[alternet-l] THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE #92

[Joanne Doyle]

THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 87

This issue:

HOT SITES/
AMINA LAWAL PROTEST/
CONNECTIVITY FOR PEACE/
COLOMBIA DISPATCHES/
A GENDER PERSPECTIVE/
INFORMED DISSENT/
MUSIC LICENSING BILL/
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY/
CALLS FOR PARTICIPATION/
QUOTE/UNQUOTE/
JOBS/
DIARY/

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The AlterNet News is the GreenNet e-newsletter that carries brief news 
items, campaign updates, a diary of key forthcoming events and 
announcements. News comes from our contacts all over the web, but most of 
the AlterNet News will come from the GreenNet community.

Please don't send news to the AlterNet address. Send items for inclusion, 
including a web link if possible, to actnow at gn.apc.org.
Items may need to be edited. Plain text e-mail is preferred.

Back issues are on-line at:
--> www.gn.apc.org/news/alternet/index.html

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HOT SITES

EURONET - The European children's Network - a coalition of networks and 
organisations campaigning for the interests and rights of children - has 
set up a web forum to allow young people to directly participate in 
discussions on the Future of Europe.
Within this 'child friendly' discussion space, they can explore the themes 
of poverty and social exclusion, children’s and young people’s 
participation, childrens health and Education and the environment.
--> www.europeanchildrensnetwork.org/Interaction/Interaction.htm

The Safra Project is a resource project on issues relating to lesbian, 
bisexual and transgender (LBT) women who identify as Muslim culturally and 
/ or religiously. Their new site offers information on social & legal 
services, sexuality, gender & Islam, plus reports highlighting the issues 
facing Muslim LBT women.
--> www.safraproject.org/

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AMINA LAWAL PROTEST - misinformation

Amnesty International have moved to correct misleading information falsely 
attributed to one of the web pages of the Spanish section of Amnesty 
International. Information has been widely distributed by email falsely 
claiming that Amina Lawal's execution had been set for 3 June 2003 and 
referring to Amnesty International as a source.

Amnesty International will continue to publicly call on the Federal 
Government to abolish the death penalty and amend all legislation 
introducing cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments at all levels of the 
Nigerian legislation, including the Sharia Penal Legislation. However, the 
organization does not wish to interfere in the judicial process in the case 
of Amina Lawal and does not recommend carrying out any international 
campaign specifically on her case at this point in time.

Full story:
--> http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR440132003

"There has been a whole host of petitions and letter writing campaigns 
about Amina Lawal (sentenced to stoning to death for adultery in August 
2002).  Many of these are inaccurate and ineffective and may even be 
damaging to her case and those of others in similar situations.  The 
information currently circulated is inaccurate, and the situation in 
Nigeria, being volatile, will not be helped by such campaigns."
- Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)

Visit the WLUML website for the BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights response to 
the latest information and indicates ways in which you can help:

--> www.wluml.org/english/new-archives/nigeria/amina-lawal-summary-0802.htm

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CONNECTIVITY FOR PEACE

Vilma Almendra, a petite 23-year-old Paez Indian from Colombia, seems to
fit perfectly the description of what Canadian Aboriginal Chief Dwight
Dorey recently referred to as the modern "laptop warrior." Almendra is
part of a growing movement to use Internet communications as an antidote to
violence against Indigenous peoples.

She says that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are
playing a key role in denouncing human rights abuses in Colombia -- a country
that has been plagued by civil war for the past 39 years. Armed attacks,
bombings, kidnappings, and political and drug-related murders, directed
against both civilians and the military, are a fact of everyday life in
Colombia.

Moreover, the 80,000 Paez Indians of the country's northern Cauca region
have suffered racial, linguistic, and cultural discrimination, land
seizures and, as recently as the early 1990s, have been the victims of
mass killings. In addition, month after month, year after year, the chronicle
of murders and disappearances of Indigenous people in southwest Colombia
has accumulated.

More details, visit:

--> www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=1119


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COLOMBIA DISPATCHES

In the first of a series of dispatches, War on Want campaigner Nick 
Dearden, sends back a first hand account of the daily terror faced by 
Colombian students and teachers.

War on Want has been campaigning for workers rights in Colombia for many 
years. Nick Dearden, and a delegation of UK lecturers and trade unionists 
went to Colombia to find out how Colombian teachers have become front line 
targets for paramilitary forces in a country torn apart by civil war.

They learned that:
- one member of the Colombian teachers union is assassinated every week – 
and not a single person has been arrested or charged with any of the attacks.

- patients are dying and 500 hospitals have been axed as the Government’s 
IMF-imposed Development Programme diverts badly needed resources away from 
health and social services to the war on trade unions and privatisation 
programmes

- 83 members of FECODE, the main teaching union, were assassinated in 2002

- 95% of attacks on trade union members are carried out by the AUC 
right-wing paramilitaries

- the leader of the petroleum workers union is under house arrest

- in some areas paramilitaries and an organisation called Death to Trade 
Unionists is circulating leaflets aimed at scaring people away from 
fighting for their rights
-lecturers and students, at the University of the South union 
members,  have received death threats forcing many of them in to exile

This is part of the first of eight dispatches from Columbia. For the full 
report and links to further dispatches, check out their website:

--> www.waronwant.org/?lid=3955

War On Want's Columbia Campaign consists of a number of resources and 
background information:

--> www.waronwant.org/?lid=112

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A GENDER PERSPECTIVE

*HIV/AIDS from a gender and rights perspective*
IPS - Inter Press Service has published a training manual for the media
on how to report on HIV/AIDS from a gender and rights perspective which
is now available online.

The manual was developed with the help of an experts group and tested
in two IPS journalists training workshops in South Africa and Jamaica.
It has three modules: A Gender Analysis Framework for the Media; Gender
and HIV/AIDS - The Missing Story; and Improved Knowledge and Skills.
Hands on exercises and examples from the media offer a practical feel to
the content of the modules.

A pdf version of the manual (502KB) can be downloaded from the HIV/AIDS
news site of the IPS news agency:

--> www.ipsnews.net/hivaids.asp

Email: romaser at ips.org with feedback, comments and questions about the
new manual, or to request a printed copy.

*Gender and Budgets*
Bridge have produced a pack that provides a concise & practical resource, 
which shows how budgets can be used as a tool to further gender equality. 
It includes:

- Overview report - by Helena Hofbauer Balmori (Fundar, Mexico), with 
support from Debbie Budlender (Community Agency for Social Enquiry, South 
Africa)
- Collection of supporting resources - summaries of key texts, case studies 
and tools, and key organisations
- Gender and Development In Brief bulletin

The Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and Budgets is available free from the 
BRIDGE website at:

--> www.ids.ac.uk/bridge/

*Gender implications of French bean production in Kenya*
What happens to gender relations in communities that diversify into 
non-traditional, high-value export commodities? What are the gendered 
effects of new crops on household land, labour and income? How is new 
horticultural wealth negotiated between men and women?

Recent research uses anthropological insights to analyse the relationship 
between the contract farming of French beans in the Meru District of Kenya 
and allegations of witchcraft.

Read more here:

--> www.id21.org/society/s6acd1g1.html

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INFORMED DISSENT

Informed Dissent is a new anti-war video CD, produced in cooperation with 
Undercurrents.

The film consists of a series of exclusive interviews with Noam Chomsky,
covering issues such as Iraq, Iran, 9/11, globalisation, and the peace
movement. The interviews are interspersed with a series of 
micro-documentaries of anti-war actions in Britain and the US. It also 
includes the award-winning Undercurrents documentary 'Globalisation and the 
Media'.

For a full programme see:
--> www.peacenews.info/informeddissent/index.php.

You can get this PC CD-Rom from their secure webshop, at
--> www.peacenews.info

or contact Peace News for more information:
--> admin at peacenews.info

The CD-Rom is distributed under the Creative Commons deed - buy the CD, 
then you are free to copy, distribute, display and perform as you wish (for 
non-commercial purposes only).

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MUSIC LICENSING BILL - update

We mentionned the new UK Music Licensing Bill in a previous edition of the 
Alternet News (The Alternet News - Issue #86). This is still being debated 
in parliament but only until the 20th May. So we thought it a good idea to 
update you with what you can do (or highlight the proposals to those who 
missed the news first time round)

a bit about the new bill:

The Licensing Bill was launched on 15 November 2002 as a 'central plank in 
the government's drive to tackle antisocial behaviour'. This bill increases 
licensing control over the performance of live music and replaces the 'two 
in a bar rule' with a 'none in a bar rule'. In future, even solo acoustic 
performance would be illegal unless the premises is licensed for live 
music. The Bill has positive proposals that will benefit specialist music 
venues (reducing high annual public entertainment licence fees). However, 
there is a real risk that if enacted without amendment it would lead to a 
two-tier regime in which thousands of smaller pubs, bars and restaurants 
would lose the right to host even solo acoustic performance on any regular 
basis.

--> www.musiciansunion.org.uk/articles/latest_news.shtml

You can sign an online petition here:
--> www.petitiononline.com/2inabar/

Further information about lobbying your MP or gaining media interest here:
--> www.musiciansunion.org.uk/political_wizard/

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WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

To celebrate World Environment Day and European Green Days on direct action 
for sustainable development, London 21 has named the first week of June 
(1-7 June) London Sustainability Week - Get involved in your Community!.

The idea is to promote community action for sustainability to the local 
media and the public and invite new people to get involved.

So make a note of the dates 1-7 June 2003 and:
  - tell others about it
- if you are already planning an event for that week anyway, even if it's 
one of your regular events, please send London 21 full details now (title, 
description, location, duration, cost, contact)
  - think about organising something for that week (e.g. an open day for 
your project) - to be on the London-wide listing, you will need to let 
London 21 know by 20 May.

Contact London 21 to register your interest, or with your events dates and 
suggestions by phone 0207 239 1392, or via email:
--> admin at london21.org

London 21 already have a number of exciting events on the list and are 
working closely with other London community networks (LCRN, LEEF, London 
Food Link, FCFCG etc). They will also be sending local press packs (with 
press release, events listing and project details/case studies), helping 
local projects with their press work and organising a briefing for the 
national, alternative and London press.

For further details or an information pack, contact Vinciane Rycroft
E-mail: vinciane at london21.org

Details also available at their website:
--> www.london21.org

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CALLS FOR PARTICIPATION

*IFIwatchnet*
IFIwatchnet supports civil society organisations who are monitoring 
international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank, the 
IMF, and regional development banks to share information and co-ordinate 
their work whilst providing users with easy access to independent 
information about IFIs from civil society organisations around the world.

Around this year's Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, IFIwatchnet 
will keep civil society worldwide up to date with developments in 
Washington through:
- a calendar of events, from official meetings to civil society 
consultations and planned protests
- details of  the  latest documents released from official and civil 
society sources
- contact details of civil society representatives in Washington for the 
meetings

Coming soon: an IFIwatchnet search engine to help users find independent 
perspectives from multiple civil society sources on key IFI issues, from 
debt to pipelines, without being swamped by IFI produced material. The 
search engine is provided by Choike http://www.choike.org, a portal on 
southern civil societies.

If you are looking for independent news and perspectives on international 
financial institutions, IFIwatchnet is a good place to start. IFIwatchnet 
is a developing network, if you are involved in monitoring IFI activities 
or know an organisation that is, please visit the site for details as to 
how you can get involved.
--> www.ifiwatchnet.org

*DIGITAL FREEDOM NETWORK (DFN)*
DFN is now accepting nominations for their Dangers of Human Rights Work
series from which eight will be chosen to be featured in stories on their
Web site.

They are particularly interested in profiling activists whose work focuses 
on the
following issues: children's rights, economic and social rights,
eradication of poverty, media, population, refugee and IDP issues, small
arms, technology and development, transitional justice, and violence
against women.

The deadline for submitting nominations is June 1, 2003.
Please submit your nomination at:
--> www.dfn.org/contact/hrdangers-form.htm

*Imagining Ourselves: An Anthology of Art and Ideas*
Imagining Ourselves aims to give a powerful voice to a new generation of
women internationally.  A global anthology of contributions from women in
their twenties and early 30s, the book will include a wide variety of
mediums -- from poetry and essays to photography and reproductions of
visual art.  They're looking for creative and dynamic young women from all
backgrounds and in every corner of the globe-- artists, athletes,
photographers, activists...
Final Deadline: June 1, 2003
For more information and submissions guidelines, see:
--> www.imow.org/imagining

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JOBS

*
The Women's Holiday Centre (WHC), a feminist co-operative in the rural 
Yorkshire Dales, North England, are currently looking for a new worker to 
co-run the house
Have a look at their website to know more:
--> www.hortonwhc.org.uk

*
The Information Technology and International Cooperation program is seeking 
scholars and activists to participate in two research networks it is 
currently organizing. The networks will work on topics related to the 
program’s focus on the uses and applications of information technology (IT) 
among transnational civil society organizations, on the international 
policies and decisions about IT that affect those uses and applications, 
and on the potential for civil society to shape those policies and decisions.

Scholars and activists with expertise on these topics should submit a CV, a 
relevant writing sample and a one-paragraph description of research 
interests via e-mail by May 15, 2003 to Ms. Marcela Sabino at 
sabino at ssrc.org. Participants will receive an honorarium for their 
involvement. The program is particularly interested in participants from 
the developing world.

For more information about the program, please visit:
--> www.ssrc.org/programs/itic/

*
RNIB are looking for an Accessibility Consultancy Administrator. Salary 
£19,791-£25,536 including London Weighting Scale: SC5/SO1. RNIB's 
Consultancy team for Accessible Websites and Information works with 
companies and organisations to help them make their information accessible 
to blind and partially sighted people. The Consultancy has grown rapidly in 
a short period of time, and requires an excellent administrator to support 
four busy Best Practice Officers. It is essential that you are highly 
skilled in organising your own time and that of others, and that you are 
able to communicate fluently with customers at all levels.
Closing date for applications: 15 May 2003. Interview dates 27/28 May 2003.
For an application pack call 020-7388 1266 and ask for the Personnel 
Department.

*
ARTICLE 19's Law Programme is expanding and is looking to hire a new Legal 
Officer. The Legal Officer is a full-time position based in London, salary 
£22,500-25,500 pa. Duties include analysing laws, research and writing, 
campaigning, and working with partner organisations. Applications should 
include a CV, covering letter, writing sample and referees, to reach 
ARTICLE 19 by 5pm on Wednesday, 28 May 2003. Interviews will be held during 
the second week of June 2003.

Read the full job description on their website:
--> http://www.article19.org/docimages/1595.doc

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QUOTE/UNQUOTE

"Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it."
- Seamus Heaney

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DIARY DATES

*Imperialism, War and Peoples' Struggles*
Saturday 10th May 12.00 pm
Sunday 11th May 11.00 am,
A Two Day Conference on working together to resist more effectively the 
current offensive.
University of London Union, Malet Street, London,  WC1
Tube: Euston, Goodge Street, Russell Square

More information, e-mail: europe at ilps2001.com or visit their website:
--> www.ilps2001.com

*Take part in the big noise to wake up Nestlé*
- a national day of action against Nestlé malpractice
10th May 2003 (and gathering at Nestlé (UK) HQ on 17th May)
Saturday 10th May (11:00 till mid-day) boycott supporters will gather at 
Nestlé's sites around the country, with a view to making the papers on the 
following Monday, the start of breastfeeding week.

At the end of breastfeeding week on 17th May (11:00 to mid-day) as many 
boycott supporters as possible will gather at the Nestlé (UK) HQ in Croydon.

You can download posters and read Baby Milk Action's demonstration 
guidelines here:
--> www.babymilkaction.org/

*Spirit Matters Days*
A new initiative to bring together people who are keen to connect with
their own spirituality and to transform their own lives in order to 
rekindle creative political participation in shaping our society as active 
citizens.
Sunday May 11, 2003
10:30 am - 6:00 pm
Essex Hall, 1-6 Essex Street, Strand (opposite the Royal Courts Of 
Justice), London WC2

The event comprises talks, group discussions, sound healing, meditation, 
and networking. Free Admission (collection to cover costs).
Refreshments provided - Please bring vegetarian food to share

Further information from: Spirit Matters, C/O 27 Lonsdale Road, London NW6 6RA,
Tel: 0207-624-1123 Fax: 0207-624-1124,
Email: spiritmatters at hotmail.com
--> www.spiritmatters.info

*CHRISTIAN AID WEEK 2003*
11 - 17 MAY 2003
Christian Aid invites you to the launch of its major new report:
'Fuelling Poverty - Oil, war & corruption'
Monday 12 May 2003
6.00pm - 9.00pm
Launched by actor Joseph Fiennes and includes a new exhibition about the 
true cost of oil exploitation in Sudan.
Food & drink will be served.
The Bargehouse, Oxo Tower, Bargehouse Street, London SE1 9PH
Contact: Kate Wills on 020 7523 2446 or email: kwills at christian-aid.org

* International Conscientious Objectors' Day* - 15th May
This year's focus is on Israeli refuseniks and nonviolent resistance 
against the Israeli occupation.
For more details, visit War Resisters International website for details of 
planned events:
--> www.wri-irg.org/en/index.html

*"Fusing Eastern & Western music, theatre and performance art 
rabble-rousing." - a Benefit event.*
Friday 30th May
Organised by London Rising Tide, Queeruption & Active

Chats Palace, 42-44 Brooksby's Walk, Homerton, London, E9
Tel 0208 533 0227
£4 entry 8pm till late

*Celebrating Haiti's Birthday: Two Hundred Years Since Independence From 
France*
31 May 2003 - 2.00pm
The French Institute, 17 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DT

Organised by the Haiti Support Group in collaboration with Menm Bitan, Menm 
Bagay.
See the Haiti Support Group web site:
--> www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

***
'Greenscene'is a new UK wide environmental magazine calling for 
events/campaigns/vigils or activities to be sent in for inclusion in their 
publication. It's a monthly magazine and the deadline is the 17th of every 
month.
--> Email: leanahosea at hotmail.com
***

More Diary Dates on GreenNet:
--> www.gn.apc.org/calendar/calindex.shtml

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

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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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