[alternet-l] AlterNet #48

Thu Oct 19 18:04:09 BST 2000

THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 48

This issue:
HOT SITES/
PRAGUE LEGAL UPDATE/
SURVEILLANCE TREATY/
ISRAEL-PALESTINE/
MEDICS ATTACKED/
LIFE OR OIL?/
CLIMATE CHANGE/
QUOTE/UNQUOTE/
DIARY/

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preferred. 
Back issues are on-line at: 
---> http://www.gn.apc.org/activities/alternet

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HOT SITES

Greenpeace have launched an on-line guide to help shoppers get beyond the
hype and find out whether the food in their shopping basket really is
GM-free. The guide covers a wide range of food including top brands and
supermarket own brands.
---> http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/gm.htm

Amnesty International launched the International Campaign Against Torture
on October 18th 2000. You can help individuals whom Amnesty International
fear are at risk of torture. 
---> http://www.stoptorture.org

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PRAGUE LEGAL UPDATE

The Czech Ministry of Interior claims that some prisoners have signed
documents stating that they do not want to be contacted, but there is
evidence that these documents have been signed after extreme physical and
psychological abuse.

Human rights abuses are being investigated by numerous organizations and at
least two cases against the police have been filed. There are 20 people
still in prison, with more missing, possibly in jail. The last report from
the jails stated that many prisoners are still experiencing physical abuse;
especially mistreated are those from Eastern and Central European countries.

If you have any information on the arrests in Prague, please e-mail the
Legal Support group: praguelegalsupport at purpleturtle.com

More:
--> http://www.ackerj.clara.net/overview.htm

For background see AlterNet #47:
--> http://www.gn.apc.org/activities/alternet/047%2006-10-00.html

The Undercurrents Prague IMF Shutdown video is available on-line:
--> http://www.undercurrents.org

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SURVEILLANCE TREATY

Civil liberties groups claim that a proposed treaty to grant more
surveillance powers to U.S. and European police threatens Internet freedom.
A joint letter written to the Council of Europe says that the treaty poses
"a significant risk to the privacy and human rights of Internet users".
Signatories to the letter include Liberty (UK), Privacy International (UK),
Human Rights Network (Russia), the LINK Center (Africa), IRIS (France), the
Electronic Frontier Foundation (US), and the Canadian Journalists for Free
Expression.

Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said: "It's a
direct assault on legal protections and constitutional protections that
have been established by national governments to protect their citizens".

--> http://216.110.36.217/article.pl?sid=00/10/17/1622228mode=nested

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ISRAEL-PALESTINE

Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) is an
Israeli-Palestinian public policy think-tank working to advance peace between
Israel and Palestine.

IPCRI has been involved in organizing meetings between Israeli and
Palestinian politicians to keep channels of communication open. Reports
from IPCRI suggest that it is very unlikely that the Sharm el Sheikh
declaration will be implemented, as it is extremely unpopular on the
Palestinian streets where most people believe that they have paid a high
price for a small return.

Gershon Baskin of IPCRI writes:
"It seems to me that there will not be a complete reduction of violence and
that the potential for terror is very high.  There will most likely be new
elections in Israel, and a very weakened Barak has little chance of winning...
Israel is likely to take unilateral steps towards forced separation, while
the Palestinians will take unilateral steps towards sovereignty and
statehood. The two sides will try to find a modus vivendi of regulating
varying levels of violence between them."

--> http://www.ipcri.org/

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MEDICS ATTACKED

War On Want claim that Israeli soldiers have attacked medical staff. They
cite a report by the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights
and the Environment which highlights the use of high velocity bullets,
'dum-dum' bullets, automatic 500mm guns and sniper rifles. The report
alleges that paramedics have been killed whilst attempting to treat injured
civilians. The paramedics were "clearly dressed in internationally
recognized uniforms and gave clear signs of their functions to Israeli
soldiers".

A lecturer at Ben-Gurion University in Israel said:

"Over three thousand more have been wounded, forty percent of them
children. Even during the most lethal period of the Intifada the human toll
was much lower, suggesting that Israel's open-fire regulations have
changed... it seems that Israeli snipers are shooting to kill."

http://www.waronwant.org/palestine/palestinef.htm

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LIFE OR OIL?

Whilst British motorists protest about fuel costs, the tribal peoples of
Siberia are paying, sometimes with their lives, for the oil industry
blight. Their lands are destroyed, their reindeer are killed and many are
driven to suicide. 

Oil companies often deceive them, telling them they don't have any rights
to stop them drilling on their land. Occasionally the tribes sign an
agreement allowing access to their land in return for compensation, such as
a boat engine and some rations. However, once their land has been
destroyed, the oil companies invariably fail to give what they promised. 

Survival campaign for the rights of the tribal peoples of Siberia.
Survival's Director, Stephen Corry, said, 'While British motorists complain
about the price of petrol, the exploitation of oil is a matter of life or
death to many Khanty people. If people here knew the true costs to the
Khanty people of the petrol they put in their cars, they would put more
energy  into campaigning for a fairer deal for Siberia's tribes.'

--> http://www.survival-international.org/index2.htm

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CLIMATE CHANGE

COP 6, where world leaders negotiate about the Kyoto treaty to stop climate
change, will be held in the Netherlands in November. But progress so far is
poor. Canada, the United States and Australia still refuse to ratify the
agreement, even though they agreed in principle. Meanwhile, research by
Ecofys (Netherlands) and the Frauhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation
Research (Germany) reveals that six EU countries are unlikely reach their
carbon dioxide reduction targets. 

"Climate change is a reality, policies to combat it are not" said Stephan
Singer, Head of WWF's European Energy and Climate Unit. "The targets agreed
by European countries were not ambitious, but many European Governments
seem set to fail to achieve even their timid targets. We urgently need
strong policies, backed up by adequate funding, to tackle global warming." 

--> http://www.climatevoice.org

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QUOTE/UNQUOTE

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and
we miss it. But that it is too low...and we reach it."

Michelangelo, 1475-1564

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DIARY DATES:

Reclaim the Streets: 020 7281 4621; rts at gn.apc.org 
LONDON MEETING EVERY TUESDAY 7pm - Cock Tavern pub, Phoenix Road, 
London;

OCTOBER

21: 'The Peace Experience'. An afternoon seminar to explore and 
experience peace. 2.30 - 5.00 pm, Main Lecture Theatre, University of 
Northumbria.

24: 'Living Without Violence' : Event for UN Day/Year for a Culture of 
Peace. 9.30-12.30; Cowgate Leisure Centre, Harehills Avenue, Newcastle.

October 29-November 3: 
'Soul at Work: at the Edge Of Chaos & Complexity'. Roger Lewin & Birute
Regine.
Further details: schumcoll at gn.apc.org
--> http://www.gn.apc.org/schumachercollege/ 

NOVEMBER 

1 Fox Hunt Season begins. Hunt Sab Association 01273 622827

4 National Assembly Against Racism. 12 Noon at the Home Office, 50 Queen
Anne's Gate (nearest tube: St James's Park)
Speakers include:
Ladislav Balaz (Europe Roma), Jeremy Hardy (writer), Evan Harris MP, John
McDonnell MP, Lee Jasper (National Assembly Against Racism), Fazil Kawani
(Refugee Council), Wilf Sullivan (UNISON).
Info. tel: 020 7247 9907

5-24: 'Nature & Society: The Deep Ecology Movement'.
Stephan Harding, George Sessions & Max Oelschlaeger 
Further details: schumcoll at gn.apc.org 
--> http://www.gn.apc.org/schumachercollege/

10 Actions against Shell on 5th Anniversary of "judicial murder" of
Ken Saro Wira and 8 other Ogoni activists.
E-mail: mosopgb at aol.com

25 International No Shop Day

More Diary Dates on GreenNet:

http://webboard.gn.apc.org:8086/default

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