British chemical company ICI pulls out of Colombia fumigation program

By Antony Barnett and Solomon Hughes

ICI has pulled out of the controversial US project to spray vast areas of Colombia with herbicides in an attempt to eradicate its cocaine and heroin trade.

The British chemical company’s decision, which came after an Observer investigation revealed its involvement, could be a major embarrassment to the US government and will dent the credibility of the plan.

ICI does not want its name dragged into such a program, particularly as there have been reports of children in Colombia who have inhaled the chemicals falling ill.

The $1 billion program, instigated by former President Bill Clinton, will also be hit by revelations that an individual working for the US company fumigating the coca and opium plants has been suspected of smuggling heroin back into the US.

According to an official document from the US Drug Enforcement Administration obtained by The Observer, on May 12 last year Colombian police intercepted a parcel sent from Dyncorp’s Colombia offices to its base in Florida. The police found two small bottles of a thick liquid which, when tested, was found to be laced with heroin worth more than $100,000.

A Dyncorp spokeswoman said the company had investigated the issue and found no evidence of wrongdoing.

ICI’s decision to refuse to allow its products to be used is likely to worry the US government. Hospitals in sprayed areas have reported increases in skin rashes, diarrhea, stomach aches and respiratory problems. Food crops have also been destroyed and livestock poisoned.

In January, the US State Department claimed the only chemical used in the aerial eradication is glyphosate. This pesticide, commonly known as ‘Roundup’, is made by the biotech corporation Monsanto.

However, the department was forced to admit it was mixing the glyphosate in an untested brew with another chemical called Cosmo Flux, a sticky soap-like substance which helps the pesticides stick to the leaves of plants. One of its key ingredients is made by ICI.

ICI was forced to admit its products were being used when presented with documents from The Observer obtained by Colombian scientist Dr. Elsa Nivia of the Pesticides Action Network.

Ed Hammond of the US campaigning group Sunshine Project said, “Massive spraying in Colombia has been a hostile act against the environment and people that live there. The decision by ICI not to have anything to do with this program is sensible and will be a wake-up call to Washington.”

Source: The Observer (London)

Anti-coca fumigation takes toll in border area

By Kintto Lucas

Quito, Ecuador, July 4 (IPS)— Colombia’s Environment minister, Juan Myer, maintains that aerial fumigation of coca plantations causes “no real harm,” though the environmental group Ecological Action stated Wednesday that the practice has meant health problems for more than 6,000 people living along the Ecuador-Colombia border.

“The effects of the fumigation are evident in the 36 symptoms of illness present in the border communities,” reported Adolfo Maldonado, a Spanish doctor who participated in conducting a study sponsored by the Quito-based Ecological Action.

Every one of the Ecuadorian residents living within five kilometers of the Colombian border presented symptoms of pesticide-related ailments, he said. At 10 km, the portion of the population affected fell to 89 percent.

The people suffering the impact of the coca-eradication efforts on the Ecuadorian side of the border number nearly 2,000, while there are an estimated 4,000 on the Colombian side, according to the study.

As part of Plan Colombia, an anti-drug trade and pro- development plan championed by Colombian President Andrés Pastrana, that country’s military forces have been spraying coca plantations in the department of Putumayo, located on the Ecuadorian border and home to an estimated 60 percent of the country’s coca fields.

Ecological Action’s report seeks to refute the statements made by Myer, who stated Tuesday that glyphosate, the herbicide used in the aerial spraying, causes no real problems for human health or the environment.

According to the Colombian minister, just 15 percent of the glyphosate used in Colombia goes toward eradication of coca, the raw material for cocaine production. The rest, he said, is utilized in wiping out weeds in plantations of sugarcane and of other crops.

The research conducted by the environmental group includes an analysis of the substances implemented in the fumigation of coca plantations and the effects of these chemicals on the health of the residents of Ecuador’s Amazon province of Sucumbíos, on the Colombian border.

The herbicide used contains RoundUp Ultra, manufactured by the agro-chemical transnational Monsanto, with the active ingredient glyphosate. Cosmo-Flux 411F is added to the RoundUp. Both are highly toxic, says the environmental organization.

Lucía Gallardo, head of Ecological Action’s biodiversity campaign, pointed out that RoundUp Ultra contains 26 percent glyphosate, instead of the one percent recommended for use as an herbicide.

“That percentage is exceptionally dangerous to human health, but even worse is the use of Cosmo-Flux, which the United States Environmental Protection Agency has classified as ‘extremely toxic’,” Gallardo told IPS.

Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment, meanwhile, has formed a commission — with delegates from the ministries of Health, Defense and Foreign Relations — to assess the problems that have arisen along the country’s northern border since Plan Colombia was launched last year.

The commission will turn to the Pan-American Health Organization for assistance in conducting its evaluation, the results of which will determine what course Ecuador’s government will take with respect to the aerial fumigations, announced Environment minister, Lourdes Luque.

But Luque stressed that no damages have been incurred in the Ecuadorian region bordering Colombia as a result of the spraying and she described Ecological Action as an “extremist” organization.

For her part, Gallardo defended her group’s research, saying “it confirms what the residents and the border authorities had already reported.”

Environment minister Luque is “turning a blind eye to an obvious reality,” she added.

“It would be important for the minister to visit the areas affected and not just speak from her office, because her attitude and that of the Colombian minister (Myer) contradict the principles they claim to defend,” said the activist.

Protests at Pinochet decision

Santiago, Chile, July 10— Chilean police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters angry at a court decision that found former military ruler General Augusto Pinochet unfit to stand trial for alleged human rights abuses.

About 1,000 human rights activists marched through the streets of the capital, Santiago, chanting “We want justice” before police moved in.

Monday’s decision by the Santiago Court of Appeals technically only delays the legal process until the general’s condition improves, but prosecuting lawyers say his age means the case has effectively been abandoned.

Chileans are now facing the likelihood that their former military leader will never stand trial.

President Ricardo Lagos was swift to call on his fellow Chileans to respect the ruling, saying the three judges had acted independently in their 2-1 vote to suspend legal action on health grounds.

Dementia and memory loss were given as reasons for not trying General Pinochet, 85, who has been under house arrest charged as an accessory to 75 cases of politically-motivated kidnapping and murder carried out at the beginning of his 1973-90 rule.

“We all must accept this decision,” said President Lagos, a socialist jailed by General Pinochet in 1987.

Prosecution lawyers said they were ready to take the case to the Supreme Court, but admitted they were not likely to succeed.

“Ultimately, while it is temporary, it is a final acquittal, because, as we have seen, Pinochet is going to be in permanently ill health,” one, Juan Bustos, told reporters.

BBC correspondent James Reynolds says that Juan Guzman, the judge investigating the charges against the general, had previously dismissed attempts by the defense to have him declared unfit for trial.

But, he says, the panel which made Monday’s decision had declared him unfit on the basis of the same report that Judge Guzman had seen.

The general’s mental condition was also cited as the reason for allowing him to return home last year from Britain, where he had been detained after a request for his extradition by a judge in Spain on similar human rights charges.

Disappointment

Relatives of the thousands of people who disappeared during the general’s time in power described the ruling as “shameful.”

“Once again the country is being lied to; once again, justice is not being done in our country,” one of their leaders, Viviana Diaz, told Spanish radio.

Human rights lawyers in Spain who originally sought to bring General Pinochet to court said the ruling was a blow against efforts to end his impunity.

And Amnesty International spokeswoman Virginia Shoppee said it was a shame the authorities had not been able to find answers for the victims’ relatives.

General Pinochet is described as being in stable condition two days after being discharged from a hospital.

He is accused of covering up dozens of killings and abductions by an army squad known as the Caravan of Death after he came to power in a coup in 1973.

His opponents say he had a clear responsibility for the slaughter, sending a close associate to head the squad. He has repeatedly denied any responsibility.

The charges are among the more than 250 complaints filed against him for alleged human rights abuses during his 17-year rule, when more than 3,000 people were executed or disappeared and presumed dead.

If convicted, he faced being sentenced to up to five years in jail.

Source: BBC News

NAFTA clause lets firms sidestep labor, environment rules

By R.C. Longworth

July 5— An obscure clause in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is being used by corporations and investors to override local labor and environmental laws, bypassing established court systems in the process.

So far, as least 20 US, Canadian, and Mexican corporations have seized on the chance to collect multimillion-dollar settlements from governments that thought they were only enforcing their own laws.

Governments that try to ban chemicals suspected of causing cancer have been sued by the companies that make the chemicals. A chain of funeral homes that lost a jury trial in Mississippi sued the US government for damages. UPS is alleging that the state-owned postal service in Canada is unfair competition.

The common thread in each suit is that the government allegedly is “unfair,” has damaged the investor and must pay.

The weapon they are using is Chapter 11 of the NAFTA treaty signed in 1993. Chapter 11—no relation to the Chapter 11 section of the US Bankruptcy Code—was inserted into the treaty to make sure foreign investors are treated “fairly and equitably” by host governments. At the time, it seemed like an innocuous clause, assuring US corporations that they could invest in Mexico or Canada without fear that governments would seize their property.

Chapter 11 has turned out to be a much more potent force than its framers expected. Because of the way Chapter 11 is being used, “the balance of power between sovereign nations and corporations has shifted against governments, providing significant economic and legal strategic leverage to corporations,” said Lydia Lazar, assistant dean at Chicago-Kent College of Law and an expert on NAFTA law.

‘A strategic windfall’

The clause, Lazar said, “is a strategic windfall for companies unhappy with actions taken by local or federal governments, actions that impede or thwart their corporate ambitions.”

Some critics, including Lazar, say Chapter 11 enables corporations to sue governments and collect damages if they feel existing laws damage their business. In so doing, the critics say, traditional international law is being turned upside down, more or less inadvertently.

Other experts, including lawyers who otherwise support the clause, worry that the court proceedings, held before special NAFTA tribunals instead of traditional national courts, are too private and secretive.

Activists, especially environmentalists, say the NAFTA clause gives only companies and investors the legal power to take their complaints into court. Non-economic groups, including labor unions and environmentalists, cannot do that. The clause does not require the tribunals to hear the opinions of those outsiders, although they may if they wish.

All sides agree that Chapter 11 is an important evolution of international law and a step toward “private justice,” even if it was not meant to be.

Todd Weiler, a Toronto lawyer specializing in NAFTA cases, argues that Chapter 11 encourages foreign investment by “giving small and medium-sized investors a remedy that might not be as available to them as to larger companies. It gives them a chance for a fair hearing.”

The cases, whether filed by big or small companies, are having a major impact on governments and international law.

Methanex Corp., a Canadian company, makes the gasoline additive MTBE, banned by California Gov. Gray Davis after a study found the possible carcinogen in 10,000 groundwater sites in the state. Methanex claims $970 million in damages. The case is before a tribunal that includes former US Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Loewen Group Inc., a Canadian funeral company, wants $725 million from the US government because a Mississippi jury convicted it of trying to drive a Mississippi funeral home out of business and fined it $500 million.

United Parcel Service, a US-based courier company, has sued for “a minimum of” $230 million, alleging that Canada Post, the government-run Canadian postal system, is unfair competition.

Mondev International Ltd., a Canadian real estate development company, has filed a $50 million claim against the US government because the Massachusetts Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court rejected its suit in Massachusetts over a Boston project that went sour.

Metalclad Corp., a US waste handling company, reached a $15.6 million settlement with the Mexican government last month. Metalclad said it had done extensive work to clean a landfill and build a hazardous waste plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, when a new state government killed the project. Metalclad said the project was legally authorized: The local government said the landfill stood above subterranean streams supplying water to local residents.

Foreign investors only

NAFTA tribunals can hear only cases against governments filed by foreign investors. Thus American-based UPS can sue the Canadian government but has no claim under NAFTA against the US government, even though it feels the US Postal Service also benefits from official US subsidies. Canadian or Mexican couriers, however, could sue the US government.

NAFTA tribunals are made up of two judges chosen by the warring parties, plus a third judge agreed on by both or appointed by arbitration centers, usually the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.

The tribunals have no right to order governments to change laws. At most, they can award damages if an existing law hurts an investor.

But UPS spokesman Tad Segal said a tribunal can urge a government to change laws, and UPS says it hopes the Canadian government will be urged to end its “unequal” benefits to Canada Post.

The threat of a NAFTA action can persuade a government to change its practices.

In 1998, US Ethyl Corp., maker of a gasoline additive called MMT, sued after Canada banned MMT imports on environmental grounds. Without fighting the case before a tribunal, Canada reversed the ban and agreed to pay Ethyl $13 million.

The Ethyl case often is cited by environmentalists as an example of NAFTA’s chilling effect on environmentalism. The mere threat of a NAFTA suit, they say, will force governments to change environmental laws or stop enforcing them.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Canadian Mounties bust Native blockade

By Suzanne Fournier

July 6— Chase Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) sent 40 officers, two emergency response teams, three dog units and a helicopter to Cayoosh Creek, 40 kilometers south of Lillooet, yesterday.

They arrested six native protesters who had halted a convoy of logging trucks on Highway 99.

Police had been on alert since 1am, when officers departed from the detachment in Kamloops.

Fueled by anger at the massive show of force, Shuswap Nation protesters said they will resist any attempt today to dismantle a protest camp at the Sun Peaks resort near Kamloops.

Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs president Stewart Phillip accused the RCMP of “mounting a regional strike force, a very aggressive law- enforcement campaign so the BC government can prove BC is open for business — that they don’t have to pay attention to aboriginal rights and title.”

Phillip said the Secwepemc people who have set up protest camps against ski-resort expansion in the Interior will respond “en masse” and refuse to dismantle the Sun Peaks tent today.

Sun Peaks spokesman Chris Nicholson said the resort has asked protesters to remove the tent by 5 pm, “in preparation for work on the land that was scheduled to begin last fall.

“We do not advocate any kind of violence and hope the protesters’ retreat will be without incident,” he said.

Phillip said there will be no retreat: “Absolutely not — the police response in Cayoosh Creek has just made people more angry and more determined.”

But Mat Wilcox, another Sun Peaks spokesman, said the resort will apply for a BC Supreme Court injunction on Monday if the protesters don’t leave.

Kamloops RCMP Sgt. Reid Tait said police won’t move in immediately to remove protesters.

“We’re in the middle of it, trying to keep the peace,” said Tait.

Near Lillooet though, RCMP Sgt. Randy Brown said the protest began peacefully but escalated.

“Over the last couple of weeks, it changed from a protest to more of a blockade to where they had been blockading the road, so this morning, there was the potential for some serious confrontation,” said Brown.

“That’s why we had to intervene.”

The Secwepemc protesters have set up several protest camps to stop the expansion of ski resorts.

A $170 million expansion is to be built at Sun Peaks and a new resort is planned at Cayoosh Creek on land that the Shuswap Nation says is within its traditional territory.

Source: The Province

Redford slams ‘ignorant’ Bush

Berlin, Germany, July 9— American actor Robert Redford has called President Bush “ignorant” on the environment and urged other nations to keep pressure on the United States at a global climate conference next week.

Redford, who is an active environmentalist, told the German weekly magazine Stern that Bush was oblivious to the extent the United States squandered natural resources compared to other countries.

“Bush doesn’t have a clue,” Redford said, adding that Bush was unaware “we are all living in a global village.”

Redford said he felt the president relied too much on advisers who joined his administration from industry and military backgrounds.
President Bush blasts out of the sand trap on the
18th hole at Cape Arundel Golf Club in
Kennebunkport, Maine, Saturday, July 7, 2001.

“They are blind and deaf to the changes over the last 40 years,” he said. “It’s a tragedy because we could really learn a lot from other countries.”

Climate talks start in Bonn on July 16. Delegates will discuss how to proceed after the United States rejected the Kyoto agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Greek protesters storm police station

Greek Cypriot protesters run from a water cannon outside Akrotiri Base in southern Cyprus, July 3, 2001.

Episkopi-Akrotiri, Cyprus, July 4— Hundreds of Greek Cypriot rioters stormed a police station, released a detainee and torched vehicles at this British military base on Tuesday night.

The freed prisoner was a Cypriot member of parliament, Marios Matsakis, who had been arrested for leading a protest on Monday against the base’s construction of a network of communications antennae in an environmentally sensitive area.

After releasing Matsakis, the 400 to 500 demonstrators went to the construction site and began setting fire to vehicles and destroying equipment.

British troops and police fired tear gas and wielded clubs to disperse the rioters, but clashes continued until early Tuesday morning. The base on the southern Cypriot coast is one of two sovereign areas that Britain retained in Cyprus after it granted independence to the island in 1960.

Twenty-seven British policemen were wounded in the clashes, one “very seriously,’’ British base spokesman Rob Need said early Wednesday. Most injuries were caused by stone throwing.

The protesters believe the erection of antennae at Akrotiri Salt Lake, which lies within the base, will have an adverse affect on local residents and migratory birds.

Source: Associated Press