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NEWS - WTO meeting will destroy hum



Subject: NEWS - WTO meeting will destroy human rights

COLUMN: WTO meeting will destroy human rights

                                               Updated 12:00 PM ET
December 2, 1999


 By Joshua Cooper
 Ka Leo O Hawaii
 U. Hawaii

 (U-WIRE) HONOLULU -- The theme of human rights fills the holiday season
along
 with the greetings of peace and harmony. On Dec. 10, the family of
nations
 celebrates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

 In the dawn of December, there will be a challenge to the principles of
human
 rights and fundamental freedoms. If the peoples' movements for social
justice are
 successful in Seattle at the World Trade Organization meeting, we will
definitely
 have a reason to celebrate our human rights. 

 The WTO Ministerial meeting is the first trade meeting to be held on
U.S. soil. The
 WTO meeting was a priority for the executive leadership of the state,
with
 President Clinton being lobbied on every stopover in Hawai'i as a boost
to
 tourism. 

 However, this meeting is not what we would want in Hawai'i. When
similar
 negotiations took place in Singapore, the Philippines and Geneva,
hundreds of
 thousands of protestors descended to demand the most basic of rights:
 democracy and representative decision-making where the power rests with
the
 people. 

 There will be 6,000 delegates from 135 countries attending the meeting.
However,
 there will also be thousands of non-governmental organizations. The
NGOs want
 the citizens of the United States and other countries of the world to
understand
 our human rights will be buried under the decisions of the WTO. 

 The WTO was formed in 1994 during the Uruguay Round of international
trade
 negotiations for the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. In 1995,
WTO
 became the successor to GATT. Unlike other international instruments
such as
 the UDHR and the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
there is
 minimal participation from peoples' movements. 

 Everyday citizens have little or no say in the WTO. Our decisions and
values that
 protect and promote actual human rights and ecology can be overruled by
the
 dispute resolution system that consists of three professional trade
bureaucrats. 

 The decisions directly confront our cultural beliefs and strip our
society of the
 dignity guaranteed in a democracy. There are a handful of decisions of
the WTO
 -- in its humble and harmful beginning -- that demand the NGOs to take
the political
 pilgrimage to Seattle in December. 

 One of the first cases focused on clean air. Venezuela brought a case
forward on
 behalf of its oil industry challenging the U.S. Clean Air Act
regulation that requires
 gas refiners to produce cleaner gas. WTO ruled against the U.S. law. 

 Therefore, foreign oil refiners can sell dirtier gasoline in the United
States. This is
 in direct opposition to policies created by the citizens to have a
clean
 environment. 

 Another case focusing on environmental protection is the sea turtle
case. Four
 Asian nations challenged provisions of the U.S. Endangered Species Act
 forbidding the sale of shrimp caught in ways that kill endangered sea
turtles. WTO
 ruled that the United States was not in compliance with WTO rules, and
fitting
 shrimp nets with inexpensive turtle-excluder devices was ruled against. 

 Another couple of examples also cause alarm to one's conscience. In
1996,
 Massachusetts enacted a boycott on government purchases from Burma as
part
 of an international movement against the Myanmar military
dictatorship's
 atrocious human-rights record. 

 The law is modeled on laws passed in the 1980s against South African
Apartheid.
 Yet, the WTO struck it down as illegal. 

 Another shock to systems of social justice being chiseled in the
international
 community was the Multilateral Agreement on Investment talks that were
forced to
 be closed before a decision could be made that would further hamper the
human
 rights of the citizens of the world. 

 These examples should prompt our desire to protest and demand our human
 rights. Let's celebrate Dec. 10 and our human rights after we have sent
a
 message of resistance to an international order that unravels the gains
made by
 people organizing for democracy and ecology. 

 We don't need a race to the bottom; we must protect rights already
guaranteed
 and struggle to secure new human rights focusing on solidarity rights. 

 The nonviolent direct action for the WTO meeting is the people
organizing against
 an agenda that promotes undemocratic, unaccountable, destructive
decisions
 about our lives, our community and our earth. 

 (C) 1999 Ka Leo O Hawaii via U-WIRE