Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 16:38:08 -0800 (PST)
From: Alice McCombs <amccombs@igc.apc.org>

Contents

1. UN Investigates US for Indigenous Human Rights Violations
2. SPAIN: Miner's Strikes in Asturies
3. Info Request re non-ferrous metal recycling
4. Davos reports/ February 1

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1. UN Investigates US for Indigenous Human Rights Violations

Date: Mon, 2 Feb 1998 01:18:00 -0800 (PST)
From: John Shafer <wy430@victoria.tc.ca>

***************************

FOR YOUR REVIEW:

 JANUARY 29, 1998
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

  UNITED NATIONS INVESTIGATES
  HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE UNITED STATES

  PRESS CONFERENCE WITH MR. ABDELFATTAH AMOR UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR
 ON RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE
  12:15 - 1 PM  WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY  4TH, 1998
  SAN CARLOS HOTEL,  202 N. CENTRAL AVE.,
  PHOENIX,  ARIZONA

  From February 1-4, 1998  Mr. Abdelfattah Amor, the UN Special Rapporteur on
 Religious Intolerance will be in Arizona to hear testimony from
 representatives of  Indian tribes, organizations and communities from Arizona
 and other states in the United States regarding violations of freedom of
 religion as part of a two week visit to the United States.

  In addition to hearing testimony on a variety of cases from Indian
 representatives in Phoenix, Mr. Amor will make an on-site visit to Black
 Mesa/Big Mountain in the 4-corners area of Arizona on February 3rd.

  In 1996, the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) filed a formal
 complaint with the UN Special Rapporteur on
  Religious Intolerance on behalf of the Sovereign Dineh Nation of Big
   Mountain, Arizona focusing on forced relocation and its impacts on
   freedom of religion.   The Rapporteur accepted the case, and
   filed a communication with the United States government, expressing his
wish
 to enter the U.S. to meet with the affected Peoples.  The U.S. State
 Department issued him a formal invitation to enter the U.S., resulting in
this
 visit.

  This is the first time the
   U.S. has been formally investigated by the UN for violations of
   Indigenous Peoples' right to freedom of religion or belief.  In August
1996,
 the UN Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
 Minorities passed a resolution recognizing for the first time the tie between
 sacred sites and lands and the right of  Indigenous Peoples
   to practice their religion.  The resolution encouraged the Rapporteur to
 investigate cases impacting Indigenous Peoples.

  The IITC has addressed violations of Indigenous Peoples' right to freely
 practice their religions and protect their cultures at the UN Commission on
 Human Rights and other international bodies for many years.   The IITC
charges
 that there is a consistent and ongoing pattern of violation of these rights
in
 the U.S. caused by relocation, land appropriations, Treaty violations,
 destruction and desecration of sacred sites, racism in prisons, removal of
 Indian children from their communities and a general lack of recognition for
 Indigenous Peoples' cultural values, ceremonial practices and religious
 relationships with the land.

  On January 24 the Washington Times reported that a spokesperson for Senator
 Jesse Helms of North Carolina called this visit a waste of the UN's time and
 money  because "there is no problem with religious intolerance in this
 country".

  Andrea Carmen, IITC's Executive Director, strongly disagreed: "The U.S.
 presents itself as the bastion and defender of religious freedom
 internationally.  But the original Peoples and Nations of this land continue
 to be treated with blatant disregard and to suffer violations of our most
 basic human rights, including our right and obligation to maintain the
 religious practices and traditional ceremonies given to us by the Creator,
and
 to protect our sacred sites and lands."

  Several organizations and tribes including the Sovereign Dineh Nation, the
 Apache Survival Coalition and the IITC, as well as the Special Rapporteur who
 will discuss his mandate and the purpose for his visit in the U.S., will be
 present at the Phoenix press conference on February 4th.   Mr. Amor's
findings
 will be formally presented to the UN Commission on Human Rights and the UN
 General Assembly.

  The Rapporteur's' U.S. visit also includes stops in Washington DC, New York,
 Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Chicago and Los Angeles.  In addition to Indigenous
 organizations and Peoples, the Rapporteur is meeting with a variety of
 religious leaders, organizations and government officials, including
 representatives of the U.S. State Department, the Supreme Court, state
 government representatives and city officials.

  The International Indian Treaty Council is an Indigenous organization with
 Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council since
 1977.  The IITC has been working in conjunction with the Rapporteur and the
UN
 Center for Human Rights in Geneva to arrange for Indigenous Peoples'
 presentations in Phoenix and the other cities across the United States.

  For questions please contact:

  IITC Administrative Office through Friday, January 30th: (907) 745-4482

  San Carlos Hotel, c/o IITC Executive Director Andrea Carmen, from Saturday
 January 31st: (602) 253-4121

  ADDENDUM TO PRESS RELEASE:

  LIST OF INDIGENOUS PRESENTERS TO THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON RELIGIOUS
 INTOLERANCE

  Indigenous Peoples and organizations who will present in Arizona include:

  The Sovereign Dineh Nation and the Cactus Valley, Red Willow Springs and Big
 Mountain Dineh communities, the Navajo Nation Tribal government and
 Traditional Hopi representatives addressing the impacts on freedom of
 religious of forced relocation; the Apache Survival Coalition addressing the
 adverse impacts of the telescope on Mt. Graham; the Havasupai Tribe on the
 impacts of uranium drilling  in the Grand Canyon; the Yoemen Tekia Foundation
 and Alianza Sin Fronteras on the impacts of the U.S./ Mexico Border and
 immigration policies on the Yaqui, Tohono O'odham and other tribes; the
 Petroglyph Monument Protection Coalition of New Mexico on the tribes' efforts
 to protect this sacred site area; representatives of the Lakota and Dakota
 (Soiux) on long-standing violations of the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty and the
 theft of the Sacred Black Hills; the White Clay Society from the Gros Ventre
 Nation in  Montana on the impacts of gold mining in the Little Rocky
 Mountains; the Western Shoshone National Council from Nevada whose sacred
sites  have been threatened and destroyed by nuclear weapons testing and
proposed nuclear waste dumping; the Native American Rights Fund addressing
the impacts of court cases including U.S. Supreme Court decisions; and
Tonatierra on violations of religious freedom of Chicano and Indian Peoples
in the South West.

  Indigenous tribes, organizations and Peoples presenting testimony and
 documentation to Mr. Amor in the other cities include:  The National Congress
 of American Indians and the Native American Prisoners Rights Advocacy
 Coalition (Washington DC); The Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa Defense Committee
 (Chicago); the Haudenosaunee and the American Indian Law Alliance (New York);
  The Traditional Independent Seminole Nation of Florida (Atlanta); the Ft.
 Mohave Tribe/Ward Valley Regional Director and the Seventh Generation Fund
 Sacred Sites Project including representatives working for the defense of
 Mount Shasta, Medicine Lake, Little Medicine Mountain and Mount Pinos in
 California (Los Angeles); The Navajo Nation Division of Social Services and
 the Red Robe "Hunkpapa" Lakota Women's Society (Salt Lake City).

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2. SPAIN: Miner's Strikes in Asturies

Date: Mon, 2 Feb 1998 09:03:20 -0800 (PST)
From: prat@chem.ucsb.edu (Luis Prat)
Subject: (en) Asturies burning!!! p.3 (ca)

________________________________________________
     A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
           http://www.ainfos.ca/
________________________________________________

MINER'S STRIKES IN ASTURIES

This is a summary of the most important events regarding the asturian
miners' struggles.Obviously not all the strikes are described here, only the
most important ones.

1890
The first general strike by asturian miners. It begins on May 6 at Molinucu
and Lla'scares mines,property of Mieres Factory, spreading a few days later
to the Nalo'n and Caudal Valleys,accompanied by demonstrations harshly
repressed by the civil guard and an army batallion from Leo'n. The miners
demanded: freedom of work, fourteen reales per day (a raise of two reales)
and a reduction of the workday to 8 hours, down from 12. After 15 days the
workers go back to work after winning some of their demands.

1906
"Big Strike" in Mieres. Miners from several companies ask for raises of 10%.
The companies refuse and fire 700 workers. Anarchists and socialists had
presented a united front, but give up faced with staunch opposition from the
bosses. Almost four years of "social peace" follow this  first struggle of
the century.

1910
The CNT is founded, as well as the Miner's Union where metal workers from
the mining valleys are also admitted. One of its principal objectives is the
creation of a resistance fund to keep strikes going.

1911
The miner's union declares and wins two strikes. The first one for the
rehiring of 34 fired workers (from Baltasara and Mariana mines), terminated
for taking part in May Day events. The second due to the firing of a worker
accused of making socialist propaganda in the Aller Valley. The civil
governor intervenes in the first strike and in the second he sends the civil
guard and an army regiment, but the miners hold fast and the bosses are
forced to give in to the miner's demands.

1912
Anarchosyndicalists from La Felguera call a strike in June demanding salary
increases. A short time later the Miner's Union joins in solidarity. The
workers have to compromise since they are economically weak.

1916
In the midst of the First World War and as a consequence of the general
malaise felt throughout the country, the anarchosyndicalists from Xixo'n
call a strike, followed by similar movements in other points of the
peninsula. The government answers by declaring a state of war and then the
miner's union joins the strike in solidarity. The state of war lasts longer
than in other places and the miner's union confronts the government leading
massive miner's and metal worker's movements.

1917
That year's summer is the stage for the first strictly political general
strike, called by all unios together at the national level. The government
reacts with a state of war, which again lasts a month longer in Asturies
than in the rest of the country. The Miner's Union doesn't give up until the
beginning of October. Violence breaks out and armed encounters between
workers and civil guards and soldiers take place in Asturies, mainly during
the last month of the conflict. Repression is extremely harsh and many
miners flee to the mountails. They are the first "escapees".

1934
In a bourgeois Republic ruled by a right wing coalition and frustrated by
the expectations of social change motivated by the fall of the monarchy, the
asturian proletariat joins the Alianza Obrera (Worker's Alliance) formed by
all workers' organizations. On October 5th a general strike is unleashed
throughout the nation, which fails due to divisions among the different
organizations. Only in Asturies the Workers' Alliance comprises all the
organizations. On the 5th the revolutionary socialist newspaper financed by
the Miners' Union prints the slogan "Balls and Dynamite". All civil guard
barracks in the mining valleys are taken in a few hours. While the workers
advance to take Uvieu in the valleys several revolutionary experiments begin
(libertarian communism in the anarchosyndicalist areas and war communism in
the socialist and communist areas). A true red army is formed which defeats
government troops in the first encounters. With the failure of the strike in
the rest of the nation, the first revolutionary committee is disolved,
however the workers gather in assembly at Plaza del Fonta'n in Uvieu and
decide to elect a new committe and continue the struggle. The government
send shock troops (moors and legionnaires) under Franco. The republican
forces advance by placing prisoners in front of the columns. Nevertheless
the miners stage a fierce resistance, in spite of the lack of weapons, made
up in part by the use of dynamite and their revolutionary convictions. The
third revolutionary committe faced with a desperate situation begins
negotiations with the army, agreeing to surrender in exchange for not having
the moors and legionnaires occupy the valleys, since their massacres of
innocent civilians in the Uvieu working class neighborhoods were already
known. The army agrees (although later it doesn't keep its word). Movement
leaders announce "the loss of a battle, but not the war" in a meeting in
front of Sama City Hall. Many miners refuse to surrender and escape to the
mountains with their weapons. Much armament is hidden away waiting for the
next assault. The government's repression is brutal: indiscriminate deaths,
thousands of prisoners are tortured, disappeared ...
The October revolution is an unforgettable landmark in the political
consciousness of Asturian miners and workers.

1936-1937
Civil war and revolution in Asturies. The collapse in October 1937, after
being the last region in the north to resist fascism ushered a repression
that will never be quantified. In Uvieu alone there are 3,000 bodies in the
cemetery's common grave. Many fighters take to the mountains from where they
harass Franco's forces for many years. The mines are militarized, with miners
as soldiers, foremen as sargeants, etc.

1958
After the firing of some workers at the begining of March, miners from Maria
Luisa strike in solidarity, followed shortly by those from El Fondo'n and
Santa Eulalia mines, the number of strikers quickly reaches 15,000 in the
main valleys. The government suspends three articles of the Fuero the los
Espan~oles (sort of fascist constitution T.N.) for 4 months in the region
affected by the strike. Franco's reply is in the form of arrests, firings,
fines, beatings, banishments. The first Workers Commission is spontaneously
created at La Camocha mine, a form of worker's self-organization that would
spread throughout the country in the following years.

1962
On April 7 miners from Nicolasa mine declare a strike. The following day
those from Baltasara do too, next those of Polio and so on until a week
later the whole Caudal Valley is on strike. On monday the 16th the strike
spreads to Turo'n and later to the Nalo'n Valley, with 60,000 workers
striking. The slogan is "General salary raises and solidarity with our
comrades". The ruler's answer is again detentions, beatings of workers and
their women and other outrages. Other regions of the country, such as the
mining and iron areas of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa  solidarize. On May 4 the
government declares the state of siege in the provinces. But nothing can
stop the miners and on May 24 the Official State Bulletin agrees to the
strikers' demands. For the first time under franquism a mass workers
movement wins. The struggle has international implications. Intellectuals
publish a manifest denouncing the torture of miners' women. In the following
years conflicts continue intermittantly in Asturies mining. In 1965 a
miners' demonstration in Mieres demanding freedom for some prisoners ends
with the assault of a local police station, an event unherad of under
franquism. Faced with serious losses in the mining enterprises, the Franco
government decides to nationalize most of the mines, creating the mega
enterprise Hunosa, which harbors the majority of asturian mining operations.

1976
 The struggle begins in November 1975 at Tres Amigos mine with a demand for
salary raises by wagon drivers and continues in mid-December with 48 hours
of struggle for which Hunosa disciplines 4,500 workers. On December 30 mine
helpers lock themselves up in well number 32,they are suspended without pay
for a month. Miners at that well stop work in solidarity and are
likewise punished. On January 10 the strike spreads to Caudal and later to
Nalo'n. The demands are: Lifting of sanctions, readmission of  workers fired
for political reasons, unfreezing of salaries, discussion of the agreement
with the participation of a workers commission elected by the workers and
later freedom for those arrested during the strike would be included in the
demands. The company refuses to discuss these points. Assemblies and
demonstrations multiply, mine and area commissions are elected. In Mieres 6
workers are arrested and jailed in Uvieu prison, where they start a hunger
strike. 52 union delegates lock themselves up in Sama union offices and are
evicted by the police at 15 hrs. Miners from La Camocha ask for a legal
strike, which is denied giving rise to a wildcat strike. Minas de Figaredo
fires 895 workers. 200 miner's wives lock themselves in the archbishop's
palace in Uvieu. The police arrests 11 miners in Figaredo. 300 retired
miners lock themselves in a church in Sama for 48 hours. Around mid-February
the struggle reaches its peak: large assemblies (3,000 people at El Entregu
on the 27th) multiply. Lock-ups in the mines of Carrio, Cerezal and Candi'n
and in the curches in Sama, L'Entregu and Barredos. On the 25th the police
cause several injuries in L'Entregu while breaking up a demonstration. The
company closes the mines and laboral normalcy is not re-established until
mid-March. This process of strikes is characterized by self-organization,
generalization of the assemblies, the election of delegates by the base and
the spreading of the struggle to women and retirees. The vertical union ends
up rotting away thanks to this struggle in the mining valleys.

1987
Unions are legal and for a long time since have opted for a policy of
demobilization and appeasement that empowers the political weight of the
union structures but does not offer a solution to the industrial downsizing
in Asturies promoted by the structural reform started by the spanish
capitalists.With the future plans for public mining there are several days
of strikes in Hunosa as well as general strikes in the mining valleys (up to
3 per month). There are confrontations with the police in many ocassions.
The newspaper "La Nueva Espan~a" opines that these mobilizations started the
exercises in "urban guerrilla" on the part of the miners during their
mobilizations. Three great demonstrations in Uvieu end in confrontations
with the police. The last one was part of a general strike in Asturies
organized by CCOO that ends in the center of Uvieu with large damages in the
official establishments, banks and commerce (not a window was left intact in
Uri'a Street) and confrontations with the police (several anti-riot units
brought in from other parts of the country).

1991-92
The negotiations for a new future plan at Hunosa provoke a lock-up at
Barredo well by the top levels of UGT and CCOO unions. Outside, uncontrolled
miners and unemployed confront the police and the civil guard for two weeks,
creating a veritable battlefront near Barredo mine, in Mieres' Vega de
Arriba neighborhood. True combats take place, which are in many ocassions
silenced by the press, such as the ambush in the old Uvieu-Mieres road of a
civil guard convoy returning from Barredo mine with molotov cocktails thrown
from the hills. Finally the union leaders, having lost their prominence
abandon the lock-up and sign a pact that in 5 years cuts Hunosa's payroll in
half.

DATA ABOUT THE CRISIS

Asturies lost 8,300 jobs in 1997, according to INEM (?). The employed
population went from 334,542 people in 1996 to 326,208 in 1997, being
Asturies the only autonomous community that has lost jobs. According to INEM
there are 70,000 unemployed workers in Asturies (17.65%) first place in the
state, a number that the more trustworthy EPA (Encuesta de Poblacio'n Activa
- Survey of the Active Population) puts at 85,000.

According to a European Union report Asturies and Ulster are the regions of
Europe with the most somber perspectives. There they have a war. Here there
will be one.

FIRE PURIFIES.

   Luis
@@@@@@@@@@

Luis J. Prat

University of California
Chemistry Dept.
Santa Barbara CA 93106
(805) 893-3295
(805) 893-4120  FAX

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2374

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3. Info Request re non-ferrous metal recycling

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 17:25:27 -0800
From: Documentation ADEME Angers <dinety@imaginet.fr>
Organization: ADEME

Dear colleagues, i'm looking for program about non ferrous metal
recycling. Does anyone have any information, adress, or name of organisms
on this subject.
Thanking you in advance

Marie-Odile BIRMELE
ADEME
centre de documentation
marie-odile.birmele@ademe.fr

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4. Davos reports/ February 1

papadop                            iww.news                2:36 PM  Feb  1, 1998
(at peak.org)

@@

Mexico seen as recovery model for Asia

DAVOS, Switzerland (January 31, 1998 6:19 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) -
World leaders Saturday called Mexico's economic recovery under President
Ernesto Zedillo a potential model for financial crisis-stricken Asia.

Zedillo took center stage at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in
this Swiss ski resort, outlining his success in galvanizing Mexico's
economy, a scene that would have been unthinkable three years ago.

At the time, Zedillo's newly elected government was struggling to recover
from a currency crash and save its financial system, while southeast Asia
was viewed as a bright spot among the world's emerging markets.

But those positions have been turned upside down -- southeast Asia has
been battered by a wave of sharp currency devaluations and the near
collapse of national financial systems.

Meanwhile, Mexico is predicting sturdy growth this year, despite the
inevitable knock-on effect that Asia's crisis will have on it and other
emerging markets.

"I will resist the temptation to teach lessons or give advice -- at least
during my mandate as President of Mexico," Zedillo told businessmen,
politicians and intellectuals gathered for the world forum here.

"As the old Danish proverb says, 'Advice after injury is like medicine
after death'," he added.

Despite this disclaimer, Zedillo did draw some comparisons between the
crises in Mexico and Asia, attributing his country's recovery to two main
factors -- quick action by his government and financial backing by the
international financial community.

"It was clear to us that, given the circumstances, we needed an
overshooting not only in the macroeconomic adjustment but also in the size
of the financial support package," he said.

"This was definitely true in the Mexican case, and it might be so in the
present East Asian situation," he added.

"In medical terms, we needed not only curative medicine, but also medicine
to avoid the epidemic."

Although this prescription helped Mexico recover, some critics have noted
major differences between the two crises.

They argue that, unlike southeast Asia, Mexico represents a relatively
small slice of the world's economy and therefore had much less of a global
impact than the current crisis.

They also point out that Mexico was able to count on financial support
from a major trading partner and neighbor, the United States, while help
for Asia has been less forthcoming from regional economic giant Japan.

But some Asian leaders have countered that Mexico does provide lessons for
Asian countries.

"The question of asking whether the Asian and the Mexican crises are alike
is like asking whether snowflakes are alike -- they are and they aren't,"
said You Jong Keun, chief economic policy adviser to South Korea's
president-elect, Kim Dae-jung.

"The fact that we have different causes does not mean we cannot have
similar prescriptions," he said in a separate panel discussion, adding
that South Korea needed to cut government spending and create a strong
social safety net.

For his part, Zedillo promised to support Mexico's economic growth by
strengthening democracy and the rule of law.

He also announced a joint agreement with Swiss cocoa company Barry
Callebaut to invest a total of $100 million in Mexico's cocoa-growing
regions, including Chiapas, which has been plagued by violence since
Zapatista rebels staged an armed uprising there in 1994.

The Mexican government has come under fire in the past for its handling of
Chiapas, and not even Davos provided a safe refuge from criticism.

About 100 people marched outside the World Economic Forum's center here to
protest against a litany of subjects, including free trade, capitalism,
and Zedillo's position on Chiapas.

However, they marched off peacefully after stopping at a police barricade
near the heavily guarded center.

** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational
purposes. **

================================================

London BBC Sunday, February 1, 1998 Published at 20:09 GMT

Pakistani premier rejects protectionism

The Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has called on Asian
governments not to return to protectionism in response to the current
financial crisis in the region.

Mr Sharif was speaking at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum
in the Swiss resort of Davos.

He said globalisation was here to stay, and he called on governments to
adopt market-friendly policies.

Mr Sharif described the financial turmoil in Asia as a temporary and
manageable problem.

** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational
purposes. **

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