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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No. 10/2002 |
Dateline: March 27, 2002 |
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This is the weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail:
WNII is archived at: http://inesglobal.org/archive.htm
INES homepages: http://inesglobal.org http://www.inesglobal.com/
INES International Office
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner [Please note that the first "1" in q18 is the number one, while the last "l" is an "L"]
CONTENTS of WNII No. 10/2002
UK: Scientists for Global Responsibility Open Letter to IEEE on Sanctions Against Residents of Burma, Cuba, Iran, Libya, and Sudan
To: IEEE Director of Corporate Communications
Scientists for Global Responsibility notes with concern a report http://www.ieeesanctions.org that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has announced that, under new USA government restrictions, it can no longer provide full membership privileges for residents of Burma, Cuba, Iran, Libya, and Sudan or support activities in these countries.
We understand that this means that
-- IEEE Sections, Chapters, Student Branches, and Affinity Groups in these countries cannot hold meetings or organize activities under the name of IEEE, or use the IEEE logo to advertise or promote activities, or issue or receive any IEEE awards
-- IEEE cannot supply any funds to support the operation of the Sections, Chapters, Affinity Groups, or Student Branches in these countries, or reimburse any student or volunteer expenses, or support any programs or conferences in those countries.
The IEEE decision appears to be in contradiction to the Institute's own Bylaw I-104, which states that admission to membership shall not be affected by race, religion, nationality, or sex of the applicant. Nor does the decision conform to the Institute's Code of Ethics, which commits IEEE to treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin.
We draw attention especially to the severe negative effects which the sanctions have upon students in the affected countries. Many of these students already work under adverse conditions and they need and deserve help, not further blows. We can see no just reason for applying so blunt an instrument as these sanctions.
SGR, as an organisation committed to promoting ethical science and technology, applauds IEEE's commitment, in its Code of Ethics, to "...treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin." We hope that IEEE will vigorously pursue efforts to bring its practice back into consonance with the Code and we offer our support for such efforts.
your sincerely
Dr Stuart Parkinson, Chair SGR (forwarded as of 25 March 2002)
SPECIAL SECTION: ON THE US MISSILE DEFENSE POLICY
Moving Beyond Missile Defense meeting on 10 April
Carah Lynn Ong, Director of Research and Publications of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, writes:
Dear MBMD Participants,
We would like to take the opportunity of the fact that many project participants will be in New York for the NPT Prep Comm to have a MBMD meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 3-5 pm on Wednesday, 10 April. It will take place at the offices of the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) at 215 Lexington Ave. Suite 1001, New York, NY. Please let me know as soon as possible if you will be able to attend this meeting. More details will be posted in the near future.
Contact Carah Ong: < >
or INESAP Coordinator Regina Hagen: < >
Sample Letter to US Congress on Space Ban Bill
Recently, the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space has disseminated a sample letter urging support for Rep. Dennis Kucinich's space ban bill (see WNII 4/2002). Although this letter is meant to be sent by US citizens to their respective Congress representatives in the first place, I feel that it wouldn't do any bad if letters like this would also be sent to Congress from abroad.
If you are interested in this kind of activity, you can get the sample letter either from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment or by contacting the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space: < >
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
Former New Zealand PM David Lange was 'threatened' over NZ anti-nuke policy (Source: NZPA, 27 March 2002)
Former New Zealand prime minister David Lange has claimed former United States vice-president Dan Quayle told the Australian Cabinet he would "have to be liquidated."
Mr. Lange made the claims in a TVNZ interview tonight, saying he faced huge pressure when New Zealand introduced its anti-nuclear policy.
"There was personal pressures. There were veiled threats. There were specific threats. There were threats made to other countries," Mr. Lange said.
"[It] was announced to the Australian Cabinet at one stage that I had to be liquidated."
Asked to repeat what he had been told the Australian Cabinet was told, Mr. Lange said, "I'd have to be liquidated."
However, he was told the threat was not credible.
"I inquired of our security sources and I was told that I shouldn't regard it as a credible threat because the vice-president wasn't regarded as credible," he said.
His claims come on the eve of Prime Minister Helen Clark's meeting with US President George W. Bush, at which New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance is expected to be discussed. TVNZ reported Washington sources as saying they did not believe his claims.
A senior US diplomat, now retired, who was in Wellington when the anti-nuclear policy came in and who was in Canberra when Mr. Quayle visited and spoke to the Australian cabinet in April 1989, had described the claims as "preposterous".
Mr. Lange said he would not discuss the claims with the New Zealand Press Association, or any print media, "because it's impossible to tell the New Zealand print media anything that they accurately report".
"I'll do things live on the television, I'll do things live on the radio, but I've had a bellyful of reporters," he told NZPA.
Mr. Lange said he would not confirm "what I've just publicly gone on television and said". "I mean, am I a complete idiot or are you?"
2002 WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT NEWS
PrepCom II: Collected materials from the Multistakeholder Dialogue
Collected materials from the MSD at PrepCom II, including the relevant NGO dialogue paper, can be found at: http://www.rio10.dk/index.php?a=show&doc_id=353
PrepCom III: Coverage
Coverage of the World Summit on Sustainable Development Third Preparatory Committee (WSSD PrepCom-III), 25 March – 5 April 2002, can be found at: http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/2002/pc3/
The daily coverage which is being published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development through its "Earth Negotiations Bulletin" (starting with Vol. 22 No. 20/25 March 2002) is being collected by the WNII editor: These contributions will be available from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
PrepCom IV: Draft NGO Dialogue Paper
A very preliminary first draft (emphasis on "very") of the NGO Dialogue Paper for the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue at PrepCom IV is now available either from: http://www.rio10.dk/index.php?a=show&doc_id=660 or from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
Israeli Defense Force Reserve Officers refusing to fight in the Occupied Territories
In the beginning of February this year, reserve combat officers and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces have issued a statement which meanwhile not only received widespread acknowledgement but is also absolutely remarkable taking into account that usually, the military is the last who would protest against military politics. Anyhow, the petition they issues is not simply a protest: rather, it very much looks like a call for whistleblowing when in the last two paragraphs, they state:
"We hereby declare that we shall not continue to fight this War of the Settlements. We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people.
"We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel’s defense. The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose – and we shall take no part in them."
How courageous they are is demonstrated by the fact that all signatories have listed themselves on their own webpage where, among other topical references, you can also find the full wording of the petition [English language version]: http://www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp
Additionally, I'd like to offer to you a quite interesting background article by Lev Grinberg, a peace activist and a political sociologist at Ben Gurion University in Beersheva, Israel. The article is entitled "In Israel, A New-Old Voice of Conscience Awakens" and was published as MERIP [Middle East Research and Information Project, USA] Press Information Note 84, (22 February 2002). It is available from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
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