Digest for TheBlackList@topica.com, issue 752
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Keeping us on time, in touch and in step
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TheBlackList F.A.Qs - Frequently Asked Questions:
http://www.theMarcusGarveyBBS.com/tbl-FAQS.htm
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<{Bulletins}>
�MATAH:
The Path to TRUE Freedom for Black People
http://www.matah.com/index.ihtml?mtcnbc=21231169
Get on the Freedom Train
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ANOTHER VIEW: Is NAFTA Good for Mexico, or Us, or Both?
By eccu...@hotmail.com
Eyewitness to the Black World
By sendmey...@theblacklist.net
US Participation in Racism Conference Doubtful
By dralvi...@earthlink.net
Returning All the Works of Langston Hughes to Print
By res...@best.com
REPARATIONS NOW IN OUR LIFETIME AUGUST ISSUE
By jwr...@blackomahaonline.com
FILING OUR REPARATIONS CASE IN THE COURT OF WORLD OPINION
By Wewi...@juno.com
How To Determine An Agent Provocateur!!!
By o_akk...@msn.com
Re: ANOTHER VIEW: Is NAFTA Good for Mexico, or Us, or Both?
By honda...@yahoo.com
OUR CULTURE
By na...@LINKAMERICA.Net
Irian Jaya - West Papua, What's next?
By kw...@theblacklist.net
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 08:18:44
From: eccu...@hotmail.com
Subject: ANOTHER VIEW: Is NAFTA Good for Mexico, or Us, or Both?
Another View:
Emory Curtis eccu...@hotmail.com
Is NAFTA Good for Mexico, or Us, or Both?
NAFTA, which has been with us since 1994, is in full gear now and is
setting
down its own tracks that points to future trade relations between Mexico
and the United States. That change is taking place now. We need to heed
it.
In the not too far distant past, the common view of many white Americans
was
that, except for a precious few, Mexicans were essentially incapable of
performing complex tasks. Mexicans have shown those naysayers wrong.
The general view of Americans in terms of Mexico and goods made in Mexico
has been negative. In their view, goods made in Mexico were shoddy and
cheap, and except for special cases, Mexicans were only good at simple
tasks.
A few years ago while looking for a place to buy in Lake County, CA, a
realtor who was also an elected county supervisor, commented to me about a
road repair workman up the highway from us, "He is a good workman, even
if
he is a Mexican. He has been working with that crew for years and they
made
him lead man. Of course he's got some Chinese in him, and that sharpened
him up a bit."
He didn't know it, but that statement made him a sale. Being black, we
bought some property from him because we knew he thought even less of
black
people. We felt he needed to see us on a regular basis to maybe "sharpen
his view of black people through us."
That county supervisor's view of Mexicans which was held by many helped
U.
S. residents to stomach a policy that encouraged shipping simple assembly
work jobs to maquiladoras on our Mexican border and to support NAFTA
which,
in effect, paved the way for other jobs to be shipped to Mexico.
The maquiladoras are assembly factories that have special duty-free
status.
It gives those plants duty-free incoming and outgoing shipments in and out
of the country. The duty-free status, proximity to the U. S. market and
Mexico's low wage structure makes it a location that can successfully
compete the low-cost assembly operation in Asia.
For many manufacturers, the location decision tipping point is the
proximity
to the United States, the final destination of most of the assembled
goods.
The fact that the maquiladora employment has risen to 800,000 since 1993
shows that the program is valuable, to Mexico, at least.
As for the United States, few of those low-wage, low-skill jobs would have
ended up in this country. Likely they would have wound up in Asian
assembly
shops, where most of that kind of work is done now.
On the other hand, because of its proximity to the U. S., it kept many of
the higher skill parts manufacturing jobs in this country because of
proximity and shipping costs. That proximity to a high-consuming country
is
also paying off for Mexico in terms high-skill high-paying assembly jobs
too.
Probably the automobile assembly workers are the highest paid and highest
skilled set of workers in the U. S.. Most U.S. auto assembly plants are
only hiring workers with at least some college background now. Auto
assembly
jobs are becoming more complex and multi-tasked so that workers need to
use
their brain more and brawn less.
Mexico is showing that they have workers with brains too.
In 1985 only 13,647 new passenger cars were imported from Mexico; in
1999,
Mexican new passenger car exports to the U. S. totaled almost a million
(993,772). Only Japan (1,454,581) and Canada sent more (1,825,260) new
passenger cars to the U. S. than Mexico. Furthermore, the new passenger
cars sent to the U. S. from Mexican plants has been climbing each year.
A Flectronics factory unit in Guadalajara is an electronic manufacturer
for
hire. An Economist reporter reported that on the shop-floor robots were
in
two lines fitting circuit boards with components in plastic cases.
In an electronic assembly factory, that's a normal sight. However, in this
case, the site was abnormal. One line was making Web-TV set top boxes for
Phillips and the other line was making the identical set top box for Sony,
a
competitor of Phillips.
Factories for hire that produce the complete product is a growing concept
in the electronic world. The high tech gear needed to assemble the
components for the small units -- cell phones, video cameras, pagers,
etc.--
are robots because the components are too small even for the small
fingers
of women who normally do that work.
Complex and costly robots have replaced the line of women soldering parts
on a circuit board. Robots are complex and costly and need specialists to
operate and maintain them.
Factory operations include reprogramming the robots to fit changes in
product design, and to make it more producible. Factories for hire are
speedy producers. Manufacturers like them because speedy production gives
a
company a market place lead over its competitors.
The workers in those plants are very skilled. They even give advice on
design changes to speed the manufacturing process. Speed to market is the
key.
Manufacturers know Mexicans are meeting that goal. It shows once again
that
no group, no race, no nation has a lock on knowledge and the ability to
manage intellect.
Adjusting to a next door neighbor with low wages and ability to compete
will
be hard for us. But that's our future.
Let me hear from you: (916)961-1859 (V); (916)967-1866 (FAX); e-mail;
eccu...@hotmail.com. or 8931 Bluff Lane, Fair Oaks, CA 95628. To see
back
columns http://home.earthlink.net/~eccurtis
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TheBlackList - "The New Negro World"
Satisfying the African Need to Know
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 06:14:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: SendMeYourNews <sendmey...@theblacklist.net>
Subject: Eyewitness to the Black World
Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 04:26:50 -0400
To: hype_l...@hotmail.com
From: Yemi Toure <yto...@mindspring.com>
Subject: H|Y|P|E > Eyewitness to the Black World 1 > New Series Begins
|||<>|||///\\\///\\\|||O|||///\\\///\\\|||<>|||
H|Y|P|E Information Service > Your "Talking Drum"
www.afrikan.net/hype > yto...@mindspring.com > 404.767.1275 > USA
"Music is everywhere" -- A visit to Cuba
By Harvette Grey
Editor's Note: We are beginning a new series of articles for you called
"Eyewitness to the Black World". Through it, you will see and hear and
feel
what it is like to have a brief visit with other Black folx in other parts
of the world. You will travel through the eyes and ears and other senses
of
people like you, who go visit our cousins in other lands.
We begin our series with Harvette Grey, visiting Cuba ...
Q: Tell us about you.
HARVETTE GREY: I am an African descent woman in America. I serve as the
Executive Director of DePaul University's Cultural Center. My past work
included a stint as Founding Director of the DePaul University Women's
Center. I recently completed an article for publication entitled "Images
of Beauty: The Media, Marilyn and Me". And I am also the newly elected
President-Elect of the Association of Black Psychologists.
Q: What countries did you visit?
This year I visited Cuba. Last year, Ghana and France. Before that, Peru
and Brazil. By the way, the Africans in Peru are in dire need of
assistance.
Q: What regions of those countries?
In Cuba I visited Habana, Santiago, Trinidad and Santa Clara. In Peru,
Lima
and Chincha and other sites with mostly Africans.
Brazil, I traveled the regions of Bahia, San Pao, and Rio. And the west,
south and east regions of Ghana.
Q: When did you go?
Usually between mid-June and mid-August of those years.
Q: On vacation? Going to a conference? Just traveling?
Usually one or all of the above.
Q: Tell us about the land, vegetation, city streets where you were.
Cuba, the land is beautiful ... Green, lush. It can very easily be an
agri-society.
The city streets are clean. While Habana is "crumbling" on the outside due
to the lack of material (U.S. embargo, I believe), the inside of the homes
are modest but very neat, clean and decorated with the most fantastic
antiques.
You see new cars, old cars, horse and buggy, bicycles, and three wheeled
cabs. All are used for tourists and to get around in. There are also huge
buses with truck-type fronts that look like 18-wheelers from the front
instead of a bus.
Q: Tell us other things that you saw and heard, what you tasted and
smelled, what you felt.
Music. AFRO CUBAN music is EVERYWHERE. Walking down the street, eat in a
restaurant, go to a bar, club, beach, marketplace.
I saw clean people with clean clothes in a place where water may be cut
off
at certain times, and where the electricity goes out unexpectedly. I
heard
nothing that sounded violent, angry. No cursing. Many of the people speak
at least two or three languages. The children are fantastic.
Cuban food is delicious especially if you go to a home. They are allowed
to
have "home" restaurants where they can serve up to 12 people. Cuba is a
PORK and chicken place. Lots of PORK.
It is nice eating on the balcony of someone's home as the world goes by
below. There is also a MEAN drink. Mojita. Rum, spearmint leaves, lemon
juice, seltzer water, sugar ... That's it, I think!
I also liked the signs in the cities that spoke of heroes: "We want our
children to be like Che", or signs about Jose Marti or Antonio Maceo. The
best slogan is "Vive Cuba Libre" -- Cuba lives free!
The downside is that tourism is there like a vengeance. You see in most
places old, lecherous, decrepit men and very young and thin African
descent
girl-women. (My prediction: Watch the HIV+ count to rise there
drastically.)
Q: Tell us about some individuals you personally met.
They were people full of the joy of life. Ordinary people, a Santera
(Santeria), a Babaloa, workers, guides, etc. They related like everyone
else I've met. The difference in some cases was that I spoke little
Spanish
and the same was true for them, except the language was English. There
were
your hustlers, for money or anything - beggars (for soap).
In Trinidad, flirtatious men (differs from lecherous) with women. There is
a color issue there, even though they deny it. It comes through very
subtly
in the culture and directly in their paintings and portrayals of African
people, which is sold to foreigners -- Black minstrel stereotypes eating
watermelon. Especially negative of African women. They don't see it as
negative. So they say.
There is much Santeria practiced by the Africans and Europeans.
Q: Did anything remind you of Black folx in your own country?
Yes, they "hang out" on the corners, streets, porches. How people talked
about their "African" blood. The "I am Cuban" versus "I am African."
Certain foods, beans and rice dishes. Chicken was similar.
The music is Caribbean and Latino. While in Santiago, the African Caribe
Festival was held. Each country that I witnessed, told of their history
beginning with slavery, through dance and music from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. One
after another they depict who they were and are.
I felt quite proud even knowing that they were Caribbean. Then I thought
one people, one land, one destiny.
Q: What did you learn that might be helpful, or interesting, or a warning,
to other Black folx?
Don't visit acting like you have never seen poverty. The country is poor.
Don't expect up-to-date plumbing. Some toilets have no flushing equipment.
They are fixing it but it will take time.
If you want to assist the people, bring paper, as there is a real shortage
on all types of paper. In Santiago, rum is $3-$4 a large bottle, but there
are no paper or cardboard boxes to carry it.
Don't act like the ugly American. Most of the people want to get to know
you. They are accustomed to whites coming there all of the time. While
some
Africans have gone there, we have not had a presence there. Let's make it
a
good one.
Also note that if you can avoid the Miami Cubans, do. Get a legal license
from the Treasury Department, but leave for Cuba out of Jamaica, Mexico or
someplace else. Also enter back to the U.S. through another country. If
you don't, it can be an unnecessary hassle and the Miami Cubans are the
people who are anti-Cuba and anti-Castro.
And the Revolution Museum is a must.
Q: What else would you like to tell us?
Try it. Most will like it! -- (c)2001 HYPE, www.afrikan.net/hype,
media...@hotmail.com
==
TheBlackList -
http://www.TheBlackList.net
Keeping us in touch, on time and in step.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 05:24:13 -0700
From: dralvi...@earthlink.net
Subject: US Participation in Racism Conference Doubtful
This page was sent to you by one of our readers: Dr. Alvin Wyman Walker
http://allafrica.com/stories/200107300532.html
Brother,
I am forwarding this piece to you in case you would like to post it for
the edification of your readers.
To read up-to-date coverage of politics, business, sport and entertainment
news throughout Africa,
visit http://allAfrica.com/
All Africa - All the Time
--------------------------
US Participation in Racism Conference Doubtful
http://allafrica.com/stories/200107300532.html
allAfrica.com
July 30, 2001
Posted to the web July 30, 2001
Charles Cobb, Jr
Washington, DC
As the Third Preparatory Committee meeting of the World Conference against
Racism got underway in Geneva, Monday, to work on a draft Declaration and
Program of Action, United States participation in the Durban, South Africa
conference remained in doubt, although efforts to reach a compromise are
underway.
In a speech at the National Urban League Conference in Washington DC,
Monday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for "common ground" to be
found. Although the past should not be forgotten, the U.N. leader said, "the
conference must help heal old wounds without ignoring them."
The United States objects to references equating Zionism with racism and to
inclusion on the agenda of reparations for colonialism and slavery.
White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer told reporters Friday that the US
position was that the conference "should be focused on the future on
combating racism that exists in the world today," instead of trying to
"revisit a very tangled issue."
These were "serious concerns" a State Department spokesperson said after
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Marc Grossman, met with some
40 foreign ambassadors to explain the US position on Friday last week.
The US has threatened to boycott the meeting and to deny it funding if
planners insist on placing the two issues on the conference agenda.
"The President is committed to going and to attending this conference," said
Fleischer. "The representatives of the United States government have their
bags packed and they're ready to go and attend this conference. The only
thing stopping them from going will be if the conferees divert the
conference from its important mission of fighting racism and get into issues
such as equating Zionism with racism, or engaging in issues facing backwards
on reparations that serve to divide nations."
At a roundtable discussion last week, black lawmakers in the US Congress
criticized the Bush administration for not taking the lead in putting
reparations on the table. Calling slavery one of the greatest crimes of all
time, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) said; "Our nation has refused to
confront the enormity of this crime." Such a position, "is not radical,"
added Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), "it's right."
Many observers think that the 'Zionism as racism' item will be dropped but
that the reparations issue may remain on the agenda in some modified way.
Few think that President Bush will attend the conference.
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TheBlackList - "The New Negro World"
Satisfying the African Need to Know
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 17:43:43 -0700
From: res...@best.com
Subject: Returning All the Works of Langston Hughes to Print
JULY 31, 2001
RETURNING ALL THE WORKS OF LANGSTON HUGHES TO PRINT
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/31/books/31ARTS.html
By JO THOMAS
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Mo., but he did not
stay there long. He was already living with his grandmother in Lawrence,
Kan., when a year later a white lynch mob burned the black neighborhood
of his birthplace. Rural Kansas, not Missouri, was home to his earliest
memories, his first novel and some of his best poetry.
Now the University of Missouri Press is placing a claim on its native
son
by publishing for the first time the complete "Collected Works of
Langston Hughes" in 18 volumes. The first three volumes were published
in
June. The entire set will be available in time for the centenary of his
birth, Feb. 1, 2002.
Mr. Hughes's reputation rests largely on his poetry, essays, short
stories, novels, plays and newspaper articles, but he also gained
stature
as a leading voice in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's. He published
more than 35 books before his death in 1967, but most of his work is not
available today.
"Hughes has been only half there in our culture," said Cary R. Nelson,
editor of the Anthology of Modern American Poetry, recently published by
Oxford University Press. "For many decades, he has been at the top of
the
pantheon of 20th-century poets by any reasonable standard. He deserves
to
have every word he wrote be in print."
The first three volumes in the new Hughes collection contain poetry
edited by Arnold Rampersad, author of the two-volume biography "The Life
of Langston Hughes" (Oxford University Press, 1986 and 1988). The poems
are grouped together as they were originally published so "we are able
to
see Hughes's hand, as it were, shaping each volume," Mr. Rampersad said.
The previously unpublished poems are grouped chronologically.
The fourth book, issued on July 7, contains "Not Without Laughter," the
story of an African-American boy growing to manhood in a small Kansas
town, a novel first published in 1930, and "Tambourines to Glory," a
comic novel set in Harlem and published in 1958. This volume is edited
by
Dolan Hubbard, who also edited "The Sermon and the African American
Literary Imagination" (University of Missouri Press, 1996).
Beverly Jarrett, director and editor in chief at the University of
Missouri Press, has been working for 12 years with the executors of the
Hughes estate to get the rights to reproduce his work. Harold Ober
Associates, which was Hughes's literary agency, helped her negotiate
with
his commercial publishers.
"We hoped to publish in hardback in reasonably priced editions," Ms.
Jarrett said, adding that the current price of a volume is $29.95. "Our
goal is to hold this within the reach of people Hughes was writing for.
We want these books in the libraries. It's hard for them to buy a $50
book."
The editorial board for the collection decided to draw its texts from
first editions, but when Jane Lago, managing editor of the publishing
house, began collecting them, price was a huge barrier. "I started
looking at eBay and at used book stores," she said. "I quickly
discovered
we could not afford to buy them. First editions were selling for $500 to
$5,000 each. Our library had some, and we tried inter-library loans."
The
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale, which has the Hughes
papers, allowed her staff to photocopy four books.
The unpublished material will include two volumes of plays, cantatas,
operatic librettos and gospel plays. "For a lot of these plays, it's not
clear what the performance text is," Leslie Sanders, the editor, said.
"But plays are like that. There isn't necessarily a clean text." When
possible, she said, she is using the texts of first performances,
although not in the case of "Mulatto," which ran on Broadway. "It was
not
a production he had any control over," Ms. Sanders said. "The producer
inserted a rape in it and made other alterations that displeased
Hughes."
The author revised constantly, Ms. Sanders said. She is respecting his
wishes in some cases but not in others. "Hughes became uneasy, starting
toward the end of the 1930's, with the ways in which dialect was being
written and used," she said. "He moved away from extremely derogatory
language, even when it may have been `realistic.' I have respected his
choices in that." But in some of his comedies, like "Little Ham," he
took
a particular dislike to "dese" and "dose," Ms. Sanders said. "Sho" in
"Sho, you kin be de boss" became "Certainly." "Is you?" became "Are
you?"
and "I makes money" became "I make money."
"I'm going back to the 1930's version where the language is a little
saltier, a little looser," Ms. Sanders said.
James V. Hatch, the co-author with Errol G. Hill of "The History of
African-American Theater from its Beginnings to 2000," to be published
next year by Cambridge University Press, said the new collection "should
increase Hughes's recognition as a playwright. Some of the unknown plays
are of historical value. People have not been aware of how political
many
of his plays were or of his humanistic approach to labor, lynching,
racism and his attempts to erase stereotypes."
Mr. Hatch continued: "Every year, almost all the major black theaters
produce his Christmas play, `Black Nativity.' It always sells out --
like the `Nutcracker.' People love it."
Editors and scholars agree that politics took its toll on the quality of
Hughes's published work. Mr. Nelson said: "When Hughes revised his
poems,
he revised them to make them less good. The revisions took place in the
late 1940's through the 1950's, when he was under so much pressure from
the right wing. He revised his poems on the left to blunt their force
somewhat. More surprisingly and more troublingly, some of his most
searing poems about race he made less tough when he revised them."
Mr. Nelson added: "For decades, the version of Langston Hughes you could
buy was a version of Hughes with his hands and feet chopped off,
completely truncated. He left many of his strongest poems out and
bowdlerized others. It will make a difference when you read the real
man."
Christopher DeSantis, editor of the Hughes essays, which have never been
collected in their entirety, said he does not plan to include all of
Hughes's articles, but he will include the Hughes newspaper coverage of
the Spanish Civil War for The Afro-American in Baltimore as well as
other essays.
"The essays give a sense of a different Langston Hughes," Mr. DeSantis
said. "It's still the Langston Hughes of the democratic voice,
conversational voice, voice of working masses that everyone loves in his
poetry. I think this book will give scholars and general readers more of
a sense of Langston Hughes as an intellectual. People, wrongly, haven't
thought of him in that way."
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TheBlackList - "The New Negro World"
Satisfying the African Need to Know
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 13:30:32 -0500
From: Yehudah Benyamin Yisrael <jwr...@blackomahaonline.com>
Subject: REPARATIONS NOW IN OUR LIFETIME AUGUST ISSUE
>Delivered-To: jwr...@blackomahaonline.com
>From: Yehudah Benyamin ben Yisrael <Yeh...@thelawkeepers.org>
>Subject: REPARATIONS NOW IN OUR LIFETIME AUGUST ISSUE
>
>"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."
>Proverbs 14:34
>"The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors
>shall be taken in their own naughtiness." Proverbs 11:6
>
>Greetings reparations advocates and supporters.
>
>The Creator is on our side and we WILL GET reparations.
>
>The August Issue of the Reparations Now! In our Lifetime! Newsletter is
now
>online and available for your viewing and or download. This issue is in
two
>parts and is packed full of information as we approach the WCAR.
>
>Please point your brower to http://www.thelawkeepers.org/replet106.htm
and
>http://www.thelawkeepers.org/replet106b.htm
>To view previous issues go to http://www.thelawkeepers.org/repnow01.htm
>
>The Creator is on ourside and we WILL GET reparations
>
>Please support our efforts in seeking Reparations Now, in our Lifetime
and
>spread the word about Reparations for the African Slave Trade and support
>the fundraising, relocation efforts of The LawKeepers Co.
>REPARATIONS ARE DUE GET YOUR BUTTON
> http://www.inetmgrs.com/hebrew/law/index.html
>
>
Please support our efforts in seeking Reparations Now, in our Lifetime and
spread the word about Reparations for the African Slave Trade and support
the fundraising, relocation efforts of The LawKeepers Co.
REPARATIONS ARE DUE GET YOUR BUTTON
http://www.inetmgrs.com/hebrew/law/index.html
___________ POSTED by _______________
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NEWS, EVENTS, FORUMS and more..
TheBlackList - "The New Negro World"
Satisfying the African Need to Know
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 19:32:59 -0400
From: Wewi...@juno.com
Subject: FILING OUR REPARATIONS CASE IN THE COURT OF WORLD OPINION
Filing Our Claim for Black Reparations in The Court of World Opinion
Reparations Thoughts by
Omowale Za, African Reparations Activist
An article in the Sunday, November 5, 2000 issue of The Atlanta Journal
Constitution by Paul Shepard, Associated Press, was a pleasure to see in
that its first column stretched from the top to the bottom of the page.
Two additional though short columns at the top gave space for the title,
"Slavery Reparations Sought".
This article talks about the Reparations Assessment Group that plans to
file a new Class Suit for Black Reparations. Johnnie Cochran is one of
the attorneys involved in this effort, Randall Robinson of TransAfrica
(author of The Debt), Harvard law professor Charles J. Ogletree and
Attorney Alexander Pires, Jr., who, according to the article, recently
won a $1 billion settlement for the Black Farmers against the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. However, those of us keeping up with articles
on the various Black ListServs are aware that there have been some
problems in collecting the Settlement. There has been some political
activism by the Black Farmers to get paid. If anyone has any updates on
the status of the Black Farmers "Settlement" please inform us. Other
experience attorneys are also involved with the Reparations Assessment
Group.
The question that strikes me of interest is that though the article
states there are some matters still to be determined, when will it be
filed, and who will be the Defendants, the question left unanswered is
WHERE will the suit be filed? That is, who has a Court with enforcement
power sufficient to make the U.S. pay us Reparations?
The recent Report of the Commission on Global Governance, OUR GLOBAL
NEIGHBORHOOD, makes some points worth consideration. One is that
International Law is itself recent in origin some scholars having argued
that International Law is not law in a true sense in that there is no
truly objective international police force to enforce any determinations
in so-called International Law. The U.S. views itself as the Global
Police for Human Rights and democracy, but the U.S is one of the
Defendants when it comes to African or Black Reparations. Indeed, our
experience in utilizing U.S. Courts has been dubious though necessary to
exhaust Domestic Remedies for Reparations.
In CATO et al versus the United States (1995) the Superior Court of The
United States (California) questioned the "standing" of the Plaintiffs
even to conduct such a Class Action on behalf of the Class of African
slave descendants in the U.S. There was also the problem of the Sovereign
Immunity of the U.S., which States customarily use in order to protect
themselves from suits by other States, even having to agree to be sued by
its citizens, wherein the U.S. Court could not find sufficient reason to
waive its Sovereign Immunity in order to hear the CATO case before a
Tribunal of the Law and could not find any U.S. Constitutional Law that
had been broken. The Court clearly based its opinion on the historic Dred
Scott Case in the U.S. Supreme Court where Judge Taney concluded that the
word "citizen" in the U.S. Constitution did not apply to Blacks and that
a Black man has no rights that a White man is "bound" (by U.S. Law) to
respect.
Jewell Cato, her sisters and brothers et al, were considered to be U.S.
Citizens in fact of REAL Law, there certainly would be no question as to
their "standing" in carrying forth such an action on behalf of their
Class. Standing spells status. Slaves cannot bring Court action against
their masters.
In some of his earlier statements this year, Randall Robinson hints that
a Class Action directed at U.S. Courts may be a problem due to Sovereign
Immunity. In The Debt he speaks more of direct political action on the
floor of the U.S. Congress until they give in to the demands. Since that
statement Robinson has been a key player in rallying support for
Congressman John Conyers H.R. 40 Black Reparations Study opinion via the
various predominately Black City Councils about the Country. NCOBRA has
been a long term supporter and lobby for H.R. 40 opinion.
Leonard Ashton versus the Internal Revenue Service and the United States
(1996) with the Legal Counsel of Attorney Dr. Robert L. Brock, challenged
the IRS and the U.S. to prove, to present the actual documents that prove
that the Class of African slave descendants in the U.S. are U.S. Citizens
by Human Mutuality and thereby owe taxes to the U.S. This "hot potato"
Class Action slipped out of the Superior Court of California right into
the U.S. Supreme Court without even having been heard for its merits in
the lower Court. This was unprecedented at the time. The Superior Court
of California had found the case "frivolous" claiming that there are U.S.
taxpayers who are not U.S. Citizens. Brock replied that the fundamental
difference with the Class of Africa slave descendants is that we were
brought here illegally, i.e. by force. Obviously the Superior Court could
not handle the case since it has no such documents to prove that we are
U.S. Citizens based upon our Human Mutuality. The U.S. Supreme Court
refused certiorari. The documents in the case were never ordered from the
lower Court. In October of 1996 the IRS and the U.S. WAIVED THEIR RIGHTS
to respond to the charges of illegal taxation of African slave
descendants. This was a safer option for them, since Blacks are generally
asleep about our Human Rights issues and are preoccupied with so-called
Civil Rights legislated by others in which we had no say from the root of
such so-called "laws". What would a REAL U.S. Citizen need with either
Affirmative Action or Civil Rights. A REAL U.S. Citizen Human Rights and
is affirmed a priori. But the Human Rights of Africans slaves were
stripped by force, i.e. our Mother Tongue (s), our traditional Religion
and Culture (s). Hence, as repeatedly emphasized by The National
Commission for Reparations (Silis Muhammad), we have no Human Rights nor
an Human Identity of our own in the U.S.. And until this past Summer we
had no International Identity and were not recognized by the
International Community. Indeed, we are still groping to get that new
International Identity recognized based upon the continuing work in
International Law of The National Commission for Reparations.
So, In CATO versus the U.S., we didn't have sufficient "standing". In
Leonard Ashton versus the IRS and U.S. they waived their rights to
respond which, though technical victory for the Class of African slave
descendants, is meaningless until we wake-up about our Human Rights.
This past August in Geneva, Switzerland, the U.S. exerted its global
influence and stopped the presentation before the 188 member-States of
the United Nations a paper that would have indicted them in the grossest
crime against humanity in World History. Due Process in International Law
was "waived" in that the origin and presentation of the paper had gone
through the appropriate channels to be presented to the World, but was
taken off of the agenda at the last moment.
The African World Reparations and Repatriation Ruth Commission is filing
its case for Africa Reparations, including the Diaspora, in the so-called
World Court at the Hague in Holland, which is supposed to be the
jurisdictional branch of the United Nations General Assembly. The problem
is that only 60 of the 188 member-States of the U.N. have given
jurisdiction to the so-called World Court and The U.S. and France
recently refused to attend proceedings of the Court in which they were
Defendants. So the question still remains, where is the Reparations
Assessment Group going to file our Class Action?
The determination and swiftness in which the U.S. stopped the
presentation of the paper in August 2000 that would have opened up the
discussion of the Restoration of the Human Rights of African slave
descendants sends the message that the work of the National Commission
for Reparations is definitely on the right track. This did not involve
the filing of a Class Action on behalf of African slave descendants in a
particular Court. It dealt with the problem of creating, of defining a
category in International Law by which the problem could even be
discussed, since we are not a Nation State that is recognized by the
United Nations and we have no International identity in terms of our own
Mother Tongue, which was taken by force of arms, nor an original intact
Religion nor an intact original Culture.
So, in conclusion, I am suggesting that whatever Court actions may be
filed will necessarily take on a larger significance than simply the Due
Process within whatever "jurisdiction". Due Process has consistently been
waived on our issues. However, bringing our issues to the attention of
the World clearly poses the ultimate threat to the U.S.
In the absence of an objective Global Police Force, international
standards and rules of Human ethics have frequently been enforced by the
exertion of social pressures from other member-States, including
international institutions and civil society organizations such as the
NGO (nongovernment organization) C.U.R.E./AFRE which has been sponsoring
The Honourable Silis Muhammad to speak on our issues to the United
Nations since 1998.
So, what I see is that we must take our case to the Court of World
Opinion and we will surely get paid. The bold action by the U.S. in
Geneva this past August is one of our first global indicators that we are
on the right track. The Leonard Ashton Case was an indicator in Domestic
Law of how very fearful the U.S. really is of facing our Human Rights
issues. So we are being given a CHARGE forward to success and completion.
Whatever method one chooses at whatever level of Law we must take it to
the Court of World Opinion where we will win. There is support out there.
We must move beyond our fears and doubts to tap into our support out
there. So what we are involved in is Global Community Organization around
the global issue of African and/or Black Reparations. The World owes us
for our cotton ad technological inventions.
The primary platform is the international one where our true Human Rights
lie. At the current level of our activism, the U.S. may very well be
willing to deal with us at some national level as long as they can keep
us from pursuing the International arena (s) where they will surely have
to pay us justly as the world's "protector" of Human Rights and
democracy.
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TheBlackList - "The New Negro World"
Satisfying the African Need to Know
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 09:46:27 -0500
From: o_akk...@msn.com
Subject: How To Determine An Agent Provocateur!!!
Hoteph My Brothers And Sisters:
First let me make one thing clear, since the time I appeared on the world
wide net you have not heard me make claim of leadership of anything other
than The Pan Afrikan Inter'National Movement. I do not assume claim of
leadership because I know that true leadership is granted to you by the
people and that is not my concern. I do know this, I take my instructions
from the gods our mothers and fathers they it is whom I represent to you
and if anybody can find fault with rational reason and logic of what I say
to you then step forward with something better and I would be the first to
acknowledge that what you say as being true because it must have had to
come from the gods whom I shall not question. We develop our own little
criteria for leadership and the most flawed one of all is you think you
have to have a personal knowledge of the person regardless what the
message
is of the person or what the ideas and thoughts are of the person
concerning our liberation. There are those whom you presently adopt as
your
leader and you feel you know them very well, while all the time you know
what is being said by your adopted leader has nothing to do with Afrika
liberation. Think about it. A true leader is one that is ordained by the
gods our mothers and fathers and regardless of how many it may be the
message to you will not conflict nor will it confuse you, because you know
what the gods are perfect and their instruction is consistent and when the
chosen hear the message they will know whom it is that is being instructed
by the gods and not man. We will have many agent provocateurs in action
attempting to confuse and derail what the gods have put in motion
concerning Afrika emancipation, and what we are proposing concerning the
Black Nationalist-Pan-Afrikan Diaspora Conference, is the first step in
that direction, therefore the devil and its deciples will do anything to
disrupt it and the devil deciples come in many colors of pigmentation. An
agent provocateur is a very shrewd individuals and is well trained by our
devilish oppressor they lay claim to have knowledge of a little of
everything, they are well schooled(not educated) and have an expert use of
the English language as a matter of fact some of them are fluent in
several
languages. They know how to make a lie sound like the truth but what give
them away is their lack of sound reasoning and logic in their
misinformation that they convey to you. They to are experts in providing
disinformation, so it is not a matter of you having to have met me
personally but the important thing is that we meet soulfully and
spiritually which if you are qualified you will be able to recognize the
truth as it is spoken, because you will be able to verify it and that is
the first contact we all need to make with each other if we are to work
together to regain the salvation of the Afrikan Nation. My brothers and
sisters what we are proposing is not going to be a smooth ride, but we
will
reach our destination, that is if we are up for the task, if not we may as
well stop now and just continue up the old open ended path of dying and
begging for advancements and privileges from this devilish oppressor. True
and undefiled freedom require unconditional honesty, commitment,dedication
and a willingness to make sacrifice, knowing that you might not be the one
to be able to enjoy the fruit of your labor. The true joy is in knowing
the
fight you are engaged in is a noble and just one and the gods our creators
have sanction such an undertaking and is with us to ensure the victory we
so humbly deserve and will acquire. So again I say if you recognize the
path that has been laid before us then let us walk it together and it is
on
to West Palm Beach Florida on the 19th of October where we will put in
motion the elements that will lead to the emancipation of the Afrikan
Nation.
It Is The Fool Who Say I Have Lost Nothing In Afrika!!-osiris
A fool is verified by the action taken,after which it become a statement
of
fact.-osiris
May the gods protect us and keep us wise and focus.
Much Love To The Afrikan Nation.
Hoteph
Osiris Akkebala
Chief Elder
(p.a.i.'n)
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TheBlackList - "The New Negro World"
Satisfying the African Need to Know
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 20:33:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: honda...@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: ANOTHER VIEW: Is NAFTA Good for Mexico, or Us, or Both?
> <<A few years ago while looking for a place to buy in Lake
> County, CA, a realtor who was also an elected county supervisor,
> commented to me about a road repair workman up the highway
> from us, "He is a good workman, even if
> he is a Mexican. He has been working with that crew for
> years and they made him lead man. Of course he's got some
> Chinese in him, and that sharpened him up a bit."
> He didn't know it, but that statement made him a sale.
> Being black, we bought some property from him because we
> knew he thought even less of black people.
> We felt he needed to see us on a regular basis to maybe
> "sharpen his view of black people through us."
Let me get this straight: you gave a substantial amount of
money to a racist to EDUCATE him?! I just could not get
past that statement! I'm sorry, but the only thing he
learned from your purchase was that people don't care who
spends their money -- or perhaps that Africans don't feel
it or care when bigots direct their slurs toward other
peoples.
you would have done better to find an african realtor and
use your money to buy and/or develop some property in a
community that would have been more welcoming. You and I
both know, my brother(?) that you were NOT greeted with
open arms by those crackers - but then, maybe you
"educated" the rest of the neighborhood too.
=====
"History records that slaves, by virtue of their
experiences and the knowledge gained in captivity in strange lands,have
eventually become masters of themselves. Let us therefore use adversity as
others have done. Take advantage of every opportunity; where there is none,
make it for yourself, and let history record that as we toiled laboriously
and courageously, we worked to live gloriously." - MARCUS GARVEY
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TheBlackList - "The New Negro World"
Satisfying the African Need to Know
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 00:21:57 -0400
From: na...@LINKAMERICA.Net
Subject: OUR CULTURE
It's my belief that some of us feel to become sucessful....Many of our
cultural characteristics ,have to be denied or hidden... . Not so !...
Comments like "Sure their good in sports and entertainment but nothing
else"..as we know is wrong.....Yes i'm a very good dancer..(no practice
needed , thank you !)...But I am also creative and much more..... I like
chicken, greens, watermelon, kewi, salads, lopster and steak.....I embrace
everything concerning my cultural charactertics.....The AA guys sporting the
locks, braids etc..Be still my heart...Music to my ears......
When you come to my house ," THE HOTSAUCE WILL ALWAYS BE ON THE TABLE"
" Put The Hotsauce Back On The Table.....We have it All"
By Nandi
Yes all that and a..........Is what you can be..........So put the
hotsause back on the table ....Glide like Jordan or fly like McNair... Or
float like a bee !It's all good ...
If it doesn't fit, Cochran is the way....Got something to say, Oprah 's on
today.....
smooth operator , Mr. Billy De.......Brain repair , Dr Black.... Satcher
will tell you like it is, ........... He's in the
house..................................
Step the step Savion ..Know when to stop and when to go..... Morgan got
your back..... ..... Keep it hot with Tina...Kool out with Henderson and
party at the pole..We are Magic..We can even put a Tiger in your tank ...Oh
yes the master can..... We rap you hard with Snoop Dogg and smooth you like
Dubois...........................
Tennis anyone !.It's a Williams thing (you go girls)
When its time to fight ,Powell rules the day.....................
Kings we are...We know how to overcome................
>From years past..King Shaka from one comes the mighty many to last and
last........No weapons to battle ..Hey Shaka to design......We got it
all............
We're the beginning, the middle ...the end,...
We are the real Macoys.......
Nandi 2000.
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NEWS, EVENTS, FORUMS and more..
TheBlackList - "The New Negro World"
Satisfying the African Need to Know
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 21:02:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: TheBlackList News <kw...@theblacklist.net>
Subject: Irian Jaya - West Papua, What's next?
From: Ad...@irja.org
Subject: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Irian News - 7/30/01
Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 16:10:59 -0600
WEST PAPUA: Joku prepares to take West Papua cause to Forum again
Monday: July 30, 2001
Sydney (PINA Nius Online, 30 July 2001)
Former newspaper editor Franzalbert Joku is preparing to go to the
Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Nauru to again plead for self
determination for his fellow West Papuans.
Mr Joku, now spokesman for the Papua Presidium, has called for
Australia especially to abandon support for Indonesia's
territorial integrity, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
"Respecting the territorial integrity of Indonesia comes at the
cost of denying two million Papuans," Mr Joku told the newspaper.
Mr Joku said that the tragedies of the former Indonesian-occupied
territory of East Timor could be repeated in West Papua, which the
Indonesians rule as Irian Jaya.
Pro-Jakarta militias have been formed, and one of the men behind
the military tactics in East Timor, Major General Mahidin
Simbolon, is the region's new military commander, he said.
Mr Joku and his West Papuan colleagues scored a major breakthrough
last year when through help from Nauru and Vanuatu they were able
to attend the Forum meeting in Kiribati. Through their lobbying
and the support from countries like Nauru and Vanuatu they were
able to get West Papua mentioned in the Forum communique.
Indonesia quickly applied for status as a post-Forum dialogue
partner, and both West Papuan and Indonesian representatives will
now be in Nauru in three weeks.
The Sydney Morning Herald said with Megawati Sukarnoputri's
ascension to power in Jakarta, Mr Joku is a worried man. Police
and troops had murdered more than 100 independence supporters in
the past year, he said, and as attitudes on both sides harden the
toll is certain to grow.
"We are concerned because her public utterances indicate she will
take a hard line against independence movements in West Papua and
Aceh," Mr Joku told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Mr Joku is calling for a United Nations investigation into human
rights abuses in West Papua, a call backed by the churches.
Hundreds of West Papuans, mainly women and children, fled to
across the border to Papua New Guinea last November amidst clashes
between Indonesian security forces and pro-independence Free Papua
Movement.
Demands for independence have been mounting in West Papua. Human
rights activists accuse Indonesian security forces of human rights
abuses and say thousands of people have died in years of fighting.
The resource-rich territory, which borders Papua New Guinea, was a
Dutch colony. But in the 1960s the Indonesians, who had won their
own independence from Dutch colonial rule, began fighting to take
control of West Papua from the Dutch.
The province was officially taken over by the Indonesians
following a controversial 1969 referendum after the departure of
the Dutch. Pro-independence West Papuans call the referendum a
sham and say only a small number of men who were intimidated by
the Indonesians were allowed to take part.
Indonesia has since encouraged migration to West Papua by mainly
Muslim Asian settlers from its main islands. Indigenous West
Papuans are mainly Melanesian and Christian.
In Papua New Guinea, the government officially ignores the
presence of the latest "border crossers", despite widespread
public sympathy, the Sydney Morning Herald said.
The local national MP and former Cabinet minister Micah Wes, told
the Sydney Morning Herald: "We see it as one Papua; PNG and Papua
should be one island; we have the same customs."
He concedes Papua New Guinea cannot afford to confront the
military might of Indonesia, or recognise the border crossers'
plight. Only the Catholic Church is providing what little it can
for them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of
Hawai'i
West Papua Independence Movement To Continue Under Megawati
Jayapura, Irian Jaya
(July 29, 2001 - Radio Australia)
Independence campaigners in the Indonesian province of West Papua
say last week's change of presidency in Indonesia will not slow
down their efforts for self-determination and independence.
Radio Australia correspondent Richard Dinnen reports that the
Papua Council Presidium has warned President Megawati Sukarnoputri
not to seek a military solution in West Papua, also known as Irian
Jaya.
"The Papua Council, or Dewan Papua, is a key player in the
independence movement in Indonesia's eastern-most territory. In a
statement released in Port Moresby, spokesman Franzalbert Joku
welcomed the change of Indonesian president, expressing the hope
that Indonesia will make a peaceful transition to democracy.
"There has been consistent speculation that Megawati may be
inclined to take a hard line against the West Papuan independence
movement. The Papua Council has warned the new President not to
look for a military solution, and has instead appealed for
peaceful dialogue.
"At the same time, spokesman Franzalbert Joku says the
independence movement will pursue every conceivable endeavor to
achieve its goals, and bring an end to Indonesian domination and
control.
-- "Richard Dinnen, Radio Australia, Port Moresby."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of
Hawai'i
Presidium Dewan Papua
International Relations
Media Statement
July 26, 2001
West Papuans Not Swayed From Independence Path
Leadership change in Indonesia and the threat of military power
revival under the country's new President Megawati Sukarnoputri
will do little to dampen Melanesian nationalism in West Papua or
diminish the province's growing demand for self-determination and
independence.
The statement, issued in Port Moresby today in the wake of
Indonesia's dramatic political developments of the past few days
culminating in the forced dethroning of former President
Abdurrahman Wahid and elevation of his one-time deputy, Vice
President Sukarnoputri, to the country's chief executive post,
reaffirms the position of the Papua Council or Dewan Papua, the
broad-based indigenous West Papuan organization spearheading the
independence campaign.
"Irrespective of the power game unfolding in Jakarta, we remain
unperturbed in our noble resolve to pursue every conceivable
endeavor to reclaim our homeland and free our people from foreign
domination, misery and annihilation," the statement said, quoting
Mr. Franzalbert Joku, Papua Council Presidium's Papua New
Guinea-based chief international spokesperson.
"No amount of persuasion or intimidation will sway us from our
conviction that ours is a genuine and legitimate cause. We are
seeking what is rightfully ours and we will not rest until that
mission is fully accomplished one way or the other."
In congratulating Ms. Sukarnoputri, Mr. Joku cautioned the new
President against contemplating military solution over West Papua
and other trouble regions such as Aceh and Maluku. Instead, in his
statement, he appealed to the new Indonesian leader and her
incoming Cabinet to support the Papua Council initiative on
peaceful dialogue as a way to reaching an amicable resolution.
"I urge her (Ms. Sukarnoputri) and the new government of Indonesia
to accept their responsibility to protect the basic rights of
their citizens, including that of the people of West Papua, and
make vigorous efforts at exploring alternatives to repression to
resolve the multitude of political problems in that part of the
world," Mr. Joku said.
"Generally speaking, however, the change of leadership in
Indonesia is a welcome development, as it is a matter of national,
regional and international concern that a peaceful transition to
democracy has a chance in Indonesia and its 200 million people
saved from violent military rule and human rights violations."
Franzalbert Joku
International Relations Moderator
Papua Council Presidium
Telephone/Facsimile (675) 323-0832
E-mail: jo...@yahoo.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
South China Morning Post
Monday, July 30, 2001
Pacific Perspectives
Hands off Indonesia is recipe for ethnic revenge
Tom Plate
The problem with moral purity of the political kind is that it can
produce consequences of the most immoral kind.
That will be the case in Indonesia if the United States adopts a
hands-off policy, as many Western human-rights groups are
advising. Such a course would prolong Indonesia's agony and cause
many more deaths than if the US was properly involved.
Commendably, the administration of President George W. Bush
appears to understand the grave issues at stake.
Indonesia, the world's fourth-most-populous nation, is at the
crossroads. Megawati Sukarnoputri, tapped by parliament last week
to succeed Abdurrahman Wahid as president, should have been
president for the past two years. In 1999, her party garnered more
votes than any other, but she was outmanoeuvred in the final turn
by Mr Wahid. Now this untested daughter of Sukarno, post-colonial
Indonesia's first president, inherits the ironic destiny of being
drafted by her countrymen to save the nation her father founded.
Will this taciturn but well-connected member of parliament prove
to be the Margaret Thatcher of Southeast Asia, the Iron Lady that
Indonesia needs? Or will Ms Megawati, in the words of unkind
critics, be a "Mini-wati"?
Among the keys to her ability to succeed will be the support not
only of her own people but also of the biggest players in the
Asia-Pacific region. Japan still has enormous investments there.
China is well aware of widespread anti-Chinese tensions within
that largely Muslim society and would gain stature by helping the
new government keep its balance. And the last thing the US wants
in the geopolitically pivotal Southeast Asia is an anarchic
archipelago near some of the world's most vital sea lanes
self-destructing and spilling over on to the shores of key US
allies.
That's why the Bush administration is right not to look the other
way. Indeed, it appears poised to ask Congress to drop the
well-intentioned but ill-advised ban on US military aid to
Jakarta. The military-to-military ban was put in place by
lawmakers under pressure from human-rights lobbies.
This is a touchy issue, of course, because the Indonesian armed
forces have often enforced a rough version of law and order, most
notoriously in East Timor, scheduled for independence next year.
Although it is true the military must not be given free rein to
impose truncheon law, it can hardly be cut out if Indonesia is to
avert the far-more-massive bloodshed of national disintegration.
Sure, the military must be properly supervised by Ms Megawati's
government, just as true internal economic reform must be a
condition for further aid from the International Monetary Fund.
But the purist position - that the Indonesian army's past misdeeds
will irredeemably dirty the hands of any nation that would help -
is a formula for roiling ethnic revenge.
Oft-exemplary Western human-rights organisations, from the luxury
of their well-evolved democracies, do not understand the wrenching
ethical choice here. Failure to re-engage the Indonesian military
will doom economic reform for this nation of 206 million people.
And many more people will die if the army, historically central to
the cohesion of this sprawling, ethnically diverse country, is not
actively involved in the nation-rebuilding.
The unpleasant truth is that, no matter what happens, either many
will die in Indonesia or only some. A hands-off policy will almost
certainly lead to the former; a pragmatic policy of Western
engagement could well help mitigate Indonesia's ongoing agony and
loss of life.
The penchant for morally pure foreign-policy solutions can lead
only to large-scale tragedy.
-- Tom Plate (tpl...@ucla.edu) is professor at the University of
California in Los Angeles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Papua Post, 28July 2001
Abepura case returned to Komnas HAM
Attorney-General's office says: documents incomplete
(Summary)
The Attorney-General's office has returned documents relating to
the Abepura case to the National Human Rights Commission because
it says the documents are incomplete. The case relates to an
incident in Abepura, on the outskirts of Jayapura, when police
raided student hostels. Two people were killed during and after
the raids. (Komnas HAM set up a special investigation team under
Albert Hasibuan which conducted an investigation into the case
during which it encountered many obstructions from the police and
the Jayapura office of the Juatice and Human Rights Ministry.
Komnas HAM hopes that this will be the first case to be tried
before Indonesia's permanent human rights court sitting in
Makassar, having identified this as a case of gross human rights
violations. The Komnas HAM team also named a number of senior and
middile-ranking police office who should be brought to account for
the atrocities.)
The Attorney General's office has given Komnas HAM thirty days in
which to complete the dossier. This includes producing material of
a formal, legalistic nature as well as a detailed chronology of
the incident.
The Attorney General's decision means that Komnas HAM will need to
devote more time to complying with the AG's request.
[Comment: The Abepura investigation is considered as being a test
case for the effectiveness of the Human Rights Law of 2000, as
senior officers could face indictment, possibily bringing the
police force as such into disrepute. The police force, in
particular Brimob, is in the forefront of violations in West
Papua. Much will depend now on who is appointed attorney general
in Megawati's cabinet, the composition of which is expected to be
announced on Wednesday. TAPOL]
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon CR7 8HW, UK.
tel +44 020 8771 2904 fax +44 020 8653 0322
ta...@gn.apc.org www.gn.apc.org/tapol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
27 July 2001
Indonesia - OCHA Consolidated Situation Report No. 34
20 - 27 July 2001
1. GENERAL SITUATION
President Abdurrahman Wahid was ousted from office and former Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri inaugurated as the fifth
President of the Republic of Indonesia on Monday by the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR). On Thursday, Hamzah Haz of the
Islamic United Development Party (PPP) was elected Vice President
after winning a tight race with Akbar Tanjung of Golkar Party.
World leaders warmly accepted Megawati's ascendancy and the market
reacted positively, strengthening the Rupiah significantly.
However, some observers pointed to the close ties between the new
President and the military and warned that this could translate
into harsher crackdowns on separatist movements in Aceh and Irian
Jaya. Others, including Wahid, warned that Indonesia could be
subjected to authoritarian rule under Megawati.
The fall of Wahid was marked by bomb blasts at two churches in
East Jakarta during the Sunday morning services, injuring 70
people. The Judge who last year sentenced Tommy Soeharto, the
currently at large son of former president Soeharto, to jail was
shot dead on Thursday. Otherwise no significant violence related
to the power shift occurred, not even in East Java where Wahid's
fanatic supporters were earlier expected to run amok following his
deposition.
2. ACEH
General Situation
Some 50 people were reported killed last week.
Police arrested six GAM (Free Aceh Movement) negotiators and at
least 11 human rights activists, including the director of the
Aceh Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), last Friday in two separate
raids. It came just two days after peace talks in the region broke
down. The LBH office during the past week hosted an
"Anti-militarism Campaign Week".
Production activities at ExxonMobil gas fields in Aceh were still
far below the normal level-1.6 billion cubic feet daily recorded
before the closure in March-the company's spokesperson Julia
Tumengkol said on Monday.
The Medan, North Sumatra, District Court sentenced on Monday
Linggadinsyah, an alleged GAM vice commander in Central Aceh, to
4,6 years in prison for possessing illegal weapons and conspiring
against the Indonesian government.
Police said Monday GAM burned two government buildings, including
the mayor's office, in Langsa, East Aceh. A GAM spokesman denied
the allegation.
Two Army soldiers were detained at the Tanah Karo Police station
in North Sumatra, charged with deserting their unit currently
deployed in the nearby province of Aceh, said North Sumatra Police
spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Amrin Karim on Tuesday.
Police confiscated 50 kilograms of explosives from two residents
of Labui village, Baiturrahman sub-district, two kilometres from
Banda Aceh, Thursday.
Bakornas PBP (the National Coordinating Body for Emergency and
Displacement), OCHA and UNHCR conducted a contingency planning
workshop 18-21 July on the possibility of the occurrence of an
emergency situation in the province.
Government officials and NGOs participated in the workshop.
OCHA Aceh hosted an NGO coordination meeting attended by OXFAM,
IRC, SCF, OTI-USAID, and NVI (Non-Violence International) on
Wednesday. Next meetings will held on Tuesdays.
Tengku Imam Suja, chairman of the provincial chapter of
Muhammadiyah, called on the newly installed president, Megawati
Soekarnoputri, to continue peace talks with GAM. He suggested
Wednesday that the new government immediately resumed the Dialog
toward Peace (DMD) forum, which was dissolved in the middle of
this month.
IDPs
According to OXFAM, there were 16,841 IDPs (4,181 families) in
Aceh:
North Aceh -- 873 people (230 families),
Bireuen -- 1,695 people (332 families),
Central Aceh -- 10,948 people (2,785 families),
East Aceh -- 2,593 people (646 families), and
West Aceh -- 732 people (188 families).
UNDP contributed Rp15 million through PCC (People's Crisis Centre)
to provide medicines and supplementary feeding as well as non-food
items to IDPs in the camps in Bandar (Central Aceh) Matang Kuli
(North Aceh), Lhok Nibong and Kuta Binjei (East Aceh).
UNICEF has been conducting a four-day EMDR (Eye Movement
Desensitisation and Reprocessing) training to humanitarian
activists and government officials dealing with traumatic patients
starting Wednesday.
3. CENTRAL SULAWESI
General Situation
A blast hit Central Sulawesi Police Station in the provincial
capital of Palu on Tuesday, forcing dozens of officers to evacuate
the building in panic. No fatalities were reported in the
incident, which occurred when dozens of Poso IDPs were outside the
headquarters protesting against the police's inability to resolve
the prolonged conflict in their hometown, some 220 kilometres east
of Palu. But two bystanders were injured when the police opened
fire at the protesters. Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr.
Comr. Agus Sugianto said the explosion was caused by a homemade
bomb. The police proceeded to arrest 65 people.
4. IRIAN JAYA
General Situation
The National Liberation Army for Free Papua (TPNP), a splinter
group of Irian separatists who kidnapped two Belgian filmmakers
two months ago agreed to release them on 1 August if their
demand-to meet with the Belgian Ambassador to Indonesia-was
fulfilled, said Rev. Benny Giay, one of the mediators, on
Saturday. They also demanded that the two Belgians-Johan Van den
Eynde and Philippe M. Simon-be treated as special envoys of Papuan
students to facilitate the Papuan independence struggle.
Police arrested four alleged separatist rebels (a farmer and three
schoolteachers) in Manokwari on Monday in connection with the
murder of four Mobile Brigade police officers last month.
Local media reported Monday that the Trikora Military Commander,
Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbolon issued 4 directives in support of a
Papua peace zone. These included prohibiting soldiers in Papua to
get involved in political activities and to back economic
interests of big businesses.
The deputy chairman of the Papuan Presidium Council, Tom Beanal,
reiterated on Tuesday that Irian Jaya wished to separate from
Indonesia. The council warned the new President Megawati not to
seek a military solution in Irian.
The first Papua Women Conference started on Tuesday in Jayapura.
About 500 participants, including internationals, attended the
conference, which is focusing on human rights violations and the
dignity of Papua women.
5. MALUKU
General Situation
The Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and
Security Affairs withdrew a report on the damage that occurred
during two years of communal conflict in Maluku, following a
request for verification by Governor Saleh Latuconsina.
Latuconsina said on Wednesday the report contained erroneous data.
The report said that 1,382 mosques and 18 churches were burned
down between 26 June and 9 October 2000. The National Police
Headquarters reported that as of December 2000, 127 churches and
87 mosques had been burned down. In its own fact-finding mission,
the Maluku administration found that 164 mosques and churches were
destroyed from 27 June 2000 to 30 June 2001.
An attack on a speedboat off Teluk Ambon on Thursday severely
injured two passengers. One subsequently died from the gunshot
wounds. There has also been sporadic nighttime gunfire in the
Kebun Cengkeh, Ahuru, and Karpan area.
Trading and business transactions at meeting points, especially
the Amans Hotel and Masariku military post have been flourishing.
Assessments
On 25 July a joint UNICEF-OCHA-IMC mission left for South Buru for
an assessment mission and to identify the needs of IDPs and
vulnerable communities.
One team from MCI, which conduct a need assessment, came back from
Kairatu, Seram on 25 July, while another team is still in West
Seram.
Health
The Medical Coordinator from IMC arrived in Ambon this week and
had left to Buru on 25 July to carry out an assessment with one
national doctor and the logistic coordinator.
IMC assessment team had already come back from Saparua. They found
the Saparua health care system largely intact but in need of a
doctor.
Education
The National Children Day was celebrated on 23 July at the Maluku
Governor's Office compound, funded by UNICEF. During the ceremony
the Governor gave away 500 birth certificates and 200
scholarships.
UNICEF-Ambon sponsored a Workshop on the Rights of the Child 24 -
27 July. 40 participants from various Local NGO and some
Government agencies are taking part.
Food Security
ACF had finished food distribution in Seram Island. On September,
they will carry out the last food distribution and will then
proceed with non-food items to empower the IDPs.
6. NORTH MALUKU
General Situation
Newly elected Governor Abdul Gafur explained Sunday that he did
give money to several members of the provincial legislative
council, but denied the money was a bribe. The sports and youth
affairs minister under former president Soeharto was elected
governor by the provincial legislature on 5 July, with his term to
end in 2006. A member of the provincial council, Muhammad Sufino,
said earlier he received Rp66 million from Gafur and Deputy
Governor Yamin Tawari before the election.
The government opened two orphanages on Saturday in Ternate to
accommodate children who lost their parents in the conflict in
Ternate and Tobelo.
The head of Bacan sub-district, Mohammad Ratuela, said the
government would provide Rp2.5 million to each returnee family in
addition to the building materials, donated by the Danish Embassy
and USAID, that had been distributed to them.
IDPs
Satkorlak (provincial emergency coordination) office reported that
269 Moslem IDPs arrived in their home village of Gamsungi in
Tobelo sub-district on Tuesday.
A North Maluku district official, Sukemi Sahab, said that many
IDPs had come back to Ternate after being returned to their place
of origin.
WVI have concluded their survey covering 35 villages in Malifut,
Kao, Tobelo and Galela sub-districts.
Health
MDM continue its routine health activity in Sahu and Makian
Island. IMC continued with their medical consultations in Kao,
Tobelo, Galela, South & North Morotai and Posi-Posi Rao
sub-districts. IMC doctors attended 190 patients in Tobelo and 207
patients in Galela. In Tobelo, IMC doctors also provided treatment
for pregnancy, and immunizations for TB, DPT (Diphtheria,
Pertussis and Tetanus), hepatitis, measles and polio.
Water and Sanitation
MSF distributed cement for the construction of bathing, washing &
latrine facilities (MCK) in seven villages and rehabilitated water
pipe system of Dama Puskesmas (community health centre) of Doi
Island in Loloda sub-district.
7. WEST TIMOR
General Situation
On 27 July about 100 East Timorese refugees in Atambua attacked
the local residents, burning down one kiosk, vandalizing eight
houses and looting a number of goods owned by the people. The
incident began after an attack by unknown assailants on an ojek
(motorcycle taxi) driver and his passenger heading towards a
refugee camp in Weatuan. A number of people tried to chase the
ojek driver and his passenger but both managed to escape to the
refugee camp leaving behind the motorcycle, which was then burned
by the people. An hour later, a mass of refugees came to the
incident site and began ransacking and looting the houses.
The Borderline Security Taskforce Commander, Lt. Col. Magna
Chandra told the press that Indonesian military were conducting
tight patrols along the East and West Timor border areas since
last Friday. The TNI is anticipating some tension prior to the
general election in East Timor.
Movement of refugees
IOM reported that the Patricia Anne Hotung, the ship operated by
IOM and owned by the Hotung Institute, sailed from Kupang to Dili
for the last time on 23 July with 179 refugees on board. Since
January 2000, some 10,000 East Timorese refugees from the West
Timor camps have been repatriated to East Timor by this ship. The
IOM Director General Brunson McKinley described the ship's role as
"invaluable" and "a remarkable contribution to the international
humanitarian effort to bring East Timorese refugees home to begin
rebuilding their devastated country."
The final sailing of the Patricia Anne was to have attracted some
459 returnees, but former low ranking TNI soldiers and their
families decided not to travel until the Indonesian authorities
paid promised lump sum pension. IOM will continue to support
returns by land, but will not replace the
Patricia Anne Hotung with another ship in the immediate future. In
the event of large numbers of refugees deciding to return from the
Kupang camps, other ships have been identified and could be
chartered at short notice.
Since 6 July, the Indonesian Satgas refugee taskforce and IOM have
repatriated some 1,500 refugees, mainly across the Motaain land
border near Atambua. In addition the IOM is continuing to fund
Satgas's rental of private trucks to move returnees across the
border. IOM is now also reimbursing refugees who travel
independently by bus between Kupang and Atambua to join
cross-border convoys. IOM and UNHCR helped to organize the
repatriation of about 136,000 East Timorese since October 1999. It
is reported that some 40,000 of them travelled by sea, another
77,000 by land and 19,000 by air.
8. Other
Ramos-Horta and Xanana Gusm鉶 issued a statement welcoming the
election of Megawati Soekarnoputri as the new President of
Indonesia. They expressed their hope that the process of dialogue
towards normalizing relations and building the foundations of a
solid and long lasting friendship be continued between the two
countries.
This report and all previous ones can be found on OCHA's website
at
www.reliefweb.int
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
UN Building 4th Floor
Jl. MH. Thamrin 14
P.O. Box 2238, Indonesia
FAX: (62-21) 319-0003
PHONE: ( 62-21) 314-1308, Ext. 215, 151, 125
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plo...@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and East Timor,
1973-2000
**************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Petromindo
Friday, July 27, 2001
BP appointed to handle marketing of Tangguh gas
State owned oil and gas company Pertamina has named Beyond
Petroleum (BP) as the sole buyer its natural gas to be produced
from the Tangguh gas project in Irian Jaya
Iin Arifin, director for upstream operation at Pertamina, said in
Jakarta on Thursday that as a part of the deal, BP would be
responsible for the marketing of the liquefied natural gas (LNG)
to be produced from the massive gas project.
"If BP wins the tender for China's LNG, the company would be fully
in charge in the export of the LNG to the country," Iin told
reporters.
Although BP would be fully responsible for the sales of the
Tangguh gas, the company has agreed to procure LNG supply from
either Bontang or Arun LNG plants, if the Tangguh project, due to
certain reasons, could not fulfill its export commitment, he
added.
BP is developing the so called Tangguh gas project covering three
major gas fields including Wiriagar, Berau and Muturi gas blocks
under a production sharing contract with Pertamina. The company
also plans to develop a LNG plant to process the natural gas from
the three gas fields.
Under the new agreement, BP will buy all of Pertamina's gas
production share before being processed them into LNG. In the
previous contracts Pertamina, besides acting as the sole buyer of
gas, also handled the gas exports
According to Iin, with the change, Pertamina would focus on
upstream operation, while the downstream activities such as the
development of the LNG plant will be handled by BP.
He said the change would also strengthen BP's bargaining power in
its efforts to win China's LNG procurement auction. With the
change, BP, which is involved in the construction of LNG receiving
terminal in China, should have more access to sell LNG to the
country, he added.(Godang)
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plo...@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and East Timor,
1973-2000
**************************************************
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