Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ

Protestors disrupted negotiations for the UN Earth Summit twice last
week, as delegates entered the final round of talks in New York before the
Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June.

Bella Abzug, director of the Women’s Environment and Development Organisation,
denounced the governments of India, Kenya and Malaysia for human rights
violations against environmentalists last week. In a separate incident,
50 protestors hijacked a reception for the American delegation and demanded
that the voices of the poor should be heard.

Abzug attacked Kenya for last week’s beating of Wangari Maathai, the
founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement and head of a newly formed opposition
party which plans to contest the country’s first free elections for 25 years.
Maathai and three other women were taken to hospital after police broke
up their hunger strike in support of political prisoners.

Abzug took India to task for arresting 40 members of the Chipko (tree-huggers)
group who were on a hunger strike in protest against the building of the
Tehri Dam in Uttar Pradesh. The dam will flood valleys in the Himalayas
and displace tens of thousands of peasants. The Chipkos also say the dam
is dangerous because it lies on an earthquake fault.

Malaysia came in for criticism for the arrest of Andy Mutang, a member
of the Sarawak Indigenous People’s Alliance, which works with tribal
people who want to stop logging of the rainforest.

In the second incident 50 activists interrupted a reception thrown
by the Citizens’ Network, a coalition of US environmental and development
groups which has been working closely with the country’s delegation to the
summit. The activists startled the sedate gathering when they started singing
‘We’re not going to let no diplomats turn us around’ in the centre of the
room.

When the singing ended, a chorus of voices shouted: ‘We’re fed up,’
‘Our children are dying,’ and ‘Don’t let our ambassadors make fools of us.’

They then made speeches condemning the US government for hypocrisy in
trying to impose environmental standards on the Third World that Western
countries have only recently adopted themselves. They also accused mainstream
activists of selling out and joining the government, and not listening to
the poor.

After the speeches, one protestor called on Bob Ryan, a former US ambassador
to Mali, to respond to their criticisms. ‘I’ve listened and learnt a lot,’
he said. ‘I have to admit that working full time on this international conference
I don’t know as much as I would like to about minority communities and I
promise to learn more when I can.’