Mr. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary, UNFCC
Secretariat,
I am a Zero Waste consultant in Loomis, California
(www.garyliss.com
), on the Planning Group of the Zero Waste International Alliance
(www.zwia.org), on
the Executive Committee of the Global Recycling Council of the CA
Resource Recovery Association
(
http://www.crra.com/grc/index.html), and a Zero Waste Advisor to the
GrassRoots Recycling Network
(www.grrn.org) in the
United States.
I was outraged this morning to open my email to find that several of the
leaders of the Zero Waste movement globally have been jailed in
Indonesia. This is the first time I know of in the Zero Waste
movement worldwide where our leaders have been jailed.
In reviewing the details that have been provided to us below, it
appears that there are no charges filed, and it's questionable what
charges would be possible in an open, civilized society.
I urge you to investigate this incident immediately and arrange for
the release of these Zero Waste leaders.
Gary Liss
Date:
Sun, 2 Dec 2007 14:09:20 -0500 (EST)
From: mannyc@no.address
To: gaia-members@no.address,
wna@no.address,
ecowaste_coalition@no.address,
safe_food_philippines@no.address
Urgent: Please take action for the immediate and unconditional release
of
colleagues and friends Gigie, Neil, Shibu, Yuyun and Roni from the
Indonesian police department where they are being detained after
taking
part in a local protest against incineration and for climate
justice.
Please demand that their human rights are fully restored and that they
are
permitted to travel to Bali. The details are below:
Dear Friends,
We write to request GAIA members and friends across the globe to seek
the
immediate and unconditional release of the following GAIA activists
who
are currently being detained in Bandung, Indonesia:
1. Gigie Cruz, GAIA, Philippines
2. Neil Tangri, GAIA, USA
3. Shibu Nair, Thanal, India
4. Yuyun Ismawati, Balifokus, Indonesia
5. Roni Tabroni, People's Alliance against Waste-to Energy (WTE)
Plant,
Indonesia
(please see their brief profiles below)
Gigie, Neil and Shibu arrived in Indonesia last Saturday, 1 December,
to
campaign for "Zero Waste for Zero Warming" at the UN Framework
on Climate
Change Conference that will take place in Bali on 3-14 December.
Balifokus, Jala-Sampah (Garbage Network) and GAIA are planning to
convene
a civil society forum tomorrow on waste and climate.
Before heading to Bali, Gigie, Neil and Shibu traveled first to
Bandung
City to take part in a community people's assembly against a
proposed
incinerator. This event was organized by several environmental
groups
campaigning for climate justice. The activity, which drew the
warm
support of over 2,000 people, also formed part of the GAIA Global Day
of
Action against Waste and Incineration.
At the rally, Gigie, Neil and Shibu spoke about the ill effects of
incinerating waste, advocated for Zero Waste and conveyed their
solidarity
with the local campaign against incineration and for environmental
health
and justice. They did not attack the Indonesian government in
their
statements before the assembly. After their well-applauded speeches,
the
police accosted them, together with our Indonesian colleagues Yuyun
and
Roni, and brought them to the police station where they underwent
lengthy
interrogation. The police also seized their passports. All of them
are
currently detained in a police station in Jalan Jaya (or Jaya Street)
in
Bandung.
There are no formal charges yet against Gigie, Neil and Shibu, but
there
is an expressed threat of deportation if our Indonesian friends do
not
succeed in persuading the authorities to set them free and let them fly
to
Bali for the UNFCC events. We are unaware of the charges against
Yuyun
and Roni, both of whom are Indonesian citizens.
TAKE ACTION: We call on you to please register your concern and
appeal
for the immediate and unconditional release of Gigie, Neil, Shibu,
Yuyun
and Roni, so that their human rights are fully restored and that they
are
permitted to travel to Bali.
1. Please CALL/FAX the Indonesian Embassy / Consulate in your
city.
2. Please CALL/FAX the Bandung Police Department (+6222-4204666,
foreign
affairs unit) and the Bandung Immigration Department
(+6222-7275294).
3. Please E-MAIL Mr. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary, UNFCC
Secretariat
(secretariat@no.address).
Terima kasih banyak-banyak (Thank you very much) for your immediate
response.
Sincerely yours,
Manny C. Calonzo
GAIA Secretariat
Unit 330, Eagle Court, Quezon City, Philippines
TelFax: +632-4364733
E-Mail: mannyc@no.address
Web:
www.no-burn.org
1. Gigie Cruz, our assistant coordinator, has been working with
GAIA
since 2001 in various capacities, including membership, campaign and
information support. Her most recent task was to coordinate last
week's
Global Day of Action against Waste and Incineration.
2. Neil Tangri is one of GAIA's esteemed founders. He wrote
the GAIA
report "Waste Incineration: A Dying Technology." He recently
rejoined GAIA
to coordinate our work on waste-to-energy and climate change)
3. Shibu Nair was part of the 3-person team from the global south
who
went to California for GAIA's first Zero Waste fellowship. He
works
closely with Jayan, a GAIA Steering Committee member from India.
Shibu
was part of the Thanal team who hosted the Waste Not Asia Meeting held
in
January 2007 in Trivandrum, Kerala
4. Yuyun Ismawati is Executive Director of Balifokus and a GAIA
member
for many years. She attended the GAIA Global Meeting in Spain
in
September 2007, where she played a very active role in the members'
deliberation on the funding of waste disposal technologies under the
CDM
of the Kyoto Protocol. Yuyun sits in the national advisory
committee on
CDM.
5. Roni Tabroni is from the People's Alliance against WTE Plant,
one of
the groups formed to question and resist a planned WTE facility in
Bandung.
Gary Liss
Gary Liss & Associates
4395 Gold Trail Way
Loomis, CA 95650-8929
916-652-7850
Fax: 916-652-0485
gary@no.address
www.garyliss.com
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