Global Peace And Justice Auckland Newsletter #69, September 24, 2004

Website http://www.gpja.pl.net/ Contact details: Forums - John Minto, (09) 846 3173, jbminto@xtra.co.nz; Newsletter Editor - Mike Treen 0212547440 / 3616989 miket@pl.net Web page - Bruce Hubbard (09) 6232667 or 027 256 3933 Rulesofthegame@clear.net.nz Donations can be sent to GPJA, Private Bag 68905, Newton, Auckland. All communication regarding the GPJA mailing list (email or snail) should be addressed to gpja@xtra.co.nz

Dear friends,

The GPJA forum Monday October 4 will be about peoples struggles for justice and self-determination in the Pacific. If you want to know more from the Mayoral candidates check out the Maori Party sponsored debates this week. If you like Cuban music check out their movies at the Festival starting next week. If you are a student get involved in the University GPJA group.

GPJA UNIVERSITY A small group of Global Peace & Justice Auckland activists have formed a club at Auckland University. We're calling it: "Global Peace & Justice Auckland University". We know that there a lots of Auckland University and AUT staff and students on the GPJA newsletter list, and we'd like to encourage you to join our club. So far our activities have been limited to a few informal meetings and handing out leaflets promoting the last GPJA forum. In the future we'd like to organise events on campus, but before we can do that we need to affiliate as an AUSA club. Even if you don't have any free time, you can help us by giving us your name and student ID number, so we can get the numbers to affiliate. Please contact David Colyer: colyer@pl.net 634 3984

WHAT'S ON IN AUCKLAND

Saturday, September 25, 10am, Cnr Kelly St and Mt Eden Rd STOP THE DESTRUCTION AT KELLY STREET! Call for a Peoples Park! Join the Kelly Street Residents Association to stop the Government digging a crater big enough for 22 car parks in the middle of this heritage zone. Trees have been cut down, a 2 metre fence is being constructed and earth moving machine brought on site. Join us and Occupy the site, stand on the foot path, bring a balloon, tie a pair of shoes to the fence anything to draw public attention to this piece of Government sponsored Environmental Terrorism. For More Info call Lisa Prager (09)845-2023, 025 6930928 or Rachel Power (09)630 3410.

MAORI PARTY SPONSORED MAYORAL DEBATES START SUNDAY (EVERYONE WELCOME) Mayoral candidates from Auckland, Manukau and Waitakere will address Maori voters this week. These will be the last Mayoral Forums before the campaign ends. The first one is on Sunday at 2pm. John Banks, Dick Hubbard and Christine Fletcher have confirmed. At 7pm on Monday night in Manukau (details below) Sir Barry Curtis, Len Brown and Dick Quax will speak. Bob Harvey and other ticket leaders will speak in Waitakere on Tuesday night at 7pm. We think you should come as there have never been meetings of Maori where the main mayoral contenders have spoken. It shows the increasing political awareness of Maori to use their votes strategically. Everyone is invited. WHY MAORI SHOULD VOTE The Maori Party believes that it is important for Maori to vote in the local body elections and in Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland) we are encouraging our people and the public at large to attend the following events convened by Dr. Pita Sharples, the Co-Leader of the Maori Party. Dr Sharples has invited the leading Mayoral candidates in Auckland City, Waitakere City and Manukau City to speak at the following events. The hui will give our Maori Party membership, along with the public at large, an opportunity to hear from the candidates who will be elected into senior leadership roles in the Auckland Region. THE CLEAR MESSAGE IS FOR MAORI TO VOTE IN THE LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS 2pm, Sunday, 26 Sept: Auckland City Mayoralty Hui, Nga Wai O Horotiu Marae (Auckland University Of Technology (Aut) Marae) Cnr Symonds & St Paul Sts, Auckland City 7pm, Mon 27 Sept: Manukau City Mayoralty & Local Body Candidates Hui Nga Tapuwae Community Centre 253 Buckland Road, Mangere 7:30pm Tues 28 Sept: Third Event Waitakere City Mayoralty & Local Body Candidates Hui New Lynn Community Centre 45 Totara Avenue, New Lynn http://www.maoriparty.com

CUBAN FILM FESTIVAL STARTS SEPTEMBER 30 - AUCKLAND INFORMATION The primary intention of the inaugural New Zealand-Cuba Film Exchange is to increase understanding between the peoples of the two countries through the medium of film spanning the last ~50 years. New Zealand and Cuba are both island nations with histories of colonisation, and bigger neighbours against whom they frequently struggle to assert and maintain their independent identities. Despite their small sizes and limited resources, both countries have created and sustained world-class film industries, producing international award-winning films, yet maintaining their unique cultural identities. MUESTRA DE CINE DE NUEVA ZELANDIA, held in Cuba in February 2004, introduced Cubans to New Zealand through film, and we are pleased to now invite New Zealanders to Si! Cuba! The film exchanges offer the opportunity for these two countries, who have taken very different political paths, to become aware of each others social, political, and cultural development as reflected not only in the storylines, but also in the sets and settings, fashions, soundtracks, even dialogue of the films. VENUE: All sessions will be held at the Academy Cinema, Library Building, 64 Lorne St, Phone (09) 373 2761 TICKET PRICES: WEEKDAY SESSIONS PRIOR TO 5.00 PM Adults - $10.00; Students/Film Society - $9.00; Senior Citizens - $7.00; Children (15 and under) - $7.00 EVENINGS (FROM 5.00 PM) WEEKENDS & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS Adults - $13.00; Students/Film Society - $9.00; Senior Citizens - $7.00; Children (15 and under) - $7.00 BOOKINGS Advance ticket sales are now available at the Academy Cinema. Bookings can be made daily from 30 minutes prior to the first session until 8.30 pm. Phone reservations accepted and will be held until 20 minutes before the screening. Only complimentary passes marked Cuban Season will be accepted. THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 30 1.00 pm Vampires in Havana 8.30 pm Life Is to Whistle FRIDAY OCTOBER 1 1.00 pm Memories of Underdevelopment 8.30 pm Vampires in Havana SATURDAY OCTOBER 2 4.00 pm Vampires in Havana SUNDAY OCTOBER 3 4.00 pm Life Is to Whistle MONDAY OCTOBER 4 1.00 pm Life Is to Whistle 8.30 pm Memories of Underdevelopment TUESDAY OCTOBER 5 1.00 pm Maluala 8.30 pm The Last Supper WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 6 1.00 pm The Last Supper 8.30 pm Maluala THURSDAY OCTOBER 7 1.00 pm Lucía 8.30 pm Hurricanes FRIDAY OCTOBER 8 1.00 pm The Days of Water 8.30 pm Plaff! SATURDAY OCTOBER 9 3.30 pm Lucía SUNDAY OCTOBER 10 3.30 pm Lucía MONDAY OCTOBER 11 1.00 pm Plaff! 8.30 pm The Days of Water TUESDAY OCTOBER 12 1.00 pm Hurricanes 8.30 pm Portrait of Teresa WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 13 1.00 pm Portrait of Teresa 8.30 pm Plaff!

Friday, October 1, 7.30pm, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby (opposite the Mosque, parking at rear of Centre). Hear John Rumbiak, a fearless advocate for the rights of the people of West Papua, the Pacific country occupied by Indonesia since 1963. John is the Chairman of International Affairs for the West Papua Human Rights organisation ELSHAM, which has taken a lead in the efforts to establish West Papua as a Zone of Peace. For more information about John, and to check for updates on his public meetings, see http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/johnr04.htm The national and media contact for John's visit is Maire Leadbeater, Indonesian Human Rights Committee, tel (09) 815 9000 or email maire@clear.net.nz Local contacts are included with public meeting details below.

Monday, October 4, 7.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn GPJA FORUM: The struggle for justice and self-determination in the South Pacific.

Wednesday, October 13, 7pm, Trades hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn MARIE HILAO-ENRIQUEZ, FILIPINO HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER TOURING NZ OCTOBER 2004 THE PHILIPPINES IN THE FIRING LINE - AMERICA'S "SECOND FRONT IN THE ‘WAR ON TERROR’ "AND THE IMPACT ON HUMAN RIGHTS. Marie Hilao-Enriquez is the head of Karapatan, one of the biggest and best known human rights groups in the Philippines, and also of Selda, the organisation of former political prisoners from the 1970s and 80s martial law dictatorship of the late Ferdinand Marcos. Marie herself was a Marcos prisoner and her family suffered badly (one sister was murdered by the military, another two siblings were imprisoned). Marie has been a leading figure in the Philippine human rights movement for the past 30 years. For Auckland details contact: Luke Coxon; ph (09) 8276059; mobile 027 2487005; e-mail: luke.coxon@finsec.org.nz Donations are welcome, to help with costs. Please make cheques to PSNA, with a note saying that it is for the Hilao-Enriquez Tour. Or you can make a donation directly into our bank account. If you do so, record it as a donation for the Hilao-Enriquez Tour and include your name. Send us an e-mail to tell us and let us know your name and address. Our account details: Philippines Solidarity Network, Kiwibank, 155 The Terrace, Wellington. Account number 389000 0792619 00. Details re other centres contact Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa, Box 2450, Christchurch, New Zealand cafca@chch.planet.org.nz http://www.converge.org.nz/psna

Saturday, October 16, 10am, Queen St to Bastion Point. Hikoi commences 10 am Hikoi Takutaimoana II. No Confiscation! No Privatisation! He karanga tenei! Nau mai! Haere mai! Tautoko mai! ASSEMBLE: Mayoral Drive Auckland. ROUTE: Down Queen Street, Customs Street, Quay Street, Tamaki Drive (escort by waka taua), then up Kitemoana Street to Orakei Marae (Bastion Point) Parking at Bastion Point. Shuttle service for drivers back to Mayoral Drive. Dress: Best for the Day. BYO: food, drink, caps, sunblock, umbrellas etc. Buses will be available for Kaumatua from the bottom of Queen Street to Bastion Point. Questions? Contact Nga Tai o Te Reinga: Bernie Hornfeck 025 612 5313 bernieh@clear.net.nz Kiri Potaka Dewes 027 4788 328 kiri@wave.co.nz Te Ururoa Flavell 027 295 6135 te.matakahi@xtra.co.nz Annette Sykes 021 243 2172 asykes@clear.net.nz Teressa Te Moni 07 348 3552 teressat@paradise.net.nz Te Orohi Paul 027 255 3658 teorohi.paul@xtra.co.nz Or watch for weekly updates on our website: http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/hikoi2.htm ALL Koha gratefully accepted to: Kiwi Bank Te Ngae Account Number: 389002-0653401-00

Sunday 17th October 7pm, the Comedy Classic, 321 Queens St. INDYMEDIA DOCUMENTARY FILM NIGHT http://www.indymedia.org.nz "OUTFOXED: Murdoch's War on Journalism" examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know. The film explores Murdoch's burgeoning kingdom and the impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person. Prominent Media experts provide context and guidance for the story of Fox News and its effect on society. This documentary also reveals the secrets of Former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News. These former Fox employees talk about how they were forced to push a "right-wing" point of view or risk their jobs. Some have even chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods. As one employee said "There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed." Director/Producer Robert Greenwald is the Executive Producer of Unprecedented which Aotearoa Indymedia screened last year. 74 mins. More info: http://www.outfoxed.org/

Wednesday, October 20, 7pm, Wellpark College of Natural Therapies, 6 Francis St, Grey Lynn Join the Food Revolution - change the world one bite at a time with Green MP Sue Kedgley and runner Alison Roe. Find out what's really in your food and what we can do to ensure it is safe:sustainably produced; accurately labelled; free from disease and antibiotics; ethically marketed. The purpose of the campaign is to ensure through consumer pressure that all food sold in New Zealand is sustainably produced, accurately labelled, drug free and ethically marketed. The campaign is largely web-based and allows concerned consumers to send e-cards to manufacturers and the Government calling for safe food. E-cards have already been developed for mandatory country of origin labelling, drug-free food and a call to stop the importation of irradiated fruit. Come along to this meeting to find out what you can do to ensure all food in this country is SAFE. To find more about Join the Food Revolution, go to http://www.greens.org.nz/ food-revolution For more information about the meeting, contact greenmps.wellington@greens.org.nz or call (04) 381-4640.

Thursday, October 28, 7.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn. FOUNDING GENERAL MEETING OF PRIVATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCHOOLS TEACHERS ASSOC. All teachers welcome to join and help improve the situation for teachers in the industry. For further info contact miket@pl.net

December 2-5, Massey University, Albany An International Interdisciplinary Conference on Restorative Justice to be held at Centre for Justice and Peace Development Massey University Albany Auckland. "NEW FRONTIERS IN RESTORATIVE JUSTICE: ADVANCING THEORY AND PRACTICE" To express interest in attending and/or to offer a presentation email newfrontiers@massey.ac.nz or write to Dr. Warwick Tie, Centre for Justice and Peace Development, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Massey University, Private Bag 102 904, North Shore MSC, Auckland. Closing date for the submission of abstracts is the 31st May 2004. Conference URL: http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz/

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NEW ZEALAND

Sue Newberry: Taxpayers put at risk by hidden debt: NZ Herald COMMENT http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&st%20%20oryID=3589247&reportID=962596

NZ Troops withdraw from Iraq "What's happening now is that everyone's a combatant whether they want to be one or not." http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/print/0,1478,3035130a10,00.html

Call to support Reading Cinema workers http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0409/S00161.htm http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0409/S00188.htm

Open letter to NZ journalists http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0409/S00149.htm

Nurses said to be manipulated for political purposes http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3035132a10,00.html

John Rumbiak - West Papuan leader to tour NZ http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0409/S00225.htm

Maori Party Calls For Sackings As Corrections Ducks For Cover Earlier this year, in April, the Department of Corrections was found to have acted outside the law by Justice Ron Young. Following his criticism of Correction's behaviour modification regime (BMR) in his April decision, Justice Young awarded nearly half a million dollars in costs and compensation to the inmates who were subjected to BMR, in early September 2004. See... Who Is Responsible For Prison Abuse? [1] See also... Maori Party Demands Resignation of General Manager [2] [1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0409/S00044.htm [2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0409/S00094.htm

WHOSE LEFT/RIGHT? Labour Justice Minister boasts of "achievements" Recent statistics confirm trends identified in a review released today that shows that even in its first 12 months, the Act was having an impact and generally working as intended." - Figures for August 2004 show prison numbers are up 978, or 16.5 per cent, on June 2002, despite record falls in the crime rate; - A Parole Board report for the year to 30 June 2004 shows the number of parole hearings being declined have increased eight per cent to 59 per cent; - Tougher laws that deny bail to recidivist offenders resulted in an extra 1000 people being remanded in custody last year compared to 2000; - Preventive detention is being more widely used than ever before. In the past two years seven offenders (five of them in 2004) have been given preventive detention for purely violent offending. Before the Act, there had only ever been one such sentence handed down. http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0409/S00117.htm Act newsletter criticises abuse of prisoners “A DISGRACE: Our politicians have fallen over themselves to express horror that prisoners could receive compensation from the courts. No one has yet to express horror that National and Labour governments have allowed prisoners to be kept in solitary confinement in cells with no windows, not large enough to allow an above-average man to stretch out, for two years. Prisoners weren't given enough water to wash or enough toilet paper. The Americans excuse in the Iraqi prisoner scandal is to say that they were facing a wartime situation. What's our excuse? Senior civil servants were told by their own doctors that such treatment would drive many prisoners insane and this has happened."

ZAOUI Zaoui case: "Where's the Justice" asks Amnesty http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0409/S00203.htm http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0409/S00231.htm

IRAQ Naomi Klein: Baghdad Year Zero: Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a neocon utopia": With unemployment as high as 67 percent, the imported products and foreign workers flooding across the borders have become a source of tremendous resentment in Iraq and yet another open tap fuelling the insurgency. http://207.44.245.159/article6930.htm A strident minority: Anti-Bush US troops in Iraq http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0921/p02s02-usmi.html He's just sleeping, I kept telling myself' On Sunday, 13 Iraqis were killed and dozens injured in Baghdad when US helicopters fired on a crowd of unarmed civilians. G2 columnist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, who was injured in the attack, describes the scene of carnage - and reveals just how lucky he was to walk away http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1303827,00.html Iraqis want elections - and foreign troops to leave now: Yes, the invasion was illegal. But war crimes are still being committed http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1306737,00.html Counting the civilian cost in Iraq: Human rights groups say the occupying powers have failed in a duty to catalogue the deaths, giving the impression that ordinary Iraqis' lives are worth less than those of soldiers. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3672298.stm 1,000 Iraqi rebels, civilians dead in urban warfare, Najaf leader says http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/trib1.htm

ACEH An Appeal To Exxon Mobil Shareholders Over Acheh: In the past decade Exxon Mobil has earned $US40 billion from exploiting Acheh's resources. CUT ZAHARA HAMZA pleads with shareholders at an ExxonMobil annual meeting in Texas to stop supporting the Indonesian military forces in Acheh which continue to commit atrocities on innocent villagers in the name of protecting the Company's interests. http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0409/S00054.htm

EAST TIMOR 7 Questions about East Timor today http://www.sevenoaksmag.com/questions/28.html

FREE TRADE A rash of bilateral free trade and investment agreements is spreading quietly and quickly across the planet. But peoples' movements in a growing number of countries are mobilising to fight and neutralise them. See... A Website Against Bilateral Free Trade Agreements http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0409/S00053.htm PILGER ON INDIA John Pilger: In the 1990s, as India opened itself to global capital, its rulers said poverty would be eradicated. Now it is becoming clear that millions were casually betrayed by the privileged few who cashed in. Special report from Mumbai http://www.newstatesman.com/site.php3?newTemplate=NSArticle_NS&newTop=Section%3A+Front+Page&newDisplayURN=200409060017 THAILAND PROTEST HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THAILAND. The Asian Human Rights Commission issued the following call for action to protest the murder of a prominent environmental activist in July 2004. For details on how to object, and more information, go to http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2004/712/ WORKING IN A THAI SWEATSHOP. Sripai Nonsee, one of the Thai speakers touring NZ this month, went to work at Par Garment when she was 17. Conditions were terrible, and she helped organise a union and became its first president at age 20. The following article from http://www.cleanclothes.org/companies/pargar99-11-profile.htm provides some background information on Par Garment and the struggle of the workers for decent wages and conditions. More stories on the exploitation of Thai workers producing for export can be found at http://www.thailabour.org and http://www.cleanclothes.org

ENDLESS WAR OF TERROR Why The War On Terror Will Never Be Won: 9/11 three years on: 'War on terror' has not stopped terrorism http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/597/597p12.htm Video: Hijacking Catastrophe: Documentary featuring Noam Chomsky, Chalmers Johnson, Tariq Ali, and many more experts speaking about the Neo-Con agenda and the cloud of fear which the Neo-Cons have settled over America. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6895.htm Rumsfeld's dirty war on terror: In an explosive extract from his new book, Seymour Hersh reveals how, in a fateful decision that led to the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, the US defence secretary gave the green light to a secret unit authorised to torture terrorist suspects http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6898.htm John Pilger: The most important terrorism is ours http://pilger.carlton.com/print/133363

CUBA Cuba & the Fight Against HIV/AIDS http://www.monthlyreview.org/nfte0904.htm CHE FILM: Che Guevara on screen and in print: The Motorcycle Diaries Ernesto Che’ Guevara, the ubiquitous t-shirt icon, will be coming to North America's movie theatres this fall in The Motorcycle Diaries, which chronicles the young Che's formative journey across Latin America. Or rather, I should say that Che is returning to the big screen, for those who remember Omar Sharif as the guerilla fighter in the 1969 film /Che!/, which also starred, believe it or not, Jack Palance as Fidel Castro. This latest effort, produced by Robert Redford, and directed by Walter Salles, appears at least sympathetic to its subject's later revolutionary career. Already playing in Latin America, it is set for a wide North American release on September 24, and promises to generate interest in Che Guevara's life, ideas, and struggle. http://lefthook.org/Reviews/Sevenoaksreprint091004.html

BOMBING ARABS Ninety-three Years of Bombing the Arabs: Before you scoff, try this general knowledge test on a few well-read, politically literate friends: Ask them to name the first town in the world where civilians were indiscriminately bombed from the air. http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/09-2004/Article-20040901-b9af6e63-c0a8-01ed-0022-da1762c93d93/story.html

http://tinyurl.com/3j392

ISRAEL/PALESTINE Israel and Palestine, Choosing Sides: The most monumental cover-up in media history may be the one I'm about to describe. In my entire experience with American journalism, I have never found anything as extreme, sustained, and omnipresent. http://www.ifamericansknew.org/media/sides.html Nablus: Extra-Judicial Executions Evidence Emerge http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0409/S00220.htm

CENSORSHIP AND THE MEDIA The Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2002-2003 http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2004/index.html

Mike

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