And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 09:34:55 +0000 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Indigenous Environmental Network <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Intervention at INC3 on Military Issues Below is the formal intervention to the POPS treaty which will be presented in Geneva either on Tuesday, Sept. 6 or Wednesday, Sept. 7 by the PCB Working Group. The action group in Geneva presenting the intervention has decided to define itself as the Military Issues rather than as the FUDS group(formerly used defense sites)because it has decided the issues at stake here are broader than FUDS alone. This statement was prepared by Pam Miller of Alaska Community Action on Toxics,and Myrla Baldonado of People's Task Force for Bases Clean-up in the Philippines, and will be presented in the plenary either by Faith Gemmill, Gwichin Steeringt Committee, Alaska. INTERVENTION CONCERNING POPs CONTAMINATION FROM MILITARY ACTIVITIES Thank you Mr. Chairman. I wish to respectfully offer a statement on behalf of the following participating organizations in the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) PCB Working Group, including the following NGOs: Alaska Community Action on Toxics (USA), DASSUR-Centro de Derecho Ambiental e Integaci¢n Econ¢mica del Sur (Mexico), Indigenous Environmental Network (representing Indigenous Peoples in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico), the People's Task Force for Bases Cleanup (Philippines). As representatives of communities affected by contamination associated with former and present military activities, we ask that the treaty acknowledge and address the POPs contamination, including PCBs and pesticides, caused by military testing, use, storage, and disposal that affects or will affect environmental and human health. We request that the treaty hold military institutions accountable for the responsible characterization and cleanup of the POPs associated with military activities, including overseas bases. We request independently conducted inventories of the POPs associated with military activities, including the nature and extent of contamination and hazards to environmental and human health. W request full disclosure of the nature and extent of the contamination as a fundamental community right-to-know, in order to advance in the universalisation of the public right to access environmental information. Minority, Indigenous, and economically disadvantaged communities are disproportionately affected by military uses of POPs. We seek environmental justice for these and all communities affected by military contamination. We support the statements in the IPEN platform as they relate to military contaminated sites as follows: ú "realistic action should be taken to destroy obsolete stocks of the listed POPs and remediate environmental reservoirs;" and ú "for obsolete POPs stocks and environmental POPs reservoirs, identify, collect, and destroy the POPs by means that do not themselves cause hazards, generate POPs or otherwise threaten or injure health and/or the environment." We ask that the treaty address the full public health implications of military contamination of lands, waters, and foods, including the traditional foods essential to the physical and cultural well-being of Indigenous Peoples. Where uncertainty exists in such negative effects, the precautionary principle shall be observed in all stages of decision-making. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
