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Interactive Newsletter
Top Rated News
ParTecs Unveils Software Demonstration at WSF
At the beginning of the 2004 World Social Forum. Partec's in unveiling a preview release of their participatory software. The software includes three pieces: a participatory knowledge base, a dual set of decision making modules, and a complete non-profit desktop enviornment based on GNU/Linux and Debian-Nonprofit.
Proposed Commisions
Food safety and genetically modified organisms
A resolution asking the European Agriculture ministers to stop the new proposal of the European Commission on seeds and requesting new legislation guaranteeing GMO-free seeds in Europe.
Burial places of the chemical weapons in the Black and Baltic seas
and other European waters
A proposal to create a joint commission which would generalize all available information on burial places of the chemical weapons in the Baltic and Black seas and other European waters and would define comprehensible ways of its recycling or neutralization, and also to create a special international fund for maintenance of organizing corresponding works.
Construction of the Danube-Black Sea channel in
Ukraine
A position statement joining Ukrainian and international public ecological organizations in opposition a proposed channel between the Danube and Black sea through the territory of the Danube national park.
Resolution on Rosia Montana
The EFGP protests against the project of gold mining by open cyanide processing, in the district Rosia Montana in Romania. The project leads to destruction of a natural, cultural and historic patrimony.
Active Commissions
Resolution on IRAQ
FULL TEXT INCLUDED
Greens express their grievances about the thousands of yet mostly unaccounted deaths resulting from the unnecessary and illegal attack of American and British troops on Iraq. We note with relief that the war is coming to an end more quickly than some might have feared and without biological and chemical warfare on the Iraqi side. We insist that the occupying forces are responsible under international law for the safety and well being of the citizens of the territory they occupy.
We believe that the violation of the UN rule of the interdiction of aggression represents a serious historical precedent, which dangerously paves the way for attempts of duplication and that everything has to be done in order to reinstate the international rule of law. We note the historical failure of the General Assembly to convene in a special session as foreseen by Resolution 377 "Uniting for Peace" in order to remind member states of their obligation to refrain from aggression. We call on the UN General Assembly to commission an evaluation by the International Court on the legal status of the Iraq war and we urge the European Union Member States to support such an initiative.
We take note of the unanimous call of the member states of the Arab League for the immediate withdrawal of the allied US-British forces and we reiterate our call on the US and British government to render Iraq to UN administration. We support all efforts of the European Union to strengthen the coordination role of the UN for humanitarian assistance as a first step in the right direction. We welcome the EU decision to grant 100 million Euro in relief aid to Iraq.
We underline that so far no weapons of mass destruction have been discovered which represented the official motivation for the war. We call for the immediate return of the UN weapons inspectors to Iraq in order to finish their mission as required by the UN resolutions. We reiterate our call for an end to the economic sanctions against Iraq, including changes to a the oil-for-food programme and its eventual phasing out. We demand instead the handing over of the administration of the Iraqi oil sales to the UN (in trust) in order to finance, design and implement reconstruction in Iraq under UN mandate, until a democratically elected Iraqi government takes over.
We are seriously concerned about the consequences, which the war has on the already devastated environment in Iraq. We support the UNEP call for an immediate assessment and clean-up plan. We call on the Alliance Governments to live up to their responsibility in supporting and compensating the victims of indiscriminate and/or environmentally harmful arms and ammunitions which US/British troops used, notably cluster bombs and depleted uranium weapons. We demand that the involved troops fully co-operate on providing the necessary information particularly on the used depleted uranium and that the responsible states financially and materially secure de-contamination and clearing-up of affected areas. A protection and evacuation plan has to be drawn up immediately in order to prevent further casualties and injuries of the exposed population.
We call on the occupying forces to grant immediate access to international human rights monitors in Iraq. We support the demand of human rights organisations to establish a UN commission of experts, similar to the commission, which led to the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The experts in consultation with representatives of Iraqi civil society should develop proposals for a comprehensive program to ensure justice in Iraq: a reform of Iraq's criminal justice system as well as a procedure to try crimes against humanity which were committed by the former Iraqi government.
We expect strict application of international humanitarian law, notably the Geneva conventions by the occupying forces and state once again our categorical opposition to the extrajudicial status of the Guantanamo prisoners which should by no means be extended to Iraq. As soon as the armed conflict ends, prisoners of war have to be released. Detained civilians either have to be brought to trial for a recognised criminal offence or released.
We call on the UN to design an emergency plan for the restoration of Iraq's plundered cultural heritage and urge the European governments to do all in their capacity to assist such an initiative. We consider the occupying forces financially liable for this restoration effort, who failed to fulfil their obligations by letting the plunder happen.
We insist on the speedy implementation of the Quartet Roadmap for the Middle East as a fundamental contribution to enhance the willingness of the countries in the region to actively participate in future efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.
| Relevance | Policy Area | Category | Deadline | Quorum | Voting Method | members | Started |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.8 | resolution | N/A | 2004-01-22 | 50% | condorcet | 42 | 2004-01-10 |
Resolution on "Ghost Fleet" of Former US Navy Ships
A resolution condemning the decision by a Washington court and the American government to allow a toxic "ghost fleet" of former US Navy ships to leave US waters to be scrapped in Britain.
| Relevance | Policy Area | Category | Deadline | Quorum | Voting Method | members | Started |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | press release | environment | 2004-01-22 | 50% | approval | 31 | 2004-01-10 |
Resolution on Famine in Africa
A pledge to denouce the policy of war-making before humanitarian relief and to committ EFGP to a number of constructive forms of engagement.
| Relevance | Policy Area | Category | Deadline | Quorum | Voting Method | members | Started |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | resolution | N/A | 2004-01-30 | 66% | approval | 80 | 2004-01-1 |
Regulating Aspartame
This resolutions calling for a moratorium on sales of aspartame, by virtue of the precautionary principle, while awaiting serious research on the potential dangers of this use and a full independent scientific investigation into aspartame.
| Relevance | Policy Area | Category | Deadline | Quorum | Voting Method | members | Started |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | regulation | health | 2004-01-21 | 50% | concordet | 17 | 2004-01-12 |