Hope 2005 World Summit

Invitation to lead a delegation and make a presentation at the Hope 2005 World Summit. India anyone?

To The Director, Justice Action, 65 Bellevue Street Glebe NSW Australia 2037

Dear Director,

SUBJECT:

Invitation to head a delegation of experts from Justice Action, & make a presentation, on the subject of "Human Rights & Discriminations" at the Hope 2005 World Summit, being held in India in November 2005.

Organised by DAIRRC in association with the Ministry of Health, Government of India,

At the outset we would like to place on record our admiration of your endeavours and commendable activities in monitoring the treatment of Aboriginal people in police and justice custody, the main focus being to monitor any deaths in custody, including police pursuits, and any breaches of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Recommendations.

The premise:-
You will agree that ever since humankind has misused its creative ability, and tried to tamper with natural perfection, it has only succeeded in disturbing the extremely fragile balance of nature, and this has led to the creation of a host of human made miseries/diseases. While at times, we have deluded ourselves by hiding behind fa?ades of 'necessary development and scientific progress', the fact remains, that we have taken undue advantage of Mother Nature, and it is high time, that we began to make serious amends..

One need not look further than one's doorstep to see the ravages of human excess. It is evident in each and every aspect of life, today.

Below are facts that speak for themselves.

* The gap between the human rights' vision of an equal and just world and the actual state of inequality in the 'global village' is creating feelings of humiliation that are intensely wounding.
* The world's poor are facing a worsening life-situation at the same time as they are learning that such a situation 'ought not' to prevail.
* Today, we have a long list of sources of discrimination which have become socially illegitimate: class, race, ethnicity, "indigenicity," gender, age, sexuality, disabilities. And this list is constantly being augmented.
* No country can claim a perfect human rights record.
* In 2000, there were 39 percent of the world's population people living in Free societies, 26 percent living in Partly Free societies and 35 percent living in Not Free societies.
* There continues to be a serious gap between words and actions in the field of human rights.
* There is religious repression and discrimination in every region of the world.
* Violence against women remained a pervasive problem, cutting across social and economic lines. Domestic and sexual violence against women is found on every continent.
* Around the world, children face dangerous and unhealthy conditions, working in factories, fields, and sweatshops, as domestic servants, or, in some cases, as prostitutes. The trafficking of children for forced labor, prostitution, and pornography is a growing and lucrative business for criminals. In many cities large numbers of street children lack shelter, food, education, and support and are vulnerable to many forms of abuse
* The rapidly growing global problem of human trafficking, affects countries and families on every continent. Traffickers prey upon women, children, and men from all walks of life, and of every age, religion, and culture.
*There are widespread violations of laws relating to surveillance of communications, even in the most democratic of countries

We invite you to join us in addressing the issue of Human Rights & Discriminations , which is one of the 5 main issues that threaten our planet's survival.

Who we are:-
DAIRRC is India's premier institution for the last two decades, involved in the crusade against Substance Abuse and its related problems including HIV/AIDS.

It has ingeniously discovered time tested techniques of identification, treatment, recovery and rehabilitation of victims of Substance Abuse. Through its voluntary treatment and rehabilitation schemes it is in a position to have a unbiased view on the issues arising from Substance Abuse and HIV/AIDS from the Indian perspective.

DAIRRC has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations' Economic and Social Council.

Our past conferences:-
DAIRRC, along with UNAIDS, United Nations Drug Control Programme, National AIDS Control Organisation and the Ministry of Health, Government of India, had earlier convened Hope 2000 and Hope 2002 which were extremely successful International Conferences on HIV/AIDS and Substance Abuse, in India at the Taj President Hotel, and the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai, respectively.

Both these conferences have been highly praised by the International Community which regard them as milestones in the area of HIV and Substance Abuse Prevention and Control in the Asia Pacific region.

During these conferences, over 200 delegates, including International experts from Drug Demand Reduction as well as Drug Supply Reduction, Health and Medicine, Trade and Industry, Helplines and Adjuvant Therapeutic Groups, Youth and Social Workers' Organisations had attended and shared their expertise.

These were the only occasions, when such a distinguished group of international professionals in these fields had gathered together under one roof in India, and the forum of discussions that took place, has certainly indicated the possibility of a more streamlined approach towards HIV and Substance Abuse Prevention and Control.

To view details of our earlier conferences, kindly visit the following pages:

Hope Conference.com
Hope Conference Main

Our next step::-
We at DAIRRC now intend to utilize the experience, gained from these conferences, to organize the Hope 2005 World Summit, which will simultaneously address the 5 main issues threatening human survival.

1) Environment 2) Alcohol/Drug Abuse 3) HIV/AIDS 4) Population 5) Human Rights

The Hope 2005 World Summit on Human Rights will be convened at the Taj Hotel, Mumbai, India, from the 3rd to 5th November 2005.

International experts from Human Rights Information, Education & Communication Agencies, Enforcement, Health and Medicine, Trade and Industry, Helplines and Adjuvant Groups, Youth and Social Workers' Organizations will convene and share their expertise at this conference.

We would be highly obliged if you consent to head a delegation of experts from Justice Action, & make a presentation, on the subject of "Human Rights & Discriminations" at the conference, and thus contribute to the knowledge pool generated at Hope 2005, thereby permitting the world to benefit from your experience and expertise.

In case you are unable to attend the conference in person, we request you to arrange to depute a senior member of your organisation, along with a delegation of experts (up to a maximum of 4 members), who can represent your organisation, in your place, and share your views and expertise with the world.

Besides sharing your expertise, you could also get yourself and your team better acquainted with the different aspects of Human Rights Information, Education & Communication, equip yourselves with the latest developments in techniques and methodologies, and form your independent task force, which will certainly go a long way towards enhancing the crusade for Human Rights Protection.

Further, we also request you, to kindly circulate this invitation among other members of your organisation, if possible through your newsletter.

Registration Fees: Payments should be made in United States Dollars.

Registration Fees:
* Registration fees paid till 28 Feb 2005 = US$ 380.00
* Registration fees paid from 1 Mar 2005 till 30 June 2005 = US$ 480.00
* Registration fees paid after after 1 July 2005 = US$ 600.00

Student delegates under the age of 26 years with a valid Student's Identity Card are offered a special registration rate of US$ 250-00.

Mode of payment of registration fees is indicated on the Registration Form

The deadline for submission of abstracts is 6.00 pm on 31st July 2005.

All delegates including speakers have to pay for their own travel, registration fees, accommodation etc. We do not offer sponsorships of any kind.

For more details, you may either visit the Conference Website:

Or send e-mail to: admin@internationalconference2005.com

With a copy of your correspondence, to drmerchant@dairrc.com

In order to facilitate prompt replies from our end, to all your queries.

We look forward to your participation at the conference.

With love, prayers and warm regards,

Dr.Yusuf Merchant
President
Hope 2005

==========================================
DRUG ABUSE INFORMATION REHABILITATION AND RESEARCH CENTRE
H-1, Sitaram Building, Palton Road, Mumbai - 400 001, INDIA
Tel: 0091-22-2343 2617
Fax: 0091-22-2342 1416
URL: www.hopeconference.com
Email: drmerchant@dairrc.com

By Justice Action 21 April 05

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Halliburton's Ancient Scandals

Our current scandal among scandals is Cheney's Halliburton

In the world of corporate scandals, the story breaks, there is a frenzy of reportage, a culprit in the lower levels of upper management is thrown to the SEC and then, slowly, the story dies.

It is helpful, of course, if the company changes its name or vanishes into respectability: such as Union Carbide's metamorphosis into Dow Chemicals after its corporate terrorism in Bhopal (1984).

Our current scandal among scandals is Cheney's Halliburton - the payoffs, the price gouging, and the contracts. Forgotten in this melee is how the, [war criminal], Bush administration saved Halliburton from doing an Enron nose-dive in the Fall of 2001.

Diligent reporting from Dana Milibank of the Washington Post and Jordan Green of the Institute for Southern Studies revealed the news of Halliburton's special treatment by the Bush administration, but because of the fog of, [the false flag call to arms], 9/11, few cared. What does all this pettiness matter in the face of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)?

[The Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East.]

In the Fall of 2001, both Halliburton and Enron lost value on the stock market, both availed themselves of Arthur Andersen's special skills, and both seemed poised for trouble. Andersen, it turned out, helped Halliburton boost its books by postponing losses and counting uncollected money as revenue.

So called "unbilled receivables" allowed Halliburton to carry $234 million in disputed claims in 2001 (twice the amount from the previous year). Halliburton and Andersen changed the rules on "unbilled receivables" when Cheney was its CEO. When Cheney moved to Bush's side, his second-in-command, David Lesar, took over the firm. Before Lesar joined Halliburton, he was a senior partner in Andersen.

Additionally Halliburton was in the midst of potentially lethal lawsuits over its use of asbestos. On December 7, 2001 one of Halliburton's subsidiaries, Dresser Industries, lost a liability suit for its use of asbestos in its products. Halliburton's shares plummeted. Asbestos suits had already bankrupted insulation and roof manufacturers Johns Manville and Owens Corning, and even with its $2 billion liability insurance, Halliburton looked weak.

Lesar told the press, "There has been a huge overreaction to these events." An attorney who has made it his business to make money on asbestos, however, said, "Halliburton has been able to go under the radar without making big payments because we were focused on the other defendants. Now that some of those other companies are bankrupt, people are starting to look more closely at Halliburton."

Bad accounting practices and a weak flank on the asbestos issue left Halliburton vulnerable. During his tenure as its CEO, however, Dick Cheney had crafted a close relationship between the firm and big government. He saw to it that $3.8 billion per year transferred from the taxpayers to Halliburton via the Pentagon. His links to the emirates in the Gulf enabled Cheney to win the contract to quell the oil fires in Kuwait.

Cheney's ties to the UN bureaucracy enabled Halliburton to refurbish Iraq's oil refineries through the oil-for-food program. When asked about his work in Iraq, he reported, "The good Lord didn't see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratic regimes friendly to the United States." Halliburton became the commercial wing of US foreign policy.

The skills to build bases and forward military posts came from Halliburton's expertise in the manufacture of prisons within the US. Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), Halliburton's subsidiary, is the second largest player in prison design and construction within the US. The prison boom of the 1990s boosted Halliburton.

Halliburton could have slipped down the precipice after Enron, but its close ties to the government meant it survived and flourished.

In late December 2001, Business Week offered the following cynical assessment of Halliburton's exposure on the asbestos scandal: "Halliburton does have a potential escape hatch. The idea of limiting asbestos liability has been kicking around in Congress for years. And the company has contributed more than $100,000 to legislators who supported the notion. Cheney even kicked in $13,500 when he was a corporate officer. Now that he is in power, many analysts hope the company will benefit from favorable legislation."

In January 2002, rumors filled the business press that the Bush administration would aggressively push its tort reform plan and cap asbestos lawsuits. Halliburton's stock rose by 43% in mid-January. As the Dow Jones News Service noted, "Companies under the cloud of potential asbestos liability saw their bonds gain Friday on speculation that President Bush may address the question of mounting asbestos litigation."

Halliburton won a reprieve. In late December 2003, once the parent company had taken control of its Enron-like situation, two subsidiaries with the most exposure on the asbestos issue filed for bankruptcy, leaving unhappy insurance companies with over $2 billion in payments.

The main government assistance for Halliburton came from the flood of contracts to build forward bases for the Fifth Afghan War.

In December 2001, the Halliburton subsidiary, KBR won a decade-long contract with the Pentagon called the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program. In Pentagon jargon the contract is called a "cost plus award fee, indefinite delivery/indefinite quality service" - or else, as Pratap Chatterjee of CorpWatch put it, "The federal government has an open-ended mandate and budget to send Brown and Root anywhere in the world to run military operations for a profit." The program's details are classified, but the contract runs to almost $1 billion.

In the 1990s, Halliburton earned $2.5 billion for similar work, and the Pentagon spokesperson said that this contract would earn Halliburton substantially more. Of course, the British also chipped in with a $418 million contract for Halliburton to supply tank transporters.

Halliburton's Lesar, who bagged a compensation package of $11.3 million in 2001, boasted, "Augmenting our military troops with contractor-provided support has proven to be an invaluable force multiplier." In other words, the US government provided the bailout to prevent an Enron-like burnout. Cheney, who walked away with $20.6 million from his sale of Halliburton stock and who receives a $1 million annual deferred compensation salary while Vice President, must surely have been aware of the events at his former firm.

Angry at the GAO request for information, Cheney told his friends at Fox, "Can you imagine an FDR or Teddy Roosevelt, in the midst of a grave national crisis, dealing with the problems we're having to deal with now, over here on the side of a matter of political expediency, trading away a very important principle of the presidency?" The principle is secrecy, not for the national interest, but for the interest of the plutocratic chamber of commerce.

The present history of Halliburton shows us that scandals do not effect its market position, because all those who invest know that HAL shines - if there is any problem, it will be bailed out. Bush & Co. tossed Enron to the wind; Halliburton keeps them warm. These scandals are the battles that Halliburton will face as the administration's key commercial ally in the GWOT, as probably the largest partner in the Coalition of the Willing, [Killing.]

By Vijay Prashad posted 20 February 04

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UN charter doesn't reflect new self-defence needs: Hill?
The Defence [War] Minister, Robert Hill, says the United Nations' charter needs to be changed to help countries defend themselves against potential threats. [?] [Pre-emptive strikes on soveriegn nation states like Iraq and Afghanistan?]

About Protesting &: Corporate media, Ben English and Rachel Morris who spell their names in capitals? Yes too right! Ordinary people some protesting against the occupation, murder and genocide of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. And you call yourselves reporters? You should hang your head in shame and go get jobs defending those poor innocent people. Shame on you!!!

Howard defends terror alert
Prime Minister John Howard says the Federal Government would not have issued a terror alert if it had not come from a credible source. (America?) Speaking for the first time since the Government revealed the warning, Mr Howard says he wants people to be more careful, but not to stop living. [As long as they don't go dancing in Bali? And sure we'll all be depressed for as long as John Howard and Bob Carr say so.]

When Johnny comes marching home again: 'hoorah hoorah'
Posted on the Resistance web page Bronwyn Powell, an organiser of the youth-led mobilisation told Green Left weekly that "in the face of attacks on civil liberties, it is unfortunate that some union officials have felt they need to submit. It could set a negative precedent for upholding the hard-won right to demonstrate in the street."

Give peace a chance
PIERS AKERMAN DT 28 Nov 02: JUSTICE John Dowd should be removed from the bench. His crime? Stupidity. In a breath-taking display of hand-wringing sanctimonious morality, Dowd has condemned the State and Federal Governments' anti-terrorism measures, claiming they erode rights and give encouragement to oppressive regimes.