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abolition-usa-digest     Saturday, January 1 2000     Volume 01 : Number 243




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 16:18:20 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: USDA legalizes meat irradiation

Dear Friends,
Here's another nuclear horror story.  Phone calls and letters are needed to
Senators, Congresspeople and Donna Shalala at Health and Human Services to
stop
the initiation of a whole new nuclear industry, with more waste, more worker
and community exposure to cesium and cobalt-60 and the adulteration of our
food
supply.  (see contact info below.)  Thanks for your help.  Alice Slater

>Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 14:42:33 -0500
>Subject: USDA legalizes meat irradiation
>To: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>Consumers Beware:  USDA Approves Nuked Meat!
>
>Under pressure from the meat industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
>(USDA) announced on December 14, 1999 that refrigerated or frozen raw
>beef, pork, lamb, as well as meat products can be treated with radiation
>to kill microorganisms that cause disease. USDA also weakened its existing
>regulations for poultry, including no longer requiring that poultry be
>irradiated in the package in which it is sold.  This means that irradiated
>poultry products can be used as ingredients in further processed products,
>such as TV dinners.
>
>Unfortunately, rather than cleaning up the filthy conditions at large,
>corporate farms and industrial slaughterhouses, the meat industry and
>their allies in the U.S. government are promoting food irradiation as a
>way to prevent food-borne illness. Food irradiation will not solve the
>problems associated with the unsanitary conditions at huge factory sized
>farms from which feces-covered animals are transported to
>industrialized-size slaughtering facilities. Workers at these facilities
>are required to speed-up work, for instance, "processing" as many as 300
>cows an hour, and too few USDA inspectors are on hand to insure that
>procedures to prevent contamination are followed.
>
>USDA's Retail Labeling Requirements for Meat
>
>While the new USDA rule does include a requirement for labeling irradiated
>meat and poultry products sold at retail, meat served in facilities like
>restaurants, hospitals or school cafeterias does not have to be labeled.
>This means that consumer's will have no way of insuring they the meat they
>eat in these establishments is not irradiated. Consumers of fast food
>burgers should be especially concerned, since hamburger patties are a
>prime candidate for irradiation.
>
>Moreover, if the FDA does not continue to require labeling, the USDA is
>unlikely to require labeling. USDA is "harmonizing" all of their food
>regulations with the FDA. Requirements are as follows:
>
>1) Packaged meat products irradiated in their entirety must bear the
>international radura symbol. Unfortunately, the symbol, which contains
>simple petals in a broken circle is benevolent looking and its meaning is
>not widely recognized. Additionally, products must either include the word
>"irradiated" as part of the product name or must bear a statement such as
>"Treated with radiation" or "Treated by irradiation." The radura must be
>placed in conjunction with the required statement, if the statement is
>used. The statement is not required to be more prominent than the
>declaration of ingredients and it can be anywhere on the package.
>
>2) Unpackaged meat products irradiated in their entirety are required to
>have the radura symbol and a statement "prominently and conspicuously"
>displayed to purchasers either through labeling on a bulk container or
>"some other appropriate device." The agency does not define what this
>"other appropriate device" could be.
>
>3) USDA is also allowing labeling statements and claims regarding the
>"beneficial effects" and the purpose of irradiation.
>
>4) Multi-ingredient products, which include an irradiated meat product,
>must only reflect its inclusion in the ingredient statement on the
>finished product's label.
>
>5) USDA eliminated two labeling requirements for poultry. The requirements
>that "letters used for the qualifying statement shall be no less than
>one-third the size of the largest letter in the product name" and second,
>that the radura logo on irradiated poultry product labels be colored green
>have been eliminated.
>
>USDA Weakens Food Additive Law
>
>USDA also ended their requirement for the use of food additives
>(irradiation is considered an additive). In the future, the Food and Drug
>Administration (FDA) will be the sole agency regulating food additives.
>USDA says in its materials about the rule that they will "discuss" with
>FDA their concerns about additives used in meat and poultry.  The new rule
>is the latest in a series of so-called "reforms," which make it easier for
>the food industry to get regulatory approval, but decrease the protections
>for consumers. The new rule will shorten the approval process for
>additives from two to five years.
>
>USDA Approves Meat Irradiation Without Proof of its Safety
>
>The legalization of food irradiation is based on a house of cards. No
>studies have been done to show that a long-term diet of irradiated foods
>is safe. In legalizing the irradiation of raw meat, the USDA relied upon
>the FDA's determination that food irradiation is safe. Unfortunately, the
>FDA based their legalization of food irradiation on shaky scientific
>evidence.
>
>A special task force of the FDA reviewed a large body of scientific
>literature on the toxicological testing of irradiated food, however, they
>based their approval of food irradiation on only five studies. The FDA
>task force reviewed over 2000 studies, over four hundred of which met a
>high enough standard that they could potentially have been reviewed
>Obviously, since the FDA used such a small sample, the potential for bias
>is great. Furthermore, because they were unable to provide definitive
>evidence of the safety of irradiated food, the FDA eventually based their
>legalization of food irradiation on a theoretical model about how many new
>chemicals (potential carcinogens) are formed in the food products by
>irradiation.
>
>Take Action Now!
>
>Write or call your member of Congress and voice your concerns about food
>irradiation!
>
>If you need information about your elected representative, call Public
>Citizen at 202-546-4996 or email us at the web site below. Ask your
>Representatives and Senators to write to Health and Human Services
>Secretary, Donna Shalala, about the FDA potentially removing the
>requirement that irradiated foods be labeled.
>
>The Honorable Donna Shalala, US Dept. of  Health and Human Services, 200
>Independence Ave., SW. Washington, DC 20201 (For more info:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Wenonah Hauter
>Director
>Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project
>202-454-5150
>Visit our Web Site: www.citizen.org/cmep
>
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]
http://www.gracelinks.org

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to
eliminate nuclear weapons.

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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 17:11:27 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) ACTION ALERT - NPT Review

Dear Friends,
In Rebecca Johnson's latest posting of Disarmament Diplomacy, N41, she
makes an
excellent recommendation which our Abolition 2000 Network can support.  She
suggests that the States Parties should be represented by their Heads of
States
of Foreign Ministers at during the opening days of the conference which
begins
on April 24th to indicate the need for "high level political will" for
nuclear
disarmament.  We can begin now to write letters to our heads of states
urging
them to demonstrate their commitment to Article VI and its promise of
nuclear
disarmament by showing up at the NPT Review in New York and calling for
immediate negotiations on a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons.  If our
Network is able to generate the letters, calls, visits, and special
contacts to
Heads of State calling on them not to pass up this once in a millenium
chance
to call for negotiations in New York to ban the bomb, we would be keeping
the
faith with our original vision of a treaty to be negotiated by the year
2000.
It's still not too late!!   PLEASE POST TO OUR CAUCUS YOUR PROGRESS IN
HAVING
YOUR HEAD OF STATE ATTEND THE NPT.  LET'S INSPIRE EACH OTHER!!  Peace,
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]
http://www.gracelinks.org

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to
eliminate nuclear weapons.

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Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]
http://www.gracelinks.org

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to
eliminate nuclear weapons.

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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 17:12:44 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) NPT: letter to head of state

Dear Friends,
Here's my letter to my head of state urging him to personally represent the
US at the NPT.  Hope we can get these out all over the world.  Peace,
Alice Slater

                                             December 30, 1999

President Bill Clinton
BY FAX: [phone]

Dear President Clinton,

On April 24, 1999, the Non-Proliferation Treaty 2000 Review Conference will
begin its four week meeting in New York at the United Nations.  I urge you
to attend and represent our country at this critical crossroads in the new
millenium for the safety and well being of humanity.  This may be our last
opportunity to end the toxic legacy of the nuclear age before the whole
treaty unravels.

The United States, together with Russia, France, UK and China, promised in
1968 when the NPT was negotiated, that it would make good faith efforts for
nuclear disarmament.  Yet today, more than 30 years after the treaty
entered into force, there are still over 30,000 nuclear weapons on the
planet, with more than 10,000 in our own country.  Two new countries, India
and Pakistan, have announced their nuclear weapons status.

Instead of fulfilling our legal obligations we are contributing to the
following disturbing developments: the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was
defeated in the Senate, and our weapons labs continue to design and test
new nuclear weapons in computer-simulated virtual reality with the help of
underground ôsub-criticalö tests at the Nevada test site.  You are now
considering a decision to employ a missile defense system which would
violate the ABM Treaty.  Russia and China have threatened to become more
reliant on their nuclear arsenals because of our willingness to abrogate a
treaty which was able to stop the build up of nuclear arms for two decades.
The US Space Command brazenly trumpets its intention for ôdominating the
space dimension of military operations to protect US interests and
investment.ö

The Article VI provision in the NPT that non-nuclear weapons states would
forego the acquisition of nuclear weapons in return for our promise to
eliminate our nuclear arsenals is being questioned by many nations around
the world given the lack of progress for its fulfillment.  Despite a recent
World Court ruling that there is an international obligation to conclude
negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention, our country has blocked
efforts in various international fora to even discuss nuclear disarmament.


I urge you to lend your personal attention and whatever talents you can
bring to bear on the issue at the NPT in April to work with other
governments to begin negotiations on a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons.
  The US public, when polled by Celinda Lake, answered that 87% of us want
a treaty to ban the bomb just as we have done for chemical and biological
weapons.  And 84% said they would feel safer if no country had nuclear
weapons including our own.

The fate of the earth is in your hands.  Please do not miss this millenium
opportunity to go down in history as one who dared to do the right thing
and make the world safe for our children, grandchildren, and future
generations.

Sincerely,


Alice Slater



Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]
http://www.gracelinks.org

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to
eliminate nuclear weapons.

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To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, send an email from the
account you wish to be subscribed to:
"[e-mail]"


Do not include a subject line or any text in the body of the message.

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Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]
http://www.gracelinks.org

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to
eliminate nuclear weapons.

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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 02:27:56 PST
From: "Abolition2000 Pacific Region" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Micronesia has Welcomed the Dawn of the New Millennium!

Dear Nuclear Abolitionists,

We welcomed the millennium just less than two hours ago! I hope we can keep
this Kiribati "torch of hope" brightly lit!

The following are brief excerpts from the New York Times (December 31,
1999) about the celebrations about an hour ago on Millennium Island in the
Republic of Kiribati (pronounced: Kiribas)! The entire story is found at the
URL below.

Happy New Year to all of you. Best wishes. Mahalo.

Richard Salvador

Honolulu, Hawaii


- ---

The New York Times
Millennium Island To Greet New Era
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-MIL-Millennium-Arrives.html


A group of Pacific islanders (I-Kiribati) gathered today on Kiribati's
Millennium Island less than an hour ago to welcome the New Millennium!!

Their celebration was highlighted by dancers in woven grass skirts and
headdresses, welcoming the millennium with a shout of congratulations and
good luck after chanting farewell to the pain of the past and heralding a
new era of unity.

``Let all the world be joined with us to greet the new millennium,'' they
sang in rehearsals this week on a tropical beach in their Micronesian
language, Kiribati. ``Let us put aside all divisions -- let us unite in love
and peace.''

The president of Kiribati, Teburoro Tito (sic), was to take a burning torch
from an elderly man and hand it to a young boy in a ceremonial
passing of time to a new generation.

``Take this torch of hope and peace from Kiribati so that it may light up
the whole world,'' Tito says.

The millennial bashes on the islands were a showcase of the region's culture
and heritage: a ritual fish catch and feast on Fiji; indigenous Moriori
dances on the Chathams; a performance of Handel's ``Messiah'' for 300,000
people in Auckland, New Zealand.


The millennium's first dawn over land was to break near Dibble Glacier in
Antarctica at 12:08 local time (10:08 a.m. EST). Kiribati was to be the
first country to witness the sunrise of the new millennium at 5:43 a.m.
local time (10:43 a.m. EST), followed six minutes later by New Zealand's
Pitt Island.

As the largest -- and the richest -- nation in the group, New Zealand
planned the most elaborate celebrations in the area: fireworks, concerts,
and several Maori ``haka'' war dances -- including one with a cast of 2,000.

The celebrations follow a fierce race in the region to clinch a millennial
``first'' -- and worldwide publicity.


- --
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com


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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 10:52:38 -0500
From: "Lachlan Forrow" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) RE: [abolition-caucus] Dr Bruce Blair, DOD Deputy Secretary Hamre Discuss Y2K/Accidental Nuke War on Jim Lehrer's News Hour Tonight

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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The full text is available at
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/july-dec99/y2k_12-30.html

- --LF
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Bill Smirnow [mailto:[e-mail]]
  Sent: Thursday, December 30, 1999 6:43 PM
  To: Y2K Nuclear Weapons/Power ; Nukenet; Abolition-Europe;
Abolition-Caucus; Abolition-USA
  Subject: [abolition-caucus] Dr Bruce Blair, DOD Deputy Secretary Hamre
Discuss Y2K/Accidental Nuke War on Jim Lehrer's News Hour Tonight





     Jim Lehrer's News Hour will have Dr. Bruce Blair of the Brookings
Institute and Dept. Secretary of DOD John Hamre on tonight, Thursday
December 30 discussing Y2K and accidental nuclear war. The segment airs in
the first half hour.


    -Bill

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<HTML><HEAD>
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<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR>
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<DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D790005215-31121999>The full text is =
available at=20
<A=20
href=3D"http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/july-dec99/y2k_12-30.html=
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class=3D790005215-31121999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D790005215-31121999>--LF</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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5px">
  <DIV align=3Dleft class=3DOutlookMessageHeader dir=3Dltr><FONT =
face=3DTahoma=20
  size=3D2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Bill Smirnow=20
  [mailto:[e-mail]]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, December 30, =
1999=20
  6:43 PM<BR><B>To:</B> Y2K Nuclear Weapons/Power ; Nukenet; =
Abolition-Europe;=20
  Abolition-Caucus; Abolition-USA<BR><B>Subject:</B> [abolition-caucus] =
Dr Bruce=20
  Blair, DOD Deputy Secretary Hamre Discuss Y2K/Accidental Nuke War on =
Jim=20
  Lehrer's News Hour Tonight<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>
  <DIV> </DIV>
  <DIV> </DIV>
  <DIV> </DIV>
  <DIV><FONT size=3D2>   Jim Lehrer's News Hour will have Dr. =
Bruce=20
  Blair of the Brookings Institute and Dept. Secretary of DOD John Hamre =
on=20
  tonight, Thursday December 30 discussing Y2K and accidental nuclear =
war. The=20
  segment airs in the first half hour.</FONT></DIV>
  <DIV> </DIV>
  <DIV> </DIV>
  <DIV><FONT size=3D2>  -Bill =
</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

- ------=_NextPart_000_0009_01BF537D.2863A6A0--


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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 22:11:04 -0800 (PST)
From: Timothy Bruening <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Jan 25: Anniversary Of Nearly Accidental Nuke War

January 25 is the 5th anniversary of the day Russia nearly launched a
nuclear war in response to a Norwegian satellite launch.  How are we
planning to commemorate the anniversary?


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 00:34:00 -0800 (PST)
From: Timothy Bruening <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) First E-mail of 2000 To This Mailing List!

Dear Abolitionists:

Happy New Year, Decade, Century, and Millennium!  How are you spending New
Year's Day, New Decade's Day, New Century's Day, and New Millennium's Day?

Warmly,

Timothy Bruening.


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 17:02:48 -0800 (PST)
From: Timothy Bruening <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) World Trade Organization Article

Dear Abolitionists:

Debbie Davis of the Davis Enterprise has made me a contributing writer for
the Enterprise's Op-Ed page.  My first assignment (due Jan. 14) is to write
an article about the World Trade Organization.  What should I say about the WTO?

I would like to interview businesses near my workplace (Mengali's Florist at
611 2nd Street in Davis) about their views on the WTO, and also interview
local WTO activists.  Who should I interview, and what questions should I
ask them?

Sincerely,

Timothy Bruening
1439 Brown Drive
Davis, CA 95616


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 19:43:14 PST
From: "Abolition2000 Pacific Region" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: [Indigenous Peoples WTO Declaration] World Trade Organization Article

Dear Timothy and other Abolitionists,

Happy New Year. I am including below the Indigenous Peoples' Seattle [WTO]
Declaration. It presents the issues and expresses some of the concerns we
have vis-a-vis WTO and Globalization. I hope that in your writing, you will
also acknowledge the impacts of economic globalization on Indigenous
communities and peoples and also the work of Indigenous peoples within the
context of WTO talks.

Please contact Debra Harry at Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism
<[e-mail]> or Victoria Tauli-Corpuz at Tebtebba Foundation
<[e-mail]> for further information, if you need any. Good luck
to you and to all of us in this new year!

Richard Salvador
Honolulu, Hawai`i

- ---



From: Debra Harry <[e-mail]>
Date: December 28, 1999 12:27 AM
Subject: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' SEATTLE DECLARATION

From: Victoria Tauli-Corpuz at "Tebtebba Foundation"
<[e-mail]>:



INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' SEATTLE DECLARATION
on the occasion of the Third Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade
Organization
November 30-December 3, 1999

We, the Indigenous Peoples from various regions of the world, have come to
Seattle to express our great concern over how the World Trade Organization
is destroying Mother Earth and the cultural and biological diversity of
which we are a part.

Trade liberalization and export-oriented development, which are the
overriding principles and policies pushed by the WTO, are creating the most
adverse impacts on the lives of Indigenous Peoples.  Our inherent right to
self-determination, our sovereignty as nations, and treaties and other
constructive agreements which Indigenous nations and Peoples have negotiated
with other nation-states, are undermined by most of the WTO Agreements.  The
disproportionate impact of these Agreements on our communities, whether
through environmental degradation or the  militarization and violence that
often accompanies development projects, is serious and therefore should be
addressed immediately.

The WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AOA), which promotes export competition
and import liberalization, has allowed the entry of cheap agricultural
products into our communities.  It is causing the destruction of
ecologically rational and sustainable agricultural practices of Indigenous
Peoples.

Food security and the production of traditional food crops have been
seriously compromised.  Incidents of diabetes, cancers, and hypertension
have significantly increased among Indigenous Peoples because of the
scarcity of traditional foods and the dumping of junk food into our
communities.

Small-scale farm production is giving way to commercial cash-crop
plantations further concentrating ancestral lands into the hands of few
agri-corporations and landlords.  This has led to the dislocation of scores
of people from our communities who then migrate to nearby cities and become
the urban homeless and jobless.

The WTO Forests Products Agreement promotes free trade in forest products.
By eliminating developed country tariffs on wood products by the year 2000,
and developing country tariffs by 2003, the Agreement will result in the
deforestation of many of the world's ecosystems in which Indigenous Peoples
live.

Mining laws in many countries are being changed to allow free entry of
foreign mining corporations, to enable them to buy and own mineral lands,
and to freely displace Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral territories.
These large-scale commercial mining and oil extraction activities continue
to degrade our lands and fragile ecosystems, and pollute the soil, water,
and air in our communities.

The appropriation of our lands and resources and the aggressive promotion of
consumerist and individualistic Western culture continue to destroy
traditional lifestyles and cultures.  The result is not only environmental
degradation but also ill health, alienation, and high levels of stress
manifested in high rates of alcoholism and suicides.

The theft and patenting of our biogenetic resources is facilitated by the
TRIPs (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) of the WTO.
Some plants which Indigenous Peoples have discovered, cultivated, and used
for food, medicine, and for sacred rituals are already patented in the
United States, Japan, and Europe.  A few examples of these are ayahuasca,
quinoa, and sangre de drago in forests of South America; kava in the
Pacific; turmeric and bitter melon in Asia.  Our access and control over our
biological diversity and control over our traditional knowledge and
intellectual heritage are threatened by the TRIPs Agreement.

Article 27.3b of the TRIPs Agreement allows the patenting of life-forms and
makes an artificial distinction between plants, animals, and
micro-organisms.  The distinction between "essentially biological" and
"non-biological" and "microbiological" processes is also erroneous.  As far
as we are concerned all these are life-forms and life-creating processes
which are sacred and which should not become the subject of private property
ownership.

Finally, the liberalization of investments and the service sectors, which is
pushed by the General Agreement of Services (GATS), reinforces the
domination and monopoly control of foreign corporations over strategic parts
of the economy.  The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund impose
conditionalities of liberalization, deregulation and privatization on
countries caught in the debt trap.  These conditionalities are reinforced
further by the WTO.

In light of the adverse impacts and consequences of the WTO Agreements
identified above, we, Indigenous Peoples present the following demands:

We urgently call for a social and environmental justice analysis which will
look into the Agreements' cumulative effects on Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous Peoples should be equal participants in establishing the criteria
and indicators for these analyses so that they take into consideration
spiritual as well as cultural aspects.

A review of the Agreements should be done to address all of the inequities
and imbalances which adversely affect Indigenous Peoples.

The proposals to address some of these are as follows;

*  For the Agreement on Agriculture

~It should not include in its coverage small-scale farmers who are mainly
engaged in production for domestic use and sale in the local markets.

~It should ensure the recognition and protection of rights of Indigenous
Peoples to their territories and their resources, as well  as their rights
to continue practicing their indigenous sustainable agriculture and resource
management practices and traditional livelihoods.

~It should ensure the food security and the capacity of Indigenous Peoples
to produce, consume and trade their traditional foods.


*  With regard to the liberalization of services and investments we
recommend the following:

~It must stop unsustainable mining, commercial planting of monocrops, dam
construction, oil exploration, land conversion to golf clubs, logging, and
other activities which destroy  Indigenous Peoples' lands and violate the
rights of indigenous peoples' to their territories and resources.

~The right of Indigenous Peoples to their traditional lifestyles, cultural
norms and values should likewise be recognized and protected.

~The liberalization of services, especially in the areas of health, should
not be allowed if it will prevent Indigenous Peoples from having access to
free, culturally appropriate as well as quality health services.

~The liberalization of finance services which makes the world a global
casino should be regulated.


*  On the TRIPs Agreement, the proposals are as follows:

~Article 27.3b should be amended to categorically disallow the patenting of
life-forms.  It should clearly prohibit the patenting of micro-organisms,
plants, animals, including all their parts, whether they are genes, gene
sequences, cells, cell lines,  proteins, or seeds.

~It should also prohibit the patenting of natural processes, whether these
are biological or microbiological, involving the use of plants, animals and
micro-organisms and their parts in producing variations of plants, animals
and micro-organisms.

~It should ensure the exploration and development of alternative forms of
protection outside of the dominant western intellectual property rights
regime.  Such alternatives must protect the knowledge and innovations and
practices in agriculture, health care, and conservation of biodiversity, and
should build upon indigenous methods and customary laws protecting
knowledge, heritage and biological resources.

~It should ensure that the protection offered to indigenous and traditional
knowledge, innovation and practices is consistent with the Convention on
Biological Diversity (i.e., Articles 8j, 10c, 17.2, and 18.4) and the
International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources.

~It should allow for the right of Indigenous Peoples and farmers to continue
their traditional practices of saving, sharing and exchanging seeds, and
cultivating, harvesting and using medicinal plants.

~It should prohibit scientific researchers and corporations from
appropriating and patenting indigenous seeds, medicinal plants, and related
knowledge about these life-forms.  The principles of prior informed consent
and right of veto by Indigenous Peoples should be respected.


If the earlier proposals cannot be ensured, we call for the removal of the
Agreement on Agriculture, the Forest Products Agreements and the TRIPs
Agreement from the WTO.

We call on the member-states of the WTO not to allow for another round
whilst the review and rectification of the implementation of existing
agreements has not been done. We reject the proposals for an investment
treaty, competition, accelerated industrial tariffs, government procurement,
and the creation of a working group on biotechnology.

We urge the WTO to reform itself to become democratic, transparent and
accountable. If it fails to do this we call for the abolition of the WTO.

We urge the member nation-states of the WTO to endorse the adoption by the
UN General Assembly of the current text of the UN Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples and the ratification of ILO Convention l69.

We call on the peoples' organizations and NGOs  to support this "Indigenous
Peoples' Seattle Declaration" and to promote it among their members.

We believe that the whole philosophy underpinning the WTO Agreements and the
principles and policies it promotes contradict our core values, spirituality
and worldviews, as well as our concepts and practices of development, trade
and environmental protection. Therefore, we challenge the WTO to redefine
its principles and practices toward a "sustainable communities" paradigm,
and to recognize and allow for the continuation of other worldviews and
models of development.

Indigenous peoples, undoubtedly, are the ones most adversely affected by
globalization and by the WTO Agreements. However, we believe that it is also
us who can offer viable alternatives to the dominant economic growth,
export-oriented development model. Our sustainable lifestyles and cultures,
traditional knowledge, cosmologies, spirituality, values of collectivity,
reciprocity, respect and reverence for Mother Earth, are crucial in the
search for a transformed society where justice, equity, and sustainability
will prevail.


Statement by the Indigenous Peoples' Caucus convened and sponsored by the
Indigenous Environmental Network USA/CANADA, Seventh Generation Fund USA,
International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Peoples Council on
Biocolonialism, the Abya Yala Fund, and TEBTEBBA (Indigenous Peoples'
International Centre for Policy Research and Education), 1 December 1999,
Seattle, Washington, USA.

Other indigenous peoples' organizations, NGOs and individuals who wish to
sign on to this statement, send email to  [e-mail] or
[e-mail].

________________________________________
Debra Harry, Director
Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism
Tel:  [phone]  Fax:  [phone]
Cell: [phone]
Email text message to cell: mailto:[e-mail]
Email: [e-mail]  Website:  www.ipcb.org
_______________________________________



- ---





From: Timothy Bruening <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: World Trade Organization Article
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 17:02:48 -0800 (PST)

Dear Abolitionists:

Debbie Davis of the Davis Enterprise has made me a contributing writer for
the Enterprise's Op-Ed page.  My first assignment (due Jan. 14) is to write
an article about the World Trade Organization.  What should I say about the
WTO?

I would like to interview businesses near my workplace (Mengali's Florist at
611 2nd Street in Davis) about their views on the WTO, and also interview
local WTO activists.  Who should I interview, and what questions should I
ask them?

Sincerely,

Timothy Bruening
1439 Brown Drive
Davis, CA 95616


- -









































______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com


- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 19:43:56 PST
From: "Abolition2000 Pacific Region" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: [Indigenous Peoples WTO Declaration] World Trade Organization Article

Dear Timothy and other Abolitionists,

Happy New Year. I am including below the Indigenous Peoples' Seattle [WTO]
Declaration. It presents the issues and expresses some of the concerns we
have vis-a-vis WTO and Globalization. I hope that in your writing, you will
also acknowledge the impacts of economic globalization on Indigenous
communities and peoples and also the work of Indigenous peoples within the
context of WTO talks.

Please contact Debra Harry at Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism
<[e-mail]> or Victoria Tauli-Corpuz at Tebtebba Foundation
<[e-mail]> for further information, if you need any. Good luck
to you and to all of us in this new year!

Richard Salvador
Honolulu, Hawai`i

- ---



From: Debra Harry <[e-mail]>
Date: December 28, 1999 12:27 AM
Subject: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' SEATTLE DECLARATION

From: Victoria Tauli-Corpuz at "Tebtebba Foundation"
<[e-mail]>:



INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' SEATTLE DECLARATION
on the occasion of the Third Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade
Organization
November 30-December 3, 1999

We, the Indigenous Peoples from various regions of the world, have come to
Seattle to express our great concern over how the World Trade Organization
is destroying Mother Earth and the cultural and biological diversity of
which we are a part.

Trade liberalization and export-oriented development, which are the
overriding principles and policies pushed by the WTO, are creating the most
adverse impacts on the lives of Indigenous Peoples.  Our inherent right to
self-determination, our sovereignty as nations, and treaties and other
constructive agreements which Indigenous nations and Peoples have negotiated
with other nation-states, are undermined by most of the WTO Agreements.  The
disproportionate impact of these Agreements on our communities, whether
through environmental degradation or the  militarization and violence that
often accompanies development projects, is serious and therefore should be
addressed immediately.

The WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AOA), which promotes export competition
and import liberalization, has allowed the entry of cheap agricultural
products into our communities.  It is causing the destruction of
ecologically rational and sustainable agricultural practices of Indigenous
Peoples.

Food security and the production of traditional food crops have been
seriously compromised.  Incidents of diabetes, cancers, and hypertension
have significantly increased among Indigenous Peoples because of the
scarcity of traditional foods and the dumping of junk food into our
communities.

Small-scale farm production is giving way to commercial cash-crop
plantations further concentrating ancestral lands into the hands of few
agri-corporations and landlords.  This has led to the dislocation of scores
of people from our communities who then migrate to nearby cities and become
the urban homeless and jobless.

The WTO Forests Products Agreement promotes free trade in forest products.
By eliminating developed country tariffs on wood products by the year 2000,
and developing country tariffs by 2003, the Agreement will result in the
deforestation of many of the world's ecosystems in which Indigenous Peoples
live.

Mining laws in many countries are being changed to allow free entry of
foreign mining corporations, to enable them to buy and own mineral lands,
and to freely displace Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral territories.
These large-scale commercial mining and oil extraction activities continue
to degrade our lands and fragile ecosystems, and pollute the soil, water,
and air in our communities.

The appropriation of our lands and resources and the aggressive promotion of
consumerist and individualistic Western culture continue to destroy
traditional lifestyles and cultures.  The result is not only environmental
degradation but also ill health, alienation, and high levels of stress
manifested in high rates of alcoholism and suicides.

The theft and patenting of our biogenetic resources is facilitated by the
TRIPs (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) of the WTO.
Some plants which Indigenous Peoples have discovered, cultivated, and used
for food, medicine, and for sacred rituals are already patented in the
United States, Japan, and Europe.  A few examples of these are ayahuasca,
quinoa, and sangre de drago in forests of South America; kava in the
Pacific; turmeric and bitter melon in Asia.  Our access and control over our
biological diversity and control over our traditional knowledge and
intellectual heritage are threatened by the TRIPs Agreement.

Article 27.3b of the TRIPs Agreement allows the patenting of life-forms and
makes an artificial distinction between plants, animals, and
micro-organisms.  The distinction between "essentially biological" and
"non-biological" and "microbiological" processes is also erroneous.  As far
as we are concerned all these are life-forms and life-creating processes
which are sacred and which should not become the subject of private property
ownership.

Finally, the liberalization of investments and the service sectors, which is
pushed by the General Agreement of Services (GATS), reinforces the
domination and monopoly control of foreign corporations over strategic parts
of the economy.  The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund impose
conditionalities of liberalization, deregulation and privatization on
countries caught in the debt trap.  These conditionalities are reinforced
further by the WTO.

In light of the adverse impacts and consequences of the WTO Agreements
identified above, we, Indigenous Peoples present the following demands:

We urgently call for a social and environmental justice analysis which will
look into the Agreements' cumulative effects on Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous Peoples should be equal participants in establishing the criteria
and indicators for these analyses so that they take into consideration
spiritual as well as cultural aspects.

A review of the Agreements should be done to address all of the inequities
and imbalances which adversely affect Indigenous Peoples.

The proposals to address some of these are as follows;

*  For the Agreement on Agriculture

~It should not include in its coverage small-scale farmers who are mainly
engaged in production for domestic use and sale in the local markets.

~It should ensure the recognition and protection of rights of Indigenous
Peoples to their territories and their resources, as well  as their rights
to continue practicing their indigenous sustainable agriculture and resource
management practices and traditional livelihoods.

~It should ensure the food security and the capacity of Indigenous Peoples
to produce, consume and trade their traditional foods.


*  With regard to the liberalization of services and investments we
recommend the following:

~It must stop unsustainable mining, commercial planting of monocrops, dam
construction, oil exploration, land conversion to golf clubs, logging, and
other activities which destroy  Indigenous Peoples' lands and violate the
rights of indigenous peoples' to their territories and resources.

~The right of Indigenous Peoples to their traditional lifestyles, cultural
norms and values should likewise be recognized and protected.

~The liberalization of services, especially in the areas of health, should
not be allowed if it will prevent Indigenous Peoples from having access to
free, culturally appropriate as well as quality health services.

~The liberalization of finance services which makes the world a global
casino should be regulated.


*  On the TRIPs Agreement, the proposals are as follows:

~Article 27.3b should be amended to categorically disallow the patenting of
life-forms.  It should clearly prohibit the patenting of micro-organisms,
plants, animals, including all their parts, whether they are genes, gene
sequences, cells, cell lines,  proteins, or seeds.

~It should also prohibit the patenting of natural processes, whether these
are biological or microbiological, involving the use of plants, animals and
micro-organisms and their parts in producing variations of plants, animals
and micro-organisms.

~It should ensure the exploration and development of alternative forms of
protection outside of the dominant western intellectual property rights
regime.  Such alternatives must protect the knowledge and innovations and
practices in agriculture, health care, and conservation of biodiversity, and
should build upon indigenous methods and customary laws protecting
knowledge, heritage and biological resources.

~It should ensure that the protection offered to indigenous and traditional
knowledge, innovation and practices is consistent with the Convention on
Biological Diversity (i.e., Articles 8j, 10c, 17.2, and 18.4) and the
International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources.

~It should allow for the right of Indigenous Peoples and farmers to continue
their traditional practices of saving, sharing and exchanging seeds, and
cultivating, harvesting and using medicinal plants.

~It should prohibit scientific researchers and corporations from
appropriating and patenting indigenous seeds, medicinal plants, and related
knowledge about these life-forms.  The principles of prior informed consent
and right of veto by Indigenous Peoples should be respected.


If the earlier proposals cannot be ensured, we call for the removal of the
Agreement on Agriculture, the Forest Products Agreements and the TRIPs
Agreement from the WTO.

We call on the member-states of the WTO not to allow for another round
whilst the review and rectification of the implementation of existing
agreements has not been done. We reject the proposals for an investment
treaty, competition, accelerated industrial tariffs, government procurement,
and the creation of a working group on biotechnology.

We urge the WTO to reform itself to become democratic, transparent and
accountable. If it fails to do this we call for the abolition of the WTO.

We urge the member nation-states of the WTO to endorse the adoption by the
UN General Assembly of the current text of the UN Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples and the ratification of ILO Convention l69.

We call on the peoples' organizations and NGOs  to support this "Indigenous
Peoples' Seattle Declaration" and to promote it among their members.

We believe that the whole philosophy underpinning the WTO Agreements and the
principles and policies it promotes contradict our core values, spirituality
and worldviews, as well as our concepts and practices of development, trade
and environmental protection. Therefore, we challenge the WTO to redefine
its principles and practices toward a "sustainable communities" paradigm,
and to recognize and allow for the continuation of other worldviews and
models of development.

Indigenous peoples, undoubtedly, are the ones most adversely affected by
globalization and by the WTO Agreements. However, we believe that it is also
us who can offer viable alternatives to the dominant economic growth,
export-oriented development model. Our sustainable lifestyles and cultures,
traditional knowledge, cosmologies, spirituality, values of collectivity,
reciprocity, respect and reverence for Mother Earth, are crucial in the
search for a transformed society where justice, equity, and sustainability
will prevail.


Statement by the Indigenous Peoples' Caucus convened and sponsored by the
Indigenous Environmental Network USA/CANADA, Seventh Generation Fund USA,
International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Peoples Council on
Biocolonialism, the Abya Yala Fund, and TEBTEBBA (Indigenous Peoples'
International Centre for Policy Research and Education), 1 December 1999,
Seattle, Washington, USA.

Other indigenous peoples' organizations, NGOs and individuals who wish to
sign on to this statement, send email to  [e-mail] or
[e-mail].

________________________________________
Debra Harry, Director
Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism
Tel:  [phone]  Fax:  [phone]
Cell: [phone]
Email text message to cell: mailto:[e-mail]
Email: [e-mail]  Website:  www.ipcb.org
_______________________________________



- ---





From: Timothy Bruening <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: World Trade Organization Article
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 17:02:48 -0800 (PST)

Dear Abolitionists:

Debbie Davis of the Davis Enterprise has made me a contributing writer for
the Enterprise's Op-Ed page.  My first assignment (due Jan. 14) is to write
an article about the World Trade Organization.  What should I say about the
WTO?

I would like to interview businesses near my workplace (Mengali's Florist at
611 2nd Street in Davis) about their views on the WTO, and also interview
local WTO activists.  Who should I interview, and what questions should I
ask them?

Sincerely,

Timothy Bruening
1439 Brown Drive
Davis, CA 95616


- -









































______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com


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 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #243
***********************************

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