GMW: Anti-GM mayor slain/Indian PM fails to address Bt cotton

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GMW: Anti-GM mayor slain/Indian PM fails to address Bt cotton

and other critical issues

" GM WATCH " <info

Sat, 1 Jul 2006 22:54:47 +0100

 

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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EXCERPT: The critical views of slain Ilagan mayor Delfinito Albano...

may have earned him a place in the target list of death squads... He

also reportedly supported the peasant clamor against the spread of

genetically modified organism (GMO) crops in [the province of]

Isabela. (item

2)

 

1.Indian PM fails to address Bt cotton

2.Militants Denounce Killing of Ilagan Mayor

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1.Indian PM fails to address Bt cotton and other critical issues

 

According to a VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI press release, the Indian

Prime Minister's visit to a remote tribal village in Vidharba was

cancelled in order to hide the real conditions faced by poor

cottonfarmers.

 

The village of Kolzari was the only place where the PM, Dr Manmohan

Singh, was to visit cotton growers' homes in order to see the

condition of

cotton growers who have been committing suicide.

 

Local farmers' leader Kishor Tawari, who has repeatedly drawn attention

to the role of Bt cotton in the the crisis facing cotton farmers in

Vidarbha, had already been banned from meeting the Prime Minister.

 

Kolzari villagers refused to meet the Indian PM at Yavatmal airport

instead. They were replaced in discussions about their problems by " proxy

villagers " .

 

Kishor Tawari has described the PM's visit as " survey tourism " and

" eyewash " .

 

Tiwari has also condemned the PM's package of relief measures for

Vidarbha for its failure to address the real problems farmers are facing.

 

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) makes the same point, as

India's national daily paper The Hindu reports, " The Prime Minister only

marginally addressed the problem of indebtedness, which was the symptom

of a large agrarian crisis, the BJP said. Dr. Singh did not address BT

cotton seed-related problems. " (Package totally inadequate: BJP, The

Hindu, July 2 2006)

http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/02/stories/2006070207330800.htm

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2.HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Militants Denounce Killing of Ilagan Mayor

BY ABE ALMIROL

Northern Dispatch

Bulatlat, Vol. VI, No. 21, July 2 - 8 2006 Quezon City,

Philippines

http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-21/6-21-mayor.htm

 

The critical views of slain Ilagan mayor Delfinito Albano and his

support to the cause espoused by activists may have earned him a place in

the target list of death squads responsible for the spate of political

killings.

 

ILAGAN CITY - The militant human rights watchdog Karapatan (Alliance

for the Advancement of People's Rights) condemned the killing of Ilagan

City Mayor Delfinito " Jojo " Albano, whom they said had supported victims

of human rights abuses of the military.

 

Albano was ambushed on June 27 while in Quezon City. The town of Ilagan

in Isabela province is 408 kilometers north of Manila.

 

" We join the masses in demanding justice for Mayor Albano. We hope that

the investigation will have its due course, " Karapatan staff Grace

Bautista said in a phone interview.

 

Albano's stand against the formation of the paramilitary Citizens'

Armed Forces Geographical Units (Cafgu) made him popular among his

constituents in the barangays (villages) along the Forest region and in

Hacienda Sta. Isabel and San Antonio, two vote-rich communities here.

Karapatan has reported many cases of human rights violations in these

areas in

the past.

 

Karapatan said Albano is the first local government chief executive who

formed a human rights committee. Albano is also one of the convenors of

the " Save the Valley, Serve the People Movement " , a regional alliance

of environmentalists concerned in protecting the Sierra Madre Mountains

and the Cagayan River.

 

Albano's critical views and support to the cause espoused by militants

may have earned him enemies. He may have been a part of target list of

the death squads responsible in the spate of political killings, said

Bautista.

 

The PNP is pursuing an angle connecting the killing to Albano's

anti-drug campaign.

 

Nordis learned that Albano had allowed people's protest marches against

government policies, as a form of exercising their freedom of

expression and of peaceable assembly. He also reportedly supported

the peasant

clamor against the spread of genetically modified organism (GMO) crops

in Isabela.

 

 

 

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