PMA newsletter - December 2000

Peace Movement Aotearoa PO Box 9314, Wellington. Tel (04) 382 8129, fax (04) 382 8173, email pma@apc.org.nz This newsletter is sponsored by the National Consultative Committee on Disarmament Link to earlier PMA newsletters.

Contents News from the office A year of Labour-Alliance Coalition government Visions of peace for the new millennium Anne Wells, Don Franks, Neil Smith, Norman John, Pauline Tangiora, Jim Delahunty, Dorothy Kitchingman, Paul Bruce, Bertha Zurcher, Arthur Quinn, June Stroud, Gush Shalom, Marion Hancock, Celine Kearney, Des Brough, David Carrad, Tim Jones, Libby Clements, Larry Ross, Edwin Junker, Trade Union Federation, Dianne Yates Aotearoa / New Zealand's contribution to the arms trade Indigenous People in Colonised Countries of the Pacific, Peace Statement Pacific concept for peaceful co-existence and human security WEAVE Peace Network UN Asia-Pacific Regional Disarmament Conference, March 2001, Wellington What's on where

News from the office

Kia ora, as we review PMA's work during 2000, there are a number of highlights which stand out. Partly as a result of the government's ambivalent approach to peace and social justice (see below), as well as a higher than usual amount of opportunities to make submissions to various Select Committees, the number of alerts and updates we circulated in the past year has soared up to 287; and more than 860 articles, alerts and updates were posted to our website.

There has been improvement in the management of PMA, we concluded the process of gaining charitable status, significant progress has been made on the Schools Information Project, a new youth co-ordinator has been appointed, and we reached a settlement with IRD over the historical debt to them which was discovered last year and which had threatened PMA's financial viability. The settlement seriously drained our financial reserves, and we hope that you will respond generously to our appeal letter 2000 which is included in this mailing.

We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to PMA in the past year in whatever way, especially our volunteer workers: Deborah, Jesse, Jackson, Catherine, Abigael, and Jie. With best wishes, safe journeys over the holiday period and a very happy new year to you, from everyone at PMA.

A year of Labour-Alliance Coalition government

Looking back over the first year of the Labour-Alliance coalition government, it has been characterised by a rather uneven approach to promoting peaceful and just social relations, both here and overseas.

Employment conditions have improved for some through a modest increase in the minimum wage and a return to the right of collective bargaining for workers. However, the government's commitment to 'free trade' ideology is being put into practice in a series of 'free trade' agreements which can only result in a decrease in the number of proper jobs available and a further increase in foreign control of our assets. The loss of local employment opportunities as a result of 'free trade' agreements seems contradictory to the government's rhetoric about 'closing the gaps' between rich and poor. Yet at the same time, some progress has been made in this area, in particular, the return to income related rent for state house tenants.

'Closing the gaps' of ignorance and prejudice in relation to the government's obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi has likewise been variable. There appears to be some commitment to adding Treaty clauses to new legislation, but what that will mean in practice is unclear.

The opportunity to add to public understanding of the continuing impact of colonisation on Mäori was lost when Helen Clark condoned the racist backlash against Tariana Turia's comments earlier this year. The announcement of the withdrawal of funding from, and government presence at, Waitangi on 6 February next year has sent an ambivalent message on the government's commitment to the bicultural partnership.

On human rights, the past year has seen the inclusion of same sex couples in new legislation in accordance with the Human Rights Act; and a Select Committee ruling just last week labelled police handling of demonstrations during President Jiang Zemin's visit for APEC in 1999 as "unjustifiable".

On the other hand there are plans for unprecedented large scale automated surveillance of electronic messages, and state hacking into personal computers. Furthermore, calls for an independent Police Complaints Authority, an inquiry into the activities of the Criminal Intelligence Service and for the closure of the Waihopai spy base have gone unheeded. Eight months after Steven Wallace was shot dead by a police officer in Waitara, the Police Complaints Authority report is still not available.

On disarmament, the purchase of F16s and new frigates is on hold, but $740 million has been allocated to the army for new armoured vehicles and radios. While Helen Clark received a standing ovation overseas for declaring her government's commitment to a nuclear weapons free world, the Labour-Alliance coalition has said they will not support the Extension of the Nuclear Free Zone Bill.

Foreign policy has been characterised by lofty words, and little action - a statement at the United Nations on NZ's preference for 'smart' sanctions came with an assertion that the government would take no unilateral action with regard to changing the appalling situation of the people of Iraq, and there has still been no definite commitment that NZ navy frigates will not be sent again to take part in the blockade of Iraq.

The situation in Fiji has been loudly condemned by the government, and there are prohibitions on travel here for various Fijian sport teams and people associated with the new government pending 'the restoration of democracy'. Yet there has been little said about the Indonesian government's denial of 'democratic' rights to the people of West Papua, Aceh, Maluku; nor about the creation of violent paramilitary forces in these places, and the failure to bring them under control in West Timor, as well as extreme oppression by Indonesian armed forces and police. A high ranking Indonesian navy officer had no restrictions on his travel to this country to attend the Naval Symposium recently.

It is hoped that one outcome of the 'Human Rights in Foreign Policy' Select Committee hearings currently being held will be the adoption of some kind of ethical code in the government's foreign policy practice - and the application of the same moral standards to ALL governments, with the more powerful being treated in the same way as the less powerful. However, the example of the new 'ethical' defence policy doesn't inspire much confidence about the practical implementation of any moral guidelines ...

A prohibition on NZ armed forces exercising with the armed forces of those countries whose government uses them to perpetuate human rights abuses was announced in the Defence Policy Framework in June. In July that policy was breached when they took part in exercises with British armed forces. Despite a number of PMA members writing to Defence Minister Mark Burton about this, no satisfactory reply has yet been received.

Visions of peace for the new millennium

This newsletter features the Visions of peace for the new millennium which everyone on PMA's database was invited to compose last December.

Saying NO to militarism and war

Interspersed with the Visions of peace, are some extracts from the 'Saying NO to militarism and war' fact sheet, produced by PMA and WILPF during the 'Saying NO to Violence Week' (YWCA Week Without Violence) in October 2000.

'Saying NO to militarism and war' is an ongoing project of PMA and WILPF, and updated fact sheets will be published every year. Paper copies of the fact sheet are available from PMA at $1 each (includes p & p), or it is available online.

You can send a message to the 'Saying NO' message board, a place for people around the world to share their vision of a world in which there is no militarism or war, at http://www.peace.org.nz/sayno

Global military spending this year will amount to $3,591,324 every minute of every day. And every minute of every day twenty two children under the age of five will die from mainly preventable causes including a lack of adequate food, clean water, and access to basic medicines. Whose priorities are these?

Written in 1990 and still waiting. Anne Wells, Wellington

Don Franks, Wellington.

Neil Smith, Auckland

Pauline Tangiora, Mahia

Jim Delahunty, Wellington

Dorothy Kitchingman, Secretary, Servas for Peace NZ

Paul Bruce, Latin America Solidarity Committee

Bertha Zurcher, Palmerston North

Arthur Quinn, Lower Hutt

• Peace is about the way we handle relationships across nation states.
  
• It is about the health of the planet itself, otherwise we will end up in a terrible scramble for the earth's slender resources and safe places.
  
• It is still about the reduction of weaponry.
  
• It is about learning to handle conflicts in creative and disciplined ways.
  
• It is about the creation and recreation of human community in its most generous and responsible forms.
  
• It is about the celebration of difference in race, gender, age, ability, lifestyle and culture and the protection of human rights.
  
• It is about 'shalom', the constant vigilance for enhancing the well-being of us all."

June Stroud, Secretary, for Sumner Peace Group

Gush Shalom, Israel (on the 'Saying NO' message board)

Marion Hancock, Auckland

Lantern floating, WILPF commemorating Hiroshima Day 2000 in Wellington, City Voice, used with permission.

Celine Kearney (WILPF, Tamaki Makaurau)

Des Brough, Senior Vice President,
Peace Council Aotearoa NZ

David Carrad, Lower Hutt

Tim Jones, Wellington

(from the 'Saying NO to militarism and war' fact sheet)

Libby Clements, Wellington

Larry Ross, Secretary, NZNFPA

Edwin Junker, Whangarei

Looking for a publication which never ever manufactures consent to war ? Then do not hesitate, subscribe to ...

I would like to write of a vision of peace for the millennium as Labour's current spokesperson for women's affairs.

In 1995, the Leibrich report, "Hitting Home" commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, and surveying over 2000 men in New Zealand showed that 21% of men reported physically abusing a female partner in the preceding year, and there was a 35% lifetime prevalence. The report showed that while younger men committed more violence, older men condoned it and thought it normal to give the wife and kids a good hiding now and then.

My local hospital is completing a report which indicates that male on male violence is also on the increase in New Zealand.

Around eleven children are killed each year in New Zealand as a result of beating - or even more horrifically - being thrown from a car window!

Peace is about thinking globally and acting locally.

We are all shocked by violence in East Timor, or Bosnia, or the Solomons, or anywhere but home - but home is where it starts.

My hope for peace in the millennium is that we, in a so-called modern western democracy continue to work through and improve democratic processes for resolving conflicts and tensions, and that we spread that message at home and abroad.

This is the essence of Labour's Foreign Affairs policy document as we continue to promote international peace through treaties, negotiations, the UN, the Commonwealth, and through aid and support for our near neighbours and those in crisis. At the same time we need to face up to the increase in violence, and violent crime within New Zealand and look to isolating and addressing the causes as well as assisting the victims - it is a big and challenging agenda for a new government committed to change.

Dianne Yates
Labour List MP, and currently Spokesperson for Women's Affairs.

Aotearoa / New Zealand's contribution to the arms trade

This country is not a major contributor to the arms trade. Nevertheless, the armed forces are an end user of the international arms trade whenever they purchase new or used weapons or equipment. The NZ government contributes to global weapons transfers whenever it on-sells used or surplus weapons. In the past, this has tended to be small arms (which, despite their innocent sounding name, are the greatest killer in armed conflict globally). However, in the near future the airforce's Skyhawk warplanes are likely to be sold to the highest bidder which is a matter for serious concern. [1]

Also of great concern has been the deliberate promotion and development of the production of military equipment, weapons and missile guidance system parts, and shoot-to-kill training equipment for overseas export. These are politely referred to as 'defence technologies' exports.

As this graph shows, the value of these exports more than doubled from 1996 to 1998.



This is due in part to Trade NZ (the government funded export body). They set up a Defence Technologies Joint Action Group and have used taxpayer's money to actively assist the companies involved to expand 'defence technology' exports. Trade NZ spent $75,000 on promoting 'defence technologies' in the 1997/98 financial year; $50,000 in 1998/99; and $30,000 in 1999 / 00.

(from the 'Saying NO to militarism and war' fact sheet)

[1] Update: the Army's light tanks and armoured personnel carriers have been sold to Helston Gunsmiths (Cornwall, England) who advertise themselves as a supplier of specialist vehicles, ammunition, light weaponry, heavy machine-guns, mortars, howitzers and more to military and police forces. According to the NZ Herald (18-09-00) there is no cause for concern given the British government's requirement for 'end-use' certificates on all weapon sales. Well, that's really reassuring given the British governments record on weapons sales ... to the governments of Iraq and Indonesia to name but two.

Indigenous People in Colonised Countries of the Pacific, Peace Statement

We, Indigenous people from the lands known as Aotearoa, Japan and Australia, all bound by the Pacific, met at the Forum For Pacific Peace and Human Security, held on the Peace Boat from 21 - 26 September 2000. We identified and considered issues that we believe require urgent attention and action to attain lasting Peace in the Pacific. As a result:

We call for an agreement of lasting peace between all nations;

We recognise the introduction of foreign political systems have sought to remove our sovereignty;

We reassert our right to self determination and reconfirm that colonial powers cannot interfere with our sovereignty;

We agree that in exercising our sovereign rights, land, the control of resources including all flora and fauna, the seas and fresh water, remain the property of Indigenous Peoples;

We affirm our right to implement and utilise our own Indigenous forms of education;

We reject the process of globalisation as it attacks our sovereignty;

We condemn any militarisation in the Pacific whatsoever, and reject the use of force as a means to achieve Peace, disputes must be resolved by mediation and negotiation;

We declare that there must be an immediate prohibition on all uranium mining and that no transportation of uranium based products be through the Pacific whatsoever. The prohibition must also be extended to include the transportation of any other toxic or like substance that could affect us and the environment in an adverse way;

We reject open entry migration into our nations, however, we do not reject migration outright, but must be included in the decision making processes;

We recognise that the introduction of oppressive Criminal Justice Systems has resulted in high levels of Indigenous incarceration, and for many, subsequent death. These matters can only be addressed effectively by Indigenous dispute resolution methods;

We reaffirm that Indigenous intellectual property rights remain within the sovereignty of Indigenous People.

We endorse and support: the Peace Vision from the Forum for Pacific Peace and Human Security 2000; the Manifesto 2000 for a culture of Peace and Non-violence; the Kareoka Document signed in Rio de Janeiro 1992; and, initiatives such as those taken by the Peace Boat and NFIP as a means of forging networks and partnerships for Peace in the Pacific and the rest of the world.

We call on all Peoples of the Pacific to support each other in attaining lasting Peace.

from the Forum For Pacific Peace and Human Security, Peace Boat, September 2000.

Pacific concept for peaceful co-existence and human security

Peace Issues - The Forum for Peace and Human Security at the end of its deliberations on the Pacific vision for peace, hereby makes the following declarations:

* That the root causes of tension, conflicts and armed violence are linked to colonial legacies, land struggles, militarism, government decisions and misguided and inappropriate policies and actions;

* That we are witnessing peace issues emanating from structural conflicts, value conflicts, social conflicts, information conflicts, economic interest conflicts and political conflicts;

These peace issues are identified to be centred around; self-determination, appropriate education especially human and cultural values and technical skills, foreign systems of government which are not compatible with indigenous institutions, clear visions for development, the need for governments to address longstanding indigenous issues, the myth that military is needed for employment and national security, and the negative effects of globalisation.

The Forum for Pacific Peace and Human Security:

* is mindful of our collective ownership and our responsibility for peace;

* is aware of our vulnerability to tensions, conflicts, socio-economic disparities, violence, militarism and globalisation.

The Forum for Pacific Peace and Human Security in order to promote Peace, calls on all peoples of the Pacific to:

a) live in peace and harmony, protecting and safeguarding our cultural history, identity and a sustainable future for our children;

b) reassert and rediscover our indigenous concepts of peace to build a peaceful environment;

c) extract only those elements of foreign systems and cultures that re-enforce peaceful co-existence and humane values;

d) implement peace education as a priority subject at all levels;

e) outlaw and ban all forms of militarisation including standing armies in the Pacific;

f) address the important issue of socio-economic disparities;

g) review and reform current systems of government and vision for development in the Pacific to suit our needs;

h) reassert our right to self-determination, our sovereignty, land and control over our resources;

i) resist the negative effects of globalisation;

j) protect indigenous peoples and others who share the Pacific from militarism, mining, toxic waste, genetically modified organisms, pharmaceutical and other products;

k) protect the Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous peoples;

l) encourage indigenous peoples developing and implementing alternatives such as the Turaga Nation peace model of Vanuatu and the Bougainville Peoples Integrated Peace and Economic Self Reliance System.

"These are some of the areas that demand urgent attention in the Pacific. For there to be Peace, the peoples of the Pacific must own the Peace and take responsibility for it."

Extract from 'Pacific concept for peaceful co-existence and human security', the statement from The Forum for Pacific Peace and Human Security, convened by the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre and the Peace Boat in September 2000. Copies of the full statement are available from PMA by post (please send an SAE), by email, or online at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/paccon.htm

WEAVE

A group of young women have begun an educational venture that will revitalise the way young people understand and deal with issues of conflict. This is their vision for the 21st Century.

WEAVE, or Women Educating Against Violence, is a performance troupe aimed at increasing secondary school students and the wider communities awareness of peace issues. WEAVE evolved from a series of hui held in the Banks Peninsula in the final months of the 20th century. These meetings brought a diverse group of women together, culminating in a vision of instilling hope for the future by actively working with young people to promote peace.

In addition to providing dramatic displays, WEAVE uses interactive workshops as effective methods of imparting knowledge. These incorporate young people actively participating in roles which encourage an awareness of how individual actions impact upon the community, the environment and the wider world.

Within a short space of time and with minimal resources on which to draw, the WEAVE group has already had an amazing response from young people and community groups. WEAVE is a charitable trust, any donation to help with their project would be greatly appreciated.

If you would like to know more, or if you think the WEAVE programme would benefit a school near you, your correspondence would be fantastically valued.

The WEAVE Collective is Harata Carlson, Sonya Short, Anna Parker, Danielle O'Halloran, Adrienne Ross, Jasmin Lamorie, contact details weavetrust@angelfire.com or anna@chch.planet.org.nz, PO Box 1732, Otautahi / Christchurch

Peace Network
We are very pleased to bring you the news that the youth Peace Network (formerly Aotearoa Youth Peace Network) has been reactivated, and renamed Peace Network . Abigael Vogt is the new co-ordinator and her task is to increase knowledge of, and interest in, peace issues among young people. She will be based in the PMA office.

Abigael has worked for us in the past as a fundraiser, and in previous years with the East Timor Independence Committee in Auckland.

In 1995 Abigael went to work in a badly destroyed town in West Slavonia, Croatia. She was a volunteer in a refugee camp and with a social reconstruction project working and living in a community divided between Croatian Serbs, Croats and refugees from Bosnia. The project had community visits and small repairs programmes and worked in liaison with other projects and agencies. It had a grassroots approach to peace building and conflict resolution - with a multi national, multi ethnic make up. All decisions were made through consensus and consultation.

Abigael worked directly in the community taking part in community visits, short term work camps, English teaching, children's activities, the women's group and small repairs programmes.

During 1997, Abigael was employed by the UN Development Programme in Bosnia. While she found working on refugee resettlement educational, she missed the wonders of NGO work, with its speed and flexibility. Since her return to NZ she has continued to work within the NGO community. She is currently a support worker for Refugee and Migrants Service, working with recent immigrants from Ethiopia.

The first focus of Abigael's work as Peace Network co-ordinator is as part of the National Youth Working Group who are organising events for young people around the country in conjunction with the UN Asia-Pacific Regional Disarmament Conference (see next item). Abigael is currently setting up a local Youth Working Group to plan the Wellington events.

UN Asia-Pacific Regional Disarmament Conference, March 2001, Wellington

Sub-titled 'Ka hao te rangatahi: A Pacific way to disarmament', the United Nations conference is being organised here by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

There will be three main themes - nuclear disarmament (including implementation and follow up from the 2000 NPT Review conference and discussion of a nuclear weapon free Southern Hemisphere); illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons (as part of the regional preparations for the 2001 UN conference on that topic); and other international disarmament related conventions and regimes such as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Ottawa Convention on land mines, International Atomic Energy Authority Safeguards and the UN Register of Conventional Arms.

As all of the nuclear weapons, land mines, chemical weapons and small arms (illicit and 'licit') have been brought into the Pacific by former or current colonial powers, it is unfortunate that the key Pacific concerns of decolonisation and demilitarisation will not be addressed by the official conference. However, that omission gives peace groups a focus for raising public awareness of these issues in alternative events.

The geographical focus of the UN conference is primarily on South Pacific Forum member states. It will feature the 'Kathmandu process', characteristic of conferences run by the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific - this has the advantage of involving NGO 'experts' directly in the conference as presenters and resource people. However, it also has some disadvantages as it breaks the direct link between the United Nations and those NGOs who have consultative status with the UN and its agencies; and makes NGO selection reliant on approval by the organising Ministry of the host government.
MFAT asked the IPPNW/A2000 (Wellington) group to co-ordinate NGO events around the conference, and have promised funding to cover some of the costs. The NGO Co-ordinating Group has met three times since the beginning of November and some of the proposed NGO events are now starting to take shape.

PMA's involvement with the NGO Co-ordinating Group is focussed on relaying the views of peace people outside Wellington (and around the Pacific in this instance!) to the meetings. All national peace groups should have received two mailings about the UN conference from us during November.

At the meeting on 11 December, the following proposals with requests for funding were accepted and forwarded on to MFAT:

* from IPPNW/A2000 (Wellington) - to provide an interface with the UN conference, for assistance with the costs of arranging the NGO meetings, secretarial services, and arranging an NGO seminar;

* from IPPNW/A2000 (Wellington) - to arrange a half day seminar to discuss the agenda of the UN conference, with invited speakers, including some travel costs;

* from CALM - one return air fare from Auckland to bring a speaker to Wellington to speak about landmines;

* from the Centre for Peace Studies - one return air fare from Auckland to bring a speaker to Wellington to speak about the militarisation of space;

* from PMA - to assist with the cost of networking information, keeping national peace groups informed, and networking around the Pacific;

* from WILPF (Aotearoa) - to assist in subsidising the cost of accommodation on Tapu Te Ranga marae for young people, Mäori and people coming from other Pacific countries who wish to stay there; to provide a place where official delegates can meet with NGOs in a relaxed setting;

* from the Youth Working Group (see below) - to organise events for young people on Pacific disarmament issues in Otautahi/Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington and Auckland.

A number of other proposals which do not require funding, including one for the third Erich Geiringer oration, were also brought to the meeting.

Please get in touch if you require more information about the UN Conference, or the associated NGO events. Unless something unexpected crops up, in future we will only be mailing meeting results to those groups who responded to the earlier mail outs. We will provide more details about the NGO events in the next PMA Newsletter.

Youth Working Group - a group of keen young peace people have set up a national co-ordinating group to plan events for young people around the country during the UN Conference to raise awareness of Pacific peace issues. Regional contacts are: Otautahi/Christchurch - Anna Parker, PO Box 8390, Otautahi/Christchurch, anna@chch.planet.org.nz; Nelson - Julie Heaton, PO Box 355, Nelson, ymca_nelson@ts.co.nz; Wellington - Abigael Vogt, Peace Network, PO Box 9314, Wellington, pma@xtra.co.nz; Auckland - Jen Margaret, c/o Peace Foundation, PO Box 4110, Auckland, jmargare@manukau.ac.nz

What's on where

International
2001 to 2010 - International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World.

24 to 30 March 2001 - NGO events associated with the UN Asia-Pacific Regional Disarmament Conference (26 to 30 March 2001 in Wellington).

National

Waihopai Spybase protest camp, 20 and 21 January 2001 - go camping with the Anti Bases Campaign in the scenic Waihopai Valley, with beautiful rural vistas marred only by the presence of the eavesdropping domes ...

Angie Zelter's visit postponed

Due to circumstances beyond our control (the cancellation of the Australian part of her journey), Angie's speaking tour has had to be postponed. We are hoping to find the necessary funding to be able to bring her directly from England some time during 2001.

Thanks to all of you who sent in pledges of financial support for her internal travel costs and fare from Australia - we will let you know just as soon as we have a more definite idea of when Angie's visit might take place.