[alternet-l] THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 90

[Joanne Doyle]

THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 90

This issue:

HOT SITES/
APC STATEMENT/
ELECTROHIPPIE ACTION/
MEDIA MONITORING/
GREEN RIGHTS/
THIRD WORLD ORIGINS/
EVERYONE COUNTS/
ROMA STERILISATION/
US EXEMPTION?/
VIRTUAL EXHIBITION/
CONTENT FILTERING/
QUOTE/UNQUOTE/
JOBS/
DIARY/

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HOT SITES

"I am proud to be a pacifist, that is to make it my life's work to
struggle for justice and peace through non-violent means." From a GreenNet 
user
whose peace work website is now online.
The English version is at:
--> http://eireni.gn.apc.org/CVENPX.HTM
... and the Greek version at:
--> http://eireni.gn.apc.org/CVGRPX.HTM

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APC STATEMENT - ENDORSED BY GREENNET

APC opposes actions against the online presence of Al-Jazeera. The Internet
must be allowed to freely perform its unique and vital role as a promoter
of "freedom of expression" and content diversity, especially in times of
conflict.

APC opposes censorship on the Internet and states in its Internet Rights
Charter that "the Internet must be protected from all attempts to censor
social and political debate". The Internet Rights Charter argues that "the
Internet is an ideal space for the recording and promotion of culturally
and politically diverse content".

This is consistent with Article 19 of the UN International Covenant on
Civil and Political
Rights which states that the right to freedom of opinion and expression,
including the right to seek, receive and impart information is a recognised
human right and must be protected.

The Case of the Al-Jazeera Website:
APC is concerned to note that a prominent online Middle Eastern news and
information source - the Al-Jazeera website - has been the target of hacker
attacks, domain name hijacking and the withdrawal of hosting services all
within the first few weeks of the war on Iraq led by the United States.

As online information and communication pioneers, APC and APC members -
groups which have facilitated the use of the Internet for social justice,
development and peace to civil society since the late 1980s - believe that
the Internet must be allowed to freely perform its unique and vital role as
a promoter of "freedom of expression" and a multiplier and diversifier of
information sources, especially in times of conflict.

Read the full statement here:
--> www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10848

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ELECTROHIPPIE ACTION

The Electrohippie collective have encouraged Iraq online sit-ins, targeting 
both the Downing Street website and the official White House website.

They have produced a statement in defense of their actions:

"Since launching our online protest action against the Downing Street and
Whitehouse web sites nearly two weeks ago, the electrohippie collective has
received lots of communications encouraging and supporting the online
campaign. We have also receive a far smaller number of communications
objecting to the protest as 'hacking', or as an 'infringement of free
speech'.

The collective has decided to respond, outlining our case for why the dDoS
actions against Blair and Bush's web sites are valid. We appreciate that this
is a VERY long text. But we urge all to read it before they respond.

What we have sought to do is address the terse 'it restricts freedom of
speech' argument by looking the issue from the position of the design of the
action, International law, and whether there is such as thing s freedom of
expression or communication online."

Read the statement here:
--> www.fraw.org.uk/ehippies/iraq/critique.html

More about the actions here:
--> www.fraw.org.uk/ehippies/index.html

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MEDIA MONITORING

Women in bikinis and tangas posing on a beach, heart attacks and snoring.
To most there would seem to be no obvious connection between these
disparate items, but in one Turkish television news report in February 2001
it was deemed appropriate to illustrate a serious story on research into
the link between heart attacks and snoring in women with video footage of
scantily-clad women posing on a beach. What message does this deliver about
women in the news?

It was stories like these that came under the microscope in the Global
Media Monitoring Projects (GMMP) carried out in 1995 and 2000. The idea for
a one-day study of the representation and portrayal of women in the media
worldwide was conceived at the international conference 'Women Empowering
Communication' organised by WACC in Bangkok in 1994. Media Watch Canada
co-ordinated the first study which was conducted on 18th January 1995. Five
years on, as part of its research and advocacy work, the WACC Women's
Programme decided to co-ordinate a second more extensive and qualitative
GMMP. So it was on 1st February 2000 that hundreds of participants in 70
countries monitored the days news on radio, television and in print,
resulting in a massive 50, 853 data records. The monitoring day was marked
by tremendous excitement and solidarity among participating groups. The
preliminary results of GMMP 2000 were released in time for Beijing + 5
events in June 2000. The final results including detailed country tables
and qualitative analysis by region, based on more than 16,000 new stories,
were published in a book entitled Who Makes the News?

More here:
--> www.wacc.org.uk/publications/mgm/12/gmmp.html

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GREEN RIGHTS

Should a good environment be our human right? To date, recognition has been
given to civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. This study
examines the background to current discussions and argues that the
environment should be added to the list.

Many of the initiatives of the Earth Summit in Rio have not been
successful. This paper by, the Northern Alliance for Sustainability
(ANPED), Capacity Global (Capacity), EcoPravo-Kyiv and the Environment
Liaison Centre International (ELCI) suggests that the failure of these
initiatives makes it appropriate to consider new approaches. It argues that
these should be rooted in the recognition of an inalienable right to a safe
and healthy environment. It considers the need for environmental human
rights and looks at what such rights might be. It includes perspectives
from different nations and regions and highlights the UN Draft Principles
from 1994. It also considers the issue of globalisation and suggests that
environmental human rights could play an important part in this debate.

The study finds that:

The linking of human rights to environmental priorities is an
acknowledgement that conservation will not be successful without human
development.
A range of diverse actions is required at both national and international
levels, with
inalienable human rights providing the basis for such action.
Such an approach requires a new focus on governance and accountability, and
provides the underlying principles to support that focus.

The links between human welfare and resource exploitation are strong. These
links need to be addressed openly to provide a common base under
international law for all future action on sustainable development.
While rights issues have been divisive in the past, the multiplicity of
national actions in this field suggest that this may be a common basis for
action.

The full report here:
--> www.id21.org/society/s8bma1g1.html


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THIRD WORLD ORIGINS

Cornerhouse have produced a briefing which chronicles the first of several
nineteenth century famines in India and China. This briefing examines
imperial policies at the
time and explores the ways in which Europe and North America created India
and China as "peripheries" in the world economy. It considers how the
decline of irrigation and the enclosure of common resources interacted with
household poverty and state policies to create a "Third World" that was so
much more vulnerable to monsoon failure. A revised understanding of these
famines illuminates how many of the current challenges of so-called
"development" came about, and calls into question the wisdom of development
policies still pursued today and the justifications for them.

Three waves of drought, famine and disease devastated agriculture
throughout the tropics and northern China at the end of the nineteenth
century. Fifty million people died. Researchers have since attributed these
catastrophic climate disasters and crop failures to El Niño. But nature
alone is rarely so deadly. Millions of peasants and farmers in India and
China had recently turned to cash-crop cultivation and been incorporated
into webs of world trade, making them dramatically more vulnerable to
natural disasters such as extreme climate events. Many contemporary policy
makers ascribed nineteenth-century famines not just to bad weather but also
to Malthusian pressures -- too many people, too little land, too little
food -- an explanation which survives today. But absolute scarcity of food
was never the issue, and Malthusian explanations in fact contributed to the
deaths.

The briefing in full is available at their website:
-->www.thecornerhouse.org.uk

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EVERYONE COUNTS

The 'everyone' campaign is an initiative from Scottish Environment LINK,
the umbrella body for Scotland's environmental organisations. Some 25
organisations with nearly half a million supporters are combining forces
for the first time ever to push the environment up the political agenda in
the run up to the Scottish Parliamentary elections on May 1st.

The groups unveiled a series of key election demands they wish political
parties to address this election. Each demand would also bring positive
benefits to Scotland's health and economy. Speaking on behalf of the
'everyone' campaign, WWF Scotland's Simon Pepper said:
"The campaign is encouraging voters to send a clear message to candidates
of all parties - we care about the environment, what are you are going to
do if elected? This is not a 'green agenda' it is an agenda for a better,
healthier Scotland. The value of the environment to the economy, the health
of the nation and the quality of all our lives has been neglected for far
too long.
Politicians have got away with saying the right words and not matching them
with specific actions."

The everyone campaign "Manifesto for a Sustainable Scotland" promotes six
key tests of political commitment to the environment. The six demands for a
better environment are: clean air, healthy seas, safe food, less landfill,
protection for wildlife and wild places, reduction in climate changing
gases. The full text and background briefings on the six demands are
available on request.

All information and background materials are also avaiable at their website:
--> www.everyonecan.org

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ROMA STERILISATION

Romani women in eastern Slovakia have been subject to at least 110 forced
and coerced sterilizations in government health care facilities since the
fall of communism in 1989, according to a recent report by human rights
investigators in New York and Slovakia. The report also says that Romani
women have experienced physical and verbal abuse as well as segregated
health care services, showing a pattern of ethnic bias in Slovak medical
facilities.

Since the release of the report on Jan. 28, 2003, Slovak police have
harassed some Romani women who had reported that they had been sterilized
without their consent. The report's authors, based in Slovakia and New
York, have had their records subpoenaed and have been subject to
interrogations and threatened with criminal charges.

The report, "Body and Soul: Forced Sterilization and Other Assaults on Roma
Reproductive Freedom," is based on 230 in-depth interviews conducted in 40
Roma settlements in eastern Slovakia, according to the report's authors,
the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights (formerly the Center for
Reproductive Law and Policy) and the Centre for Civil and Human Rights in
Kosice, a Slovak non-governmental organization.

Police and Government Harassment Has Increased as a Result of the Report.
After being
interrogated by police, at least one Romani woman has recanted her story
that she was sterilized without her consent, said Barbora Bukovska,
executive director of the Counseling Center for Citizenship, Civil and
Human Rights, and co-author of the report.

Full story here:
-->www.womensenews.com/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1243

The report "Body and Soul: Forced Sterilization and Other Assaults on Roma
Reproductive Freedom" is online at:
--> www.crlp.org/pub_bo_slovakia.html

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US EXEMPTION?

The inauguration of the first eighteen judges at the new International
Criminal Court (ICC) will help to thwart U.S. efforts to undermine the
court, Human Rights Watch said today. The judges are the first officers of
the court to take up their duties. The court's 89 members, known as States
Parties, will select a prosecutor at the end of April.
"The judges' inauguration makes this court more unstoppable than ever,"
said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's international
justice program.
The U.S. State Department is increasing pressure on many governments to
obtain what are known as "bilateral immunity agreements", exempting all
U.S. citizens from the authority of the court. The fifteen member states of
the European Union and the overwhelming majority of other States Parties
have refused to sign agreements invalidating their obligations to the court.

More than twenty states have signed immunity agreements with Washington,
but only eight of them are parties to the treaty. Many of these agreements
have not yet been enacted into law. A number of states that initially
signed are now considering whether the agreements unlawfully amend the
jurisdiction of the ICC and are hesitant to formally ratify them.

"We urge all States Parties to resist pressure to enter into these illegal
contracts", said
Dicker. "The U.S. government should not be allowed to undermine the
legitimacy of the court. U.S. officials are claiming the American
Servicemembers’ Protection Act (ASPA) will cut off military assistance to
states that have not signed an agreement by July 1, 2003. The same law,
however, allows the Bush Administration to waive this prohibition on
grounds of 'national interest'," said Dicker.

"U.S. officials are double dealing," said Dicker.  "They are pointing to
the part of the ASPA that makes withdrawal of military assistance look
threatening and real. But they conveniently ignore the law's provisions
empowering the administration to continue giving assistance."

In 1998, 120 states approved the treaty to establish the ICC. The treaty
came into force on July 1, 2002, after 60 countries had ratified it. As of
March 11, 2003, 89 countries have joined the ICC. Once a prosecutor is
selected, the court will be able to investigate and prosecute those
individuals accused of crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes.
The ICC complements existing national judicial systems and will step in
only if national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute
such crimes. The ICC provides a remedy to those victimized by these crimes,
very often women and children.

More from HRW on the ICC here:
--> www.hrw.org/campaigns/icc/

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VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

Virtual maps reflecting women's concerns about breast cancer and the
environment have been created, the launch coinciding with the first
anniversary of WEN’s health project,  'Women Taking Action for a Healthier
Planet', which was launched last month.
WEN is a national charity and membership organisation that campaigns on
environmental and health issues from a women's perspective.  It educates,
informs and empowers women and men who care about the environment.

Women throughout the UK drew the maps to express concerns and highlight the
perceived links between their experience of breast cancer and the
environment, during an earlier project, Putting Breast Cancer on the
Map.  While the maps are not geographically accurate, they illustrate, in a
variety of styles, the journeys some women made through their lives and
potential sources of environmental pollution they were exposed to.

The maps are a small representation of over 300 that were received and are
the result of a ground-breaking project to raise awareness about breast
cancer and the urgent need for prevention.

Helen Lynn, WEN's Health Project Co-ordinator says the mapping project
'identified a need in women to take part in positive action to bring about
change in the minds of the government and medical establishment, as well as
society at large, about the way in which breast cancer is viewed, treated
and politicised in the UK.  This exhibition is an inspiring record of the
valid contribution individuals can make to our understanding of why breast
cancer is becoming more common.  It shows how mapping can be used as a tool
by other groups wanting to raise awareness about an issue and make
connections between people’s environment and their health.'

WEN believes that the rising incidence of breast cancer reflects the
increasingly polluted environment in which we live. Steps to clean up our
environment and reduce levels of contaminants linked to breast cancer will
have beneficial effects on all environmentally linked illnesses and disease.

Visit their exhibition online at:
--> www.wen.org.uk/health/Mapping/index.htm

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CONTENT FILTERING

FITUG (Foundation for Information Technology and Society) is calling all
netizens and NGO's to help defending against Büssow's assault on our
freedom. Pushed by the Büssow as the head ofadministration of the region of
Düsseldorf, three courts out of four have decided to maintain the
immediate execution of the order requiring ISP's to block foreign content.

"All our attempts to enter into a constructive dialog have so far been
ignored. As a consequence, we call all our supporters and all Civil
Liberty Organizations to help us with actions, to act themselves and
coordinate efforts with all relevant groups.

"The ISP's concerned started court-action against the blocking order and
the order of immediate execution. Three out of four decisions confirmed the
immediate execution. In a rough analysis, the VG Düsseldorf, VG Arnsberg
and the VG Gelsenkirchen decided that blocking two hate-speech sites (out
of more than 3000) in an inefficient manner was of higher value than our
freedom to receive information from other cultures. The action is directed
not against hate-speech sites, but against all netizens inside. The
citizens rights to receive information were not taken into account by the
court decisions. Finally, the sanctioning and execution of administrative
orders,
including the costs for those, is privatized without adequate saveguards
for human rights. The opinions in those decisions do not contain sufficient
explanations about the infringement on our human rights."

FITUG calls on all civil liberty organizations to help with concerted political
actions. FITUG itself will now start actions and will try to coordinate
them nationally and internationally. Offers to help can be sent to:

--> email: lutz at fitug.de

More links to further information here:
--> www.fitug.de/news/pes/21012003_en.html

*****************************************************************QUOTE/UNQUOTE

"Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need 
them. Another world
is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her 
breathing."
- Arundhati Roy

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JOBS

*Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme*
in Palestine & Israel (EAPPI)

Based: West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel
11 vacancies, 3-6 month contracts only, living allowance plus benefits paid
The EAPPI is an initiative of the World Council of Churches whose mission is
to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in non-violent actions and concerted
advocacy efforts to end the occupation.

EA requirements: mature (preferably over 25), able to cope with insecurity,
self- motivating, computer literate, committed to non-violence, and involved
with ecumenical and/or peace networks in Britain or Ireland.
Recruitment is continuous until all posts have been filled.

Shortlisting:
Monday 28 April
Monday 16 June
Monday 28 July

Interviews:
8 May (& 7 May if 2 days are necessary)
23 (& 24) June
7 (& 8) August

Application packs available from: www.quaker.org.uk/eappi/index.html

Or contact: Eleanor Chowns / Lynda MacInnes, QPSW, 173 Euston Road, London,
NW1 2BJ, UK.  Tel: (00 44) 20 7663 1144.
E-mail: eappi at quaker.org.uk

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DIARY DATES

***Please add your events directly to the GreenNet calendar, here:
--> www.gn.apc.org/calendar/add.shtml

More Diary Dates on GreenNet (although not as many as we'd like so please 
add to):
--> www.gn.apc.org/calendar/calindex.shtml

APRIL

*All Faiths open Service for PEACE AND JUSTICE.*
Sunday 6th April 10.30am.
Preparation for nonviolent resistance to the war on Iraqi people at 
Permanent Joint Head Quarters of the British Armed Forces, Northwood.

Based in silence but  bring readings, prayers and meditations. Themes;
- Mourning for all the victims of war .
- Repentance for our part in not preventing the  war on Iraq.
- Nonviolent action for a just peace.

Assemble: Pretty Corner, Corner of Watford Road, (A4125) and Sandy Lane.
Travel:  Northwood Metropolitan Line Tube station (20 min walk).
Bus 8 between Northwood Tube and Watford Junction Rail Station.
Accommodation:  In Watford Friends Meeting House.  07739906710 Bring 
sleeping bag etc..

*ENDEMIC & ENDANGERED - LEMURS & KOALAS*
Dr. Bill Ellis, University of Queensland, Brisbane, & Dr. Pat Wright, State
University of New York, Stony Brook

Earthwatch lecture, Thursday 10th April at 7pm, at the Royal Geographical
Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR

Dr. Ellis¹s fascinating account of his research into the population dynamics
of koalas on St. Bees Island off Queensland will be complemented by Dr.
Wright¹s talk on her studies of two of Madagascar¹s most highly endangered
lemurs. Admission free, but by ticket only.

*THE 'LEGALISATION' OF HUMAN RIGHTS*
School of Public Policy (University College London) conference
25th - 26th April
Key contributors to the study of human rights have been gathered at this 
conference to discuss the balance sheet of human rights practice, studies 
and research, in the light of the dominance of legal approaches to human 
rights questions.
Speakers include: Jack Donnelly, Michael Freeman, Stanley Cohen, Francesca 
Klug, Ratna Kapur.

Further details can be found at:
--> www.ucl.ac.uk/spp/hr

*Jeremy Hardy versus The Israeli Army*
a film by Leila Sansour

Playing for the first time at The Bloomsbury Theatre on the 23rd and 24th 
of April
Presented by the Palestinian Ambassador Mr Afif Safieh
with Q&A from Jeremy Hardy and Leila Sansour

 From the stand-off at Yasser Arafat’s compound to the siege of the Church 
of the Nativity, ‘Jeremy Hardy v The Israeli Army’ captures the birth of a 
new kind of political engagement.
Jeremy is struck by the commitment of people who pack their bags for 
Palestine to stand in the way of guns and tanks. He never expected the 
scale of the phenomenon that came to be known as the International 
solidarity Movement.

“Jeremy Hardy v The Israeli Army” (75 mins.)
Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th April, 8pm.Tickets £6.50
The Bloomsbury Theatre, UCL, 15 Gordon Street, London
Box Office: 0208 3888822

MAY

*3 day festival in Clun, Shropshire*
3rd, 4th & 5th
For more information about the event, see:
--> www.clun.org.uk
If you are interested in having a stall at the festival,
Phone 01547 510343 or 01588640167, Email Verdeletclun at aol.com

JULY

*CHALLENGING GLOBALISATION:  ALTERNATIVE MODELS*
Led by Vandana Shiva, Juliet Schor & Prasannan Parthasarathi
July 6-25, 2003 at Schumacher College, Devon, UK

In the streets of Seattle, Genoa, Jakarta and many other places, citizens
have mobilised against the global economy, the neo-liberal trade regime and
the spread of Western consumer culture.  What are they opposing?  What are
they proposing?  What better, more sustainable future might be possible if
we reject Western consumerism?  This course examines the debates about the
globalisation of economy and culture, and considers practical, humane
alternatives to the current system of control and domination.

For more information, please contact the Administrator, Schumacher College,
The Old Postern, Dartington, Devon TQ9 6EA, Tel: 01803 865 934
Email: admin at schumachercollege.org.uk
Website: www.schumachercollege.org.uk

***Please add your events directly to the GreenNet calendar, here:
--> www.gn.apc.org/calendar/add.shtml

More Diary Dates on GreenNet (although not as many as we'd like so please 
add to):
--> www.gn.apc.org/calendar/calindex.shtml

There is a new UK wide environmental magazine 'Greenscene'.
It's a monthly magazine and the deadline is the 17th of every month, with a 
free listing
section and is for the whole UK.
Please send events to:
--> greenscene2003 at yahoo.co.uk

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The AlterNet News is edited by Joanne Doyle for GreenNet:
---> www.gn.apc.org

Please note that opinions expressed in AlterNet are those of the
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