8th November,
2003
GMO moratorium may stay
Predictions
that a regulatory committee meeting of member state experts
which meets on next Monday would effectively lift the EU moratorium
on approval of new varieties of GMO now look like coming unstuck.
European Commission officials are now reported to be pessimistic
of the prospects of the committee’s approving a new variety
of GM maize.
The EU authorities
were hopeful that the new regulatory framework adopted for GMOs
in July would be enough to persuade member states to lift the
ban, but it now seems unlikely that the proposal to approve
the maize will even be put to the vote. If no vote is called
the Commission can claim that the delay is a mere hiccup, whereas
if the matter is put to the vote and fails to win approval the
moratorium will in effect be strengthened.
The
committee in question uses the qualified majority system (QMV)
when voting. QMV means
that each country casts a number of votes proportionate to its
size. If no majority is reached by this method – either
for acceptance or rejection of the application for approval,
the matter will have to be voted again by the Council, in which
sits the relevant minister form each EU country, The Council
uses the same voting system, and if it too can reach no majority
then the unelected Commission would have the power to authorise
the placing of the GM maize on the market itself. However, given
the very controversial nature of the issue, it might be reluctant
to do this.
Hovering in the
background, of course, is the (also unelected) Bush junta, which
is taking the EU to the World Trade Organisation, claiming that
its products are being unfairly excluded.
World Uranium Weapons Conference seeks
to break cover-up
M ore than 200
delegates from twenty countries gathered in Hamburg from 16-19
October to exchange views and experiences and to hear a succession
of scientists, medical professionals and other experts present
recent findings on these illegal weapons. Among the delegates
were military personnel, a nuclear lab whistleblower, a prosecutor
for the International War Crimes Tribunal on Afghanistan, veterans
and their families, and representatives of NGOs and peace movements.
Iraqi scientist
Dr Souad Al-Azzawi, who received the internationally recognised
Nuclear Free Future Award just before the Conference, presented
her findings on environmental contamination from depleted uranium
(DU). Workshops dealt with such topics as the science behind
DU, its use and dangers, international law, and affected veterans
and civilians. Proceedings were filmed by professional filmmakers.
The intention was also to stream proceedings live to the internet
but "unexplained problems" prevented the live stream
being available while the conference was happening. Organisers
hope film of the conference will soon be restored and will post
the schedule at here
Conference
organisers were disappointed by a poor turnout from the mainstream
press, particularly at a press conference held on he second
day. Conference co-ordinator Marion Kuepker said that "We
believe this is part of the continuing cover-up on the issue
of devastating health problems resulting from 'depleted' uranium
weaponry used by the US, UK and NATO forces in Iraq, Bosnia,
Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and Afghanistan."
Spectre
hopes to bring you a fuller report of the Conference, its conclusions
and the participants plans for future actions in the near future.
We apologise to you and the organisers for the delay in this
report, which was caused by the fact that we could not do a
Weekly News Review last week - due to circumstances entirely
within our control - we went on holiday!
Austrian
environmentalists protest the murder of a brave friend and colleague
Activists
in Vienna are planning to protest this Monday (Nov. 10) at 5
pm outside the Ecuadorian embassy to denounce the assassination
of Angel Shingre, a well-known campesino leader and human rights
defender killed in Ecuador last week.
Friends of the Earth
International is leading a campaign to have the Ecuadorian government
to launch an independent investigation into the assasination.
Friends of the Earth groups elsewhere are also planning protests
outside Ecuadorian embassies in their own countries.
Friends of
the Earth Austria staff had been working since June 2003 with
Angel Shingre against the plans of the Austrian transnational
corporation OMV to get involved in the Ecuadorian oil business.
They issued a statement saying that “Angel Shingre, 47
years old, was outstanding in his dedication to helping small
farmers and indigenous communities. For more than 20 years,
he worked tirelessly to promote environmental rights and defend
affected communities in the face of abuses by oil companies
and a culture of impunity in the region.”
At the time
of his murder, Angel served as Coordinator of the Office of
Environmental Law in Ecuador. During his final weeks, before
the cold-blooded assassination on the morning of November 4
in the city of Coca (Orellana), he helped and advised communities
that are affected by the oil field known as Pindo and communities
in the Shiripuno River area. They are organizing to vindicate
their rights against Oil giant Chevron Texaco.
The assassination
took place just few days after the beginning (22.10.2003) of
a major lawsuit by 88 plaintiffs in the name of 30.000 rainforest
inhabitants against Chevron Texaco for damages the transnational
corporation allegedly caused in the Amazon Rainforest since
the 1970s.
Third World Loses $200bn
Through Capital Flight - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
“In 2002, for the sixth consecutive year, developing countries
made a net transfer of financial resources of almost 200 billion
dollars to other countries, the United Nations Secretary-General,
Mr Kofi Annan has said. Annan who spoke at the high-level dialogue
of the general Assembly on financing for development, said such
a situation lacked common sense. ‘Funds should be moving
from developed countries to developing countries, but these
numbers tell us the opposite is happening,’ he said. ‘Funds
that could be promoting investment and growth in developing
countries, or building schools and hospitals, are instead being
transferred abroad.’ He
argued that in spite of promising investment opportunities in
the developing world, including improved economic policies,
fear and uncertainty were keeping the resources from being deployed
where they were needed most. If what we say about financing
for development is not to ring hollow, if financing for development
means anything, we must reverse this negative balance sheet,
and fix the system so that all countries, and all people, especially
the poorest can benefit,’ he said.” Read the rest
of this report of Kofi Annan’s speech at here
ESF: For
all the latest on next week’s European Social Forum in
Paris go to here
