafia, with the support of Colombians, is believed to have set up the plantations"... (Helena Smith, Italy fears Influx will set back War on Mafia, The Guardian, London, March 25, 1997). The FAO describes the situation with regard to grain production as follows: [wheat] plantings are estimated to have dropped [in 1996] to only some 127 000 hectares, well below the average 150 000 hectares sown from 1991 to 1995. This reduction was mainly as a result of farmers opting for other crops offering better returns relative to wheat. Yields are also estimated to have dropped further below the previous year's already reduced level. As in the past few years, yield potential was already limited by farmers' limited access to inputs such as fertilizer, crop protection chemicals, and new seeds (farmers have simply been keeping part of the previous season's crop to plant in the next year which has led to a degeneration of the quality of the seed)..."(FAO Release, October 8, 1996) Moreover, the production of traditional seeds (reproduced in local nurseries) had been destroyed. Initially, imported seeds were given (free of charge) to the farmers. At present, farmers now depend largely on seed varieties distributed by international agri-business, yet the prices of commercial seeds has skyrocketed. In a cruel irony, the market for imported seeds and farm inputs had been totally paralysed. According to a spokesman of the Ministry of Agriculture: "Some 35,000 tonnes of wheat are needed this year [1996] as seed, which is a great amount and may be ensured through import only. `But not a kilogram of seed has been imported until now from private businessmen and the state enterprises' (Albanian Observer, Vol 2, No 1) This manipulation of the market for seeds and farm inputs had heightened Albania's dependence on imported grain to the benefit of Western agro-business. The dumping of EU and US grain surpluses on domestic markets had led to the impoverishment of local producers. Fifty percent of the labour force in farming now earns a mere $165 per annum. According to the United Nations Development Programme (Albania Human Development Report) average income per peasant household in 1995 was a meagre $20.40 a month with farms in mountainous areas earning $13.30 dollars per month. Several hundred thousand people have flocked out of the rural areas; Tirana's population has almost doubled since 1990. A sprawling slum area has developed at Kanza, on the north-western edge of Tirana... MACRO-ECONOMIC CHAOS From 1989 to 1992, Albania's industrial output had declined by 64.8 percent and its by GDP by 41.2 percent (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Economic Survey of Europe 1996, Geneva, 1996, p. 184). Recorded GDP later shot up by 7.4 percent in 1994, 13.4 percent in 1995 and 10 percent in 1996 (Ibid, 1996 figure is an estimate). Yet, these "positive results" hailed by the Bretton Woods institutions had occurred against a background of industrial decline spurted by the World Bank sponsored bankruptcy programme. In 1995, industrial output stood at 27.2 percent of its 1989 level, --ie. a decline of more than 70 percent (Ibid, p. 185). Despite the impressive turn-around in recorded GDP, living standards, output and employment continued to tumble. While domestic prices had skyrocketed, monthly earnings had fallen to abysmally low levels. Real wages stood at an average of $1.50 a day (less than 50 dollars a month) in 1990 declining by 57.1 percent from 1990 to 1992 (Statistical Yearbook of Albania, Tirana 1991, p. 131). This collapse in real earnings continued unabated after 1992. According to recent data, conscripts in the Armed forces are paid 2 dollars a month, old age pensions receive between 10 and 34 dollars a month. The highest salaries for professional labour were of the order of $100 a month (1996). With the devaluation of the lek in late 1996, real earnings collapsed further (almost overnight) by 33 percent... THE OUTBREAK OF ENDEMIC DISEASES Widespread poverty had led to the resurgence of infectious diseases. There was an outbreak of cholera in 1995. A polio epidemic spread in 1996 from the Northwestern region to Tirana and the rest of the country. (WHO, Press Release WHO/59, 18 September 1996; Albanian Times, Vol 2, No. 40). According to the United Nations, average life expectancy was 72.2 years in the period prior to the adoption of the market reforms; adult literacy was of the order of 85 percent (See UNDP, Report on Human Development 1992). The economic reforms had also precipitated the disintegration of health and educational services. The World Bank was assisting the government in slashing social sector budgets through a system of cost recovery. Teachers and health workers were laid off, health spending was squeezed through the adoption of "new pricing policies and payment mechanisms for outpatient services, hospital services and drugs" devised by the World Bank. (World Bank Public Information Department, Albania-Health Financing and Restructuring Project, Washington, January 1994). In collaboration with the World Bank, the Phare program of the European Union had granted support to the privatisation of health care. (CONTINUED, PART II THE CRIMINALISATION OF THE STATE) * * * Permission is granted to post this text on noncommercial community internet sites, provided the essay remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in printed and/or other forms contact the author at chossudovsky@sprint.ca, fax 1-514-4256224. Michel Chossudovsky Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa Member of the Ad Hoc Committee to Stop Canada's Participation in the War in Yugoslavia Voice 613-5625800, Ext. 1415 email chossudovsky@sprint.ca On Kosovo: http://www.transnational.org/features/crimefinansed.html On the break-up of Yugoslavia: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/62/022.html From deo at igc.org Fri May 14 03:49:00 1999 From: deo at igc.org (David E. Ortman) Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 11:49:00 -0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1127] Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I) In-Reply-To: <3.0.3.32.19990513141242.006aaa34@pop.skyinet.net> Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990513114900.006ac2c8@pop2.igc.org> TO: Professor Chossudovsky, et al. FR: David E. Ortman Seattle, WA I am somewhat handicapped by not having received Part II of the material posted below and I also realise that the material is two years old and was written for a different purpose. And I have no interest in defending the IMF, World Bank or the other global finanical institutions that are now capable of dictating terms to sovereign countries. However, I am troubled by the analysis below which seems to start around 1991 with no historical context to the long term problems facing a country such as Albania. To suggest that the economic destruction of Albania started in just the last ten years seems to overlook the obvious fact that since World War II, the Albania economy was certainly not doing very well. I'm wondering if the rest of your book provides a broader context for understanding economic problems in places such as Albania without placing all the blame on the events of just the past few years. At 02:12 PM 5/13/99 +0800, you wrote: > > >THE ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION OF ALBANIA > >by >Michel Chossudovsky > >Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and author of The >Globalization of Poverty, Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms, Third World >Network, Penang and Zed Books, London, 1997. > >C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, 1997. All rights reserved. > >(Internet version in two parts: part I: Historical background, Part II >Criminalisation of the State) > >PART I HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CRISIS > >The following text was written in the wake of the 1997 protest movement which >culminated in Western military intervention under a Multinational Protection >Force (MPF). These events in Albania took place barely two years prior to the >onslaught of the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia. > >(CONTINUED, PART II THE CRIMINALISATION OF THE STATE) > >* * * > >Permission is granted to post this text on noncommercial community internet >sites, provided the essay remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. >To publish this text in printed and/or other forms contact the author at >chossudovsky@sprint.ca, fax 1-514-4256224. > > > > >Michel Chossudovsky >Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa >Member of the Ad Hoc Committee to Stop Canada's >Participation in the War in Yugoslavia > >Voice 613-5625800, Ext. 1415 >email chossudovsky@sprint.ca > >On Kosovo: http://www.transnational.org/features/crimefinansed.html >On the break-up of Yugoslavia: >http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/62/022.html > > > From jaggi at vcn.bc.ca Fri May 14 06:10:01 1999 From: jaggi at vcn.bc.ca (Jaggi Singh) Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 14:10:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [asia-apec 1128] APEC -- Challenging Government Secrets Message-ID: (Vancouver, Canada) PRESS RELEASE APEC PROTESTORS CHALLENGE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF GOVERNMENT SECRECY LAW Craig Jones, Jonathan Oppenheim and Jaggi Singh, amongst other APEC protestors, have launched a landmark challenge to the constitutionality of the federal law that gives the federal government absolute immunity from having cabinet documents disclosed in a court of law and which allows only the government and not the students to appear in court and make submissions during the final stages of the hearing. The federal government has sought to prevent the disclosure of approximately 170 documents that they have admitted to be relevant to the APEC Inquiry on the grounds that they would disclose various government secrets. The students who are complainants at the APEC Inquiry obviously do not know what is in the documents, but believe that any public interest in maintaining cabinet and other governmental secrets is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that the government acted in a manner which was legal and constitutional during the APEC Conference. The challenge is being brought by Joseph Arvay, one of the lawyers for the APEC protestors and in a brief which he has filed in the Federal Court, he indicates that the sections of the federal law that are being challenged "are contrary to the law and practice in every Province of Canada, and, as far as we are aware, of every free and democratic country in the common law world..." "This is an immensely important case which transcends the APEC Inquiry itself and will have implications for all cases in which the government is attempting to prevent the disclosure of government documents" says Craig Jones. He adds: " It is simply wrong for the government to attempt to hide behind the anachronistic veil of "Crown Privilege" to prevent PCC Commissioner Mr. Ted Hughes from doing his job which is to get to the bottom of what happened at APEC and most importantly why and on whose instructions." The brief filed with the Federal Court reveals that the attack on the federal law turns on various provisions of the Constitution such as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms but also on what have been described as the unwritten but fundamental constitutional principles such as the Rule of Law, the Separation of Powers and the Independence of the Judiciary. The Brief reads in part: "...the supremacy of the Constitution, and of the written and unwritten principles recognized therein means that Parliament cannot enact laws that prevent the Court from inspecting and ordering disclosure of evidence which is relevant in determining whether the Executive has contravened the law of the land." The constitutional challenge is going to be heard by Mr. Justice McKeown of the Federal Court of Canada on Monday, May 17th and is scheduled to take four days. For further information contact: Joseph Arvay (250) 388-6868 Craig Jones (604) 641-4869 Jonathon Oppenheim (604) 224 2482 Jaggi Singh (514) 526-8946 -- From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Fri May 14 17:47:41 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 20:47:41 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1129] Apec's global vision a 'real worry' says law professor Message-ID: <7Tg08e1w165w@corso.ch.planet.gen.nz> Christchurch Star, May 12 1999 Apec's global vision a 'real worry' says law professor By Marianne Betts Apec's policies are dangerous but its crumbling status means it can not be taken too seriously, says a leading critic. Auckland University law professor Jane Kelsey, in Christchurch last week for anti-Apec meetings, said Apec now lacked substance and had become fraught with international tensions. She said it had problems of legitimacy in the way it operated in secrecy and was lacking credibility. Despite this, she said the Apec's vision of global free markets and free trade was a "real worry". She said the Apec agenda had already been seen on a micro-level in New Zealand with the introduction of Rogernomics 15 years ago. During most of that period, contrary to predictions, this country had seen slow economic growth. Dr Kelsey said Apec's agenda encouraged privatisation of state assets and services, and foreign investment - policies that in New Zealand had seen transnational companies pumping most of their profits out of the country. Dr Kelsey said these policies and others embraced by Apec had serious flow-on effects, including increased inequality and poverty, especially for indigenous peoples, women, children, and the elderly. They benefited an elite in New Zealand, but widened the gap between rich and poor, and created a drop in employment standards as workers competed to produce goods for the least cost. She said Apec emerged in 1989 in the Asia-Pacific region after major trade blocks were established in Europe and North America. However, she said Apec had big problems, as they were not even delivering what big business wanted, and the Business Advisory Council had been scathing about Apec. She said Apec "exists" and the host Government each year would not want to be responsible for de-establishing it, "so it is likely to limp on". New Zealand is hosting Apec this year with the small and medium enterprises and senior officials meetings having recently been held in Christchurch. Other meetings are planned around the country, in the lead up to the leader's meeting in Auckland in September. From fod346 at hotmail.com Fri May 14 14:12:59 1999 From: fod346 at hotmail.com (winner white) Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 14:12:59 PKT Subject: [asia-apec 1130] Kalabagh Dam Environmental, Aquatic & Humanitarian Disaster Message-ID: <19990514091312.89908.qmail@hotmail.com> Kalabagh Dam Political, Environmental & Humanitarian Disaster In spite of rejection of Kalabagh Dam Project by the environmental and irrigation experts and by the three out of four peoples and provinces (Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan) of Pakistan through their duly elected Provincial Assemblies, Prime Minister of Pakistan announced his government's decision to construct Kalabagh dam. On the very next day Sindh and NWFP (Pakhtunkhwa) erupted in protest and thousands of people came to streets in different cities and towns raising slogans against this disastrous decision. Three complete general strikes have taken place, an Anti-Kalabagh Dam front(AKDF) has been formed and different political, social, religious and environmental organizations have started protest marches, hunger strikes and demonstrations. Political leaders have termed the decision as grave threat against the interests of the three provinces and a deep rooted conspiracy to politically and economically destroy Sindh and NWFP. Background : Indus River and Water distribution: The area of present-day Sindh province was the center of the ancient Indus Valley/ Mohen-jo-daro Civilization(2300 BC-1750 BC), it was named after Indus, the great Trans-Himalayan river of South Asia and one of the world's longest rivers, with a length of 2,900 km. The Indus (also called Mehran and Sindhoo) rises in southwestern Tibet at an elevation of about 18,000 feet (5,500 m) and flows in a northwesterly direction along the slopes of the Himalayas, crossing into Jammu and Kashmir from the southeast. The Shyok, Shigar, Zaskar, Gilgit and other streams carry snow and glacial waters to the Indus from the Himalayan, Nanga Parbat and Karakoram ranges. The river crosses the western Kashmir border and then turns southwest to enter Pakistan. In Pakistan it emerges from the highlands and flows towards the semi arid Punjab Plain where it receives its tributaries Jhelum, Ravi, Chenab, Beas, and Sutlej rivers. Afterwards Indus becomes much wider and flows at a slow speed, depositing large enriching quantities of silt along its course in the plains of Sindh. In the district of Thatta the Indus begins its deltaic stage and reaches the Arabian Sea in the southeast of Karachi. The irrigation and hydropower structures constructed throughout the 2,900 km length of Indus and on its tributaries include 2 dams, 19 barrages and 43 canals. After the partition of subcontinent (1947) following structures were made on Indus and treaties were signed and executed: 1-Kotri, Tuansa and Guddu barrages were built in 1955, 1958 and 1962 respectively. 2-Indus Water Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 and 33 MAF (million acre feet) water of the Indus's three tributaries Ravi, Beas and Sutlaj rivers was exclusively assigned to India without consulting Sindh. 3- Under 1960's Indus Water Treaty India has been allowed to develop 1.35 million acres of irrigated land without any restriction on the quantity of water. 4- Mangla Dam was built on Indus's tributary Jhelum river in 1967 for the storage of 5.3 MAF water. 5- Tarbela Dam was built on Indus in 1975 for the storage of 9.3 MAF water. 6- At the time of independence (1947) about 64 MAF of water was being utilized annually in the irrigation canals in the country and as per Sindh Punjab Draft Agreement of 1945, 48.33 MAF water of Indus was allocated to the province of Punjab and 48.74 MAF was allocated to Sindh. But according to Water Accord signed in 1991 by the then federally nominated/ sponsored Chief Minister, 117.35 MAF water have been allocated to the provinces, out of which 55.94 MAF has been given to Punjab (increasing 7.61 MAF) and 48.76 MAF has been allocated to Sindh (increasing just 0.02 MAF). 7- Chashma-Jhelum link (21000 cusecs) and Taunsa-Panjnad link (12000 cusecs) were constructed after Indus Water treaty (1960) for providing water of Indus to Punjab. Kalabagh Dam and its Salient Features: The proposal of Kalabagh dam officially surfaced in 1984, in July 1985 the federal Minister of Water & Power formally announced that the project work had been started and the dam would be completed in 1994. Since then at least Rs 1.3 billion (US$ 28 million) have already been spent on the various phases of this most controversial project in the country's 50 year history. -Proposed location is 200 km downstream of Tarbela Dam near Mianwali in Punjab province. -Project study was initiated in 1953. -Storage capacity is about 6.7 MAF of water. -Proposed height of the KB Dam is 260 feet. -Total estimated project cost in 1987 & 1992 was about US$ 4.9 billion. -Expected donors are World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Governments of China, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Japan. Advantages claimed by WAPDA, Fed. Govt. & representatives of Punjab -Kalabagh Dam will generate/provide 3600 MW hydro-electric power( the royalty of this power will be given to Punjab) -The Dam will provide water for the irrigation of four million acres mainly located in the province of Punjab, out of which 380000 acres will be irrigated in Mianwali, Khushab and Jhelum districts and 2150000 acres will be irrigated in D.I Khan. -Kalabagh Dam project will provide 35000 jobs. -KB Dam is also essential because storage capacity of Tarbela and Mangla Dams is decreasing due to sedimentation. Kalabagh a disastrous threat to the existence of Three Provinces: For the last fifty years our insincere rulers have been plundering the national wealth, acting against democracy and reducing the common people to a state of acute poverty by rendering them jobless and failing to control the soaring prices of essential commodities. At this crucial stage if they will continue their malpractice's and if any unilateral decision is imposed regarding the construction of Kalabagh Dam, it would have a far reaching adverse impact on political, economic and geophysical set-up of three provinces. The Dam is not just a technical issue, it is now a socio-political, environmental and humanitarian problem which involves the fate of thousands of people of Sindh and NWFP provinces. The construction of Kalabagh Dam is not only detrimental to the interests of three small provinces but it would be the fatal blow for the peoples unity and lethal attack on the national integrity and existence. Following are the major threats and objections raised by three provinces: -Kalabagh dam will not only store 6.7 MAF water of Indus but 12.8 MAF water will be diverted to left bank and right bank canals for the irrigation in Mianwali, Khushab, Jhelum and Dera Ismail Khan districts. Therefore the KB dam will be consuming 19.5 MAF water of Indus. -Under the provisions of Water Accord of 1991, a quantity of 10 MAF has been provisionally earmarked for out flow to sea which in fact will not be available after storage at Kalabagh dam. -There is already a deep distrust created between Sindh and Punjab on the two irrigation links. Chashma-Jhelum link (21000 cusecs) and Taunsa-Panjnad link (12000 cusecs) have been kept open for the last several years without prior consent and permission of the Sindh provincial government in flagrant violation of the inter-provincial agreement. Due to their past malpractice's and breaches of trust people of Sindh do not trust WAPDA and Punjab irrigation department. People believe that the aim of Punjab regarding building a dam is to keep a life and death grip on the life line of Sindh, in this way the ruthless and unscrupulous ruling coteries would be able to control the very existence of four crore (40 million) Sindhis. -WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority) has exaggerated the figures of water availability and has reduced the figures of system losses, outflow to sea and India's authorized uses on western rivers, to some how arrive at a high figure of net water availability. WAPDA has used mean year calculation method instead of 4 Out of 5 years (80% Probability)method, has ignored lean (acute shortage) years , and has deliberately submitted pretentious and inflated figures which is evident from the following comparison: Description---------------------WAPDA's Claim----Actual figure Available Water in West. Rivers---143.1 MAF----125.3 MAF (Indus, Jhelum & Chenab) Eastern Rivers Contribution--------4.0 MAF--------Nil (Sutlej, Beas & Ravi) System Losses------------------------10.0 MAF------14.0 MAF Out flow to sea-----------------------5.8 MAF--------10.0 MAF Accord Allocation to Provinces---117.35 MAF----117.35 MAF Net Water Availability------------(+)14.0 MAF----(-)16.0 MAF -As far as the environmental and ecological aspects and threats are concerned the shortage of water for out flow to sea has already caused reduction in the volume of silt. Indus river once brought down 600 million tones of silt out of which half reached the sea and half fertilized the alluvial plain. Today, just 36 million tones passes the upstream barrages and dams. The Indus delta was spread over in 350 sq. km before the partition, it also had more than nine perennial streams, now it has only two perennial streams and covers just about 25 sq. km. This reduction has resulted in the erosion and degradation of the delta, elimination of 0.6 million acres of riverine forests and destruction of mangrove forest area, which has reduced from 263,000 hectares in 1977 to 158,500 hectares in 1990. -From aquatic conservation point of view the famous Palla fish, Bulahan(Indus dolphin), Khagga(Sea cat) and other aquatic species have become nearly extinct due to water shortage. The annual production of Palla has been reduced from 5000 tons to just 500 tons. -Further reduction of fresh water flows below Kotri will be a disaster for the common people & fishermen (Munhanas) who depend upon agriculture and fisheries in coastal Sindh. -Water quality at Sehwan (Town of Sindh) on the Indus River has deteriorated by 24 % during 1968 to 1980 and by 1985 it has reached a level of 50 % deterioration. As the quantity of river flow is decreased, the water quality is correspondingly degraded. - Govt. claims that Tarbela Dam never affected Sindh but in fact for the last twenty years , in times of scarcity of water, Sindh's share never reached it since it was siphoned off to the Punjab. Even after the controversial Water Accord of 1991, Sindh has continued to be deprived of its share agreed to in the said accord. -Indus river plays a vital role in the formation of psyche, society and culture of the Sindhi people. The construction of the dam is likely to keep Indus below Sukkur dry most of the year. Many fishermen living on the Indus will become homeless and the Indus that is the Darya Shah (living legend) for Sindhis will be polluted and reduced from once mighty river to mere expanse of shallow water. This is equal to the cultural invasion and devastation of the thousands year old cultural heritage of Sindhi people. -Kalabagh Dam will be a grave threat to the fertile Peshawar valley and thousands of acres of NWFP's most fertile agricultural land will be destroyed. According to govt.'s own figures a total of 35,000 acres of land will be inundated/submerged by the Dam, out of which 3,000 acres are irrigated while 27,000 acres are barani. -As a result of rise of water level due to pounding up at Kalabagh, the water level in Kabul river will rise due to back water effect, thus posing serious threat to the Nowshera (a city of about 200000 people) which will be fully waterlogged within few years. -Water quality will be polluted by salinity due to nearness of Khewra and Kohat salt formations. -As the KB Dam will cause the displacement of 250,000 people, there will be an issue of implementing compensation and resettlement of the thousands of men, women, and children who will lose houses and lands submerged by KB. -Mardan Salinity control project will be affected because of lower level. -Several roads, structures, bridges & railway lines would be affected in NWFP. -The province of Balochistan has been irrigating about 300000 acres with the supply from Pat feeder of Guddu ( a barrage of Indus) which will be affected by the shortage of water. -The destruction of wildlife/bird Sanctuaries, riverine forests and natural lakes like Manchar, Kinjhar, Hadero, Haleji and Chotiari will affect biodiversity, specially the migratory birds of Siberia and Kazekustan and endangered aquatic as well as terrestrial species. -As the system losses will increase with the construction of a high KB Dam, additional losses will be about 4 MAF. -KB Dam will trap an estimated two-thirds of the sediments of the Indus River, which has the fifth highest sediment load in the world -The Dam will increase salinity and waterlogging and will further degrade agricultural productivity of the Indus Basin -Shortage of water near, and in, the river's estuary would cause a lot of environmental degradation in the coastal areas, destroying Tamar (mangroves) and marine life as well as causing considerable ecological damage to the Indus in its lower reaches. Reduced river discharge, combined with raised sea levels due to global warming, will enable the estuarine salt wedge to extend much further upstream than it previously did at the river mouth. The resultant salinisation will have a disastrous effect on the ecology and agricultural productivity and Arabian sea water might travel upwards for considerable distances submerging/immersing large regions of lower Sindh. -The shortage of water created by Dam will dry out the forests and Kacha (riverine) areas along the banks of the river Indus converting huge areas of Sindh into desert. The river Indus will loose its assimilative capacity due to reduced/lost flow converting it into practically a drain merely to carry sewage and industrial wastewater and rendering all aquatic life in the river dead either due to toxins or lack of dissolved oxygen. Use of this contaminated water for public water supplies and other consumption would result in grave health problems. -As for as the irrigation of Punjab's Seraiki areas are concerned, the lands along the proposed canal sites are already owned/purchased by the settlers and absentee landlords and it will result in adverse demographic change in Seraiki belt, starting a powerful process of reducing the Seraiki-speaking people to a tiny minority in their thousands year old homeland. Conclusions: Sustainable development involves the continuing supply of resources for future generations and the policies for achieving sustainable development must focus on political, environmental, cultural and economic aspects and concerns. The development in Pakistan also needs the global vision and basic changes in the patterns of consumption and in the allocation of resources. Any unilateral initiative and authoritarian decision of the government which causes unequal distribution of resources and which affects historic claims of nations will be largely viewed as arrogant and oppressive denial of fundamental rights and democratic values. The unity of the four provinces upon which rests the very existence of Pakistan is obviously more important than the construction of any specific project. All of us know that huge dams have adverse effects on the people they oust, communities in which these people settle, and downstream residents. According to the reports of international experts, World Commission on Dams (WCD) and International Rivers Network (IRN) over the past 50 years, some 30 to 60 million people worldwide have been displaced by large dams. Tens of millions more living downstream have been impoverished due to falling productivity of their farmland and fisheries after dam construction. Many dams, such as Sardar Sarova/Maheshwar Dam on the Narmada River in India, Arun in Nepal, Kaeng Sua Ten in Thailand, and Bakun in Malaysia, are being opposed by the environmentalists . Pakistan is the signatory of the Declaration of Rio which states that "In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.". Kalabagh dam project is bound to score an environmental, humanitarian and political disaster, therefore 140 million people of Pakistan need its immediate rejection/termination. Following are the conclusions made after the debate: -WAPDA's stand that the KB Dam is delayed just for political considerations otherwise no technical problems are left unsolved is totally wrong, besides political, humanitarian and economical reservations there are environmental concerns which are very much technical. -WAPDA has claimed that there is 17 MAF net available water but actually there is a shortage in the system and we require 16.0 MAF, so , there is no surplus water for construction of Kalabagh Dam. Even the quantity of 10 MAF decided for out flow to sea in the Water Accord of 1991 is not available for 48 out of 72 years, which will result in serious deterioration in the ecological conditions in the deltaic region. -IUCN, an international conservation organization has worked out the annual requirements for out flow to sea for environmental sustenance to be 27 MAF. This corresponds to 0.3 million cusecs discharge flowing for a period of 45 days. Therefore in future accords and treaties the quantity for out flow to sea should be kept 27 MAF. -The highest annual flow of water in the recorded history of the last 75 years (1922-1997) was 186 MAF in the year 1959-60 as against the minimum of 97.8 MAF in the year 1974-75, with an annual average of 138 MAF. There has been a drought cycle of nine continuous years from 1924 to 1933, when the river flows were below the average, therefore a careful approach is required in forecasting the quantity of water expected to be available in future, specially in the lean years. -WAPDA can increase the water level in Mangla dam without any major capital investment, but instead they want to construct KB Dam at the cost of Rs. 250 billion. Tarbela is now expected to become inoperative due to siltation in the next 15 to 20 years. The dam came close to failure twice: in 1977 by the collapse of two of its outlets due to cavitation, and in 1978 by massive erosion of the plunge pool that began to erode the flow spillway. Since its construction, seismic activity has increased in the earthquake-prone Indus Basin, raising fears of a failure at Tarbela and catastrophe downstream. Government claims that Kalabagh is essential because Tarbela Dam has outlived its life due to siltation but if the life of the Tarbela Dam can be extended by its desiltation at a fraction of the cost of KB then what justification would remain for Kalabagh? -As far as power generation is concerned, one must remember that once all IPPs come online Pakistan will have surplus electricity. If we remember, there was even talk of selling it to India. We will still have to buy the electricity from the IPPs (private power projects) since we have contracted to do so. Therefore the cost of electricity will not come down no matter how much cheaper the hydel energy will be. This is also evident from the existing situation when the actual cost of power generation and transmission is about 13 paisa (Rs.0.13) per unit from Tarbela, but the govt. is charging consumers about Rs 3.60 to Rs 8. -Some huge reserves of 22 billion tons of superior quality coal were discovered in Desert of Thar in Sindh, which could be used for power generation but WAPDA has taken no serious steps to utilize those coal reserves of Thar for power generation, to make KB Dam look indispensable. -A number of sites exist where small hydel projects can be undertaken to generate additional energy which is said to be the major purpose of the KB . -It is estimated that 30 to 40 per cent of the water released for irrigation is lost on account of seepage through the bed of the network of canals and channels. By lining the canals and the water courses the irrigation authorities can immediately prevent this substantial loss. If the farming practices which not only waste water but also reduce yields would be corrected, this will generate extra water resources for irrigation and at the same time will save the soil from water-logging. The construction of Kalabagh Dam may offer prospects of lucrative kickbacks for our rulers and may bring some land under cultivation in Punjab but only at the cost of inundation and displacement in NWFP, ecological and environmental disaster in Indus basin and at the cost of destruction & desertification of green and fertile lands of Sindh and . Ultimately there will not only be a net loss of food production in Pakistan but many areas of Sindh will even be deprived of drinking water. Let us not make the decision which may injure national unity beyond repair. Ayaz Latif Palijo Addr: B-48, Prince Town, (QA), Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan. Phone: 92 - 221 - 651947, 651725 Email : ayazl@paknet3.ptc.pk src_st@hotmail.com [Eco Ind Home Page] [Archives] by way of patrick@irn.org PatrickMcCully) For Further Information about Environment, Development, Gender and Human Rights in Sindh, Pakistan and South Asia visit: Sindh Research Page: http://www.angelfire.com/az/Sindh/index.html & Join Sindhorg Email List : sindhorg-owner@egroups.com M Ismail ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From fod346 at hotmail.com Sun May 16 14:18:45 1999 From: fod346 at hotmail.com (winner white) Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 14:18:45 PKT Subject: [asia-apec 1131] Water Pollution in Kinjhar Lake Message-ID: <19990516091852.9660.qmail@hotmail.com> Water Pollution in Kinjhar Lake By: Ayaz Latif Palijo Sindh & Pakistan have several lakes including Manchar, Kinjhar, Halejee, Hamal, Shakoor and others but Manchar and Kinjhar are well known through out the Asia and World due to their large water reserves, rich aquatic life, seasonal visits of European birds and historical cultural background. Especially Kinjhar lake has the remarkable cultural status in Sindhi literature because of the legendary romance of Noori and Jam Tamachi which has been the special focus of the poetry of Shah Latif and Shaikh Ayaz.. Kinjhar's source of water KB feeder starts its journey from Kotri Barrage which was built on Indus in 1955. Kinjhar Lake is situated in district Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan adjacent to the National highway on the right bank of river Indus. It is About 122 km from Karachi and 86 km from Hyderabad with the length of 20 miles (32 km), width of 6.8 miles (11 km) and capacity of 0.53 Million acre-ft. As Pakistan is predominantly arid, with low rainfall and humidity and high solar radiation over much of the country, therefore most of its regions receive less than 200 mm annual rainfall. In these circumstances the only source of feeding for Kinjhar Lake is Indus river, which in addition to agriculture use, is also used for drinking, and cities, towns and small rural areas of Sindh use its inadequately-treated water, for everyday life and drinking purpose. Indus provides Kinjhar and Halejee the required water through Kalri Baghar Feeder along with contamination and pollution which is then provided to district Thatta and Karachi for daily consumption and drinking purpose. Water pollution in the Indus occurs through three sources: Municipal wastewater, Industrial wastewater, and agricultural drainage effluent. Most of the cities and towns of Punjab and Sindh discharge their municipal & industrial wastewater into the Indus river. Treatment plants are not available/maintained properly, as a result of which, the wastewater does not receive the desired degree of treatment. Lakes are especially vulnerable to water pollution, and one major problem, eutrophication, occurs when lake water becomes artificially enriched with nutrients, causing abnormal plant growth. Runoff of chemical fertilizer from cultivated fields may trigger this. Facing all these threats Kinjhar has become more endangered because of Kotri industrial area and tourism. On the one hand local industries of Kotri dispose off their wastes in Kalri Baghar Feeder, which is the feeding source of Kinjhar, and on the other hand more than 15000 people of Karachi visit this lake weekly. These tourists not only throw garbage into Kinjhar but also bring communicable human diseases to the local people and aquatic system by bathing/swimming in The lake. The responsibility of preventing water pollution in the Indus river and Manchar, Kinjhar and Halejy lakes lies with the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is formally mandated to control the pollution in Sindh province. With the National Environment Quality Standards (NEQS) and, Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance, 1997, in place, the Sindh EPA should have controlled water pollution in Indus river. But due to the negligence and carelessness of EPA, Irrigation, wildlife and Health departments local people and aquatic life are facing grave threats of water-borne diseases like malaria, typhoid, cholera & dysentery, depletion of skin immune system, elimination of animal life due to eutrophication, ground water pollution which endangers adjacent villages and agricultural lands and under threat ecology of migratory birds. (Indus delta falls in the Siberia-Kazakstan-Indus delta migratory route, Known as flyway-4) Controlling water pollution in Kinjhar Lake and Indus is not an easy job it requires government's attention and efforts, community participation, adequate facilities, a high-level of technical expertise in the field of environmental engineering and above all mass awareness and accountability of the government departments by the community. In this regard water discharges into Kinjhar Lake through Indus river, need to be strictly controlled. Saline effluents should not be allowed. Municipal and industrial wastewater discharges should be allowed only, after they meet the prescribed site-specific water quality standards. Government agencies specially irrigation department should be pressurized for the proper maintenance of Kinjhar and standards of ISO 14000 should be implemented. The best way to eliminate hazardous wastes is not to generate them in the first place, if it is not possible then at least wastes may be made less hazardous by physical, chemical, or biological treatment. The Dissemination of community health information and awareness and incentives for local villagers for the use of chlorinated, settled and boiled water, proper maintenance of Kinjhar's 23 km long dyke by irrigation dept, removal of aquatic algae for countering eutrophication and proper treatment of Lake water by filtration and chlorination to kill infective microorganisms are the essential steps and major initiatives to be taken at the earliest. For Further Information about Environment, Development, Gender and Human Rights in Sindh, Pakistan and South Asia visit: Sindh Research Page: http://www.angelfire.com/az/Sindh/index.html & Join Sindhorg Email List : sindhorg-owner@egroups.com M Ismail ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From fod346 at hotmail.com Sun May 16 14:31:20 1999 From: fod346 at hotmail.com (winner white) Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 14:31:20 PKT Subject: [asia-apec 1132] Kirthar Park & Oil Exploration --- Ketibander Project Message-ID: <19990516093149.2516.qmail@hotmail.com> Kirthar Park Under Oil Exploration Threat by: Ayaz Latif Palijo Three international oil companies have begun preparations for oil exploration in Pakistan's largest park, Kirthar National Park but the provincial and the federal government have not taken a notice. Should we open wider the doors of our national parks for Premier Oil, Lasmo Oil and Shell Exploration? Should we allow these multinationals to violate the international rules of nature and wildlife conservation in our region?. As many of us know that Pakistan has six national parks - Kirthar, Chiltan, Lal Suhanra, Ayubia, Chattar, Chitral and Khunjerab. Kirthar national park is 152 kilometers from Karachi where visitors can watch endangered Sindh ibex, urial, and chinkara from special points in the hours of morning. Stony wood and many interesting fossils have been discovered in the Kirthar mountains. Kirthar is the largest wild-life sanctuary in Sindh and Pakistan and is the first one from Pakistan that was listed with the United Nations. It is also the home to many endangered species of animals, but in its usual style, some departments are willing to cause its destruction by allowing oil exploration in the park. The first move in this disastrous process was the conduction of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the Premier Oil company which is interested in doing the oil exploration. It appears that some of the local officials of Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) are taking a stand against the illegal activity, but a concession was sold to Premier Oil by Pakistan's director general for petroleum concessions, and he has decided to bypass SWD and to let Premier, Lasmo and Shell go ahead anyway. In this regard a team of Premier Oil has entered the Kirthar National Park in December 1997 to conduct an environmental impact assessment despite being refused a permission from the Sindh Wildlife Department The team comprised Waqar Zakaria, Dr Rubina, Abrarul Hassan, Sadat Hussain, Shamim Fakhri, Haleem Siddiqui and others. On the other hand most recently Lasmo Oil and Shell Exploration have publicly announced the discovery of a new gas field in Pakistan, the well was in the Kirthar concession in the Western Sindh region, and has confirmed substantial reserves of good quality gas. Bhit-2 was drilled to a total depth of 2067m, demonstrating that the entire sandstone section was gas bearing, with 150m of net gas pay encountered. They have also declared that further hydrocarbon indications were present below the sandstone to the total depth of the well. Lasmo believes the well is capable of flowing at initial rates in excess of 60mmscfd. The well has now been suspended, with plans moving ahead for appraisal of this and the greater Kirthar area, including deeper structures. A comprehensive seismic survey will begin this year, followed by a sustained drilling program. According to Lasmo chief operating officer John Hogan, the discovery has confirmed the presence of an excellent hydrocarbon province and has increased the attractiveness of several other prospects within the concession and the adjacent Kirthar West, awarded to the company at the beginning of the year. If the people of Sindh have an opportunity to say what they feel is appropriate, what is permissible in the way of pollution and nature destruction, or what is permissible in the way of resource extraction then the problems of this type and depletion of resources would be reduced, both inside and outside the borders of wildlife preserves. But in fact at the government level we are quite busy in international and global issues and in the times when we can not spare moments for the downtrodden people of mountainous and deserted areas of Sindh and Balochistan how we are supposed to look into the matters of Ibex, Urial, and Chinkara. That is why we are not addressing provincial and federal government, but we the people of Sindh were expecting from World Wide Fund for Nature Conservation (WWF), OXFAM, International Union of Nature Conservation (IUCN), Political parties and Media that at least they should have performed their part of the duty, should have taken locally operating CBOs, NGOs and political activists into confidence and should have demonstrated resistance in this environmentally sensitive area. All of us believe in democratic control of the levels of resource use, we realize that the best defense against destructive influences is to track both their activities and their effects on natural resources and we know that oil exploration, mining or other such commercial activities are not permitted in the national parks then why did not we speak? Today we are faced with the challenge of adapting our interaction with our environment to create a sustainable society. It is time to learn to live without consuming the very resource base that sustains us and that will sustain future generations. CANCELLATION OF KETI BANDER PROJECT by: Ayaz Latif Palijo Last year water and power minister of Pakistan informed the national Assembly that the 1320 MW (originally 5280 MW) Ketibander project in Sindh has been abandoned with the consent of the foreign sponsors, Consolidated Electric Power Asia. The government provided following reasons for the cancellation of the thermal power project, 1-No physical and real construction work had started at the site. 2-The electricity generated would be too expensive. It would cost Rs 4 per unit at the generation site and Rs 8-12 at consumers end. 3-CEPA intended to import coal instead of utilizing deposits in Thar. 4-Surplus electricity is available in the country for the future use. 5-CEPA was asking the WAPDA & PPIB to build a transmission line instead of doing the same itself. On the very next day CEPA owned by the Gordon Wu of Hong Kong denied the allegations made by the federal minister . CEPA termed the statement of federal minister as baseless and ineffectual . CEPA made it known through its finance manager that they had not been consulted on the question of termination, that no decision had been conveyed to them and that CEPA 's efforts to have a meeting with the prime minister proved fruitless. BACKGROUND The composite billion dollars Ketibander project has four components; a) A 5280 MW electric plant . b) A deep sea port (at a distance of 148 km from Karachi). C) An industrial zone between Thatta and Jamshoro. d) Thar coal field development . e) Job opportunities for 7000 indigenous people of Sindh. The formal agreement of Ketibander project was signed on August 3, 1995 between the CEPA and govt of Pakistan, and after eleven weeks on October 27, 1995 another agreement regarding the purchase of electricity from CEPA was signed by government of Pakistan. It was decided that the project will be completed in 2001 and its electric power plant will be composed of eight units. Each unit would produce 660 MW, and the first two units will use imported coal (probably from Indonesia) for the production of 1320 MW electricity while for the remaining six units indigenous Thar coal will be used. The ground breaking ceremony of the project was performed on January 30, 1996 and the people of Sindh , particularly of Thar and Thatta had high hopes that with this project the doors of opportunities, development and prosperity would open to them and rapid industrialization and modernization would take place in rural Sindh. The business and economic community also welcomed it because establishment of third deep sea port would provide significant opportunities to import and export business. The agreement of co-operation between Sindh govt. and CEPA was signed on April 25, 1996 and the initial work of geological and soil survey was started by the CEPA with the help of Geo Engineering Management Services. CEPA also purchased a 3000 acre piece of land at the cost of 90 million Rs. and deposited five million US dollars (twenty crore rupees)in the joint account of Sindh govt. and CEPA . It was stipulated in the implementation agreement that WAPDA and PPIB (private power infrastructure board) will lay double circuit 500 KW transmission line between Ketibunder and Jamshoro(185 km) before December 31, 1996. But they did not even complete the initial tender work of the transmission line. On May 1, CEPA wrote a letter to federal minister of water and power and requested for the provision of transmission line but could not get any response, then they sent another letter to finance minister on 5th but the response was same. Finally on 24th govt. announced the termination of the project and a wave of resentment and a deep sense of shock was created in Sindh . The question that is being asked among the democratic and patriotic circles of Sindh is as to why such a multi dimensional and most beneficial project was cancelled by the govt since investment was entirely private and did not involve any funds of the govt. The politicians ,intellectuals and economists of Sindh have termed this as a biased decision and an act of discrimination and victimization against a small province. Immediately after the announcement of the termination decision former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto , Ghulam Mustafa Jattoi, chief of Awami Tahreek Rasool Bux Palijo and Hazar Khan Bijarani termed it a step-motherly treatment to Sindhis and a conspiracy to keep Sindh backward and deprived of investment. They condemned this arbitrary and politically motivated decision and warned that it would have serious repercussions for the integrity of the country. Well informed sources of the media and the technocracy are of the view that WAPDA and pro Kalabagh dam lobby is responsible for this termination decision, this lobby activated itself with a task of not letting the huge reservoirs of the Thar coal to be used in power plant, so that instead of thermal power hydel power gets the priority and ultimately Kalabagh dam appears as a single major possibility for the future energy requirements. For this purpose no allocation was made for Sindh Coal Authority in the budget of 1997-98. Informed sources have rejected the govt's claim of availability of surplus power in the country , on the contrary according to the World Bank Pakistan has to produce 1600 MW each year after 2001 and even nineteen existing projects ( mostly proposed to be set up in Punjab ) including units of CEPA can not fulfil the required power demand of the country. As for as the cost of electricity is concerned CEPA has rebutted the assertion that the electric unit generated by the Ketibander power project would cost Rs 4.5 per unit (11 cents) and has clarified that according to the agreement the company will sell the electric unit at the rate of Rs 2.27 (5.57-6.1 cents) to the Sindh govt. which would cost less than HUBCO and KAPCO plants and even less than the existing rates being charged by the WAPDA from its consumers. It is the cheapest private power rate in the region. The principle of honoring of contractual obligations is also involved in this case . A successor government is not free to cancel a contract signed by its predecessor arbitrarily or on flimsy grounds . The present policy of rejecting everything done by the previous incumbents will send the wrong signals to global investors. In view of the above facts and circumstances Ketibander project has become a subject of controversy between the federal government and the people of Sindh . It is evident that no default was committed by the CEPA and all the statements and arguments of the federal govt regarding Ketibander project are obviously baseless, ill conceived and ineffectual . People of Sindh who have already suffered a lot at the hands of terrorists , feudals and dacoits and who have been crushed by the vested interests , dictatorships, unemployment, inflation and corruption for the last fifty years now rightly demanding to be enabled/ allowed to enter the 21st century with proper provision of basic human rights and means and resources for sustainable economic development. Successful completion of Ketibander project is essential for Sindh as well as for the nation as a whole. We the people of Sindh strongly believe in equality , democracy, human rights and rule of law, and we really want to narrow down the area of disagreement and widen the area of understanding and cooperation between the three small provinces on the one hand and the largest province on the other, but at the same time we oppose vehemently any conspiracy which may deprive Sindhis of their economic and human rights. It is a right time to speak of our problems and our plight. We can not close our eyes to the fact that only an insignificant proportion of our country's inhabitants is enjoying its benefits. The moment has come when development and prosperity should be for all. Everyone must understand that the fate and the future of Pakistan depends upon real solidarity of all peoples of Pakistan based upon equal treatment & opportunity for everyone. For Further Information about Environment, Development, Gender and Human Rights in Sindh, Pakistan and South Asia visit: Sindh Research Page: http://www.angelfire.com/az/Sindh/index.html & Join Sindhorg Email List : sindhorg-owner@egroups.com M Ismail ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Sun May 16 18:29:03 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 21:29:03 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1133] GATT Watchdog on WTO D-G Race Message-ID: <538c9e3w165w@corso.ch.planet.gen.nz> GATT WATCHDOG, PO BOX 1905, CHRISTCHURCH, NZ. PH (03)3662803 MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 16 May 1999 WTO Leadership Race Exposes Deepening Polarisation Over Globalisation "There is a message to be learnt from the acrimony surrounding the unresolved Mike Moore-Supachai Panitchpakdi race for the World Trade Organisation top job that ardent free traders like the New Zealand government ignore at their own peril. It signals a very real sense of marginalisation and frustration among a growing number of countries who question just who gets the goodies from globalisation and makes the rules for world trade," says GATT Watchdog spokesman, Aziz Choudry. "Many developing countries have long been sceptical of the supposed benefits of trade liberalisation and warn that a new negotiating round with new issues will further marginalise them. With the next round of negotiations due to start at the Third WTO Ministerial Meeting in Seattle later this year, there is likely to be pressure from 'developed' nations to expand the GATT/WTO agriculture and intellectual property agreements, introduce issues like competition policy, government procurement, and possibly attempt to resurrect an MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment)-type agreement." "Many countries were told during the GATT Uruguay Round that a brave new world of borderless trade leading to increased prosperity awaited if only they committed themselves to a global free market agenda now advanced by the WTO. Over four years after its birth, and despite its claims to operate by consensus, the WTO maintains the dominance of the most powerful players in the global economy - countries and companies - over the rest." "Look at the USA's track record on trade - one of Mr Moore's strongest backers. It bullies the rest of the world to open up their markets, yet refuses to follow the same economic recipe itself. That is the reality of the WTO - protection for the powerful - market discipline, regardless of the costs, for the rest." "When former WTO Director-General Renato Ruggiero was in New Zealand in 1996 he spoke of a stark choice that countries had to make - globalisation or war. Yet globalisation and the narrow economic dogma that it promotes is contributing to conflicts around the world, from the US-EU banana dispute, to the spread of communal violence in many countries hit by austerity measures and economic liberalisation, to the ongoing conflict in Chiapas, Mexico in the wake of NAFTA. Many of them have their roots in the increasing global economic instability and inequity between and within nations as a result of the acceleration of the globalisation process. Regardless of how much longer it takes to resolve the WTO Director-General position, those tensions will continue to impact on APEC and WTO negotiations." "And that will be a good thing. Maybe then we can let the facts get in the way of a good story for a change and take a long hard look at the poverty of evidence in support of the claims in favour of further economic liberalisation." However, GATT Watchdog stands by its tactical support for Mr Moore's WTO bid, announced last year. "Picture the consternation and confusion among delegates from the 134 member countries listening to simultaneous translations of Mr Moore's descriptions of critics of unrestricted trade and investment as "grumpy geriatric communists.. . a mutant strain of the left who tuck their shirts into their underpants" and "primitives who if they had their way would plunge our nation and the region into chaos and depression". To have such a zealous free trader in the WTO top job could blow the whole thing apart." "The New Zealand Government continues to put itself on the extreme edge of trade and investment liberalisation and blind faith in a free market model which has failed to deliver benefits to any but a small handful, at great human costs." "Instead of pushing for the inclusion of new issues in the upcoming WTO round we need a comprehensive, in-depth review and assessment of the existing agreements and a moratorium on introducing new issues. But the New Zealand government is so besotted with the free market, it does not believe that such assessments are necessary". "Recent correspondence with several ministries about government support for further liberalisation of trade in forest products confirms this view. There has not been any assessment of the likely impacts of such agreements on New Zealand and the region's forests, nor are there any plans to carry one out. Yet the New Zealand government is vigorously pushing to conclude a forest product liberalisation deal." "The heat, tension and acrimony surrounding the WTO leadership race is symptomatic of a much deeper unease at the way in which the organisation operates, and the dubious benefits from the policies it promotes which have failed to trickle down to the majority of the population - globally and here in New Zealand," said Mr Choudry. For further comment: contact Aziz Choudry, GATT Watchdog (03) 3662803 From kevin.li at graduate.hku.hk Wed May 19 18:38:55 1999 From: kevin.li at graduate.hku.hk (Li Yuk Shing Kevin) Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 17:38:55 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1134] Correct URL of CAW Message-ID: <374286AF.CA71AD83@graduate.hku.hk> (Please notice if you are a subscriber of Asian Women Workers' Newletter, a Committee for Asian Women's publication.) Dear folks, There is something wrong with the CAW's URL, which should be http://cawhk.web-page.net OR http://cawhk.home.dhs.org Thanks for your attention! -- Kevin Li Web maintainer for CAW HK From saligan at philonline.com.ph Wed May 19 22:24:00 1999 From: saligan at philonline.com.ph (saligan@philonline.com.ph) Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 22:24:00 +0900 (JST) Subject: [asia-apec 1135] Correct URL of CAW Message-ID: <199905191324.WAA04267@mail.jca.apc.org> (Please notice if you are a subscriber of Asian Women Workers' Newletter, a Committee for Asian Women's publication.) Dear folks, There is something wrong with the CAW's URL, which should be http://cawhk.web-page.net OR http://cawhk.home.dhs.org Thanks for your attention! -- Kevin Li Web maintainer for CAW HK From jaggi at vcn.bc.ca Sun May 23 15:56:49 1999 From: jaggi at vcn.bc.ca (Jaggi Singh) Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 23:56:49 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [asia-apec 1136] Canada and the Global Spy Network Message-ID: [When governments, police and spy agencies talk about "economic intelligence", I think it's more than fair to assume they are also talking about leftist political activists. That is, people who dissent from the economic fundamentalism of governing elites and decide to act on those views. This article may not be all that surprising, but it's still scary. -- J] Canada a key snooper in huge spy network Report says alliance is able to intercept nearly any message Jim Bronskill The Ottawa Citizen Saturday, May 22, 1999 [PHOTO: Canadian Forces Station Leitrim, south of Ottawa, intercepts diplomatic communications and monitors satellites.] Canada belongs to a global spy network capable of snooping on virtually every type of communication, from long-distance phone calls to Internet e-mail, says a newly published study. The detailed report, prepared for the European Parliament, warns that the electronic intelligence agencies of the world's major English-speaking countries increasingly use the information they collect to gain an upper hand on economic rivals. It concludes the surveillance web controlled by the UKUSA alliance -- Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand -- has evolved into a highly advanced network that automatically sifts through the vast bulk of the messages that traverse the globe daily. "Comprehensive systems exist to access, intercept and process every important form of communications, with few exceptions," says the report, by Edinburgh-based researcher Duncan Campbell, a longtime observer of the intelligence world. Canada is represented in the alliance by the Communications Security Establishment, an ultra-secret wing of the Defence Department with headquarters in an Ottawa office building. The report, Interception Capabilities 2000, was approved as a working document by the Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel of the European Parliament at a meeting in Strasbourg, France, earlier this month. Mr. Campbell's study raises thorny questions about the scope of global spy operations and their potential to violate privacy. It is the latest in a string of books and articles in recent years to shine a light on the inner workings of the shadowy UKUSA alliance. Citing numerous sources, Mr. Campbell reveals new information about the ECHELON computer system that helps Canada's CSE and its alliance partners process the mountains of data collected by monitoring satellites, microwave radio relays, undersea cables and the Internet. The heightened scrutiny is a welcome development, said Wayne Madsen, a senior fellow with the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center. "I think everyone should be asking questions about their intelligence agencies," he said. "Why do they exist, and what are they doing? The more people that ask questions the better." The UKUSA partnership emerged out of co-operation between members during the Second World War, when signals intelligence, or SIGINT in spy parlance, proved instrumental in helping the Allies triumph. For decades the alliance's primary purpose was to monitor the military and diplomatic communications of the Soviet Union and its East Bloc allies. But the Cold War's end has seen a shift towards collection of information about terrorism, organized crime and, on a more controversial note, an increasing flow of data on economic dealings and scientific developments. "There is wide-ranging evidence indicating that major governments are routinely utilizing communications intelligence to provide commercial advantage to companies and trade," says Mr. Campbell's report. The findings come as no surprise to Fred Stock, who says he was forced out of CSE in 1993 after objecting to the agency's new emphasis on economic intelligence and civilian targets. Mr. Stock, who worked in CSE's Communications Centre in Ottawa, recalls incoming message traffic on dealings with Mexico, France, Germany, Japan and South Korea. The intercepted information covered negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement, Chinese grain purchases, French arms sales and Canada's boundary dispute with France over the islands of St-Pierre-Miquelon off Newfoundland's south coast. "To me, we shouldn't have been doing that." Mr. Stock also maintains the agency routinely received intelligence about environmental protest actions mounted by Greenpeace vessels on the high seas. Other former CSE employees have told similar stories of economic and political spying. As a matter of policy, the agency refuses to discuss allegations about operations. However, the federal government acknowledges that CSE, supported by Canadian Forces personnel, collects and analyzes foreign communications. "Signals intelligence provides unique and timely information on the intentions, capabilities and activities of foreign states, organizations or persons," says the defence department. "This intelligence is used by policy makers to resolve issues relating to the defence of Canada, or the conduct of its foreign affairs and trade." CSE regularly provides information and analysis to national defence headquarters, foreign affairs and international trade and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the country's domestic spy agency, among other federal organizations. The government says CSE employs about 890, and has an annual budget of $110 million. Some consider the figures low, particularly since the agency draws on the personnel and regional intercept facilities of the Canadian Forces. CSE works closely with the National Security Agency, its much larger U.S. cousin. NSA, the lead American SIGINT organization, has a staff of 21,000 and a $3.6-billion budget, making it the undisputed senior partner of the alliance. The extent and nature of the co-operation between the UKUSA partners through the ECHELON system was first detailed in the 1996 book Secret Power, by New Zealander Nicky Hager. ECHELON has raised eyebrows among civil libertarians because it operates on the principle of intercepting a broad range of communications, then using high-tech tools to zero in on the phone calls, faxes or e-mails of interest. The system employs "Dictionary" computers in each host country that store lists of targets, including names, telephone numbers, addresses and subjects of interest to alliance members. According to Hager, whenever a ''Dictionary'' encounters an intercepted phone call, fax, e-mail or other message containing a key word or number, it automatically transmits it to the interested member agency. An intelligence analyst in Ottawa, for instance, could log on to a computer terminal and scan the latest batch of intercepts in a particular category, such as Japanese diplomatic cables from Latin America, identified by a four-digit code. The intrusiveness of the ECHELON system scares former CSE employee Mike Frost. He says the fact the vast majority of intercepted messages are discarded provides little comfort. Mr. Frost compares the electronic sifting of personal messages to a burglar who breaks into a home and rifles through possessions without stealing anything. "Would you still not feel violated? Of course." CSE spokesman Kevin Mills dismisses as ridiculous the notion the agency intercepts virtually all communications. "That's what I call the vacuum cleaner mythology." However, Mr. Mills limits his assessment to CSE. "I don't have enough insight as to what the other partners are doing, and how they're expending their resources and funds, to really make an informed comment." CSE, like other alliance members, is not supposed to target the communications of Canadians. In addition, it is believed the alliance members generally refrain from targeting each other's citizens. But recent revelations about the alliance's scope, particularly the ECHELON system, has caused an uproar in Europe, where many countries see the partnership -- despite Britain's participation -- as an American-led assault on the continent's economic sovereignty. "If this system were to exist, it would be an intolerable attack against individual liberties, competition and the security of the states," Commissioner Martin Bangeman told the European Parliament last September. In his report, Mr. Campbell says ECHELON has been in use for more than 20 years, much longer than previously believed. It was greatly expanded between 1975 and 1995. Based on a simple count of antennae installed at ground stations, Mr. Campbell figures the UKUSA partners operate at least 120 satellite-based collection systems. For instance, Canadian Forces Station Leitrim, near Ottawa, intercepts communications satellites on behalf of CSE. Still, the alliance faces challenges. The shift in telecommunications to high-capacity optical fibre networks will make tapping more difficult since physical access to the cables is required. As a result, Mr. Campbell predicts greater use of undercover agents to plant collection devices in the future. (The U.S. has long used submarine crews to tap undersea cables). At the same time, more people are encrypting their communications so they can't be easily deciphered if intercepted. Still, effective cryptography is not yet in use on a large scale. The falling cost of advanced computers has also enabled agencies to make use of high-tech tools for processing and sorting data. Mr. Campbell rejects the argument that the dramatic growth of the Internet poses a significant obstacle for intelligence agencies. "Since the early 1990s, fast and sophisticated (communications intelligence) systems have been developed to collect, filter and analyze the forms of fast digital communications used by the Internet." Since most of the world's Internet capacity lies within the U.S., much of the traffic on the network passes through sites there, making it readily accessible to NSA. "Internet traffic can be accessed either from international communications links entering the United States, or when it reaches major Internet exchanges." NSA is restricted to looking at Internet messages that begin or end in a foreign country. Still, Mr. Madsen, who worked briefly for NSA in 1985, said the alliance pools efforts to monitor the e-mail of political and social lobby groups of interest. Several former CSE employees, including Mr. Stock and Mr. Frost, claim the agency has spied on Canadians. CSE allegedly helped mount an eavesdropping operation during the 1990 Oka crisis and tried to determine whether Margaret Trudeau, while wife of then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau, was using illegal drugs. The persistent charges prompted the Liberal government to appoint a commissioner, former Quebec judge Claude Bisson, to determine whether CSE was complying with Canadian law. Mr. Bisson, however, does not look into events that predate his June 1996 appointment, nor can he respond directly to members of the public who complain about the agency. Mr. Frost, whose 1994 book Spyworld detailed his covert exploits for CSE, said the agency requires greater independent scrutiny. He also cautions that the imperfect world of communications interception can produce misleading results -- something that's often lost on politicians. "When they see intelligence on their desk, they take it as gospel. It may not be," said Mr. Frost. "That's a frightening thing." [end] From fod346 at hotmail.com Mon May 24 12:15:33 1999 From: fod346 at hotmail.com (winner white) Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 12:15:33 PKT Subject: [asia-apec 1137] Water shortage in Sindh & its effects on economy & environment Message-ID: <19990524071543.9326.qmail@hotmail.com> Water shortage in Sindh & its effects on economy & environment As the world prepares for the new millennium, most governments are trying to reduce the level of poverty and achieve food security. At this very moment people of Sindh are trying to get basic human rights. A right for fresh drinking water. According to World Health Organisation, the concentration of major mineral elements in fresh water stays between 150-500 PPM, and every government is responsible to provide safe-fresh water to their citizens. However, in Pakistan, Water &Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has reduced the water share of Sindh Province and people are getting water for drinking, having 1500- 4000-PPM mineral concentration. This is all happening at the summer time, when maximum temperature ranges between 40 to 48 Celsius. People of Sindh are not asking for jobs, higher wages or better working environment. They are trying to meet very basic human needs. In Sindh River Indus water is used for four purposes: 1- Water for drinking. 2- Water for Agricultural and industrial use. 3- Water for fishing and boating. 4- Water for sustaining ecological balance. After the construction of Mangla and Tarbella dams the distribution and shortage of water depends on WAPDA's will that how much water be released from the dams. This year, irrigation experts have forecasted a severe shortage of water in Sindh due to following three reasons: 1. Decline in water reserves of Tarbella dam. 2. Extra water is conserved in Mangla Dam ( Mangla dam's water is only allocated for Punjab Province) 3. Lack of rainfall in early spring in northern-areas of Pakistan. This year in April, Sindh has received 20 percent less water at Sukhur Barrage and 50 percent less water at Kotri Barrage. These water shortages are going to become more serious in the month of May and June. Because Sindh has water right only on Tarbella dam, where there is no more water available for drinking or irrigation purposes. This situation is direct result of releasing 30 percent additional water in TP, CJ and Tunsa Link Canals of Punjab. These water shortages are going to cause RS 250 million (RS 46= 1US$) losses in agriculture sector of Sindh. Because in Sindh, this is a time for sowing of Cotton crop, and instead of 1.5 million acres only 0.9 acres will be cultivated. Similarly rice plantation is due now and delay of each day will destroy the young germinated plants. Although sugar cane was sown a month ago, now it should be watered, otherwise its growth will be affected. In Sindh, about 10 million heads of livestock are present at both banks of river Indus. These animals are going to face severe disease problem of liver fluke and round worms. Therefore 20 to 30 percent production losses will occur in adult animals and 5 to 10 percent additional mortality in young animals. At present there is absolutely no water in river Indus between Kotri barrage and Sujawal. Therefore fishermen communities have lost their jobs. A week ago we interviewed 100 people from fishermen community only two people had the alternate jobs and 98 people were jobless. Although economical losses are important; the shortage of water is going to cause major outbreaks of water born diseases in rural and urban areas of Sindh, because people are forced to drink contaminated water from ponds in rural areas and same water will be supplied to urban areas. Now days local newspapers are full of stories about outbreaks of gasrto-enteritis and hepatitis "A", and according to Daily Kawish (6.5.99) in one-day 11 children have died in Hyderabad City and 4 Children in Daro district of Thatta. Economical and other pressures are so high on the people of Sindh that they have stopped thinking about their surrounding environment. Otherwise it not only pity that river Indus look like a road in the Thar Desert, but this situation also has great impact on the down stream environment of Sindh. Many people think that WAPDA authorities are trying to punish peoples of Sindh, due to their opposition on construction of Kalabagh Dam. WAPDA is not following 1991 Water Accord between the provinces of Pakistan. They deliberately released water from Tarbella dam to those Canals of Punjab, which are only entitled for water when it is in excess. Dr Aslam Pervez Pakistan Network of Rivers, Dams & People Sindh (PNRDP) has taken strong notice of the conditions of famine which are being created in Sindh through artificial shortage of water, under the grab of so-called Water Accord and Punjab's dictatorial and totalitarian attitude for turning Sindh into Arid and Desert. This year in April, Sindh has received 20 percent less water at Sukhur Barrage and 50 percent less water at Kotri Barrage. These water shortages are going to become more serious in the month of May and June. Because Sindh has water right only on Tarbella dam, where there is no more water available for drinking or irrigation purposes. This situation is direct result of releasing 30 percent additional water in TP, CJ and Tunsa Link Canals of Punjab. These water shortages are going to cause RS 250 million (RS 46= 1US$) losses in agriculture sector of Sindh. Because in Sindh, this is a time for sowing of Cotton crop, and instead of 1.5 million acres only 0.9 acres will be cultivated. Similarly rice plantation is due now and delay of each day will destroy the young germinated plants. Although sugar cane was sown a month ago, now it should be watered, otherwise its growth will be affected. PNRDP and the people of Sindh demand that an end be put to misuse and excessive use of Tarbella and Indus's water by Punjab irrigation department and the so-called Water Accord be cancelled and the right to use water of Indus River, be entrusted to Sindhis and Sindh be given water share according to the 1945 Water Accord. PNRDP believes that this artificial shortage is created to justify the construction of Kalabagh Dam. Ayaz Latif Palijo Sindh Research Council-SRC PNRDP For Further Information about Environment, Development, Media, Gender and Human Rights in Sindh, Pakistan and South Asia visit: Sindh Research Page: http://www.angelfire.com/az/Sindh/index.html & Join Sindhorg Email List : sindhorg-owner@egroups.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From rreid at actrix.gen.nz Wed May 26 14:43:55 1999 From: rreid at actrix.gen.nz (Robert Reid) Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 17:43:55 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1138] Fw: International Announcement: 1999 Women's Conference Against APEC Message-ID: <199905260601.SAA26773@mail.actrix.gen.nz> URGENT URGENT URGENT URGENT URGENT INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT Dear Asia Pacific Sisters Please find below the programme for the forthcoming 1999 Women's Conference Against APEC. It is being held immediately prior to the official APEC Women's Leaders Meeting in Wellington. You will be aware that rather than organising a big international conference at the time of the APEC Leaders meeting in Auckland New Zealand in September of this year, the New Zealand Aotearoa / NZ APEC Monitoring Group is organising a year of activity against APEC which will be more focussed on the New Zealand population. We have already organised highly successful events in February and April at the time of the APEC Senior Officials meetings in Wellington and Christchurch. The official APEC Women's Leaders Conference in June 1999 provides us with a further opportunity to confront the patriarchal and neo-liberal agenda of the APEC process. We have been in consultation with the organisers of the Kuala Lumpur Women's Conference Against APEC to ensure that the Wellington Conference continues the tradition of the previous Anti-APEC Women's Conferences. Eliza Tita Lubi from GABRIELLA has been nominated from APWLD to be our key-note speaker and provide the link from the previous conference. Our conference will be mainly aimed at New Zealand Women to help build up the opposition to APEC in this country. However we welcome any woman form the Asia Pacific who may wish to participate in our Conference. Please note: WE HAVE NO FUNDS TO PAY FOR ANY AIR TICKETS FOR WOMEN WHO MAY WISH TO COME. YOU WILL HAVE TO FIND YOUR OWN SPONSORSHIP. However we will be able to provide home-stays and waive the registration fee for any international sister that wishes to come. Please find below the programme for the Conference. Please contact us if you require any further information or return the registration form if you are able to come. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEWARE THE MISS-LEADERS: 1999 Women's Conference Against APEC ("If equality means entitlement to an equal share of the profits of economic tyranny it is irreconcilable with liberation. Freedom in an unfree world is merely licence to exploit. Lip service to feminism in the developed nations is a handy disguise for the masculinization of power and the feminization of poverty in the emerging nations". Germaine Greer 1999) This year New Zealand hosts APEC. APEC stands for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation or in our view A Patriarchal Exploiters Club. The choice APEC gives women is to either share in the profits of economic tyranny or drown in the poverty it creates. The official APEC Women Leaders Network Meeting planned for Wellington, 20-23 June 1999 attempts to seduce women to the former; after all who would willingly choose the latter? But we believe APEC should be destroyed not feminised. APEC is anti-women; anti-people, it epitomises the values of capitalism, patriarchy, greed and oppression. It stands for everything that feminism stands against. APEC supports the agenda of big business to make profits at any cost. It is part of the international network of treaties, forums, and institutions that seek to subjugate the many for the enrichment of the few. The Miss-Leaders say that it is time for women from the APEC economies to get together. However women have been doing that for the last three years ? Manila, Vancouver and Kuala Lumpur. What's more these women have not been meeting in order to prostitute themselves to the APEC agenda. They have been meeting to expose and resist this agenda and to build sisterhood and solidarity throughout the Asia-Pacific. Programme Saturday and Sunday 19-20 June 1999 Venue: Law School, Old Government Buildings Lambton Quay Wellington NEW ZEALAND PROGRAMME Saturday 9.00am Plenary The First Voices: APEC, Maori and the 2nd Colonisation Leonie Pihama, Mereana Pitman, Tanja Shutz, Tere Harrison (others to be confirmed) The Women's Struggle Against APEC An international perspective by Eliza Tita Lubi, from GABRIELA, Philippines, 3rd Women's Conference Against APEC And we all live happily ever after ? Fairytales from the Global Market Place Anne Else Lunch Concurrent Thematic Sessions 1: APEC & Women Workers Overview ? Rubina Jamil Working Women's Organisation, Pakistan Contracting: Security of Employment Homecare: Gender Issues & the value of work Annie Newman and Luci Highfield Garment Workers: The high cost of fashion Maxine Gay DPB Workers: Political attacks and the Poverty Trap Caroline Hatt and Celia Briar 2: APEC, Food and Health Overview ? Christine Dann (To be confirmed) GM Food: Consumer choice or corporate voice Sue Kedgley Health: Corporate colonisation of public health (Speaker to be confirmed) 3: APEC and Education Commercialisation and Privatisation Macdegrees versus the public good Jane Kelsey Fees/Allowances and Student Debt Tanja Shutz and Christina Rizos Secondary School Students as Workers Tali Williams Workshops Exploration of issues arising from the themes (1-3) Suggested solutions A resolution Nibbles and networking SUNDAY Plenary Current Concerns for New Zealand Women And how Left feminism marks out the road forward at the intersection of class and gender Linda Hill 10.00 Workshops Rebuilding the feminist movement Strategies for dealing with the Miss-leaders Building sisterhood internationally Others 12.00 Lunch 12.45 Plenary Report back from workshops (day 1 & 2) Practical discussion on how to progress themes of the conference Presentation of Conference Resolutions and Statement Jane Kelsey and Tita Lubi Adoption of Conference Resolutions and Statements Final Speech Close ORGANISERS: The Conference is sponsored by the APEC Monitoring Group. The Organising Committee members are: Leigh Cookson, Bronwyn Cross, Maxine Gay, Tere Harrison, Caroline Hatt, Prue Hyman, Tanja Shutz, Luci Highfield, Jane Kelsey, Annie Newman, Christina Rizos, Gillian Southey, Tali Williams APEC MONITORING GROUP Since the 1994 APEC Summit in Indonesia, the APEC Monitoring Group has been involved with ongoing research, education and media work on the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and the implications of its agenda for Aotearoa and other APEC member countries. Members of the Monitoring Group have attended alternative meetings on APEC in Jakarta (1994), Osaka/Kyoto (1995), Manila (1996), Vancouver (1997) and Kuala Lumpur (1998) as well as monitoring the official APEC meetings themselves and their impact on the cities that have hosted the events. The APEC Monitoring Group is a member of the GATT Watchdog coalition and works closely with Corso and the Trade Union Federation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- REGISTRATION FORM Name . Address . . Phone: Fax: E-mail: PLEASE indicate the theme that you are primarily interested in: ____ Women workers ____ Food and Health ____ Education Do you require home stay? Yes/No Arrival date, time and flight number:___________________________________ Departure date, time and flight number: ________________________________ Please send to: Conference Organising Group Box 50 216 Porirua Fax: 64-4-237 8157 E-mail: clothing.union@clear.net.nz (By June 10th 1999) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maxine Gay Secretary Clothing & Laundry Workers Union PO Box 50216 Porirua NEW ZEALAND Tel: 64 4 237 5062 Fax:64 4 237 8157 Mobile: 025 2769 225 From fod346 at hotmail.com Fri May 28 19:18:29 1999 From: fod346 at hotmail.com (winner white) Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 19:18:29 PKT Subject: [asia-apec 1139] Cyclone victims of Sindh- Appeal to Intern. Agencies for help Message-ID: <19990528141837.33060.qmail@hotmail.com> Dear Friends, A tropical storm in the northern Arabian Sea developed into a cyclone which reached the south-eastern coast of Pakistan 10:00 AM local time on May 20. The cyclone, labeled 2-A, hit the coastal area of Sindh province with reported winds of up to 170 miles per hour (270 kms per hour). The cyclone caused massive destruction in three districts, damaging at least 50,000 houses in more than 600 villages. The number of dead had reached 300 on Friday 28, but it is feared the death toll will climb substantially as more bodies are recovered. It is estimated that as many as 500,000 people have been affected by the cyclone, but these figures are still unconfirmed due to the inaccessibility of the affected region. Communication with much of the area is still cut off and travel is difficult due to the flooding and damage caused to the infrastructure. Please come to the aid of victims of recent cyclone in Sindh. So far, We have had mixed results from our contacts with several international aid/charitable organizations to convince them to take pro-active steps. The organizations that friends have already contacted include American Red Cross (International Relief Efforts), Directory Leaf International, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and United way (International). I will be contacting others in the next few days. The following is a synopsis of the information/results obtained from these contacts: 1. Most international organizations are not taking any actions since the Pakistan government has not invited/appealed to international agencies to come to the aid of victims. 2. OCHA has issued an appeal for funding from UN and issued a detailed report (parts of the report are attached below). 3. An official at the American Red Cross (International Relief Efforts) has promised to issue an appeal to Americans for donations and information on how to channel donations through Red Cross. Please donate few minutes of your time to contact the international aid agencies and urge them to help victims in Sindh. The Disaster More than 10 percent of the Sindh province was affected by the cyclone. In the worst hit districts of Thatta, Badin and Ketty Bandar, near the Indian border, at least 600 villages were damaged. The coastal towns of Jati, Sujawal, Mirpur Sakro and Raj Malik were also badly affected. People drowned or were crushed to death as their houses collapsed in the strong winds and tidal waves. At least 60,000 hectares of farmland has been seriously damaged and more than 2,000 livestock killed. More than 1,200 people are still missing, but once again, the numbers are not confirmed and may be substantially higher. Among those missing are approximately 450 fishermen, and according to the Pakistani Fisherman? Association some 200 fishing boats and trawlers have been swept out to sea. Assessment of needs Immediate Needs Shelter Material : Tents and plastic sheeting for emergency shelter; Food packs: Family food stocks have been swept away or spoiled by the sea water. Markets and shops have also lost their stocks, causing a very severe shortage of food in the area. The immediate needs include rice, beans/lentils, cooking oil, sugar, tea, salt and powdered milk; Water: Wells have been submerged or have collapsed. There is a real danger of the spread of disease, and water purification tablets and tankers supplying fresh potable water are already being supplied; Domestic needs: Families in need will be supplied with clothing, cooking utensils, stoves, water containers, hurricane lamps, blankets, bed sheets, ground and plastic sheets; Medicines: A number of medical items are needed to ensure that water born diseases and other health problems are avoided in the area. Anticipated Future needs In general the people in the area are either involved in fishing or small scale farming. The assessment of rehabilitation needs for these families is still being conducted, but there will need to be a distribution of agricultural tools, seeds, fertilizers, building tools for reconstruction and fishing equipment in order to assist the most vulnerable families in rebuilding their lives. Estimates of these needs, which are not covered in this appeal, are in excess of 9 million CHF. The immediate needs are as follows: Tents for 2,500 families; Food for 25,000 people for one month; Domestic needs for 5,000 families; Medicines for 25,000 people; Basic building tools including buckets, wheel barrows, corrugated iron sheets, picks and shovels;Procurement All procurements will be carried out locally in Pakistan. The operation will be completed within three months (assuming timely and adequate funding).Budget summary see Annex 1 for details. Conclusion This appeal is intended to provide targeted support to the most vulnerable person affected by this disaster. The most urgent need is for immediate financial support to enable us to continue with the current immediate relief and rehabilitation activities. ANNEX 1 NON FOOD ITEMS Tents (2.500 units x CHF 160) 400,000 Building tool 120,000 Domestic needs (clothing/blankets/cooking sets/ stoves/water containers/lamps/plastic sheeting) 240,000 FOOD ITEMS Food parcels (25.000 units x CHF 12,8)(rice, beans, lentils, cooking oil, sugar, tea, salt, milk) 320,000 MEDICAL ITEMS 160,000 Basic drugs / water purification tablet TOTAL RELIEF NEEDS 1,240,000 Transport, storage & vehicle costs 80,000 Personnel Personnel (1 expat staff x 3 months, RD support) 50,000 Personnel (NS local staff)25,000 Administrative, office & general expenses 60,000 Travel & Communication 10,000 Monitoring/Survey mission/Evaluation 5,000 Printing Costs/Information 11,000 Secretariat operational support 59,000 TOTAL OPERATIONAL NEEDS 300,000 TOTAL APPEAL CASH & KIND 1,540,000 NET REQUEST CASH & KIND 1,540,000 All items are going to be purchased locally, quantities of relief supplies will be indicated in the confirmed budget. Khalid Hashmani Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) KHashmani@aol.com Abid Shah oxfamsnd@hyd.compol.com Ayaz Latif Palijo Sindh Research Council (SRC) LEAD Cohort 7 Pakistan Addr: B-48, Prince Town, (QA), Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan. Phone: 92 - 221 - 651947, 651725 Email : ayazl@paknet3.ptc.pk, src_st@hyd.netasia.com.pk, fsr5st@hotmail.com Sindh Research: http://www.angelfire.com/az/Sindh/index.html Forwarded by M Ismail ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From magbubukid at hotmail.com Sat May 29 19:59:21 1999 From: magbubukid at hotmail.com (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas) Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 03:59:21 PDT Subject: [asia-apec 1140] Philippine peasants protest US embassy, IMF role in trade lib Message-ID: <19990529105925.35510.qmail@hotmail.com> Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) PEASANT MOVEMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES No. 69 Maayusin St. cor. Malambing, UP Village, Quezon City e-mail: magbubukid@hotmail.com NEWS RELEASE 18 May 1999 For immediate release Peasants hit IMF diktat behind Erap's trade lib MILITANT peasant organizations exposed the collusion between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the US government in getting the Philippine government to totally liberalize rice imports. Yesterday, Estrada committed to the IMF a pledge to tie domestic rice supplies to liberalized importation by private firms as part of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Program (MEFP) and a two-year standby loan facility. Rafael Mariano, chairman of the Kilusang Magbububukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said that Estrada allowed this after the US ambassador to the Philippines Thomas Hubbard bombarded government agencies with speeches and press advisories that dwelled on diminishing the social responsibility of the National Food Authority which is to keep rice prices and supplies stable. Under the MEFP, quantitative restrictions (QRs) will be abolished and grain imports will now be charged with tariffs three years even before the country's deadline to the World Trade Organization (WTO). "Yet even under QRs Malacaqang made the NFA import 2.8 million metric tons of rice or 25% of our rice consumption. After succeeding in making NFA's half-hearted state monopoly trading look a lot worse than it really is, private monopolies can flood the market with 100% importations under the new regime of tariffication, killing off local grains farmers." The US$1.4 billion standy loan facility also compels the Philippine government to later on import other agricultural products under the minimum access volume commitment to the WTO even if Filipino consumers have no use for those surpluses. The reengineered NFA can then squander taxpayers' money and more foreign loans to pay for these useless imports when private importers ignore incoming gluts. The KMP condemned the conspiracy and demanded the scrapping of trade liberalization. The group said only the implementation of genuine land reform and national industrialization can assure food self-sufficiency. Mariano also bared that instead of buying up the glut of corn harvests in Mindanao with a respectable support price, the NFA just left them to rot and allowed itself to import 350,000 metric tons of corn and corn substitutes. The eventual shifting of the NFA to a mere monitoring agency started since Estrada took the already controversy-ridden agency away from the Department of Agriculture supposedly to make it efficient. Malacaqang commandeered the agency to make suicidal moves that angered consumers and farmers and invited a pending demolition job by Congress. Private traders cannot replace the state trading network in assuring distribution of grains, since they are under no legal obligation to deliver rice to poor areas, but only to places where consumers can pay for the product. Mariano said that Hubbard's announcement of an additional $10 million commodity loan from the US government on top of a similar amount originally alloted for 1999 was part of the choreography to make the bitter IMF pill palatable to the public. "This is plain and pure intervention of foreign monopoly capital and its political representatives into the domestic affairs of our country, and an act of hostility against Filipino peasants and fisherfolk," Mariano said. The peasant movement debunked the illusion that loan provided under US Public Law 480 and Section 10 of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act as an aid to Filipino farmers. Last year, $10 million worth of soybean meal entered the country and being a corn substitute drove hundreds of thousands of peasants in Mindanao into bankruptcy. This year, 216,000 tons of wheat will be dumped and sold to local flour millers to ease an oversupply in the US. "It is clear that the AFMA which incoming DA secretary Edgardo Angara crafted into law will not help farmers but only fatten corporate agriculture in industrialized countries. # # # ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From ppc at philonline.com Sun May 30 04:29:31 1999 From: ppc at philonline.com (ppc@philonline.com) Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 04:29:31 +0900 (JST) Subject: [asia-apec 1141] announcing new address Message-ID: <199905291929.EAA04519@mail.jca.apc.org> dear everyone, pls. disregard the previous notice re my new address. starting june 1, pls. use pilc@skyinet.net. yours, cpa From rob at essential.org Mon May 31 03:18:10 1999 From: rob at essential.org (Robert Weissman) Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 14:18:10 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [asia-apec 1142] LISTSERVE ANNOUNCEMENT: STOP-IMF Message-ID: ** LISTSERVE ANNOUNCEMENT ** ** STOP-IMF@ESSENTIAL.ORG ** Stop-imf@essential.org is an open, moderated listserve which posts newsclips, reports, news releases, updates, urgent actions and analyses on topics relating to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Third World debt. It is not a discussion list. Traffic ranges from zero to five messages a day, averaging approximately two a day. The list is maintained by Essential Action. To subscribe to stop-imf, send a message to listproc@essential.org with the text: subscribe stop-imf Robert Weissman Essential Information | Internet: rob@essential.org