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Global Peace And Justice Auckland Newsletter #87
Thursday, 7 April 2005, 10:02 am
Column: Global Peace And Justice Auckland
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Global Peace And Justice Auckland Newsletter #87, APRIL
7, 2005
Website http://www.gpja.pl.net/ Contact details:
Forums - John Minto, (09) 846 3173, jbminto@xtra.co.nz;
Newsletter Editor - Mike Treen 027 525 47440 / 09 845 4027
miket@pl.net Web page - bobo@enzyme.org.nz Donations can be
sent to GPJA, 6a Western Springs Rd, Auckland. All
communication regarding the GPJA mailing list (email or
snail) should be addressed to gpja@xtra.co.nz
There are been a number of events happening over
the next week or so that I have just been informed about so
this newsletter comes out a bit earlier than usual.
GPJA
has been supporting the campaign to free Thomas Yadegary,
and Iranian refugee being held in Mt Eden prison awaiting
deportation. Another picket is being held this Saturday at
2pm at Mt Eden Remand Prison. He has a small but determined
group of supporters who need help. Come along if you
can.
GPJA is supporting the rally and March this May Day
(see details below). GPJA will be highlighting the
continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and call for all
foreign troops (incldind NZ foces in Afghanistan) to be
withdrawn immediately. We will also be asserting our
democratic right to protest in this country after police
attacked the March 19 protest in Auckland and arrested some
of our supporters there and at the later court appearance.
Pasteups to help publicise the May Day march will be
organised for Sundays April 17 and 24. Teams will go out
from the Trades Hall at 3pm.
We would also like to hear
from any sympathetic lawyers who can assist the legal
defence of those arrested.
The GPJA organising committee
this Monday will be organising support for this march and
the GPJA campaign against loan sharks and pokies in
Auckland�s working class communities. This meeting will be
at 7.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd.
Don�t forget
the party this Saturday � See below.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
�Not as tyrants have we come, but as liberators� � �An evil
exists that threatens every man, woman, and child of this
great nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic
security and protect our homeland.� Not George Bush but
Adolf Hitler
WHAT�S ON IN AUCKLAND
Thursday, April 7,
8.30pm, TV3 An Inside NZ documentary about loan sharks and
finance companies called "Easy Money".
Saturday, April 9,
2pm � 3.30pm, Mt Eden Remand Prison, Mt Eden FREE THOMAS
HOSSEIN YADEGARY - Thank you very much for those people who
participated for the protest on 26 February 2005front of the
Mt. Eden Remand Prison and 11 March 2005 front of
Immigration at 450 Queen Street. It was a successful days.
Thomas was really grateful and it meant the world for him.
It is five months since he was arrested and put in prison to
be deported back to Iran. All his wanted in this country to
be free and live in peace. He came to this country in 1993
and asked our government protection. Now after 12 years of
working hard and contributing to society, he was put in
prison from 1 November 2004 to be deported. Thomas�s
situation is the most serious because he became a Christian
in 1997. This is a big crime under the Islamic law and if
he is ever sent back to Iran he will be executed because he
committed apostasy. It is time to free Thomas. Thomas is
not a criminal. All he ever wanted to do was to live in
peace and freedom. He was never been a danger to society.
He has the right to live freely as a human being.
Deportation will bring dire consequences for him. Your
support is vital. If you have any questions or would like
any more information please contact one of these numbers:
Homeira: 832 4531 or 021 533899
Saturday, April 9, 7pm,
Unite Office, 6a western Springs Rd, Mornigside PARTY AND
UNITE OFFICE OPENING. An invite to GPSA supporters to attend
this event which combines the GPJA newsletter editor�s 50th
and the office opening of the union he works for.
Sunday,
April 10, 2pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn
HEAR FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS OF THE BIG CHANGES IN NEPAL. Babu
Maharjan - will speak of the liberation movement, the coup
and the threat of outside intervention. Jared Phillips - one
of the few Westerners to ever travel through the liberated
Red Zones of Nepal talks about how the revolution is
transforming Nepal. Organised by the Anti-Capitalist
Alliance ph 0211867450
Monday, April 11, 7.30pm, Trades
Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn GPJA ORGANISING
COMMITTEE � ALL WELCOME
Monday, April 11, 2-3 pm Functions
Room, Auckland University Students Association (above
cafeteria)7-30pm, Room 3.407, Auckland University
Engineering School.. DEPLETED URANIUM - 'Poisoning Eden:
Nuclear Weapons, Energy and Depleted Uranium' - Dr Chris
Busby is a British expert on low-level radiation and DU. His
mission is to raise awareness among political leaders, their
advisers, opinion-formers and the general public about the
health effects of low-level radiation with specific
reference to DU and other radioactive waste from nuclear
electricity generation. He will be the first expert to speak
publicly on this issue in New Zealand. DU has the potential
to become the Agent Orange of the 21st century, with wider
health implications for not just New Zealand defence
personnel but all New Zealanders working in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The tour has been organised in response to
reported health effects following use of Depleted Uranium
(DU) weapons by US and UK forces in Kosovo, Afghanistan and
Iraq by a group of concerned Christchurch citizens called
the DU Education Team (DUET), who are concerned about the
short and long term impacts of DU on civilians in the
countries where it has been used, and on New Zealand
personnel deployed in those countries. Organised by DU
Education Team (DUET); for more information about the
Auckland meeting contact Marion Hancock tel (09) 373
2379
Monday, April 11, 7pm, St. Columbia Centre, 40
Vermont St Ponsonby The Aotearoa White Band campaign - If
not us, then who? If not now, then when? This is an
invitation to take a moment away from your own vital areas
of focus and reflect on the fact that the world has never
been richer. Yet there are still 8 million people a year
dying of poverty. In 2005, people around the world are
uniting to demand an end to this outrage. Get involved! The
campaign is uniting under the symbol of a simple White Band,
and has the support of some of the most respected figures in
the world, including Nelson Mandela, who came out of
retirement from public life to help launch the campaign in
the UK, saying: �Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not
natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and
eradicated by the actions of human beings.� Coalitions are
active in many countries already, with more forming all the
time. Some campaigns are already in full swing: for example,
check out the UK website:
http://www.makepovertyhistory.org. This invitation is to
one of the initial meetings to form a New Zealand campaign.
The Demands - The international campaign is calling for an
end to extreme poverty. Its focus is on three major causes
of poverty in developing countries: crippling debt, unfair
trade rules and bad or insufficient aid. The Millennium
Development Goals agreed at the United Nations in 2000 give
us the ammunition to make 3 major demands: Trade justice,
Debt cancellation , More and better aid. Each national
coalition is choosing the precise scope of its own campaign.
One of the major tasks for the national platform meetings
will be to decide the goals of the New Zealand coalition,
including whether to include any New Zealand poverty issues.
The other major task is to form an interim Steering
Committee to initiate the campaign. Please let me know if
you would like to volunteer or nominate someone else for
participation on the committee. The national platforms will
confirm the committee membership. Contact: Barry Coates,
Executive Director, Oxfam New Zealand, PO Box 68 357, 62
Aitken Terrace, Kingsland, Auckland Tel: +64 9 355 6500
FAX: +64 9 355 6505. See Oxfam NZ website at
http://www.oxfam.org.nz for latest information on the
tsunami response, Oxfam development programmes and
campaigns.
Thursday, April 14, 8.30pm, Rialto Cinema,
Broadway, Newmarket MOVIE - �THE YES MEN� See this funny and
revealing documentary in which corporate audiences all over
the world are taken for a ride. Learn more about the �other�
WTO. And see Oxfam New Zealand�s Director, Barry Coates on
the big screen hoodwinked by the Yes Men impersonating the
WTO � After full houses at the International Film Festival,
�The Yes Men� have arrived. See the film and hear Barry
Coates talk about the WTO ... and what it was like to be
conned by the Yes Men. Also showing Wellington, Rialto, 28th
April, 6pm. Cost is only $15 �. with proceeds going to
Oxfam�s work."The Yes Men" is a comic, biting, and
revelatory documentary directed by Chris Smith, Dan Ollman,
and Sarah Price. The film follows The Yes Men, a small group
of prankster-activists, as they gain worldwide notoriety for
impersonating the World Trade Organization on television and
at business conferences around the world. The film begins
when two members of The Yes Men (Andy and Mike) set up a
website that mimics the World Trade Organization's. When
their satire website is mistaken for the real thing, Mike
and Andy play along with the ruse and soon find themselves
invited to important functions as WTO representatives.
Delighted to appear on behalf of the organization they
politically oppose, Andy and Mike don thrift-store suits and
set out to shock unwitting audiences with darkly comic
satire that highlights the worst aspects of global free
trade. Barry Coates was, at the time of this movie, Director
of the World Development Movement, based in London. He was
on the other side of a TV interview with the Yes Men and set
them off in an even more subversive direction. Rating: PG,
82 mins. To find more information about the Yes Men look up
their website http://www.theyesmen.org. Remember
seats are extremely limited. So book your ticket by credit
card: Oxfam 0800 400 666 or contact Trien: 09 3556855 or
trien@oxfam.org.nz
Sunday, April 17, 3pm, Trades Hall, 147
Great North Rd, Grey Lynn PASTEUP TO BUILD MAY DAY MARCH,
PROTEST WAR, DEFEND THE RIGHT TO PROTEST
Sunday, April 17,
3pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn PASTEUP TO
BUILD MAY DAY MARCH, PROTEST WAR, DEFEND THE RIGHT TO
PROTEST
Sunday, April 17, 7.30pm, The Classic, 123 Queen
St Antidote #12. A Screening of �..The ENDof SUBURBIA Oil
Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream. Suburbia,
and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as
we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning
to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With
brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia
explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the
planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for
fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and
the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some
scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary. The
consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis
are enormous. AND MAY DAY COLUMBIA (short) The targeted
killing of educators and trade unionists in Columbia. To
coincide with the "Peasant and Small Farmer global day of
action",17th of April.
Sunday, May 1, 12 noon, Downtown,
Queen St, City MAY DAY RALLY AND MARCH. GPJA is supporting
the rally and march this May Day. GPJA will be highlighting
the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and call for all
foreign troops (incldind NZ foces in Afghanistan) to be
withdrawn immediately. We will also be asserting our
democratic right to protest in this country after police
attacked the March 19 protest in Auckland and arrested some
of our supporters there and at the later court
appearance.
Saturday, May 7, University of Auckland,
Engineering School, Lecture theatre 1.401 on Symonds Street
Attention teachers and high school students. The Auckland
branch of the United Nations Youth Association of New
Zealand (UNYANZ) will be running a model United Nations
Assembly for high school students on the 7th of May. The
Model UN provides young people an opportunity to research,
relate to, and represent a member country of the United
Nations General Assembly. It will also encourage students to
engage in active negotiation and alliance-formation. Mostly,
the MUN is an enjoyable and fun event which allows young
people to become familiar with issues of international
concern. The fee for the day (which includes lunch and
afternoon tea) is $17.50 for UNYANZ members and $27.50 for
non-members (includes year long membership to UNYANZ). For
more information and registration forms see the MUN page on
the UNYANZ website or email aucklandmun@unyanz.co.nz http://www.unyanz.co.nz/ Thursday,
May 12-19, Academy Cinema, City HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL:
Our exciting programme includes the 2005 Academy Award
winning documentary, Born into Brothels, the radical,
entertaining Resistencia - Hip Hop in Colombia, and some of
the finest documentaries currently touring the globe.
Further highlights include high profile British director Ken
Loach's dramatic feature, Bread and Roses starring Adrien
Brody (currently in New Zealand filming King Kong); and the
controversial study of the September 11 hijackers, Hamburg
Cell, produced by New Zealander Finola Dwyer. The full
programme for each centre will be released soon. If you
register on our website, we'll email you an electronic
version of the programme as soon as it's available. Go to
http://www.humanrightsfilmfest.net.nz
and click on keep me in the loop. Tickets will go on
sale in a few weeks time.
ANNOUNCENMENTS
CAMPAIGN
ASSISTANT - GREENPEACE is seeking a Campaign Assistant to
join its national campaign team in Auckland. The position
is responsible for providing administration, research and
campaign support for the organisation, to deliver successful
Greenpeace campaigns. You are confident, flexible, computer
literate and have strong administration and research skills.
Enthusiasm for the work of Greenpeace is essential. Please
go to http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/getinvolved/jobs.asp
to see a copy of the job description. Email your CV to
rhayden@nz.greenpeace.org or mail to Campaign Assistant,
Private Bag 92507, Wellesley St, Auckland, by no later than
11thApril.
NO US INTERVENTION IN VENEZUELA! The US is
preparing for a military intervention in Iraq. This is
becasue a key goal of the Chavez government has been
ensuring full government control over Venezuela's oil
industry, so it can use its earnings to eradicate poverty.
This has put Venezuela at odds with US corporations, and
therefore at odds with the US government. Now is the time to
build solidarity with the people of Venezuela. Check out
this great slide show presentation and make sure to pass it
on to friends, workmates and others. Venezuela needs your
solidarity NOW! Find out more about actions happening on the
international week of action April 11-17, on the two year
anniversary of the defeat of the US backed coup against
Chavez by a popular peoples uprising The slide show is
available at http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org/
Check it out today and pass it on to as many people as
possible to let them know what is going on
STAND UP FOR
GLOBAL JUSTICE, NO TO WAR - NO TO POVERTY: On 30 August 2005
one of the world's richest men Steve Forbes and NSW Premier
Bob Carr will host the fifth annual Forbes Global CEO
Conference at the Sydney Opera House. Like the World Trade
Organisation and the World Economic Forum the Global CEO
Conference is a means of promoting economic and social
policies that will benefit the rich and the powerful at the
expense of the majority of the world's people and the
environment. John Howard fresh from attacking workers and
students rights will open the conference where "senior
figures from the world's leading companies and institutions
will discuss the best ways to nurture and capitalise on
innovation and reveal the latest global trends." A $5000 a
head event restricted to top executives means that you're
not invited. But you can come anyway by joining the protests
at the Sydney Opera House. STAND UP FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE, NO
TO WAR - NO TO POVERTY - MEET: 5:00pm, 30 August, Circular
Quay, Sydney http://www.30a.org/ Dear friends of
FAIR WORLD LINKS: We have received a message today about the
workers' victory at the MSP Sportswear factory making Nike
brand clothing in North East Thailand. Fair World Links took
action on this issue by asking those on our e-list to write,
and also by organising a demonstration outside Rebel Sports
retail shop in central Wellington on February 10. We hand
delivered a letter protesting about the sacking of the
workers organising a factory union a MSP Sportswear, and
called on Rebel Sportswear to investigate the use of
sweatshops by Nike subcontract companies. Rebel Sports
sells Nike brand sportswear, and the managing director had
been adamant that Nike did not source its products from
sweatshops in Thailand. You can see pix of the protest and
read the leaflet at http://www.greens.org.nz/campaigns/trade
We will let you know of any further developments. John
Maynard and Christine Dann, Fair World Links
BEST ON THE
WEB
NZ PM Urged To Reaffirm Military Ban With Indonesia http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0504/S00026.htm
Solidarity Strong At Colgate-Palmolive Picket http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0504/S00030.htm
Tolls On Auckland Roads - Highway Robbery http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0503/S00183.htm
2004 Roger Award Winner(s) To Be Announced May 2 http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0504/S00055.htm
AUSTRALIA
Unity in the face of permanent war: More than 500 people
participated in the biggest gathering of social justice and
international solidarity activists in Australia since 2002,
when they attended the Third Asia Pacific International
Solidarity Conference (APISC 2005), in Sydney on March
24-28. http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/621/621p12.htm
Australia: Death in custody autopsy finds signs of
torture: A second autopsy conducted on Mr Scott's body at
the weekend found lesions that were consistent with torture
procedures, like being kicked in the genital region, and
with a facial blow and strangulation. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200504/s1338617.htm
Protesters vow to close Baxter detention centre http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/621/621p5.htm
Geneva v Canberra - The UN has again attacked the
Howard Government's record on race. But this time the
politicians are shutting up and news of the verdict isn't
getting out. David Marr reports. http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Geneva-v-Canberra/2005/03/27/11118622531
10.html
UK FBI monitored British activists: Agents
tapped the phones and read emails of animal rights
campaigners http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1451100,00.html
WEST PAPUA Rape of a Nation - About the forgotten
conflict in West Papua http://www.news.vu/en/news/RegionalNews/050402-Rape-of-a-Nation.shtml
Church leader pleads for Papua - A West Papuan church
leader has urged the federal government not to turn a blind
eye to human rights abuses in his homeland as it
contemplates a new security pact with Indonesia http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Church-leader-pleads-for-Papuas/2005/04/03/1112489346840.html
DIEGO GARCIA How Diego Garcia was Depopulated & Stolen
http://www.lalitmauritius.com/deigohowdiego.htm
Peoples� Struggles in the face of State Conspiracy http://www.lalitmauritius.com/diegochagossian.htm
TORTURE AND ABUSE IN IRAQ Green light for Iraqi prison
abuse came right from the top - Classified documents show
the former US military chief in Iraq personally sanctioned
measures banned by the Geneva Conventions. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=625909
New revelations about ongoing brutality at Abu Ghraib -
Delgado says he observed mutilation of the dead, trophy
photos of dead Iraqis, mass roundups of innocent
noncombatants, positioning of prisoners in the line of
fire�all violations of the Geneva conventions. His own
buddies�decent, Christian men, as he describes them�shot
unarmed prisoners. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8441.htm
Army Whitewashes Deaths of Iraq Prisoners: Getting away
with murder - There's no other way to describe the
Pentagon's announcement that it is refusing to prosecute any
of the 17 U.S. soldiers who contributed to the deaths of
three prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004.
The decision is against the recommendations of the Army's
own investigators. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8442.htm
DEATH PENALTY Amnesty Calls On UN To Condemn Death
Penalty As Human Rights Violation http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0504/S00090.htm
VENEZUELA Rise of Black Propaganda and Dirty War
Tactics (Again) - Washington�s efforts to discredit the
Venezuelan Government have increased over the past few
weeks. Tactics and strategies applied in prior years
attempting to overthrow the Ch�vez administration through a
coup d'etat, an illegal oil industry strike that crippled
the Venezuelan economy and a constitutional recall
referendum on Ch�vez's mandate infused with illegal campaign
contributions by the U.S. government to the Venezuelan
opposition, all failed miserably. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0504/S00018.htm
FOOD
Jose Bove Describes Fight for Food Sovereignty - French
Farmer and Global Social Justice Activist Jose Bove
Describes Fight for Food Sovereignty Around the World http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0504/S00020.htm
Mike
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