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[07/14/1999 – 10/13/1999]
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235148668
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[07/14/1999 – 10/13/1999]
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Presidential Electronic Mail from the Automated Records Management System (ARMS)
Automated Records Management System (ARMS) Email from the Office of Policy Development (OPD) Bucket
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26444780-20190147F-001-001-2022
[Liberation Theology]
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Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. email
Alicia Quinn Sankar to Daniel Montoya Re: New York Times, July 14,
07/14/1999
b(6)
1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays"
[personal] [partial] (1 page)
002. email
Susan Ghertner to Daniel Montoya Re: New York Times, July 14,
07/15/1999
b(6)
1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays"
[personal] [partial] (1 page)
003. email
Daniel Montoya to Susan Ghertner Re: New York Times, July 14,
07/15/1999
b(6)
1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays"
[personal] [partial] (1 page)
004. email
Katherine Yungmee Kim to Eugenia Chough Re: Schedule in DC (2
09/22/1999
Personal Misfile
pages)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Automated Records Management System [Email]
OPD ([Liberation Theology])
OA/Box Number: 250000
FOLDER TITLE:
[07/14/1999 - 10/13/1999]
2019-0147-F
in450
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
RECORD TYPE: PRESIDENTIAL (NOTES MAIL)
CREATOR: "Kavanaugh, Kevin" <[email protected]> ("Kavanaugh, Kevin"
<[email protected]> [ UNKNOWN
CREATION DATE/TIME:14-JUL-1999 20:12:30.00
SUBJECT: RE: New York Times, July 14, 1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays"
TO: Daniel C. Montoya (CN=Daniel C. Montoya/OU=OPD/O=EOP [OPD])
READ:UNKNOWN
TEXT:
HEY, THANKS FOR THE ARTICLE. I HAD ALREADY READ IT HOWEVER BEING A NEW
YORKER YOU KNOW
Original Message
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 1999 5:33 PM
Subject: New York Times, July 14, 1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun
to End Ministry to Gays"
New York Times
July 14, 1999
Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays
By GUSTAV NIEBUHR
The Vatican on Tuesday ordered an American priest and a nun
to end a ministry to gay men and lesbians, saying that the pair's work
since the 1970s had strayed from church teaching that homosexual activity
is immoral.
The action was unusual in its severity and in that it fell on
people who lack the academic stature of some theologians who have run afoul
of the Vatican in the past.
In a statement, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, the body charged with safeguarding church teaching, declared that
the Rev. Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick had allowed "ambiguities
and errors" to color their public discussions about church teaching on
homosexuality and had sown confusion among Roman Catholic lay people.
Although it stopped short of citing detailed examples, the
congregation said Nugent and Sister Gramick had not sufficiently emphasized
the teaching that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered" and
"evil."
The decision, officially called a "notification," comes after
a lengthy investigation, lasting well over a decade, by American Catholic
authorities and by the Vatican, into Sister Gramick's and Nugent's work,
which they began in the 1970s, putting them in the forefront of church
figures who reached out to gay and lesbian Catholics.
The decision's severity came as a surprise to some.
Sister Gramick and Nugent are permanently prohibited from
conducting the workshops, discussions and retreats (some with the parents
of gay Catholics) that have been the focus of their ministry for two
decades. In addition, they are forbidden indefinitely from holding office
within the religious orders to which they belong.
By contrast, some prominent theologians whose writings the
Vatican has judged unacceptable have been ordered silenced for a specific
period. The Brazilian Leonardo Boff, an exponent of liberation theology, a
controversial system of thought that argues that the church side with the
poor and oppressed, was ordered to cease his writing for a year.
In an interview after he arrived in the United States from
Rome on Tuesday, Nugent said he was surprised by the decision. "It puzzles
me, because I have never questioned any dogma of the church," he said. He
added that he and Sister Gramick had occasionally come under criticism from
gay and lesbian groups "for being defenders of the church."
But Nugent said he would accept the decision. "There are all
kind of ministries," he said, "and I need time to discern what kind of
pastoral work I'd like to do, now that I'm shifting away from this type of
ministry. I just hope the work I've been involved in bears fruit."
Sister Gramick declined to comment.
Controversy within the church has dogged the two since 1977
when they founded New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Md., to reach out to
gay and lesbian Catholics. Situated within the boundaries of the
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., the organization came under criticism from
Cardinal James Hickey, Washington's archbishop, prompting Sister Gramick
and Nugent to resign in 1984. But they continued to hold workshops and
retreats on homosexuality and the church.
In its statement, the Vatican said it had "received numerous
complaints and urgent requests for clarification" from American bishops and
others about what Nugent and Sister Gramick were saying even after they
left New Ways.
In 1988, the Vatican created a commission under Cardinal Adam
Maida, archbishop of Detroit, to determine whether Nugent and Sister
Gramick had moved outside church teachings on homosexuality.
After the two published a book on their work, the commission
met with them in 1994, then forwarded its findings to the Vatican, which
continued the investigation through correspondence with Nugent and Sister
Gramick.
These exchanges continued from February 1996 through January
1999, the Vatican's statement said, but they did not dispel church
authorities' concern that Nugent's and Sister Gramick's views were
"doctrinally unacceptable."
The Catholic Catechism describes homosexual acts as
"intrinsically disordered" and contrary to natural law because they do not
lead to procreation. But it also states that gays should be treated with
"respect, compassion and sensitivity."
In essence, the Vatican said Nugent and Sister Gramick were
presenting only half the message. And in so doing, it said, they did not
allow people "struggling with homosexuality" to hear "the true teaching of
the church from those who minister to them."
Reactions to the decision ran from supportive to critical.
"We are surprised at how severely they came down," said
Sister Rosemary Howarth, superior at the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
Sister Gramick's order. "Yes, we are saddened and disappointed at how hard
it was."
The Rev. Bruce Williams, a Dominican priest and moral
theologian who had been an adviser to Sister Gramick and Nugent when they
appeared before Maida's commission, said the two "went to heroic lengths to
cooperate very thoroughly with Vatican authorities." He called the decision
dismaying.
But Bishop William Lori, auxiliary bishop of Washington, said
that Cardinal Hickey considered the decision "doctrinally and pastorally
correct."
"As far back as 1981, Cardinal Hickey observed that the
approach of Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent to the question of the
immorality of homosexual activity was very ambiguous," Lori said. "The
phrase he always used was 'studied ambiguity,' such that the authentic
teaching of the church was undermined."
"Often, errors with regard to the faith come from a certain
selectivity, and I think this is a classic instance of selecting some of
the teaching and distorting the other part," Lori said.
In separate statements, Maida and Bishop Joseph Fiorenza,
president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said they hoped
Sister Gramick and Nugent would accept the Vatican's decision. Fiorenza
also quoted from a 1986 Vatican statement endorsing the "pastoral care" of
gays and lesbians and said such work should continue within church
teaching.
But Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways
Ministry, called the Vatican's decision misguided and unjust. Speaking of
Nugent and Sister Gramick, he said, "They have consistently presented the
compassionate face of the church to gay and lesbian people, and they have
done so faithfully to church teaching."
Although DeBernardo said the decision would be "particularly
hurtful" to gay and lesbian Catholics, he said the discussion about
homosexuality and the church would continue.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America,
offered a view different from some others, saying the decision, in coming
after so many years, showed a careful deliberation, yet appeared to lack
important details. "On the positive side, it's clear that the Vatican took
a long time before it made its decision," he said. "On the negative side,
there's very little specificity in the report from the Vatican about what
they were doing that was contrary to church teaching."
RECORD TYPE: PRESIDENTIAL (NOTES MAIL)
CREATOR: [email protected]@INET@LNGTWY ([email protected]@INET@LNGTWY UNKNOWN
CREATION DATE/TIME:14-JUL-1999 16:35:48.00
SUBJECT: - no subject (01JDK7O1A8O2004NTS) -
TO: Daniel C. Montoya@eop (Daniel C. Montoya@eop [ OPD 1)
READ:UNKNOWN
TEXT:
Pretty sad
New York Times
July 14, 1999
Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays
By GUSTAV NIEBUHR
The Vatican on Tuesday ordered an American priest and a nun
to end a ministry to gay men and lesbians, saying that the pair's work
since the 1970s had strayed from church teaching that homosexual activity
is immoral.
The action was unusual in its severity and in that it fell on
people who lack the academic stature of some theologians who have run afoul
of the Vatican in the past.
In a statement, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, the body charged with safeguarding church teaching, declared that
the Rev. Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick had allowed "ambiguities
and errors" to color their public discussions about church teaching on
homosexuality and had sown confusion among Roman Catholic lay people.
Although it stopped short of citing detailed examples, the
congregation said Nugent and Sister Gramick had not sufficiently emphasized
the teaching that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered" and
"evil."
The decision, officially called a "notification," comes after
a lengthy investigation, lasting well over a decade, by American Catholic
authorities and by the Vatican, into Sister Gramick's and Nugent's work,
which they began in the 1970s, putting them in the forefront of church
figures who reached out to gay and lesbian Catholics.
The decision's severity came as a surprise to some.
Sister Gramick and Nugent are permanently prohibited from
conducting the workshops, discussions and retreats (some with the parents
of gay Catholics) that have been the focus of their ministry for two
decades. In addition, they are forbidden indefinitely from holding office
within the religious orders to which they belong.
By contrast, some prominent theologians whose writings the
Vatican has judged unacceptable have been ordered silenced for a specific
period. The Brazilian Leonardo Boff, an exponent of liberation theology, a
controversial system of thought that argues that the church side with the
poor and oppressed, was ordered to cease his writing for a year.
In an interview after he arrived in the United States from
Rome on Tuesday, Nugent said he was surprised by the decision. "It puzzles
me, because I have never questioned any dogma of the church," he said. He
added that he and Sister Gramick had occasionally come under criticism from
gay and lesbian groups "for being defenders of the church."
But Nugent said he would accept the decision. "There are all
kind of ministries," he said, "and I need time to discern what kind of
pastoral work I'd like to do, now that I'm shifting away from this type of
ministry. I just hope the work I've been involved in bears fruit."
Sister Gramick declined to comment.
Controversy within the church has dogged the two since 1977
when they founded New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Md., to reach out to
gay and lesbian Catholics. Situated within the boundaries of the
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., the organization came under criticism from
Cardinal James Hickey, Washington's archbishop, prompting Sister Gramick
and Nugent to resign in 1984. But they continued to hold workshops and
retreats on homosexuality and the church.
In its statement, the Vatican said it had "received numerous
complaints and urgent requests for clarification" from American bishops and
others about what Nugent and Sister Gramick were saying even after they
left New Ways.
In 1988, the Vatican created a commission under Cardinal Adam
Maida, archbishop of Detroit, to determine whether Nugent and Sister
Gramick had moved outside church teachings on homosexuality.
After the two published a book on their work, the commission
met with them in 1994, then forwarded its findings to the Vatican, which
continued the investigation through correspondence with Nugent and Sister
Gramick.
These exchanges continued from February 1996 through January
1999, the Vatican's statement said, but they did not dispel church
authorities' concern that Nugent's and Sister Gramick's views were
"doctrinally unacceptable."
The Catholic Catechism describes homosexual acts as
"intrinsically disordered" and contrary to natural law because they do not
lead to procreation. But it also states that gays should be treated with
"respect, compassion and sensitivity."
In essence, the Vatican said Nugent and Sister Gramick were
presenting only half the message. And in so doing, it said, they did not
allow people "struggling with homosexuality" to hear "the true teaching of
the church from those who minister to them."
Reactions to the decision ran from supportive to critical.
"We are surprised at how severely they came down," said
Sister Rosemary Howarth, superior at the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
Sister Gramick's order. "Yes, we are saddened and disappointed at how hard
it was."
The Rev. Bruce Williams, a Dominican priest and moral
theologian who had been an adviser to Sister Gramick and Nugent when they
appeared before Maida's commission, said the two "went to heroic lengths to
cooperate very thoroughly with Vatican authorities." He called the decision
dismaying.
But Bishop William Lori, auxiliary bishop of Washington, said
that Cardinal Hickey considered the decision "doctrinally and pastorally
correct."
"As far back as 1981, Cardinal Hickey observed that the
approach of Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent to the question of the
immorality of homosexual activity was very ambiguous," Lori said. "The
phrase he always used was 'studied ambiguity,' such that the authentic
teaching of the church was undermined."
"Often, errors with regard to the faith come from a certain
selectivity, and I think this is a classic instance of selecting some of
the teaching and distorting the other part," Lori said.
In separate statements, Maida and Bishop Joseph Fiorenza,
president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said they hoped
Sister Gramick and Nugent would accept the Vatican's decision. Fiorenza
also quoted from a 1986 Vatican statement endorsing the "pastoral care" of
gays and lesbians and said such work should continue within church
teaching.
But Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways
Ministry, called the Vatican's decision misguided and unjust. Speaking of
Nugent and Sister Gramick, he said, "They have consistently presented the
compassionate face of the church to gay and lesbian people, and they have
done so faithfully to church teaching."
Although DeBernardo said the decision would be "particularly
hurtful" to gay and lesbian Catholics, he said the discussion about
homosexuality and the church would continue.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America,
offered a view different from some others, saying the decision, in coming
after so many years, showed a careful deliberation, yet appeared to lack
important details. "On the positive side, it's clear that the Vatican took
a long time before it made its decision," he said. "On the negative side,
there's very little specificity in the report from the Vatican about what
they were doing that was contrary to church teaching."
Zaragoza A. Guerra, III
Associate Director of Admissions
Office of Admissions
Building 3-108
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Phone 617/258-5515
Fax 617/258-8304
Email [email protected]
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. email
Alicia Quinn Sankar to Daniel Montoya Re: New York Times, July 14,
07/14/1999
b(6)
1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays"
[personal] [partial] (1 page)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Automated Records Management System [Email]
OPD ([Liberation Theology])
OA/Box Number: 250000
FOLDER TITLE:
[07/14/1999 - 10/13/1999]
2019-0147-F
jn450
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - |44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA)
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
RECORD TYPE: PRESIDENTIAL (NOTES MAIL)
CREATOR: "Sankar, Alicia Quinn" <[email protected]> ("Sankar, Alicia Quinn"
<[email protected]> [ UNKNOWN]
CREATION DATE/TIME:14-JUL-1999 17:44:18.00
SUBJECT: RE: New York Times, July 14, 1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays"
TO: Daniel C. Montoya (CN=Daniel C. Montoya/OU=OPD/O=EOP [ OPD
READ:UNKNOWN
TEXT:
Tio Daniel, this is terrible.. what does that mean for the Paulists? It was
wonderful to see you.
(b)(6)
Original Message
[001]
From: :[email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 1999 4:33 PM
Subject: New York Times, July 14, 1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun
to End Ministry to Gays"
New York Times
July 14, 1999
Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays
By GUSTAV NIEBUHR
The Vatican on Tuesday ordered an American priest and a nun
to end a ministry to gay men and lesbians, saying that the pair's work
since the 1970s had strayed from church teaching that homosexual activity
is immoral.
The action was unusual in its severity and in that it fell on
people who lack the academic stature of some theologians who have run afoul
of the Vatican in the past.
In a statement, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, the body charged with safeguarding church teaching, declared that
the Rev. Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick had allowed "ambiguities
and errors" to color their public discussions about church teaching on
homosexuality and had sown confusion among Roman Catholic lay people.
Although it stopped short of citing detailed examples, the
congregation said Nugent and Sister Gramick had not sufficiently emphasized
the teaching that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered" and
"evil."
The decision, officially called a "notification," comes after
a lengthy investigation, lasting well over a decade, by American Catholic
authorities and by the Vatican, into Sister Gramick's and Nugent's work,
which they began in the 1970s, putting them in the forefront of church
figures who reached out to gay and lesbian Catholics.
The decision's severity came as a surprise to some.
Sister Gramick and Nugent are permanently prohibited from
conducting the workshops, discussions and retreats (some with the parents
of gay Catholics) that have been the focus of their ministry for two
decades. In addition, they are forbidden indefinitely from holding office
within the religious orders to which they belong.
By contrast, some prominent theologians whose writings the
Vatican has judged unacceptable have been ordered silenced for a specific
period. The Brazilian Leonardo Boff, an exponent of liberation theology, a
controversial system of thought that argues that the church side with the
poor and oppressed, was ordered to cease his writing for a year.
In an interview after he arrived in the United States from
Rome on Tuesday, Nugent said he was surprised by the decision. "It puzzles
me, because I have never questioned any dogma of the church," he said. He
added that he and Sister Gramick had occasionally come under criticism from
gay and lesbian groups "for being defenders of the church."
But Nugent said he would accept the decision. "There are all
kind of ministries," he said, "and I need time to discern what kind of
pastoral work I'd like to do, now that I'm shifting away from this type of
ministry. I just hope the work I've been involved in bears fruit."
Sister Gramick declined to comment.
Controversy within the church has dogged the two since 1977
when they founded New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Md., to reach out to
gay and lesbian Catholics. Situated within the boundaries of the
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., the organization came under criticism from
Cardinal James Hickey, Washington's archbishop, prompting Sister Gramick
and Nugent to resign in 1984. But they continued to hold workshops and
retreats on homosexuality and the church.
In its statement, the Vatican said it had "received numerous
complaints and urgent requests for clarification" from American bishops and
others about what Nugent and Sister Gramick were saying even after they
left New Ways.
In 1988, the Vatican created a commission under Cardinal Adam
Maida, archbishop of Detroit, to determine whether Nugent and Sister
Gramick had moved outside church teachings on homosexuality.
After the two published a book on their work, the commission
met with them in 1994, then forwarded its findings to the Vatican, which
continued the investigation through correspondence with Nugent and Sister
Gramick.
These exchanges continued from February 1996 through January
1999, the Vatican's statement said, but they did not dispel church
authorities' concern that Nugent's and Sister Gramick's views were
"doctrinally unacceptable."
The Catholic Catechism describes homosexual acts as
"intrinsically disordered" and contrary to natural law because they do not
lead to procreation. But it also states that gays should be treated with
"respect, compassion and sensitivity."
In essence, the Vatican said Nugent and Sister Gramick were
presenting only half the message. And in so doing, it said, they did not
allow people "struggling with homosexuality" to hear "the true teaching of
the church from those who minister to them."
Reactions to the decision ran from supportive to critical.
"We are surprised at how severely they came down," said
Sister Rosemary Howarth, superior at the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
Sister Gramick's order. "Yes, we are saddened and disappointed at how hard
it was."
The Rev. Bruce Williams, a Dominican priest and moral
theologian who had been an adviser to Sister Gramick and Nugent when they
appeared before Maida's commission, said the two "went to heroic lengths to
cooperate very thoroughly with Vatican authorities." He called the decision
dismaying.
But Bishop William Lori, auxiliary bishop of Washington, said
that Cardinal Hickey considered the decision "doctrinally and pastorally
correct."
"As far back as 1981, Cardinal Hickey observed that the
approach of Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent to the question of the
immorality of homosexual activity was very ambiguous," Lori said. "The
phrase he always used was 'studied ambiguity,' such that the authentic
teaching of the church was undermined."
"Often, errors with regard to the faith come from a certain
selectivity, and I think this is a classic instance of selecting some of
the teaching and distorting the other part," Lori said.
In separate statements, Maida and Bishop Joseph Fiorenza,
president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said they hoped
Sister Gramick and Nugent would accept the Vatican's decision. Fiorenza
also quoted from a 1986 Vatican statement endorsing the "pastoral care" of
gays and lesbians and said such work should continue within church
teaching.
But Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways
Ministry, called the Vatican's decision misguided and unjust. Speaking of
Nugent and Sister Gramick, he said, "They have consistently presented the
compassionate face of the church to gay and lesbian people, and they have
done so faithfully to church teaching."
Although DeBernardo said the decision would be "particularly
hurtful" to gay and lesbian Catholics, he said the discussion about
homosexuality and the church would continue.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America,
offered a view different from some others, saying the decision, in coming
after so many years, showed a careful deliberation, yet appeared to lack
important details. "On the positive side, it's clear that the Vatican took
a long time before it made its decision," he said. "On the negative side,
there's very little specificity in the report from the Vatican about what
they were doing that was contrary to church teaching."
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
002. email
Susan Ghertner to Daniel Montoya Re: New York Times, July 14,
07/15/1999
b(6)
1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays"
[personal] [partial] (1 page)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Automated Records Management System [Email]
OPD ([Liberation Theology])
OA/Box Number: 250000
FOLDER TITLE:
[07/14/1999 - 10/13/1999]
2019-0147-F
jn450
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - |44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy |(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy |(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
RECORD TYPE: PRESIDENTIAL (NOTES MAIL)
CREATOR: Susan Ghertner <[email protected]> (Susan Ghertner <[email protected]>
UNKNOWN ])
CREATION DATE/TIME:15-JUL-1999 11:50:14.00
SUBJECT: Re: New York Times, July 14, 1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun toEnd Ministry to Gays"
TO: Daniel C. Montoya (CN=Daniel C. Montoya/OU=OPD/O=EOP [ OPD )
READ:UNKNOWN
TEXT:
How disappointing. What's your response to this?
(b)(6)
[002]
Susan
<[email protected]> 07/14 4:32 PM
New York Times
July 14, 1999
Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays
By GUSTAV NIEBUHR
The Vatican on Tuesday ordered an American priest and a nun
to end a ministry to gay men and lesbians, saying that the pair's work
since the 1970s had strayed from church teaching that homosexual activity
is immoral.
The action was unusual in its severity and in that it fell on
people who lack the academic stature of some theologians who have run afoul
of the Vatican in the past.
In a statement, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, the body charged with safeguarding church teaching, declared that
the Rev. Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick had allowed "ambiguities
and errors" to color their public discussions about church teaching on
homosexuality and had sown confusion among Roman Catholic lay people.
Although it stopped short of citing detailed examples, the
congregation said Nugent and Sister Gramick had not sufficiently emphasized
the teaching that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered" and
"evil."
The decision, officially called a "notification," comes after
a lengthy investigation, lasting well over a decade, by American Catholic
authorities and by the Vatican, into Sister Gramick's and Nugent's work,
which they began in the 1970s, putting them in the forefront of church
figures who reached out to gay and lesbian Catholics.
The decision's severity came as a surprise to some.
Sister Gramick and Nugent are permanently prohibited from
conducting the workshops, discussions and retreats (some with the parents
of gay Catholics) that have been the focus of their ministry for two
decades. In addition, they are forbidden indefinitely from holding office
within the religious orders to which they belong.
By contrast, some prominent theologians whose writings the
Vatican has judged unacceptable have been ordered silenced for a specific
period. The Brazilian Leonardo Boff, an exponent of liberation theology, a
controversial system of thought that argues that the church side with the
poor and oppressed, was ordered to cease his writing for a year.
In an interview after he arrived in the United States from
Rome on Tuesday, Nugent said he was surprised by the decision. "It puzzles
me, because I have never questioned any dogma of the church," he said. He
added that he and Sister Gramick had occasionally come under criticism from
gay and lesbian groups "for being defenders of the church."
But Nugent said he would accept the decision. "There are all
kind of ministries," he said, "and I need time to discern what kind of
pastoral work I'd like to do, now that I'm shifting away from this type of
ministry. I just hope the work I've been involved in bears fruit."
Sister Gramick declined to comment.
Controversy within the church has dogged the two since 1977
when they founded New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Md., to reach out to
gay and lesbian Catholics. Situated within the boundaries of the
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., the organization came under criticism from
Cardinal James Hickey, Washington's archbishop, prompting Sister Gramick
and Nugent to resign in 1984. But they continued to hold workshops and
retreats on homosexuality and the church.
In its statement, the Vatican said it had "received numerous
complaints and urgent requests for clarification" from American bishops and
others about what Nugent and Sister Gramick were saying even after they
left New Ways.
In 1988, the Vatican created a commission under Cardinal Adam
Maida, archbishop of Detroit, to determine whether Nugent and Sister
Gramick had moved outside church teachings on homosexuality.
After the two published a book on their work, the commission
met with them in 1994, then forwarded its findings to the Vatican, which
continued the investigation through correspondence with Nugent and Sister
Gramick.
These exchanges continued from February 1996 through January
1999, the Vatican's statement said, but they did not dispel church
authorities' concern that Nugent's and Sister Gramick's views were
"doctrinally unacceptable."
The Catholic Catechism describes homosexual acts as
"intrinsically disordered" and contrary to natural law because they do not
lead to procreation. But it also states that gays should be treated with
"respect, compassion and sensitivity."
In essence, the Vatican said Nugent and Sister Gramick were
presenting only half the message. And in so doing, it said, they did not
allow people "struggling with homosexuality" to hear "the true teaching of
the church from those who minister to them."
Reactions to the decision ran from supportive to critical.
"We are surprised at how severely they came down," said
Sister Rosemary Howarth, superior at the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
Sister Gramick's order. "Yes, we are saddened and disappointed at how hard
it was."
The Rev. Bruce Williams, a Dominican priest and moral
theologian who had been an adviser to Sister Gramick and Nugent when they
appeared before Maida's commission, said the two "went to heroic lengths to
cooperate very thoroughly with Vatican authorities." He called the decision
dismaying.
But Bishop William Lori, auxiliary bishop of Washington, said
that Cardinal Hickey considered the decision "doctrinally and pastorally
correct."
"As far back as 1981, Cardinal Hickey observed that the
approach of Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent to the question of the
immorality of homosexual activity was very ambiguous," Lori said. "The
phrase he always used was 'studied ambiguity,' such that the authentic
teaching of the church was undermined."
"Often, errors with regard to the faith come from a certain
selectivity, and I think this is a classic instance of selecting some of
the teaching and distorting the other part," Lori said.
In separate statements, Maida and Bishop Joseph Fiorenza,
president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said they hoped
Sister Gramick and Nugent would accept the Vatican's decision. Fiorenza
also quoted from a 1986 Vatican statement endorsing the "pastoral care" of
gays and lesbians and said such work should continue within church
teaching.
But Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways
Ministry, called the Vatican's decision misguided and unjust. Speaking of
Nugent and Sister Gramick, he said, "They have consistently presented the
compassionate face of the church to gay and lesbian people, and they have
done so faithfully to church teaching."
Although DeBernardo said the decision would be "particularly
hurtful" to gay and lesbian Catholics, he said the discussion about
homosexuality and the church would continue.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America,
offered a view different from some others, saying the decision, in coming
after so many years, showed a careful deliberation, yet appeared to lack
important details. "On the positive side, it's clear that the Vatican took
a long time before it made its decision," he said. "On the negative side,
there's very little specificity in the report from the Vatican about what
they were doing that was contrary to church teaching."
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
003. email
Daniel Montoya to Susan Ghertner Re: New York Times, July 14,
07/15/1999
b(6)
1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays"
[personal] [partial] (1 page)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Automated Records Management System [Email]
OPD ([Liberation Theology])
OA/Box Number: 250000
FOLDER TITLE:
[07/14/1999 - 10/13/1999]
2019-0147-F
jn450
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - 15 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
RECORD TYPE: PRESIDENTIAL (NOTES MAIL)
CREATOR: Daniel C. Montoya (CN=Daniel C. Montoya/OU=OPD/O=EOP [ OPD
CREATION DATE/TIME:15-JUL-1999 12:35:28.00
SUBJECT: Re: New York Times, July 14, 1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun toEnd Ministry to Gays"
TO: Susan Ghertner <[email protected]> ( Susan Ghertner <[email protected]> [
UNKNOWN 1)
READ:UNKNOWN
TEXT:
Hold hands and sing "Kumbaya My Lord"!
Just kidding, it is very disappointing, but we have to remember that the
Vatican is not God, they just play God on TV.
Hope all is well!
(b)(6)
dcm
[003]
Susan Ghertner <[email protected]>
07/15/99 11:48:28 AM
Record Type: Record
To: Daniel C. Montoya/OPD/EOP
cc:
Subject: Re: New York Times, July 14, 1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun
toEnd Ministry to Gays"
How disappointing. What's your response to this?
(b)(6)
Susan
<[email protected]> 07/14 4:32 PM »
New York Times
July 14, 1999
Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays
By GUSTAV NIEBUHR
The Vatican on Tuesday ordered an American priest and a nun
to end a ministry to gay men and lesbians, saying that the pair's work
since the 1970s had strayed from church teaching that homosexual activity
is immoral.
The action was unusual in its severity and in that it fell on
people who lack the academic stature of some theologians who have run afoul
of the Vatican in the past.
In a statement, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, the body charged with safeguarding church teaching, declared that
the Rev. Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick had allowed "ambiguities
and errors" to color their public discussions about church teaching on
homosexuality and had sown confusion among Roman Catholic lay people.
Although it stopped short of citing detailed examples, the
congregation said Nugent and Sister Gramick had not sufficiently emphasized
the teaching that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered" and
"evil."
The decision, officially called a "notification," comes after
a lengthy investigation, lasting well over a decade, by American Catholic
authorities and by the Vatican, into Sister Gramick's and Nugent's work,
which they began in the 1970s, putting them in the forefront of church
figures who reached out to gay and lesbian Catholics.
The decision's severity came as a surprise to some.
Sister Gramick and Nugent are permanently prohibited from
conducting the workshops, discussions and retreats (some with the parents
of gay Catholics) that have been the focus of their ministry for two
decades. In addition, they are forbidden indefinitely from holding office
within the religious orders to which they belong.
By contrast, some prominent theologians whose writings the
Vatican has judged unacceptable have been ordered silenced for a specific
period. The Brazilian Leonardo Boff, an exponent of liberation theology, a
controversial system of thought that argues that the church side with the
poor and oppressed, was ordered to cease his writing for a year.
In an interview after he arrived in the United States from
Rome on Tuesday, Nugent said he was surprised by the decision. "It puzzles
me, because I have never questioned any dogma of the church," he said. He
added that he and Sister Gramick had occasionally come under criticism from
gay and lesbian groups "for being defenders of the church."
But Nugent said he would accept the decision. "There are all
kind of ministries," he said, "and I need time to discern what kind of
pastoral work I'd like to do, now that I'm shifting away from this type of
ministry. I just hope the work I've been involved in bears fruit."
Sister Gramick declined to comment.
Controversy within the church has dogged the two since 1977
when they founded New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Md., to reach out to
gay and lesbian Catholics. Situated within the boundaries of the
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., the organization came under criticism from
Cardinal James Hickey, Washington's archbishop, prompting Sister Gramick
and Nugent to resign in 1984. But they continued to hold workshops and
retreats on homosexuality and the church.
In its statement, the Vatican said it had "received numerous
complaints and urgent requests for clarification" from American bishops and
others about what Nugent and Sister Gramick were saying even after they
left New Ways.
In 1988, the Vatican created a commission under Cardinal Adam
Maida, archbishop of Detroit, to determine whether Nugent and Sister
Gramick had moved outside church teachings on homosexuality.
After the two published a book on their work, the commission
met with them in 1994, then forwarded its findings to the Vatican, which
continued the investigation through correspondence with Nugent and Sister
Gramick.
These exchanges continued from February 1996 through January
1999, the Vatican's statement said, but they did not dispel church
authorities' concern that Nugent's and Sister Gramick's views were
"doctrinally unacceptable."
The Catholic Catechism describes homosexual acts as
"intrinsically disordered" and contrary to natural law because they do not
lead to procreation. But it also states that gays should be treated with
"respect, compassion and sensitivity."
In essence, the Vatican said Nugent and Sister Gramick were
presenting only half the message. And in so doing, it said, they did not
allow people "struggling with homosexuality" to hear "the true teaching of
the church from those who minister to them."
Reactions to the decision ran from supportive to critical.
"We are surprised at how severely they came down," said
Sister Rosemary Howarth, superior at the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
Sister Gramick's order. "Yes, we are saddened and disappointed at how hard
it was."
The Rev. Bruce Williams, a Dominican priest and moral
theologian who had been an adviser to Sister Gramick and Nugent when they
appeared before Maida's commission, said the two "went to heroic lengths to
cooperate very thoroughly with Vatican authorities." He called the decision
dismaying.
But Bishop William Lori, auxiliary bishop of Washington, said
that Cardinal Hickey considered the decision "doctrinally and pastorally
correct."
"As far back as 1981, Cardinal Hickey observed that the
approach of Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent to the question of the
immorality of homosexual activity was very ambiguous," Lori said. "The
phrase he always used was 'studied ambiguity,' such that the authentic
teaching of the church was undermined."
"Often, errors with regard to the faith come from a certain
selectivity, and I think this is a classic instance of selecting some of
the teaching and distorting the other part," Lori said.
In separate statements, Maida and Bishop Joseph Fiorenza,
president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said they hoped
Sister Gramick and Nugent would accept the Vatican's decision. Fiorenza
also quoted from a 1986 Vatican statement endorsing the "pastoral care" of
gays and lesbians and said such work should continue within church
teaching.
But Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways
Ministry, called the Vatican's decision misguided and unjust. Speaking of
Nugent and Sister Gramick, he said, "They have consistently presented the
compassionate face of the church to gay and lesbian people, and they have
done so faithfully to church teaching."
Although DeBernardo said the decision would be "particularly
hurtful" to gay and lesbian Catholics, he said the discussion about
homosexuality and the church would continue.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America,
offered a view different from some others, saying the decision, in coming
after so many years, showed a careful deliberation, yet appeared to lack
important details. "On the positive side, it's clear that the Vatican took
a long time before it made its decision," he said. "On the negative side,
there's very little specificity in the report from the Vatican about what
they were doing that was contrary to church teaching."
RECORD TYPE: PRESIDENTIAL (NOTES MAIL)
CREATOR: "Foss, Rick" <[email protected]> ("Foss, Rick" <[email protected]> [ UNKNOWN 1)
CREATION DATE/TIME:15-JUL-1999 14:33:57.00
SUBJECT: RE: New York Times, July 14, 1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays"
TO: Daniel C. Montoya (CN=Daniel C. Montoya/OU=OPD/O=EOP [ OPD )
READ:UNKNOWN
TEXT:
Daniel,
Thanks for this info.. Sometimes, it's so, so difficult to be a Catholic;
and not want to bolt the Church. The (self-?!) hatred is not far below the
surface.
I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to call you last night. Is there any
way that we could speak today, or is that not possible? Again, I
apologize.
If need be, I can always talk with you about the Gore campaign some other
time. I could always just meet with you after work some night or
something.
Whatever is most convenient for you.
Thanks, Daniel, and take care. Talk to you later.
- Rick
Original Message
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 1999 5:33 PM
Subject: New York Times, July 14, 1999, "Vatican Orders Priest and Nun
to End Ministry to Gays"
New York Times
July 14, 1999
Vatican Orders Priest and Nun to End Ministry to Gays
By GUSTAV NIEBUHR
The Vatican on Tuesday ordered an American priest and a nun
to end a ministry to gay men and lesbians, saying that the pair's work
since the 1970s had strayed from church teaching that homosexual activity
is immoral.
The action was unusual in its severity and in that it fell on
people who lack the academic stature of some theologians who have run afoul
of the Vatican in the past.
In a statement, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, the body charged with safeguarding church teaching, declared that
the Rev. Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick had allowed "ambiguities
and errors" to color their public discussions about church teaching on
homosexuality and had sown confusion among Roman Catholic lay people.
Although it stopped short of citing detailed examples, the
congregation said Nugent and Sister Gramick had not sufficiently emphasized
the teaching that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered" and
"evil."
The decision, officially called a "notification," comes after
a lengthy investigation, lasting well over a decade, by American Catholic
authorities and by the Vatican, into Sister Gramick's and Nugent's work,
which they began in the 1970s, putting them in the forefront of church
figures who reached out to gay and lesbian Catholics.
The decision's severity came as a surprise to some.
Sister Gramick and Nugent are permanently prohibited from
conducting the workshops, discussions and retreats (some with the parents
of gay Catholics) that have been the focus of their ministry for two
decades. In addition, they are forbidden indefinitely from holding office
within the religious orders to which they belong.
By contrast, some prominent theologians whose writings the
Vatican has judged unacceptable have been ordered silenced for a specific
period. The Brazilian Leonardo Boff, an exponent of liberation theology, a
controversial system of thought that argues that the church side with the
poor and oppressed, was ordered to cease his writing for a year.
In an interview after he arrived in the United States from
Rome on Tuesday, Nugent said he was surprised by the decision. "It puzzles
me, because I have never questioned any dogma of the church," he said. He
added that he and Sister Gramick had occasionally come under criticism from
gay and lesbian groups "for being defenders of the church."
But Nugent said he would accept the decision. "There are all
kind of ministries," he said, "and I need time to discern what kind of
pastoral work I'd like to do, now that I'm shifting away from this type of
ministry. I just hope the work I've been involved in bears fruit."
Sister Gramick declined to comment.
Controversy within the church has dogged the two since 1977
when they founded New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Md., to reach out to
gay and lesbian Catholics. Situated within the boundaries of the
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., the organization came under criticism from
Cardinal James Hickey, Washington's archbishop, prompting Sister Gramick
and Nugent to resign in 1984. But they continued to hold workshops and
retreats on homosexuality and the church.
In its statement, the Vatican said it had "received numerous
complaints and urgent requests for clarification" from American bishops and
others about what Nugent and Sister Gramick were saying even after they
left New Ways.
In 1988, the Vatican created a commission under Cardinal Adam
Maida, archbishop of Detroit, to determine whether Nugent and Sister
Gramick had moved outside church teachings on homosexuality.
After the two published a book on their work, the commission
met with them in 1994, then forwarded its findings to the Vatican, which
continued the investigation through correspondence with Nugent and Sister
Gramick.
These exchanges continued from February 1996 through January
1999, the Vatican's statement said, but they did not dispel church
authorities' concern that Nugent's and Sister Gramick's views were
"doctrinally unacceptable."
The Catholic Catechism describes homosexual acts as
"intrinsically disordered" and contrary to natural law because they do not
lead to procreation. But it also states that gays should be treated with
"respect, compassion and sensitivity."
In essence, the Vatican said Nugent and Sister Gramick were
presenting only half the message. And in so doing, it said, they did not
allow people "struggling with homosexuality" to hear "the true teaching of
the church from those who minister to them."
Reactions to the decision ran from supportive to critical.
"We are surprised at how severely they came down," said
Sister Rosemary Howarth, superior at the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
Sister Gramick's order. "Yes, we are saddened and disappointed at how hard
it was."
The Rev. Bruce Williams, a Dominican priest and moral
theologian who had been an adviser to Sister Gramick and Nugent when they
appeared before Maida's commission, said the two "went to heroic lengths to
cooperate very thoroughly with Vatican authorities." He called the decision
dismaying.
But Bishop William Lori, auxiliary bishop of Washington, said
that Cardinal Hickey considered the decision "doctrinally and pastorally
correct."
"As far back as 1981, Cardinal Hickey observed that the
approach of Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent to the question of the
immorality of homosexual activity was very ambiguous," Lori said. "The
phrase he always used was 'studied ambiguity,' such that the authentic
teaching of the church was undermined."
"Often, errors with regard to the faith come from a certain
selectivity, and I think this is a classic instance of selecting some of
the teaching and distorting the other part," Lori said.
In separate statements, Maida and Bishop Joseph Fiorenza,
president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said they hoped
Sister Gramick and Nugent would accept the Vatican's decision. Fiorenza
also quoted from a 1986 Vatican statement endorsing the "pastoral care" of
gays and lesbians and said such work should continue within church
teaching.
But Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways
Ministry, called the Vatican's decision misguided and unjust. Speaking of
Nugent and Sister Gramick, he said, "They have consistently presented the
compassionate face of the church to gay and lesbian people, and they have
done so faithfully to church teaching."
Although DeBernardo said the decision would be "particularly
hurtful" to gay and lesbian Catholics, he said the discussion about
homosexuality and the church would continue.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America,
offered a view different from some others, saying the decision, in coming
after so many years, showed a careful deliberation, yet appeared to lack
important details. "On the positive side, it's clear that the Vatican took
a long time before it made its decision," he said. "On the negative side,
there's very little specificity in the report from the Vatican about what
they were doing that was contrary to church teaching."
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
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004. email
Katherine Yungmee Kim to Eugenia Chough Re: Schedule in DC (2
09/22/1999
Personal Misfile
pages)
COLLECTION:
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Automated Records Management System [Email]
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[07/14/1999 - 10/13/1999]
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jn450
RESTRICTION CODES
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Freedom of Information Act - 15 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office |(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency ((b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute |(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
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personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
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C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
RECORD TYPE: PRESIDENTIAL (NOTES MAIL)
CREATOR: [email protected]@INET@LNGTWY ([email protected]@INET@LNGTWY UNKNOWN
CREATION DATE/TIME:29-SEP-1999 19:58:55.00
SUBJECT: JP2
TO: Daniel C. Montoya@eop (Daniel C. Montoya@eop [ OPD
READ:UNKNOWN
TEXT:
Whether you like the guy or not, Frontline's biography on John Paul II is
an absolute "worth see" (saw it last night). A fair and unbiased look into
his life and the world around him. From PBS's website
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pope/etc/synopsis.html).:
FRONTLINE's "Pope John Paul II-The Millennial Pope" is a bold,
innovative new biography on this controversial world leader that is a
journey through the 20th century to the sources of John Paul II's character
and beliefs, and the passionate reaction to him. It is a journey that says
as much about us as it does about him.
Drawing on interviews with those who have studied and analyzed John
Paul II or, whose lives have intersected with his, it offers insights into
the major themes in his life: the shaping influence of Polish culture and
history, his relationship with Jews, his part in the fall of Communism, his
opposition to liberation theology, his repudiation of the ordination of
women, his battle to convince the world, especially the West, that it must
save itself from sinking into a "culture of death." And, finally, John Paul
II's fierce insistence on faith.
The program weaves a biographical narrative through several
thematic chapters. The first chapter, "Landscape," draws a portrait of the
powerful emotional and spiritual landscape of Poland that formed Karol
Wojtyla--from his love of the Polish countryside, poetry and theater, to
his devotion to his family, his god and the Virgin Mary; from his stoic
reaction to tragedy--both his own and his nation's--to the great solace he
found in solitude.
The chapter "Jews" chronicles the young Wojtyla's transformation
when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. He was a nineteen-year-old
university student who saw his friends and teachers killed as Poland became
the epicenter of the Holocaust. Exploring the anti-Semitic rhetoric that
surrounded young Karol--and was even preached from the pulpit of Poland's
Catholic Church--this report takes a clear-eyed look at his remarkable
relationship with Jews--his boyhood friendships with them, his behavior
during the war, his actions to help Jews after the war, and finally, his
dramatic steps as Pope to heal the ancient enmity between Christians and
Jews. The program also shows how John Paul II's journey of atonement with
the Jews was not without missteps, and looks at events involving Kurt
Waldheim and the canonization of the Jewish convert to Catholicism, Edith
Stein, who was murdered at Auschwitz.
The "Solidarity" segment of this film shows how Karol Wojtyla's
life was entwined with another of the 20th century's darkest events--the
Communist domination of Eastern Europe. This chapter lays out the evolution
of the intensely apolitical Karol Wojtyla into the Pope who would play a
central part in the non-violent revolution that ended Communism. It
examines Wojtyla's rise within the Church hierarchy, the development of his
political gifts, and how his first visit back to his homeland as Pope
inspired the Polish nation. Although it would take ten years, John Paul II
used the enormous moral and financial authority of the Vatican to challenge
the Communist system; the revolution that began in Poland with the
anti-Communist Solidarity movement led to Communism's end in Eastern Europe
and the dissolution of the Soviet empire.
But while the Pope helped bring about the end of dictatorship in
Eastern Europe, he undermined efforts to battle another kind of
dictatorship in Latin America. In the "Liberation Theology" chapter,
FRONTLINE explores why John Paul II set in motion a deliberate strategy to
crush liberation theology, closing many institutions which had fostered
it-seminaries, schools, some churches. "This Pope was needed on the side of
the revolution there so it could be non-violent," says James Carroll, a
former priest. "And it's a tragedy that this Pope didn't recognize it as
such. And I can only understand his failure to do so because he applied it
too narrowly to the lens of his own fight against Communism."
The "Women" segment of this program explores the connections and
contradictions between John Paul II's devotion to the ultimate embodiment
of womanhood--the Virgin Mary--and his conflict with women over the issues
of birth control and the ordination of women as priests. Chronicling his
veneration of Mary--a devotion which goes back as far as his mother's death
when he was eight years old--FRONTLINE probes why his deeply-held vision of
Mary's purity is central to his views on women. "In each woman he really
does see some small part of the Virgin Mary traduced if a woman does
things she shouldn't do," says historian Tony Judt. "This is not an
invented or ideological or political or institutional anger. This is
some deeply felt belief."
"The Culture of Death" chapter explores Pope John Paul II's dark
vision of our modern age and his relentless campaign to convince the world
to save itself from sinking into a "culture of death." Examining his 1995
encyclical, The Gospel of Life in which he challenges modern man's quest to
maximize individual freedoms, this chapter shows how the issues of
abortion, contraception and capital punishment are connected in the Pope's
vision of a "culture of death."
The final thematic segment of this report is "Faith" and it is
journey to the heart of what ultimately defines this pope--his religious
faith. Through stories and interviews, it examines John Paul II's intense
spiritual life and presents the surprising revelations of spiritual
yearning from believers and non-believers, including the writers Germaine
Greer and Robert Stone.
FRONTLINE's "John Paul II-The Millennial Pope" ends with a brief
coda which questions just what will be this Pope's legacy for the Catholic
Church and the world at large. Among the journalists and Catholics
interviewed in this section is Washington Post reporter Roberto Suro, who
concludes--"At the end of the day, when you look at this extraordinary life
and you see all that he has accomplished, you're left with one very
disturbing question. On the one hand, the Pope can seem this lonely,
pessimistic figure...a man obsessed with the evils of the twentieth
century, a man convinced that humankind has lost its way it's so dark and
so despairing that he loses his audiences. That would make him a tragic
figure. On the other hand, you have to ask: Is he a prophet? Did he come
here with a message? Did he see something that many of us are missing? In
that case, the tragedy is ours."
Zaragoza A. Guerra, III
Associate Director of Admissions
Office of Admissions
Building 3-108
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Phone 617/258-5515
Fax 617/258-8304
Email [email protected]
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SUBJECT: immigration
TO: Irene Bueno ( CN=Irene Bueno/OU=OPD/O=EOP [ OPD 1)
READ:UNKNOWN
TEXT:
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Results from this Update: 49
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I of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 AFP-Extel News Limited
Extel Examiner
October 13, 1999, Wednesday - 10:41 Eastern Time
SECTION: Government Information; Other
LENGTH: 713 words
HEADLINE: EU says six new accession candidates have long way to go
BODY:
BRUSSELS (AFX) - The European Commission said the six accession
candidates
with whom it intends to open accession talks in 2000 have a long way to go
before entering the European Union.
The accession negotiations will focus on a limited number of chapters
or
negotiation subjects varying on the candidates preparedness.
The European Commission made the following comments about the six
countries:
BULGARIA:
Bulgaria made "substantial" progress as regards public procurement
rules,
copyright laws, alignment of audiovisual policy, continued liberalisation
of the
telecoms market and on immigration, the commission said.
But little improvement was seen in the field of state aid, alignment
in
agriculture and border management, it added.
The country also made insufficient progress in committing itself to a
realistic timetable for the closure of the units 1-4 of the Kosloduy
nuclear
power plant, it concluded.
LATVIA:
Latvia's strengthening of its standards, competition and state aid
administrations was underlined by the commission.
However, the delays in implementing general public administration
reform
risks to weaken the country's ability to implement EU law, it said.
"Attention needs to be paid to more fully addressing the administrative
capacity priority," the commission said.
Latvia should in particular focus on reinforcing its customs, tax
authorities, maritime safety inspectorates and set up appropriate financial
control mechanisms.
Efforts in the field of data protection, telecoms, agriculture,
fisheries,
health, customs, regional policy and financial control also need to be
speeded
up.
LITHUANIA:
Lithunia made "good" progress as concerns public procurement,
competition,
free movement of capital, agriculture and the environmental field, the
commission said.
Further progress is necessary in the fields of state aid, intellectual
property legislation, financial control and fisheries.
The commission stressed no progress has been made in audio-visual area
and
that major efforts are still necessary in taxation.
The decision to close units of the Ignalina nuclear plant by 2009 was
welcomed.
MALTA:
Malta has made "limited" progress since the commission last issued on
opinion on the country in February 1999, the commission said.
There has been alignment and implementation in the field of free
movement of
services but little progress as concerns data protection, competition laws,
industrial restructuring, customs, employment policy.
No progress has been achieved in the environmental sector.
Administrative capacity needs to be addressed across the board.
ROMANIA:
Romania's progress as regards regional development and internal market
reform such as restructuring of the banking sector, public procurement
procedures and state aid rules, was pointed out by the commission.
Progress with regard to intellectual property rights, data protection,
financial control, the fight against organised crime and corruption as
well as
the demilitarisation of the police and border controls was judged
unsatisfactory.
Industrial and agricultural reform is impeded by "fundamental
weaknesses" of
the competitive private sector and a funtioning land market.
Environmental concerns have barely been tackled, it said.
SLOVAKIA:
Slovakia's progress in the areas of state aid, public procurement and
standardisation was underlined by the commission.
However delays in establishing relevant institution for key areas such
as
regional development, financial control and justice and home affairs was
pointed
out.
The commission warned Slovakia it will "substantially" need to
accelerate
its efforts in the preparation of laws and their implementation if it
wants to
keep pace with the other candidate countries.
The decision to close units at the Bohunice nuclear power plants by
2008 was
welcomed.
de/axc
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
2 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Associated Press
AP Worldstream
October 13, 1999; Wednesday 10:25 Eastern Time
SECTION: Sports
DISTRIBUTION: Europe;Britian;Scandinavia;England
LENGTH: 372 words
HEADLINE: Fita Bayissa wins Belgrade Race Through History With AP Photo
BEL101
BYLINE: ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC
DATELINE: BELGRADE, Yugoslavia
BODY:
In the first international sports event since the NATO bombing of
Yugoslavia, Fita Bayissa of Ethiopia edged five-time cross-country world
champion Paul Tergat for a Kenyan 1-2 sweep in the 6-kilometer Belgrade
Race
Through History Wednesday, with little known Abderrahim Gourni of Morocco
third.
Bayissa who collected a dlrs 5,000 prize, clocked 17 minutes and 8
seconds
with Tergat one second slower. Gourni's time was 17:12, with Aloys
Bizigama of
Burundi only one second further behind.
European particpants in the race, held annually, came from Czech
Republic,
Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Russia and Spain.
"My race with Tergat was a matter of mental battle and I was
stronger,"
said Bayissa, a Barcelona Olympics bronze medalist.
"It looks as if this is one race I will never win, but I would love to
run
it again," Tergat said. The best Yugoslav participant was Dragoslav Prpa
who
took 10th place.
Because of the international isolation of Yugoslavia, which is trying to
recover from NATO's airstrikes, only 19 athletes from 15 countries,
including
three Yugoslavs, negotiated the steep tracks inside the fortress.
The race was named Belgrade's Race Through History as the track is
entirely
within Belgrade's ancient Kalemegdan fortress, the historic heart of the
Serbian
capital, founded in 279 B.C. by the Celts.
Organizers had to resolve numerous transportation problems because all
participants had to be bused from neighboring Hungary. Winner Fita
Bayissa also
had difficulties with Hungarian immigration authorities, but the
organizers
ironed them out.
As part of the international pressure on autocratic President Slobodan
Milosevic, the European Union imposed a ban on air traffic with
Yugoslavia.
Earlier, Tergat said he was in no doubt whether sports and politics
should be
mixed. "Why should the runners suffer, why should the organizers suffer,
i've
allways thought that athletics and sport should be about bringing people
together."
Instead of regular modern outfit, a number of security guards were
dressed in
costumes representing medieval Serbian soldiers.
However, only a few hundred passers-by, mainly pensioners and joggers,
watched the race.
(av/rp)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
3 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Associated Press
AP Online
October 13, 1999; Wednesday 10:11 Eastern Time
SECTION: International news
LENGTH: 455 words
HEADLINE: Austria Leader: We're Not Neo-Nazis
BYLINE: ROLAND PRINZ
DATELINE: VIENNA, Austria
BODY:
Defending Austria's image following the strong electoral showing of a
far-right party, the chancellor insisted today his country is not a
hotbed of
neo-Nazi activities.
Chancellor Viktor Klima spoke out after many countries, particularly
Israel,
denounced the stunning gains by Joerg Haider's anti-immigrant Freedom
Party in
Oct. 3 elections.
"Austria is certainly not a land that has slipped to the right margin
by the
election, nor is it a land of neo-Nazis," Klima told a news conference.
"Austria is a very solidified democracy."
Klima failed to explain, however, how his Social Democratic Party,
which came
first in the elections would form a new government. The Social Democrats
have
ruled out a coalition with Haider.
Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy threatened a break in diplomatic
relations if Haider joins the government after the Freedom Party scored a
second
place finish in the vote.
The Social Democrats' current partner in the coalition, the conservative
Austrian People's Party, announced Tuesday night it would not stay in a
government after narrowly finishing third in the balloting.
The Social Democrats won 65 of the 183 seats in parliament, while the
Freedom
Party and the People's Party ended up with 52 seats each.
If the Social Democrats cannot form a government, new elections would
have to
be held next year.
Klima reaffirmed his country's commitment to the principles of Western
democracy, human rights and tolerance.
He also defended the 1.2 million Austrians who had voted for Haider's
party,
saying most were not on the far right or nostalgic for the Nazi past.
"These
are people who have vented their discontent and protest by voting for the
strongest opposition party," he said.
Surveys show many young male, working class voters bolted the Social
Democrats and backed the Freedom Party for fear of losing their jobs to a
flood
of immigrants from former Communist countries of central and eastern
Europe.
Klima called Haider's "political style" and controversial statements
"unacceptable for me."
Haider once praised the Nazis' "decent employment policies" and
described
veterans of the Waffen SS as "men of character."
Haider, on a visit to Paris, said talks on forming a new government
would be
difficult but that new elections were unnecessary. He told a packed Paris
news
conference that the Freedom Party was open to talks with all parties.
Haider defended his anti-immigrant policies, saying that one million of
Austria's seven million people were foreigners, and that there were
schools in
the capital, Vienna, where 80 percent of the children couldn't speak
German. He
also called for a halt to immigration in the Alpine nation.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
4 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Associated Press
AP Worldstream
October 13, 1999; Wednesday 08:59 Eastern Time
SECTION: International news
DISTRIBUTION: Middle East;India;England;Asia;Africa
LENGTH: 606 words
HEADLINE: AP Photos XLP101-102.
BYLINE: THEODORA TONGAS
DATELINE: RHODES, Greece
BODY:
Members of a Christian group denied entry into Cyprus and Israel
because of
fear they were part of a doomsday cult arrived in Greece on Wednesday with
officials promising not to block their way.
The group reiterated allegations they were beaten and mistreated by
Israeli
authorities. Irish officials, meanwhile, maintained the group is a
legitimate
religious community dedicated to helping disabled people.
"We have had a horrific experience, being denied entry into Israel,
beaten
by Israeli police, detained by armed police for 36 hours and then
deported,"
said a spokesman for the group, who refused to give his name. He was
identified
by immigration officials as Joseph Smith.
The group, comprising 18 Irish, six Romanian children and one Colombian
woman, claims it only was seeking to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The
spokesman scoffed at reports they were plotting a mass suicide to
coincide with
the millennium.
"This has and continues to be a very shocking event. We are a Catholic
community traveling to the Holy Land
We
have
been
labeled
as
a
cult,
as
terrorists, as part of an organized suicide pact with vast amounts of
money,"
he said.
An Irish Embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
group
is called the Pilgrim House Foundation based in County Wexford, Ireland,
and has
raised money for four years to travel to the Holy Land. The group
provides care
for people with mental and physical disabilities, the official said.
The non-Irish members of the group all have Irish visas. Some of the
children
traveling with the group are handicapped.
The Irish ambassador to Israel, Brendan Scannell, said he "expressed
concern" about the episode.
Israeli police spokeswoman Linda Menuhin said Monday that authorities
used
"reasonable force" when the group refused to get on a bus in the port of
Haifa. But officials have not given details about why the group was
branded a
potentially dangerous cult.
Israel is on high alert for any groups considered capable of carrying
out
terrorist or suicidal acts linked to the millennium.
After being denied entry into Israel, the group traveled to Cyprus
aboard the
cruise ship Nissos Kypros. But Cypriot officials in the port of Limassol
also
refused to allow them into the country.
Greek immigration officials said the group would be allowed to enter the
country unless they proved to be dangerous.
"The only way they should not be allowed in the country would be if
they
would endanger the lives of citizens, public safety," said Theodoros
Salmas,
supervisor of immigration on the holiday island of Rhodes, about 465
kilometers
(290 miles) southeast of Athens.
None of the members of the group disembarked in Rhodes. The ship was
scheduled to arrive early Thursday in Piraeus near Athens.
"I can assure you, that like the other passengers, they were very
orderly,
very quiet and polite," said Yiannis Kaveros, the captain of the ship
carrying
370 passengers. He said he did not hear any talk of suicides.
The group's final destination is unclear. But there were suggestions
they
could use three minibuses aboard the ship to drive to the western port of
Patras
for an Italian-bound ferry.
It is the second time a religious group expelled from Israel traveled to
Greece.
In October 1998, the Denver-based Concerned Christians reportedly rented
homes outside of Athens after 14 members were deported from Israel.
Israeli
officials were worried about possible attacks and disruptions from the
cult for
allegedly plotting attacks at holy sites in Jerusalem in an attempt to
hasten the
eturn of Christ.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
5 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Associated Press
AP Worldstream
October 13, 1999; Wednesday 08:50 Eastern Time
SECTION: International news
DISTRIBUTION: Middle East;England;Africa;Asia
LENGTH: 579 words
HEADLINE: EU leaders gather in Tampere to coordinate asylum and crime
policies
BYLINE: RAF CASERT
DATELINE: BRUSSELS, Belgium
BODY:
European Union leaders want to streamline their criminal laws and
asylum
policies in an effort to crack down on illegal immigration and
international
crime.
A combination of more open EU borders and loopholes created by diverging
national laws and regulations have made it easier for criminals and
immigrant
traffickers. When the heads of the 15 EU nations meet Friday and Saturday
in
Tampere, Finland, it will be the first top-level effort to coordinate
policies
to attack the problem.
"This is only the beginning," said German Foreign Minister Joschka
Fischer
said of the two-day meeting.
With the extreme right exploiting public unease about urban crime and
the
influx of economic migrants, the government leaders agree they need to
show more
muscle, but without turning the EU into a fortress.
In Austria, populist Joerg Haider turned the political tables upside
down
last week when his Freedom Party rode the anti-immigration and asylum
wave to
become the second biggest party, a spectacular breakthrough for the
extreme
right in Europe.
The right-wing has also turned into a potent political factor in several
other EU nations, increasing pressure to toughen up their policy.
"We have to avoid any danger that Tampere might come to be viewed as a
'repressive' summit," EU Commission President Romano Prodi warned in a
letter
to the Finnish EU Presidency.
Officials said the most palpable result of the summit will be a
clampdown on
illegal immigration and abuse of political asylum procedures.
"We want minimum common rules applied to asylum policies," EU Justice
and
Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino said Wednesday.
Germany, Britain and France are proposing a plan to contain the influx
of
illegal immigrants and asylum seekers into the EU. That plan is expected
to
serve as the basis for an accord by the EU leaders.
Countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium complain they have
had to
carry too much of the burden, resulting in asylum tolerance fatigue, and
will
seek a greater share of the effort.
Plans are on the table to set up a special fund to help those nations
that
shoulder most of the burden.
Asylum and immigration policies have always been a matter for national
legislation and France has insisted that even though it wants to beef up
cooperation, it will hold on to the right to make the final decision on
such
issues.
The EU leaders want to prevent "asylum shopping," whereby asylum
seekers
select the most tolerant EU nation to gain entry into the Union. Under
the draft
plan, if immigrants are denied asylum in one EU nation they cannot try
their
luck in another.
The EU Commission is giving member states a deadline of five years to
streamline policies and will set up a scoreboard system to hold them to
their
promises, Vitorino said.
The meeting will also investigate how to combat international crime and
money
laundering. While internet technology and the abolishment of most border
checks
within the EU have made it easier for criminals, government have been
slow to
improve cooperation between the police and legal services.
In the margins of the summit, the government leaders will also discuss
expanding the bloc with up to 13 new members over the coming decade,
mostly from
eastern and central Europe.
The Commission published reports Wednesday on the state of preparedness
of
the applicant nations and Friday's summit offers
he first opportunity to react to this.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
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Copyright 1999 Associated Press
AP Worldstream
October 13, 1999; Wednesday 08:33 Eastern Time
SECTION: International news
DISTRIBUTION: Europe;Britian;Scandinavia;Middle
East;Africa;India;England;Asia
LENGTH: 525 words
HEADLINE: AP Photos PAR101-102
BYLINE: DEBORAH SEWARD
DATELINE: PARIS
BODY:
Joerg Haider, the far-right leader whose Freedom Party came in second
in
Austria's elections, said talks on forming a new government would be
difficult
but that new elections were not needed.
Haider told a packed Paris news conference that the Freedom Party was
open to
talks with all parties in order "to form a stable government as soon as
possible."
Final results show that Haider's Freedom Party finished second behind
the
Socialists, who do not have enough seats in parliament to form a
government
alone, leaving Haider a potential kingmaker.
Austria's rightward drift has alarmed other European nations, including
France, who are concerned that Haider's strong showing in the Oct. 3
election
could give their own nationalist movements a boost.
In recent days, Austria's ambassador to France has appeared on French
television to try to reassure the French that Haider is nothing more than
a
conservative patriot.
Haider rejected comparisons with French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le
Pen
and said he felt closest to the conservative Gaullists, whose most
prominent
politician is President Jacques Chirac.
He defended his anti-immigrant policies, saying that one million of
Austria's
seven million people were foreigners, and that there were schools in the
capital, Vienna, where 80 percent of the children couldn't speak German.
He also
called for a halt to immigration in the Alpine nation.
Haider's party's showing has thrown Austrian politics into disarray.
Socialist Chancellor Viktor Klima, whose party won 65 seats in the
183-seat
parliament, has said he won't form a coalition with Haider, whose party
won 52
seats, the same number as the conservative People's Party.
However, Haider said he thought the Socialists could possibly entertain
the
idea of forming a coalition with his party if someone other than Klima
were
named to lead the government.
"All possibilities are open," Haider said, adding that he was "very
relaxed" about the upcoming coalition talks.
Haider said he would participate in the government only if he were named
chancellor, but that other members of his party could join a coalition
that
included the Freedom Party.
"Negotiations are to begin in the next couple of days. They will be
difficult But I don't think there will be new elections," Haider
said.
Haider was quoted in Wednesday's edition of the Les Echos financial
daily as
saying that his Freedom Party could be asked to form a new government if
the
Social Democrats fail to do so.
"If that fails, it would be natural that (the president) would then
give me
a mandate," he was quoted as saying.
The anti-immigrant Freedom Party campaigned on right-wing issues like
family
values, law and order, and curbs on foreign workers. Haider's praise,
nine years
ago, of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's employment policies has caused
international
alarm. Asked about those remarks, Haider said he had apologized.
However, Haider said that his party had friends in Israel and that he
didn't
think a coalition that included the Freedom Party would have significant
consequences on relations with Israel.
(dgs-ad)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
7 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Associated Press
AP Online
October 13, 1999; Wednesday 06:43 Eastern Time
SECTION: International news
LENGTH: 644 words
HEADLINE: Thai-Myanmar Border Now Volatile
BYLINE: MICOOL BROOKE
DATELINE: THREE PAGODAS PASS, Thailand
BODY:
With each passing day, the Three Pagodas checkpoint on the Thai-Myanmar
border seems more like a demilitarized zone than a link between friendly
countries.
Stony-faced Myanmar officials peer through steel gates fastened by
chains and
padlocks. Immigration officials turn away uninformed or intrepid tourists
with a
wave of the hand.
Three Pagodas Pass, 240 miles west of Bangkok, is one of a dozen
official
checkpoints Myanmar's military government has closed since last week,
ostensibly
to ensure security after armed pro-democracy militants took over Myanmar's
embassy in Bangkok.
But Myanmar makes little effort to hide the actual reason: to show its
disapproval of how Thailand handled the affair.
Student rebels who held dozens of hostages for a day were flown to the
border
and allowed to go free. Senior Thai officials described them as fighters
for
democracy rather than terrorists_actions that enraged Myanmar, turning
the
border suddenly volatile.
Normally, tens of thousands of dollars change hands every weekend as
thousands of tourists, villagers and traders make the low-key
cross-border trek.
But now, the usual warm welcome for big spenders has been replaced by a
cold
frown.
"We understand that the pride of the Myanmar side is hurt, but to
engage in
prolonged measures and rhetoric of antagonism towards Thailand will
accomplish
nothing," Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra told The
Associated
Press on Tuesday. "Cross-border trade benefits people on both sides of
the
border, not just the Thai people."
In Myanmar's capital, Yangon, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, head of the regime,
accused the pro-democracy movement headed by Nobel Peace laureate Aung
San Suu
Kyi of supporting the embassy takeover. He said it was a "nefarious"
campaign
to seize power, official media reported Tuesday.
The strategically important Three Pagodas Pass gets its name from the
tiny
Buddhist shrines built in the 18th century to mark earlier invasions of
Thailand
by Myanmar. It also was a station for the Japanese army's infamous Death
Railway
in World War II.
For the past few years, Myanmar's tourism authorities have been
promoting
Three Pagodas Pass as a gateway for day trips.
But even before the recent tensions, Myanmar's authoritarian rulers
didn't
exactly roll out the red carpet signposts near the army barracks on the
Myanmar
side spell out a series of strict regulations, such as a ban on video
cameras.
Now, Myanmar and Thai troops keep a wary eye on each other from
guardposts
just 20 yards apart.
Tensions are rising amid reports that Myanmar troops are massing at
several
points to attack rebel groups among 100,000 refugees from Myanmar living
in
camps along the Thai side. Myanmar denies that, but Thai generals are
inspecting
the area daily.
Thailand is not the intended target, but villagers along the frontier
are at
risk and the nation has beefed up its own forces. The Thai army remained
on high
alert early today, with officers saying Myanmar's troop deployment was
almost
complete and they expected an incursion at any time.
The war machine in Myanmar, also known as Burma, boasts 425,000 troops,
though only a small fraction would be deployed. Col. Somkuan
Sangpattaranetr, a
Thai Defense Ministry spokesman, said Thailand is prepared to look after
displaced people if fighting breaks out.
Thai villagers near the border, meanwhile, believe the reputed leader
of the
group that captured the embassy has returned to the area.
Noodle vendor Siriporn Bunyawong, 47, joked that she hoped the man
known only
as "Johnny" would blow up the closed Three Pagodas Pass checkpoint so
trade
and tourism could resume before she went out of business.
"It's been like a ghost town," she said. "My business is down by 60
percent, and I don't know how long I can keep operating like this."
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
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Copyright 1999 Associated Press
AP Worldstream
October 13, 1999; Wednesday 06:22 Eastern Time
SECTION: International news
DISTRIBUTION: Europe;Britian;Scandinavia;Middle
East;Africa;India;England;Asia
LENGTH: 1233 words
HEADLINE: AP News Digest
BODY:
WORLD AT 1000 GMT
NEW:
PAKISTAN-WORLD REACTION. Neighbors and investors react nervously to
Pakistan
coup.
GEORGIA-UN HOSTAGES. U.N. military observers taken hostage in breakaway
Georgian territory.
FRANCE-JEWISH ASSETS. French Jews find assets seized by Nazis using new
Internet site.
THAILAND-MYANMAR BORDER. Thai army on high alert along Myanmar border.
THAILAND-ELEPHANT LAND MINE. Two more elephants step on land mines on
Thai-Myanmar border.
CROSSING INTO BETHLEHEM. Palestinians say Bethlehem crossing will daunt
Palestinians, hinder tourism.
MAIN SPOT NEWS:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan After overthrowing Pakistan's democratically elected
government, Pakistan's military chief is showing no signs of
relinquishing power
any time soon. PAKISTAN-COUP. Has moved; developments will be expedited.
By
Kathy Gannon. AP Photos KAR101-102; SRI101-103; ISL101-103; DEL101-103. AP
Graphic ISLAMABAD.
NEW DELHI, India Pakistan's neighbors and investors react nervously
Wednesday
to the military coup that ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government.
PAKISTAN-WORLD REACTION. Has moved; developments will be expedited. By
Arthur
Max.
ALSO MOVED:
PAKISTAN-COUP LEADER. The leader of the coup in Pakistan is a former
army
commando known as a moderate on domestic affairs and a hawk when it comes
to
relations with India.
PAKISTAN-INSTABILITY. Military coup throws Pakistan into political
disarray.
INDIA-PAKISTAN. Coup in Pakistan likely to delay resumption of
India-Pakistan
dialogue. Has moved.
PAKISTAN-DEMOCRACY-GLANCE Milestones in Pakistan's attempt at
democracy.
NEW DELHI, India Atal Bihari Vajpayee is sworn in Wednesday as prime
minister
of India for the third time and says his government is willing to deal
with any
regime in neighboring Pakistan, where the military has staged a coup.
INDIA-POLITICS. Has moved; developments will be expedited. By Ashok
Sharma. AP
Photos DEL104-107.
ALSO MOVED:
INDIA-SECURITY. Indian prime minister expresses concern about military
coup
in Pakistan.
SUKHUMI, Georgia Seven U.N. military observers are taken hostage
Wednesday
near the line separating Georgian government forces and the breakaway
territory of Abkhazia, officials say. GEORGIA-UN HOSTAGES. Has moved; developments
will be
expedited.
GROZNY, Russia Despite advances by Russian troops, Chechen fighters
still
hold strong defensive positions Wednesday and are prepared to rebuff
Russian
offensives, the leader of the rebel republic says. RUSSIA-CHECHNYA. Has
moved.
By Lyoma Turpalov. AP Photo MOSB101.
TOKYO The overnight plunge on Wall Street took its toll on Asian markets
Wednesday, with exchanges from Japan to Thailand logging sharp losses
throughout
the day. WORLD MARKETS. Has moved; developments will be expedited. By
Joseph
Coleman. AP Photo TOK103.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Robert A. Mundell of Columbia University in New York
wins
the Nobel Prize for economic sciences Wednesday for his analysis of
exchange
rates and how they affect monetary policies. regimes. NOBEL-ECONOMICS.
Developing. By Susanna Loof. AP Photos planned.
JAKARTA, Indonesia President B.J. Habibie chooses Indonesia's military
chief
as his vice presidential running mate on Wednesday, admitting that he
needs
support from the powerful armed forces to govern crisis-ridden Indonesia.
INDONESIA-POLITICS. Lead has moved. By Ali Kotarumalos. AP Photos
JAK102-104.
ALSO MOVED:
INDONESIA-PROTESTS. Pro-Megawati, anti-Australian protests in downtown
Jakarta. AP Photo JAK105-107.
TIMOR-TAUNTED TROOPS. Once-feared Indonesian troops find themselves
taunted,
humiliated in East Timor. AP Photos TOK202,204-206.
US-INDONESIA. U.S. official says Indonesian army is reportedly absorbing
members of militia groups held responsible for violence in East Timor.
TEZIUTLAN, Mexico The government's handling of the flood crisis has
provoked
widespread criticism, with political challengers attacking the
establishment and
governing politicians lashing out at one another. MEXICO-FLOODS-BLAME. Has
moved. By John Rice.
ALSO MOVED:
MEXICO-FLOODS-AID. Mexican government now says foreign aid welcome for
flood
victims.
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan arrives
Wednesday on
his first trip to Kosovo amid a grim reminder of ongoing ethnic hatred in
the
region the killing of a U.N. staffer who angered ethnic Albanians by
speaking to
them in the Serb language. YUGOSLAVIA-KOSOVO. Lead has moved. By George
Jahn.
BETHLEHEM, West Bank Palestinians are denouncing an Israeli plan to
build a
permanent border crossing between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of
Bethlehem,
saying it is a pretext to limit Palestinian travel and dampen millennium
tourism
in Palestinian areas. CROSSING INTO BETHLEHEM. Has moved. By Natalie Y.
Moore.
ALSO MOVED:
PALESTINIANS-GUNS OUT OF CONTROL. In the West Bank's lawless streets,
Arafat
tries weapons sweep. AP Photos JRL115-117.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Iranian hard-liners have made an ambitious
bid at
preserving their power by indicting President Mohammad Khatami's closest
ally.
ANALYSIS-IRAN-POWER STRUGGLE. Has moved. By Anwar Faruqi.
KANCHANABURI, Thailand The Thai army remains on high alert against a
buildup
of Myanmar troops along the border, with officers saying they expect an
incursion at any time. THAILAND-MYANMAR BORDER. Has moved. By Micool
Brooke.
ALSO MOVED:
THAILAND-ELEPHANT LAND MINE. Two more elephants step on land mines on
Thai-Myanmar border.
WASHINGTON The likely shelving of the nuclear test ban treaty appears
to mark
the end of 40 years of bipartisan support for arms control in Congress,
and the
Clinton administration contends that would make this a more dangerous
world.
ANALYSIS-US-TEST BAN TREATY. Has moved. By Barry Schweid.
ALSO MOVED:
US-TEST BAN TREATY. Agreement to delay test ban vote remains elusive.
PARIS Romain Kartagener has said for decades that his family's assets
were
seized in Austria by the Nazis during World War II. This week, he finally
found
the proof he'd been seeking for so long courtesy of a new Internet site
created
for just that purpose. FRANCE-JEWISH ASSETS. Has moved. By Marilyn
August. AP
Photos NY108-109.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand Two U.S. military cargo planes arrive at
Antarctica's
coast Wednesday, positioning themselves for a daring mission to the South
Pole
to rescue a doctor with a lump in her breast. POLAR EMERGENCY. Has moved;
developments will be expedited. By Ray Lilley.
LOOKING AHEAD: On Thursday, British Defense Secretary George Robertson
takes
over as NATO's secretary general. On Friday, EU leaders begin two-day
summit on
immigration in Tampere, Finland.
OTHER FEATURES MOVED:
FEA-US-MILLENNIUM MALAISE. New Year's 2000: Many immune to millennium
fever.
FEA-INDIA-KASHMIR HALF WIDOWS. Wives of missing men in Kashmir lead
lives of
poverty, misery. AP Photo NY306.
FEA-TRINIDAD-BLACK MAGIC WOMAN. Healer or witch, Trinidad's Mother
Cornhusk
is feared. AP Photo NY302, Graphic MORUGA TRINIDAD.
YOUR QUERIES: The Associated Press World Service editors in charge are
Charles Gans and Kim Gamel. Suggestions and story requests to The
Associated
Press World Service are welcome. Contact your local AP bureau or the AP
International Desk in New York,
elephone (1) 212-621-1650, fax (1) 212-621-5449.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
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Copyright 1999 British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
October 14, 1999, Thursday
SECTION: Part 5 Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean; PARAGUAY;
AL/D3665/L
LENGTH: 1286 words
HEADLINE: Government defends its aid for flood victims as death toll rises
to
328
SOURCE: Source: 'La Jornada' web site, Mexico City, in Spanish 12 Oct 99
BODY:
[12]
According to official figures a total of 328 people have been killed,
237 of
those in the state of Puebla, and 275,559 people affected by floods in
Mexico.
Meanwhile, President Ernesto Zedillo "has issued a directive to address
social
needs and to pay no attention to inopportune complaints from political
groups
that are trying to 'use the disaster for their own ends'or to appeals
from state
governments that are trying to get increased federal funding for their
states".
The following is an excerpt from a report by Mexican newspaper 'La
Jornada' web
site on 12th October; subheadings as published:
In offering a new assessment of the situation prevailing in the states
affected by the rains, the deputy secretary of communications of the SG
[Interior Secretariat] (Ministry), Javier Lozano Alarcon, denied that
there have
been any outbreaks of epidemics or cases of famine in those regions. We
recognize, he said, that there are problems with food supplies, but they
are not
on the scale of a famine. "The situation has not been recognized as
reaching the
level of a famine. There is certainly a problem and it is being dealt
with."
He said that the Commerce Secretariat has established various routes to
reach
the communities that need supplies.
In these updated statistics released by the Interior Secretariat, the
number
of deaths caused by the floods has now been increased to 328, with 237
deaths in
the state of Puebla, and the number of victims has now been raised to a
total of
275,559. Of these flood victims, 64,295 people are now being housed in the
emergency shelters that both the federal and state governments have made
available.
In addition, the Interior Secretariat yesterday formally declared to be
disaster areas a number of municipalities in Hidalgo, Veracruz and Puebla
that
have been damaged by these devastating floods. The municipal governments
involved will receive resources from the Fonden [National Fund for Natural
Disasters].
In a news conference held to describe the situation in Veracruz, Puebla,
Tabasco and Hidalgo, Lozano reported that the difficult weather
conditions have
prevented aid efforts from reaching a number of communities as frequently
as
would be desirable to distribute supplies and water but he said that no
villages
are now left in isolation.
He described in detail the deployment of the Mexican army and navy, and
said
that the DN-III Plan is being applied in northern Puebla, along the
coastal
region of Veracruz, between the Tuxpan and Bobos, Minatitlan and
Coatzacoalcos
Rivers and in Villahermosa, Tabasco.
He reported that 27 helicopters, four planes, 10 boats, and 15 search
dogs
have been deployed in this region. He added that because of the weather
conditions in Tulancingo and Tizayuca, Hidalgo, the helicopters have been
unable
to fly there. However, supplies have been brought in to those communities
by
land.
In discussing the numbers that federal, state and municipal officials
are
using, as well as the numbers being cited by civil groups and the Church,
he
said that in the case of deaths the federal government only lists as
deceased
those persons who are declared clinically dead and deaths that have been
reported to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office.
He stated that the Interior Secretariat does not include in its official
count individuals whose relatives have reported them as missing. He
mentioned
that some sources are now citing 400 deaths, a figure about which "people
need
to be careful. The numbers that we have been using in the [Interior]
Secretariat
are the official figures."
He reported that the priorities are rescuing people and creating air
and land
routes so that basic goods and services can be brought in and distributed.
Later, in a third stage, permanent programmes will be put in place to
restore
the infrastructure, particularly for electricity, water supplies and
communications and transport.
He reported that, if weather conditions allow it, the emergency will
have
been brought under control in a week. This does not mean that life will
have
returned to normal in the afflicted communities. That will take weeks or
months
in the case of rebuilding houses and infrastructure.
No evidence of federal and state negligence or incompetence
The secretary of finance and public credit, Jose Angel Gurria, reported
yesterday that it would not be necessary to increase the resources
allocated for
the Fonden, which has 2.5bn pesos.
Just back from visiting Hidalgo, he felt that the nature of the
problems in
each of the areas devastated by the rains will have to be reviewed. He
said,
though, that there would be no cuts in relation to their needs. He
maintained
that aid to the flood victims is moving adequately, given the immediate
response
by the agencies and groups that are participating in the Fonden.
In Mexico City, military sources denied that the army's and navy's aid
to the
flood victims has been inadequate. About 9,000 troops have been deployed
to the
devastated areas.
These sources commented that the armed forces are concentrating their
efforts
on evacuating the victims and bringing in water, food and medicines.
"Those are
the most urgent needs." Later, support will also be provided for removing
debris
and cleaning up the devastated areas, possibly by providing more army
troops for
this effort.
In the president's cabinet, meanwhile, the causes of the tragedy have
been
analysed, and the cabinet has reached the preliminary conclusion that
there is
no evidence that the disaster was caused by negligence or incompetence on
the
part of federal and state officials.
The president has issued a directive to address social needs and to pay
no
attention to inopportune complaints from political groups that are trying
to
"use the disaster for their own ends" or to appeals from state
governments that
are trying to get increased federal funding for their states.
In Mexico City, Deputy Interior Secretary [for Population and
Immigration
Affairs] Jose Angel Pescador Osuna said that it can be conservatively
said that
there are 300,000 flood victims. "The official number of deaths is about
360.
People are using the figure of 500 people killed because there are entire
villages that have been wiped out."
Pescador said that assistance sent by relatives of flood victims in the
United States should be sent in cash, since it is difficult to transfer
supplies
to the areas where they are needed. He added that in the United States
migrants
from Puebla and Oaxaca have been asking about the identities of flood
victims,
so Mexico's consulates are maintaining lists of those affected by the
floods.
Health services
The health sector is involved in providing support to flood-ravaged
communities, and 354 medical and epidemiological teams have travelled to
894 of
the localities affected. They have visited 50,000 households to detect any
transmissible illness that could generate outbreaks of epidemics and they
have
conducted 88,000 medical examinations, reported the Ssa [Health
Secretariat]. In
addition, 600 tons of medical supplies have been sent in order to ensure
that
supplies are available so that the health services can continue to
operate.
The ISSSTE [Social Security and Services Institute for Government
Workers]
reported that more than 10,000 doctors, paramedics, nurses, social
workers and
administrative personnel are working in the affected areas and are
providing
medical care in the 350 emergency shelters in the five affected states.
The Ssa has reported that no outbreaks of epidemics have been detected
in
Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, Oaxaca and Tabasco, where the health emergency
is
still going on
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
10 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 FT Asia Intelligence Wire
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 1999
Copyright 1999 BERNAMA THE MALAYSIAN NATIONAL NEWS AGENCY
October 14, 1999
SECTION: News
LENGTH: 1079 words
HEADLINE: SABAH- CHOOSING BETWEEN TOURISM, NATURE AND THE PEOPLE'S INTEREST
BODY:
SEMPORNA, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- With about two months to go before the
launch
of the Visit Sabah 2000 campaign, the private sector is doing a
commendable job
complementing the government's efforts to build hotels, resorts and other
infrastructure.
Their role is vital in view of the insufficient accommodation to meet
the
needs of the ever increasing number of tourists flocking to the state.
Immigration Department statistics show that more than 103,000 foreign
and
23,500 domestic tourists visited Sabah during the first quarter of this
year
whereas hotels and resorts in the state only had 10,135 rooms.
However, in their over-zealous efforts to capture the attractive
market, it was observed that certain operators had failed to consider the interests
of the
local residents and the fragility of the environment and nature before
building
their hotels or resorts, especially along the coasts and around several
islands
in the state.
The indiscriminate reclamations of the beach-fronts and the
mushrooming of
resorts on beaches, atolls or sand-bars would indirectly threaten the
livelihood
of the locals and the fragile ecosystem and environment.
They are also a source of resentment among the locals who find their
very
own existence being threatened.
Nature lovers on the other hand are worried that the construction of
resorts
on sand-bars or atolls would destroy the habitat of the various fauna
such as
the unique frog fish which could only be found in the waters off Semporna
and
Tawau.
The inhabitants of Pulau Mabul in the Sulu Sea, off Semporna, for
instance,
were very upset with the way some of the resorts were being constructed
there.
The island's headman, Panglima Yussof Jalal, 41, said some of the
resorts
there had a chain of chalets erected on stilts almost 100 metres into the
open
sea.
Some of these chalets, built in a semi-circle and linked by wooden
walkways,
are sprawled over about 50 acres of the sea.
Yussof said the way the resorts were built deprived the locals, who are
residing within the semi-circle, from having access to the open sea and
denied
them their traditional rights to land their catch on the affected beaches
or
anchor their fishing boats in the water within the complexes.
Almost all the estimated 2,000 inhabitants of the 100-acre island are
from
the Bajau Laut tribe who fled their homeland in Minandao in the late 60s
and the
early 70s following the eruption of an armed-conflict between the
Philippine
army and the Moro Muslim secessionists in 1968. About 500 of them from 80
families hold Malaysian Permanent Resident status while the rest were
considered
as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
According to Yussof, although they were merely settling on land
belonging to
Sabahans who reside elsewhere, the islanders' traditional rights to
continue
living as sea-dwellers and fishermen shouldn't be denied.
He added that the way the resorts were built would also deprive the
land
owners from building their own houses or operating their own resorts at
the
beach-fronts.
"Who wants to stay in such chalets if they can't enjoy the scenic view
of
the horizon and the fresh breeze coming from the open sea?" he asked.
Yussof expressed his disappointment because applications by some
members of
his community to extend or build new houses on water just a few metres
from the
beach were often rejected or ignored, while some resort operators could
extend
their facilities far into the sea.
The extensions or construction of new houses were unavoidable because
some
of the islanders had to vacate the occupied lands when their owners
decided to
sell or rent them out to new resort operators.
"We want very much to change our life-styles. But as the space on the
island
grows smaller, some of us will have to continue living on water," he said,
adding that more land settlers will be pushed back to the water because a
resort
from the nearby Sipadan Island would be relocated on Mabul Island soon.
According to sources, the authorities decided to relocate the resort to
ensure that the natural beauty of Sipadan, acknowledged worldwide as one
of the
most unique island on earth, would remain undisturbed. However, it would
still
be opened to diving enthusiasts and researchers.
Yussof also claimed that although about 40 youths from the island were
empolyed by the resorts, the handicrafts or cultural activities of the
islanders
were never appreciated.
The management of the resorts decorated their chalets with handicrafts
bought elsewhere while cultural groups from the mainland in Semporna were
invited to perform the popular Bajau Laut "mengalai" traditional dance to
entertain their guests.
Another islander who wished to be called only by his first name,
Dahim, 31,
said, his community did not object to the presence of tourist resorts on
the
island, but "we don't expect to be neglected and our basic rights
ignored, for
we too have the customary rights over the land here because we have been
residing on its foreshores for generations."
Meanwhile, a diving instructor who wished to remain anonymous, was
worried
with the way some of the resorts were built off the Sabah coasts because
they
could endanger the fragile ecosystem and environment in the areas
concerned.
The 30-year-old-instructor from Lahad Datu who is also a nature lover
agreed
with a recent statement by the state Minister of Tourism Development,
Environment, Science and Technology, Datuk Chong Kah Kiat that beaches,
islands
and clear, unpolluted seas are some of Sabah's greatest tourism assets.
"Therefore, it is vital for the respective authorities to closely
monitor
the construction of chalets on the beaches, sand-bars and atolls because
tourists, especially divers, flocked to these places due to the richness
and
beauty of their marine life.
"Sand-bars, such as Beting Kapalai, near Mabul Island, are actually
ridges
of the coral reefs which are very fragile and can be destroyed by slight
disturbances.
Without natural shelters from strong waves or storms and the threat of
pirate attacks, the resorts face constant danger from nature and man, he
said.
He suggested that it would be better if the authorities disallow such
resorts in the future because these nature-unfriendly structures could be
hazardous to human and marine life.
Copyright 1999: Bernama The Malaysian National News Agency. All Rights
Reserved.
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
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Copyright 1999 AAP Information Services Pty. Ltd.
AAP NEWSFEED
October 13, 1999, Wednesday
SECTION: Nationwide General News; Australian General News
LENGTH: 495 words
HEADLINE: FED: Govt cracks down on illegal immigrants
BYLINE: By Debra Way
BODY:
BOAT
CANBERRA, Oct 13 AAP - Refugees who arrive in Australia illegally will
only
be given a temporary residency visa under new federal government plans to
crack
down on illegal immigrants.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said the move aimed to make
Australia
less attractive to the growing numbers of boat people arriving on our
shores.
It would mean those granted the three-year residency visas would not
be able
to have their family join them in that period and they would have to
return home
at the end of that time if it was safe to do so.
Mr Ruddock said by making it harder for illegal immigrants to access
Australia's humanitarian program, those in real need of protection would
be
helped.
"Unauthorised arrivals by air have continued to grow at over 20 per
cent
each year and boat arrivals have grown from 200 people in 1998 to about
1,500 so
far this financial year," Mr Ruddock told reporters.
"Reliable reports indicate that up to 2,000 more unauthorised arrivals
are
believed to be in Indonesia waiting for vessels to bring them to
Australia."
Mr Ruddock said most of those were from Iraq, Turkey and Afghanistan
and
many had been outside their country for decades.
"It is clear that most of these people are being trafficked to
Australia by
criminal elements."
The measures would also stop people who had effective protection
overseas
from gaining onshore protection in Australia.
And authorities could use fingerprinting and DNA testing to help
discover
the true identity of asylum seekers to make sure they did not already have
protection overseas.
Mr Ruddock said he would have discretion under the new arrangements to
extend the three-year visa if it was in the public interest.
"Nobody will be returned to a position where they will be vulnerable,"
he
said.
The new visa arrangement could be regulated by the end of this week,
while
the other measures would require legislation.
Opposition immigration spokesman Con Sciacca said Labor generally
welcomed
the proposals but would not give blanket support until the fine detail was
revealed in the legislation.
He said Labor was committed to helping the government in its bid to
crack
down on people smugglers but said genuine asylum seekers must be
protected.
"These tough new measures must be compensated with generous and
flexible
treatment for those who are in genuine need of assistance," Mr Sciacca
said.
Australian Democrats immigration spokesman Andrew Bartlett said the
measures
targeted the wrong people.
"While we support measures to halt the trade in people-trafficking,
these
initiatives target the victims, not the traffickers," Senator Bartlett
said.
"This increased focus on treating refugees as temporary visitors is
looking
more and more like a One Nation policy."
Today's announcement came one day after a boatload of 116 illegal
immigrants
landed on the West Australian coast.
AAP daw/mfh/kr/de n
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
12 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 AAP Information Services Pty. Ltd.
AAP NEWSFEED
October 13, 1999, Wednesday
SECTION: Nationwide General News; Australian General News
LENGTH: 1007 words
HEADLINE: Highlights of the AAP National Wire at 15:30_2
BODY:
HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY
CANBERRA - A leaked cabinet paper showed federal Education Minister
David
Kemp planned to scrap HECS and replace it with student loans and
unregulated
university fees, the opposition said today. (STUDENTS)
CANBERRA - Australia's involvement in a controversial US missile
defence
system would not affect Australian trade in the region, Trade Minister
Mark
Vaile said today. (NURRUNGAR, N/L to come)
CANBERRA - Labor today backed away from its push for an early inquiry
into
the automotive industry, saying it did not want to hold up the
implementation of
a $2 billion industry investment scheme. (AUTOMOTIVE)
CANBERRA - Federal government plans for a new register of industrial
organisations was inviting trade unions to emulate a secret Liberal Party
funding organisation, Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said today. (REGISTER
BEAZLEY)
CANBERRA - Boat people will be fingerprinted and DNA tested to ensure
they
do not already have refugee protection or been refused asylum in another
country
under new plans unveiled today by Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock.
(BOAT to
come)
CANBERRA - The traditional owners of Jabiluka have withdrawn their
application for a protection order over a sacred site in the vicinity of
the
uranium mine. (JABILUKA)
MELBOURNE - Students have condemned the Liberal Party candidate in this
Saturday's Frankston East supplementary election for failing to make
education a
priority. (POLLVIC STUDENT, see also POLLVIC KENNETT, POLLVIC LABOR,
POLLVIC
FRANKSTON. To come: POLLVIC N/L, POLLVIC KENNETT N/L)
MELBOURNE - Australian consumers would think twice about what they ate
if
food packaging was forced to describe the contents, a United States public
health advocate said today. (LABELS)
MELBOURNE - Victoria's coroner's office today said it was yet to decide
whether an inquest would be held into the death of murdered Moe toddler
Jaidyn
Leskie. (DOMASZEWICZ LEAD)
MELBOURNE - Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia have a 50-50 chance
of
receiving an above average rainfall in the next three months. (RAINFALL
VIC)
MELBOURNE - Four students and a teacher from a Melbourne high school
were
taken to hospital after inhaling fumes from a canister containing
chemicals used
in the school's darkroom. (FUMES)
SYDNEY - Opposition leader Kerry Chikarovski has recorded the lowest
approval rating of a New South Wales Liberal leader in more than 20 years,
according to a new poll. (POLL CHIKAROVSKI)
SYDNEY - The cause of Sydney city's worst ever blackout is expected to
become clearer today, with the release of an interim reportinto the
disruption.
(OUTAGE D/L, N/L to come)
SYDNEY - New South Wales voters will be spared the difficulty of
dealing
with tablecloth-sized ballot papers at the next state election following
reforms
to the voting system announced today. (POLLNSW BALLOT, N/L to come)
SYDNEY - Australian scientists have rewritten history thanks to a
microscopic piece of wax and nuclear technology capable of determining
the age
of organic material. (CARBON)
SYDNEY - A police fingerprint expert was asked to test whether a palm
print
found on murdered prostitute Sallie-Anne Huckstepp's car belonged to
disgraced
detective Roger Rogerson, a court was told today (SMITH, N/L to come)
SYDNEY - This year's Sydney Motor Show was set to be Australia's most
important and successful automotive exhibition ever, according to the
chief
executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) Peter
Sturrock.
(MOTOR SHOW)
BRISBANE - The head of Energex had secretly been granted a $95,000 pay
rise
while the energy distributor took nine months to approve a four per cent
pay
rise for employees, the Electrical Trades Union said today. (ELECTRICITY,
N/L to
come)
BRISBANE - The daughter of a woman jailed after shooting her husband
has
told how her father put a chainsaw to his baby grandaughter's hand and
warned he
would turn it on if she continued to suck her thumb. (MACKENZIE)
BRISBANE - Warring parties at the heart of a bitter wrangle over a
cult's
assets have been urged to compromise and sort out "the silly piece of
litigation" themselves. (MAGNIFICAT)
BRISBANE - A didgeridoo will this week be included in a full concerto,
the
first time the aboriginal wind instrument has been used with an orchestra.
(DIDGERIDOO)
BRISBANE - High Court judge Ian Callinan has released his second
novel, a
murder mystery. (CALLINAN)
ADELAIDE - The rate of Aboriginal deaths in custody has increased
since the
landmark royal commission in 1991, an Australian Institute of Criminology
study
has found. (DEATHS to come)
ADELAIDE - Some Asian-based companies were keen to see the Alice
Springs to
Darwin railway go ahead, linking the rail project to expansion plans in
Australia, South Australian Premier John Olsen said today. (RAILWAY)
ADELAIDE - With a borrowed bike and a sore backside, Kevin Edwards is heading home on the final leg of a huge
journey. (EDWARDS)
ADELAIDE - George Weston Foods Ltd said today it might rationalise its
smallgoods manufacturing operations following the recent acquisition of
Don
Smallgoods in Victoria. (SMALLGOODS)
ADELAIDE - Governments wasted millions of dollars pandering to the
debilitating modern phenomena "crime panic", a United States
criminologist said
today. (CRIME to come)
PERTH - Police today launched a dawn raid on the farm clubhouse of the
Rebels motorcycle gang near Busselton, 230km south of Perth. (REBELS WA)
PERTH - The West Australian Opposition has called for an independent
inquiry
into a former senior adviser to premier Richard Court, saying an internal
investigation into his activities was "hamstrung". (GILLEECE)
PORT MORESBY - Human rights violations by Papua New Guinea's police
force
was costing the state millions of kina in compensation, according to Chief
Justice Sir Arnold Amet. (PNG VIOLATIONS)
AAP mo
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
13 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston Globe
October 13, 1999, Wednesday ,City Edition
SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A4
LENGTH: 1196 words
HEADLINE: British bristling at reach of European Court of Human Rights ;
Obliging English law to fall into line
BYLINE: By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff
BODY:
LONDON - In a nation that clings fiercely to its traditions, there was
gnashing of teeth when a European court - in France - told the British
military
that its ban against homosexuals was illegal.
The Daily Telegraph, the voice of conservative Britain, responded by devoting half of its letters page to the subject
under the headline,
"Devastating effects of open homosexuality in the Forces."
But those who cherish tradition here will have to get used to the idea
of
the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights having growing
influence
over their way of life. The ruling that forced the British government to
suspend
the ban against homosexuals in the military, and that may force it to
scrap it
for good, is only one of many that will probably challenge and
fundamentally
change longstanding British institutions.
Under a law passed last year by the British Parliament, the European
Convention on Human Rights will be incorporated into British law in
October
2000. It requires the British government to make its domestic laws
compatible
with the convention and judgments by the Strasbourg court based on the
document.
It will also obligate British judges to interpret human rights according
to the
convention, which has sided more often with individual rights than with
institutional ones.
The British military is just the first of many institutions here to
feel the
results. The new law will:
- End immunity for government agencies and open the door to negligence
suits
against the police and social service agencies.
- End or severely curtail the practice of Britain's intelligence
agencies of
routinely blocking publication of critical books and newspaper articles.
- Expose the lucrative tabloid newspaper industry to huge judgments for
invasion of privacy.
Ben Emmerson, a lawyer who represented two of the four homosexuals who
won
their case challenging the ban on gays in the military, said the Human
Rights
Act that becomes law next year is "the most significant legal reform ever
in the
history of the United Kingdom."
"It's not going to be piecemeal. It's going to affect every single
decision,
from planning to crime, to family law, to immigration," he said.
Pavlos Eleftheriadis, a law lecturer at the London School of Economics,
agreed that the change wrought by the new focus on human rights will
reverberate
through British society. But he said that while traditionalists have
tended to
criticize the convention as usurping British sovereignty, the European
law can
be used to preserve tradition as often as to challenge it.
The European convention provides Britons with legal protections not
specifically mentioned in British law.
"There isn't a right to privacy in English law," Eleftheriadis said.
But
privacy is a concept with considerable case law in the European court.
Eleftheriadis said it has been used imaginatively in environmental cases
in
which plaintiffs have argued successfully against property development on
the
grounds it would result in the loss of their home, and consequently their
privacy.
Eleftheriadis noted that the United States and most European countries
have
constitutions, while English legal tradition rests in common law. Laws
are made
by Parliament, and no court here can challenge them.
Although the European court cannot strike down British laws, it can,
as it
did in the military case, declare that they are incompatible with the
Convention
on Human Rights.
"Strictly speaking, the Strasbourg decisions are not binding, but in
practice they are always respected," Eleftheriadis said. "When they lose
in
Strasbourg, the British always comply."
Although it has never happened, and no country seems eager to be a test
case, any signatory to the convention that ignores the Strasbourg court
faces
expulsion from the Council of Europe, where membership is mandatory for
all
countries in the European Union.
Civil liberties advocates say the new emphasis on human rights will
bring
British law more into line with other European countries. In maintaining
its ban
against gays, the British military was swimming against the tide of
Europe. The
Netherlands lifted its ban in 1972, Denmark in 1979. Italy has a ban that
is not
enforced, while Germany does not have a ban.
Britain not only has a ban, but rigorously enforced it. About 1,000
gay men
and women have been thrown out of the military in recent years. In
response to
last week's decision, George Robertson, the minister of defense, ordered
a halt
to proceedings against about 60 people in one of his last acts before
becoming
general secretary of NATO.
The Ministry of Defense has always opposed allowing gays to serve in
the
military, calling it an "unwelcome social experiment" that would weaken
morale
and cause havoc.
But Duncan Lustig-Prean, 40, a former naval lieutenant commander and
one of
the four who fought their discharges in the European court, said he
received
support and sympathy from his naval colleagues, not hostility, when it
became
clear the Royal Navy was going to dismiss him.
British courts had backed the military. The European court, however,
ruled
that the ban was illegal because the process used to investigate claims
against
gay servicemen and women violated their right to privacy. The court said
the
British military's view that having homosexuals in the military would
create
trouble was "founded solely upon the negative attitudes of heterosexual
personnel toward those of homosexual orientation."
Cary James, editor of The Pink Paper, a newspaper of the gay
community, said
the court's ruling would have repercussions for other employers.
"There is a domino effect," he said. "Once the military falls, the
rest can.
This could be the driving force for equal rights for everyone."
Gay activists such as James have turned their attention to abolishing
Section 28, a clause in the 1988 Local Government Act that prohibits "the
intentional promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities and "the
teaching
of homosexuality as a pretend family relationship" in schools.
"In the military case, the judges said homosexuality is innate," James
said.
That, he said, means any law in Britain that excludes people based on
their
sexual orientation would violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
While some view the Strasbourg court as another example of European
institutions ruining British traditions, others have sought to use it to
safeguard tradition.
Four independent schools that want to continue doling out corporal
punishment went to the court to challenge a ban against caning that took
effect
Sept. 1. Those who want to ban professional soccer matches on Sunday
afternoons
have also taken a case to the court, arguing that the games interfere
with their
ability to worship. Landowners want the Strasbourg court to strike down a
British law that gives Britons a statutory right to roam over 4 million
acres of
privately owned land in England and Wales.
"The convention is neither left-wing nor right-wing," Eleftheriadis
said.
"It is the perfect compromise because you retain parliamentary supremacy,
but
you create a system of checks and balances."
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, Three dismissed members of the British military, left to
right,
sailor John Beckett, nurse Jeanette Smith, and Lieutenant Commander Duncan
Lustig-Prean, after winning their challenge last month. / AP PHOTO
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
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Copyright 1999 The Federal Capital Press of Australia
Pty Limited
The Canberra Times
October 13, 1999, Wednesday Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 10
LENGTH: 615 words
HEADLINE: WHAT FUTURE FOR ONE IN SIX BILLION?
BODY:
YESTERDAY, somewhere in a hospital maternity ward or on the floor of a
mud
hut, in private or witnessed by an army of doctors and nurses, a baby was
born,
taking the world's population to six billion.
It took the human race most of history to hit the one-billion mark in
the
early 1800s. It reached two billion less than a lifetime ago. The
fourth-billionth baby is now in his or her late 30s. The fifth-billionth
baby is
barely a teenager.
What kind of life can the six- billionth baby expect? For a start, he
or she
will almost certainly live in the Third World. Ninety- seven per cent of
today's
babies are born in developing countries. In most developed nations the
birth
rate is in steep decline. Four out of 10 people now live in nations where
natural increase can no longer be relied upon to replace the dying. In
many
countries - including Australia - birth rates are significantly below
replacement level and populations are rapidly ageing. Without
immigration, the
population of many developed nations will decline within a few decades.
By the time the six-billionth baby turns 50, the newspaper editorials
of the
day will have forgotten about the significance of his or her entry into
the
world. They will be commenting upon the birth of the nine-billionth baby
(assuming that newspapers are still around).
Depending on the six-billionth baby's nationality, he or she could hit
50 in
a society where those aged over 65 outnumber children. If he or she is
European,
the population may be only three-quarters what it was on the day of his
or her
birth. If, as is statistically more likely, he or she was born in
sub-Saharan
Africa, Latin America or parts of Asia, the picture will be very
different.
Nigeria's population is tipped to grow by 120 per cent (to 244 million)
in the
next 50 years. India's population is ex pected to grow by 50 per cent, to
1.5
billion.
In the time it takes the six- billionth child to reach the age of 50,
the
populations of 30 nations will have declined. The populations of others
will
still be growing strongly. There will still be abundance and abject
poverty.
There will be food mountains and starvation, high-tech agriculture and
subsistence grubbing in the dirt. What we now call the "developed world"
will be
home to just over a billion of the world's projected nine-billion people
by
2050. The rest will live in the so-called "developing" nations (though
presumably many of these nations will have joined the ranks of the
developed by
then).
If the six-billionth child happens to be an Australian, he or she will
almost
certainly defer marriage until a later age than earlier generations. If
children
come along they will almost certainly arrive later too. He or she will
reach
adulthood in a community characterised by its racial heterogeneity, as the
Australian governments of the future boost immigration to compensate for
the
decline in natural population increase. But the rise in immigration won't
have
much impact on the age structure of the country, which will still be an
ageing
one - something of a paradox, at a time when half of the world's
population will
be aged less than 25, and when adolescents alone will number more than a
billion.
Coming to grips with this projected population scenario will be a
challenge
for all humanity in the next half-century. We now know without a shadow
of a
doubt that the most effective contraceptive is education. In every nation
where
women's education levels have been boosted, fertility rates have fallen.
The
trick will be to extend the same advantages and the same life choices to
women
in the still-developing nations as are now enjoyed by women elsewhere.
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
15 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 FT Asia Intelligence Wire
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 1999
Copyright 1999 THE HINDU
October 13, 1999
SECTION: News
LENGTH: 767 words
HEADLINE: More bombing suspects hiding in South Africa?
BODY:
CAPE TOWN, OCT. 12. A Tanzanian national, Khalifa Khamis Mohammed,
alleged
to be one of the persons involved in the bombing of the American
embassies in
Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam on August 7 last year, was flown to the U.S.
after he
was handed over to the authorities of that country soon after his arrest
in Cape
Town last week.
A second suspect is believed to be hiding in the city. According to an
official of the immigration services of Western Cape, Kalifa Khamis
Mohammed is
not the only suspect sought in South Africa and more arrests are likely.
The
National Director of Prosecutions, Mr. Bulelani Ngcuka, said in a radio
interview that there were "indications" that the arrested person was part
of a
"network" operating in the city.
Cape Town has been one of the focal points in the world-wide search by
the
U.S. authorities for the embassy bombers. Soon after the "retaliatory"
bombing
by the U.S. of suspected terrorist strongholds in Afghanistan and the
chemical
factory in Khartoum, Planet Hollywood, an American franchise restaurant
at the
popular Waterfront in Cape Town, was bombed, killing three persons and
injuring
scores of others. An organisation called Muslims Against Global Oppression
(MAGO), about which little is known, claimed responsibility for the
bombing,
though later others claiming to speak on behalf of MAGO denied any
involvement.
Several fringe organisations claiming to represent Muslim interests
operate
in the city which has a small but influential and highly politicised
Muslim
community. Further, the phenomenon of Pagad, the Cape-based organisation
with a
predominant Muslim membership, has also contributed to the image of
uncompromising militancy of the city's Muslim community.
The fact, of course, is that the Muslim community, like every other
community, is hardly homogeneous and is deeply divided, except perhaps on
the
fundamentals of Islam, on all other issues affecting it and the country at
large. A most curious aspect of the arrest and transportation of the
Tanzanian
citizen to the U.S. is the near-total lack of details about the incident.
Indeed, the announcement by the U.S. state attorney for southern New
York
and the New York FBI Office, following the arrival of the suspect in New
York,
has a few more facts than any statement from South African authorities.
These,
pieced together, are as follows: The suspect arrived in this country
shortly
after the bombings and sought political asylum, apparently under an
assumed
name. He was given a temporary residence permit, which according to one
report,
he had renewed "several times".
However, when he went to the immigration office to renew the permit
last
Tuesday, he was arrested; and on Thursday, he was flown out to New York,
accompanied by U.S. law enforcement officials. Insofar as one can make
out, the
suspect was not produced before a magistrate before he was handed over to
the
U.S. authorities. The suspect, if convicted of the charges in the U.S.,
faces a
possible death sentence.
Indeed, the whole operation appears to have been conducted without the
participation, or even the knowledge of the South African police, but
driven
primarily by the office of the National Director of Prosecutions, a
structure
created two years ago and modelled rather self-consciously after the U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigations. Like the FBI, the NDP too has the power
to
independently investigate, arrest and prosecute criminals, in some ways
parallel
to the powers and functions of the regular police force. The duality of
authority has not till now appeared to have created problems at least at
the
top.
The statement from New York thanking the South African Government for
"the
extraordinary co-operation shown to the U.S. enforcement authorities",
mentions
the National Director of Prosecutions, Justice Ministry, Home Ministry,
Western
Cape immigration and alien control office, South African Police Forensic
Laboratory and the national intelligence service but makes no mention of
SAPS.
Though initial reports said that the U.S. officials who have been in this
country for weeks had worked closely with the SAPS and Interpol, an
official of
Interpol told this correspondent that they only knew of the presence of
U.S.
officials but had not worked with them and had no role at all in the
arrests and
deportation.
Above all, the extraordinary speed with which the whole legal and
administrative process has been completed also bespeaks the close
political
co-operation between South Africa and the U.S.
Copyright 1999: The Hindu. All Rights Reserved.
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
16 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Guardian Newspapers Limited
The Guardian (London)
October 13, 1999
SECTION: Guardian Features Pages; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 1171 words
HEADLINE: The right revs up
BODY:
A slight smugness is detectable in British reactions to the electoral
success of Jorg Haider's Freedom party in Austria. What can you expect of
a
country that largely welcomed the Anschluss and chose Kurt Waldheim as its
president only a few years ago? Couldn't happen here, could it?
Probably not. But it would be dangerously complacent to ignore our
home-grown fascists altogether. After years of hibernation, something is
stirring in their malodorous lair.
Unnoticed by the national or local media, the veteran British National
Party
(BNP) leader, John Tyndall was ousted two weeks ago. His victorious
challenger,
who won 62% of votes in a postal ballot of BNP members, is a smoothiechops
Cambridge graduate by the name of Nick Griffin. Whereas Tyndall was an
old-fashioned rabble-rouser with a taste for Mosleyite uniforms and
Hitlerian
rhetoric, Griffin prefers Italian suits or smart-casual wear. He describes
himself as a 'moderniser' and 'new nationalist'; he talks excitedly about
the
liberating power of the internet; he is as contemptuous of his party's
traditional supporters the skinheads, the football hooligans as Blairites
are of
old Labour. He even has his own version of the 'third way', having
founded a
group called the International Third Position. And, like Tony Blair, he
believes
he can tickle the erogenous zones of Middle England.
In spite of its suave appearance, I need hardly add, new nationalism
is just
as thuggish and poisonous as the old variety. Griffin's campaign manager,
Tony
'the bomber' Lecomber, was jailed for three years in 1986 for possessing
explosives, and earned another three-year sentence in 1991 for stabbing a
Jewish
schoolteacher. Seventeen months ago Griffin himself was convicted of
incitement
to racial hatred after police seized copies of his magazine, the Rune.
His main
defence witness at the trial was Robert Faurisson, the famous Holocaust
revisionist. In a 1995 article from the Rune, Griffin argued that the BNP
should
be 'a strong, disci plined organisation with the ability to back up its
slogan
'Defend Rights For Whites' with well-directed boots and fists.'
All this has been airbrushed out of his CV lest it frighten Middle
England.
'It is at this point,' Griffin now argues, 'when the British National
Party
suddenly becomes the focus of the hopes not just of the neglected and
oppressed
white working class, but also of the frustrated and disorientated
traditional
middle class that our future lies.' BNP members have already begun
attending
rallies of foxhunters and farmers to chat up rural malcontents. But the
most
promising source of recruits, Griffin believes, is the anti-European
campaign.
Now you may think that William Hague has cornered that particular
market.
However, unless or until Hague actually advocates outright withdrawal
from the
EU, there will be a sizeable minority of voters who find even the Tories'
Europhobia too moderate for their taste. The UK Independence Party
(UKIP), which
probably has no more actual members than the BNP, won three seats in the
European Parliament this year.
Since that triumph, however, UKIP has been falling to pieces with
startling
speed. The national executive recently passed a motion of no confidence
in its
leader, Michael Holmes. He then staged a counter-coup at the party's
annual
conference in Solihull two weeks ago, which led to the sacking of the
entire
executive and the closure of the London HQ.
These shenanigans have been observed with great interest by Nick
Griffin and
the BNP. Until 1997, under the leadership of Dr Alan Sked, UKIP's
membership
form included a clause stressing that racists were not allowed to join.
Soon
after Sked's departure, however, the clause mysteriously disappeared. The
new
leaders, Michael Holmes and Nigel Farage who are now both MEPs also set
out to
'combine our protest' with other anti-Euro campaigners. In his UKIP
election
leaflet this year, Holmes paid tribute to 'citizens' patriotic protest
groups'
such as Save Our Sterling presumably unaware that Save Our Sterling was
run by
the BNP.
Then came the most disturbing titbit of all: a blurred photo, taken in
the
summer of 1997, showing Nigel Farage of UKIP chatting to two men. One was
Tony
'the bomber' Lecomber, the other was Mark Deavin, head of research for
the BNP,
who had briefly infiltrated UKIP but was expelled in May 1997 after his
true
affiliations were discovered.
Deavin, who edited Mindbenders, an 'expose' of Jews in the media, is
also
the author of The Grand Plan: The Origins of Non-White Immigration, in
which he
argues that 'the mass immigration of non-Europeans into every White
country on
earth' had been engineered by 'a homogeneous transatlantic political and
financial elite to destroy the national identities and create a raceless
new
world order.' Homogeneous, eh? Allow Deavin to explain: "These concerns
were
Jewish in origin
the promotion of World Government can also be seen
to be
in line with traditional Jewish messianic thinking.'
When the photo was sent anonymously to the UKIP a few months ago,
Farage
expressed bafflement. While admitting that 'I briefly met Mr Deavin at his
request on June 17 1997, and had lunch with him in a restaurant,' he
insisted
that 'I have no recollection of ever meeting or speaking to Mr Lecomber
in my
life
I can only surmise that Mr Lecomber was planted outside the
restaurant or that the photograph has been doctored.'
Whatever the explanation, the fact that Farage met Deavin after the BNP
man's expulsion was enough to alarm some UKIP members especially as
Farage, who
earns his living as a City commodity-broker, is a man who often used
words such
as 'nigger' and 'nig-nog' in the pub after committee meetings. A month
after the
lunch, by an odd coincidence, Deavin wrote an article in the far -right
journal
Spearhead which discussed the possibility of closer relations between the
BNP
and UKIP.
But here's an even stranger coincidence. Shortly before the 1997
general
election, Mark Deavin spoke freely of his plans to undercover researchers
from
Searchlight magazine and The Cook Report, who had posed as emissaries from
Jean-Marie Le Pen's Front National. One necessary step, he said, was to
get rid
of the BNP leader John Tyndall ('who is actually an obstacle') and
replace him
with Deavin's chum Nick Griffin. This would leave one other obstacle. 'If
Blair
becomes prime minister,' Deavin predicted, 'the BNP will be the official
opposition in the inner cities, in working-class areas. The UKIP will be
the
opposition in the shires, the county areas, the middle-class opposition.
That
party is a serious opposition to us in middle England, but, if we had the
resources, we could tear it to pieces.'
Two weeks ago, at the same time as UKIP was tearing itself apart in
Solihull, Nick Griffin duly toppled John Tyndall and promised a
'realignment' of
the far -right. He may not yet have the popular appeal of Jorg Haider;
but he
certainly needs watching.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
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Copyright 1999 Guardian Newspapers Limited
The Guardian (London)
October 13, 1999
SECTION: Guardian Foreign Pages; Pg. 16
LENGTH: 635 words
HEADLINE: Cyprus bars entry to expelled pilgrims;
Irish Catholic group denies the Israeli claim that it is a cult planning
millennium suicide in the Holy Land
BYLINE: Owen Bowcott and Helena Smith in Athens
BODY:
Owen Bowcott and Helena Smith in Athens
A community of Irish pilgrims, who set off in the hope of celebrating
the
millennium in the Holy Land, were yesterday refused permission to
disembark in
Cyprus - a day after being denied entry to Israel on the grounds that
they were
a doomsday Christian cult, planning a mass suicide.
The expulsion of the Pilgrim Foundation Community, who normally live in
Castletown, County Wexford and care for handicapped children, is
developing into
an international diplomatic incident involving protests by the Irish
foreign
minister.
Last night the community's 25 members, who include a Colombian woman
and six
adopted Romanian children, were heading back from Limassol towards the
Greek
port of Piraeus, on board a ferry, the Nisos Kypros. They are not
expected to
dock until tomorrow.
Speaking by ship to shore telephone, Bridget Ryan, a former editor of
Irish
Catholic magazine, said: 'It's complete rubbish to decribe us as a
suicide cult.
Our community has been together for 19 years. We are committed to a life
of
social justice and committed to showing solidarity to marginalised people.
'As an expression of that we live with a number of mentally handicapped
people. We are a very unspectacular group. We are part of the Catholic
church.'
She claimed that the group was physically assaulted and insulted by
Israeli
officials before being deported from Haifa on Monday. "The Israelis were
really
violent. One of them grabbed my throat and thumped me against a wall. I
was told
to shut up and get back on our bus.
'We had talked to the Israeli embassy (in Dublin) before leaving and
told
them of our plans. If you are an Irish citizen you don't need a visa for
a 90
day visit. We had invested loads of time and all our hopes in this trip.
We
wanted to show the children the Holy Land for the next few months.'
Israel fears that it will become a target for Christian cults in the
months
leading to the millennium. Earlier this year Americans from a
Denver-based cult,
Concerned Christians, were deported after selling all their possessions
and
moving to Jerusalem. Their leader, Monte Kim Miller, had prophesied that
he
would die in the streets of the Holy City in December and be resurrected
a few
days later.
Israeli police have set up a special unit to screen visitors and
prevent
cultists from entering. A spokeswoman, Linda Menuhin, said the Irish
group was
not allowed to land because they belonged to 'an extreme Christian cult'.
The
Cypriot authorities appear to have folowed a similar line. Greece - where
St
John the Divine wrote the book of revelation on the island of Patmos in
AD95,
predicting the world's cataclysmic end - has also set up surveillance
groups to
stop cult members arriving on route to Israel.
A police spokesman in Cyprus, Glafcos Xenos, yesterday insisted that
police
had information that the Irish group was planning mass suicide at the
advent of
the new millennium. He said members were barred from Cyprus because 'they
refused to reply to basic questions posed to them by immigration
officials'.
Ireland's foreign minister, David Andrew, raised the issue with his
Israeli
counterpart, David Levy, at a meeting of EU ministers in Luxembourg on
Monday,
warning that he did not want it to damage relations between the two
countries.
'We have been assured by church leaders that this group is not an
extreme
cult,' a foreign affairs spokesman in Dublin said yesterday. "They are a
charitable church organisation.'
Father Ken Quinn, a priest in Wexford who takes services at the Pilgrim
Foundation Community in Castletown every week, described them as a 'strong
Catholic community' whose commitment to the problems of asylum-seekers
and the
handicapped reflected liberation theology teachings.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
18 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Newspaper Publishing PLC
The Independent (London)
October 13, 1999, Wednesday
SECTION: LEADER; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 400 words
HEADLINE: LEADING ARTICLE: MR STRAW SHOULD GIVE BIRTH TO A NEW IMMIGRATION
POLICY
BODY:
FATIMA NEVIC gave birth yesterday morning in Sarajevo to a bouncing
8lb boy.
Then she discovered that Kofi Annan, General Secretary of the United
Nations,
was going to pronounce her son the six billionth human inhabitant of
planet
Earth. Mrs Nevic was philosophic: "Six billionth baby or not, I'm a happy
mother," she commented.
Of course, the choice of a town, and a child, were a stunt; the six
billionth person might have been born weeks ago, or will be born weeks
from now.
But the general point is well made: there are more people than ever on our
planet and the number has been increasing fast. By the time little Nevic
celebrates his 50th birthday, he could have as many as 10.7 billion
companions.
This growth is not inexorable, however. Fertility rates are dropping
around
the world, and in the most developed countries they are at less than
replacement
rate - Britain's mothers, for example, are producing just under 1.8
babies on
average. But for now there is a problem getting resources to parts of the
world where the growth of population exceeds the growth in the economy needed
to pay
for food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education and other needs.
In this regard, it is interesting to note another event that occurred
yesterday. The British Home Secretary announced that he was going to ask
Brussels to toughen immigration controls in the European Union to make it
more
difficult for migrants to claim political asylum in Britain.
What's needed here is more joined-up government. Jack Straw should
have a
word with his colleague Clare Short, the Minister for International
Development,
who was in Trafalgar Square yesterday lamenting that "one in four of the
world's
population lives in extreme poverty". One part of the answer is to stop
worrying
about sorting out the sheep from the goats among people who wish to come
to
these shores.
Economic migrants, as the goats are called these days, could be a
welcome
source of hard-working and innovative labour - the United States, with its
phenomenal economic performance, is made up of little else but economic
migrants. People with the gumption to take their families to a new
country to
improve their lot give vitality to their adopted land. They bring new
words, new
foods and new ways of looking at old concerns.
For the future of the country, let us relax - not tighten - our
immigration
controls.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
19 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France)
October 13, 1999, Wednesday
SECTION: News; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 598 words
HEADLINE: Tung Steps Up Efforts to Win Hong Kong Over
BYLINE: By Clay Chandler; Washington Post Service
DATELINE: HONG KONG
BODY:
When the shipping tycoon Tung Chee-hwa took office as Hong Kong's chief
executive in 1997, he refused to occupy the spacious white mansion built
for
Britain's colonial governors.
It would have sent the wrong message, he told a small group of foreign
journalists invited to join him for lunch Monday in the mansion's elegant
dining
room. "I wanted to make a statement that I was not sent here to run
things by
London or Beijing," he said. "I am a servant. "I am here to serve the
public."
So far, though, the public is not convinced. Mr. Tung, who was
appointed by
Communist Party officials in Beijing, not by voters in Hong Kong, is
widely
regarded here as a genial, if sometimes clumsy, caretaker who takes
direction
from the mainland.
His handling of several recent disputes involving immigration, freedom
of
speech and political rallies honoring victims of the crackdown in June
1989 on
democracy demonstrators in Beijing near Tiananmen Square has only
heightened
skepticism.
The latest dispute flared last week when a top legislator from the
opposition Democratic Party charged that Mr. Tung had instructed him in
April to
stop holding candlelight rallies in memory of the Tiananmen victims.
Although
Democratic Party leaders saw Mr. Tung's comments as an affront to freedom
of
speech, he said he had merely suggested that it was time for Hong Kong
residents
and political leaders to "put down the baggage" of the Tiananmen
killings.
But at lunch Monday, he declined to explain what he meant by that
phrase.
"My style is never to be very specific in this sort of area," he said.
Mr. Tung has stepped up efforts to soften his image and win the hearts
and
minds of Hong Kong residents.
In his third annual policy speech last week, he stressed social and
pocketbook issues geared to the concerns of ordinary citizens. He
outlined a $4
billion package of environmental initiatives over the next 10 years to
make Hong
Kong "a green model for Asia." He also called for far-reaching
improvements in
Hong Kong's educational system, discussed proposals for urban renewal and
hinted
that Hong Kong was on the verge of concluding a deal with the Walt Disney
Co. to
open a theme park here that would generate tens of thousands of jobs.
He insisted Monday that his style and policies enjoyed much broader
support
among Hong Kong residents than he got credit for in the local press. He
argued
that public satisfaction with government policies was bound to improve as
the
economy, which he predicted would grow a healthy 2 percent during the
last half
of this year, began to recover. "Things are all beginning to work," he
said.
Now that the Asian financial crisis has run its course, Mr. Tung said,
the
government finally can work on carrying out a long-term strategy that will
prevent it from losing business opportunities to rival ports, such as
Shanghai
and Singapore. Mr. Tung has described that vision for the city's future as
transforming Hong Kong into a "world class" cosmopolitan center, "like
London
or New York."
The Disney deal, which is expected to be unveiled this month, would go
a
long way toward that goal. Hong Kong's tourism industry has been hit hard
by the
financial crisis and is only now beginning to revive. Hong Kong's economy
shrank
5.1 percent in 1998 and unemployment still hovers around 6.1 percent.
Mr. Tung and leaders of the business community have said that they
fear that
the air quality in Hong Kong has deteriorated so badly that it has become
a
deterrent to tourists and prospective workers alike.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
20 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 American Lawyer Media
The Legal Intelligencer
October 13, 1999 Wednesday
SECTION: SUBURBAN EDITION ; soth; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 466 words
BODY:
Oct. 13The Delaware Valley Legal Expo '99, 3 to 7:30 p.m. Fort
Washington
Expo Center. Free seminars will examine using the Internet to improve
client
service and market firms. There will be demonstrations of the latest
products. Oct. 13PBI Seminar, "Support Guidelines Update," 9 a.m. to 12:30
p.m.
Delaware County Bar Association Building. Costs: $ 119 for bar association
members. Oct. 13Camden County Bar Foundation, "Forms of Business
Ownership," 4 to
6:15 p.m., Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 1470 Route 70 East and I-295,
Cherry
Hill. Speakers: Ronald J. Cappuccio, Charles G. Resnick. Credit: 2 hours
of
Pennsylvania CLE substantive credits. Costs: $ 30 for Camden County Bar
Association members; $ 60 for non-member attorneys; $ 20 for paralegals
and
legal secretaries; free to full-time law students.Oct. 4Camden Immigrant
Advocacy Project, "The Basics of Immigration Law," 4 to 6:15 p.m. Harbour
League
Club, 800 Hudson Square, 8th & Cooper streets, Camden. Credit: 2 hours of
Pennsylvania CLE substantive credits. Costs: $ 30 for Camden County Bar
Association members; $ 60 for non-member attorneys; $ 20 for paralegals
and
legal secretaries; free to full-time law students. Oct. 21 Camden County Bar
Foundation, "How to Build a Law Practice," 4 to 6:15 p.m. Four Points
Sheraton
Hotel, 1470 Route 70 East and I-295, Cherry Hill. Costs: $30 for Camden
County
Bar Association members; $ 60 for non-member attorneys; $ 20 for
paralegals and
legal secretaries; free to full-time law students.Oc 26Montgomery Bar
Association Women in Law Committee, "The Path to the Bench," 12 to 2:30
p.m. MBA
Building, 100 W. Airy St., Norristown. Speakers: Superior Court Judge
Phyllis
Beck, U.S. District Judges Anita Brody and Diane Devlin Welsh, Trial Court
Judges Marjorie Lawrence and Rhonda Lee Daniele. Cost: $ 53 members, $ 93
non-members. Credit: 2 hours substantive. 28The Legal Secretaries of
Camden
County Inc., "Annual Attorney's Night Dinner Dance and Awards Ceremony,"
Cocktails at 6:30 p.m. Dinner at 7:30 p.m. Venice Plaza, Cross Keys Road,
Berlin. Subscription: $ 40.Oct. 29Institute for Paralegal Education,
"Estate
Planning and Probate for Paralegalegal Assistant in New Jersey," Holiday
Inn,
Cherry Hill, Rte. 70 and Sayer Ave. Oct. 30Camden and Burlington County
Bar
Associations, Debtor-Creditor Relations Committees, "6th Annual Joint
Camden-Burlington Bankruptcy Conference," 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The
Mansion,
Kresson & Evesham roads, Voorhees. Speakers: Judge Gloria M. Burns,
Robert J.
Cooper, Steven R. Neuner, Bruce H. Williams. Credits: 3 hours of
Pennsylvania
CLE substantive credits. Costs: $ 40 for Camden and Burlington County Bar
Association members; 75 for non-member attorneys; $ 20 for paralegals
and
legal secretaries; free for full-time law students.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
21 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Sentinel Communications Co.
THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
October 13, 1999 Wednesday, METRO
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A12
LENGTH: 99 words
HEADLINE: CHRISTIAN GROUP DENIED RIGHT TO DOCK IN CYPRUS
BODY:
NICOSIA, Cyprus - More than 20 members of a Christian group were refused
permission to dock in Cyprus on Tuesday after they were turned away from
Israel
because officials there said they belonged to a doomsday cult. The group,
which
including women and seven children, was refused landing at the port of
Limassol
because "they refused to reply to basic questions posed to them by
immigration
officials," police spokesman Glafcos Xenos said. Cyprus police said they
had
learned that the Sekta group members were threatening to commit suicide
with the
advent of the millennium, Xenos said.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
COLUMN: OTHER NEWS TO NOTE
The World
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
22 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 Southam Inc.
The Ottawa Citizen
October 13, 1999, EARLY
SECTION: News; C18
LENGTH: 468 words
HEADLINE: Released hostage not quite home yet
DATELINE: MONTREAL
BODY:
MONTREAL -- Released hostage Sabine Roblain is expected to be in
Montreal for
a press conference this afternoon, in spite of hitting a snag last night
in her
journey home from Ecuador
Ms. Roblain, 26, arrived in Ottawa from Quito, Ecuador, via Houston and
New
York too late to catch a connecting flight home that should have arrived
in
Montreal about 7 p.m. yesterday.
Roch Harvey, spokesman for the Canadian Centre for International
Studies and
Co-operation (CECI), told reporters at Dorval airport that Ms. Roblain
and her
family were trying to decide whether she should spend the night in
Ottawa, take
a car to Quebec or if her parents should travel to meet her in the
capital city.
Ms. Roblain, a landed immigrant from Belgium who lives with her parents
in
Saint-Anicet, is apparently in good spirits, he said.
She was working for CECI a month ago when she and seven other Canadians
were
taken hostage by an unidentified armed group in Ecuador. She and a Spanish
couple were released Friday after spending a month in captivity in the
Amazon
jungle.
The other Canadians have not been released.
Ms. Roblain had carried with her messages from the remaining hostages
when
she was released last week. But Canada's ambassador to Ecuador, John
Kneale,
refused to comment on the content of the messages.
Ecuador's defence minister rejected suggestions yesterday that the
government
should negotiate with the group holding eight oil workers -- seven
Canadians and
one American - - hostage in jungle on the Colombian border.
"The government of Ecuador must not negotiate with whoever committed
this
grave crime, but it is time to rescue these hostages," Defence Minister
Jose
Gallardo told reporters.
"The armed forces along with police continue to search for the
hostages.
Important activities are under way but we can't make them public at this
time,
" Mr. Gallardo said.
The government believes a Marxist guerrilla group, the Revolutionary
Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC), carried out the abductions, but no one has
claimed
responsibility.
The FARC denied Sept. 17 that it was involved, saying the allegations by
Colombian, Ecuadoran and U.S. authorities were "perverse slander."
The U.S. government has expressed concern Colombia's internal conflict
with
the FARC might spill over into neighbouring countries.
"That a hostage-taking industry sets itself up in Ecuador is very
problematic for us," Mr. Gallardo said.
The FARC, Latin America's oldest leftist insurgency, has a long history
of
using kidnapping ransoms to bankroll its uprising against the Colombian
state.
The oil workers were abducted by armed men in a raid on their camp in
which
an Ecuadoran soldier guarding the oil facilities was killed. The tourists
were
abducted from a nearby location.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
23 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
October 13, 1999
SECTION: News; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 281 words
HEADLINE: Adopted teenager seeks recognition through lawsuit
BYLINE: ALISON SMITH
BODY:
A teenager who was born on the mainland but adopted at the age of
three by a
Hong Kong man is demanding the right to be recognised as his daughter.
Ng Wai-ling, 18, says in a High Court writ she wants to vote and work
in the
SAR, but instead her family is living off public assistance and she is
under
threat of deportation because she is adopted.
The teenager is seeking a declaration that she is a permanent Hong Kong
resident. She also is seeking an order preventing any attempt by the
Government
to deport her.
Her application follows a landmark ruling in the Court of First
Instance in
June in which Mr Justice Brian Keith said children who were adopted on the
mainland should be treated the same as those born to Hong Kong residents.
The Government has stated its intention to appeal against the decision.
Ms Ng was born on the mainland in January 1981, but her natural parents
divorced less than two years later. Her mother, Ng Oi-wa, married Hong
Kong
resident Ng Ma-ho when the teenager was three.
"(Ng Wai-ling) was adopted by the new husband in accordance with the
laws of
the mainland of China," the writ states.
The teenager's mother is a Chinese citizen who lives in Hong Kong but
does
not enjoy the right of abode.
Lawyers for the woman say the Director of Immigration issued a removal
order
in June 1997. Her appeal against deportation was dismissed and she must
report
to the Immigration Department every week.
The lawyers argue that Ng Wai-ling is a permanent resident based on
the court's ruling in favour of adopted children. Yet the director has delayed
granting her permission to remain, pending the proposed appeal.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
24 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
October 13, 1999
SECTION: News; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 123 words
HEADLINE: 70 IIs caught but overall arrest numbers down
BODY:
Seventy Vietnamese and mainland illegal immigrants have been arrested
in a
series of swoops spanning 24 hours.
But despite the large number of arrests, police say the overall number
of
illegal immigrants caught entering the SAR is declining.
Of those rounded up, 39 were Vietnamese, reflecting a slight rise in
the
number of Vietnamese arrested compared with last year.
Anti-illegal immigration operations have resulted in 2,468 arrests for
the
first nine months of this year, compared with 3,501 for the same period
last
year.
The number of Vietnamese illegal immigrants has increased slightly,
with 590
picked up in the first nine months of the year, compared with 525 in the
same
period last year. LYDIA HO
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
25 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 1999 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
October 13, 1999
SECTION: News; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 322 words
HEADLINE: Official regrets expulsion of mainland pair
BODY:
JIMMY CHEUNG An official yesterday expressed regret that two
right-of-abode
claimants were expelled minutes ahead of a court application to stop their
removal.
"This is an unfortunate and isolated incident. The arrangement was
unsatisfactory and we regret it," Deputy Secretary for Security Timothy
Tong
Hin-ming said.
A legislator said the Government appeared to have softened its stance
over
the deportation of the two mainlanders amid growing concerns about
whether it
had put itself above the rule of law.
The Legco home affairs panel yesterday heard that the Immigration
Department
repatriated Lui Kwan-chung, 20, and Chan Fung, 21, on July 21 despite
being told
by the Legal Aid Department that court proceedings were about to take
place.
The Security Bureau later stood by the decision, saying leniency would
encourage abuse and undermine immigration control.
In an apparent bid to restore confidence in the rule of law, Mr Tong
said
the Government would not rush to expel illegal immigrants who had applied
for
legal aid to fight deportation.
"This is our normal practice. If we know that applications (for legal
aid)
have been made, we won't go ahead with the repatriation order," he said.
But he stressed legal aid was not a defence against deportation and
that it
was lawful for the Director of Immigration to enforce the order.
Democrat legislator James To Kun-sun said the Government had softened
its
stance, but said the clarifications were inadequate.
He threatened to consider moving a private member's bill if officials
refused to guarantee that illegal immigrants would not be removed if court
hearings were expected shortly.
But Mr Tong warned that loopholes might be opened up if the Government
made
it a policy not to remove illegal immigrants who had sought legal aid.
He said communication with the Legal Aid Department would be improved
to
avoid problems.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1999
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