|
The Newsletter of
the
Socio-Ecological Union
A Center for Coordination
and Information
|
Moscow, Russia -- Issue N 9 (43),
April 3, 2003
SEU Times is a newsletter devoted to environmental news, events, NGO work
within former Soviet Union territory. Currently it is mailed out on special
occasions.
MORE NEWS IN ENGLISH FROM SEU-TERRITORY are available on Ecoport - green
news project English version at http://www.seu.ru/news_en/npa.php
NEW!!!
CURRENT FOREST NEWS FROM SEU TERRITORY are now available at
www.forest.ru/eng/news
IN THIS ISSUE:
FARID TUKHBATULLIN: TURKMENISTAN PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE IS RELEASED
DANUBE BIOSPHERE RESERVE NEEDS YOUR SOLIDARITY AGAIN!!!!
FARID TUKHBATULLIN: TURKMENISTAN PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE IS RELEASED
April 2, 2003 the environmental activist Farid Tukhbatullin was released
from prison.
Late at night Turkmenistan national TV-channel has reported that the
presidential pardon was granted to Farid Tukhbatullin. Probable reason of
pardon are numerous protests of international community, and also the
promise made by Turkmen President Saparmurad Niazov to Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer, the chair in office of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) during his visit in Turkmenistan in March.
As we already reported, March 4 the Azaltyck District court of Ashgabat (the
capital of Turkmenistan) has convicted Farid Tukhbatullin to 3 years of
imprisonment. He was accused of illegitimate crossing of border between
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (article 210 (1) of Turkmenistan Criminal Code)
and misprision (article 214).
The environmentalist was accused of non reporting of preparing attempt on
the President Saparmurad Niyazov, which in opinion of Turkmen authorities,
was discussed at Human Rights Conference held November 2002 in Moscow. In
fact, Farid had become the victim of the wave of "witch-hunt" raised after
the attempt on the President of the country.
The conference was organized by International Helsinki Federation and
"Memorial" Human Rights organization. The members of international human
rights organizations - Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Human Rights
League, Amnesty International - took part in the conference. All these
organizations witnessed for Farid Tukhbatullin innocence in court, and
insisted on peace content of the conference. The authorities of
Turkmenistan, however, have found participation of Farid Tukhbatullin in the
conference and non-reporting of its content criminal, and he was imprisoned.
Tukhbatullin was also charged in illegal crossing of Turkmen border. The
reason for this charge has become missed stamp of border crossing in
Tukhbatullin's passport, that frontier official accidentally forgot to
stamp.
More info on the case is at http://www.seu.ru/projects/eng/farid
DANUBE BIOSPHERE RESERVE NEEDS YOUR SOLIDARITY AGAIN!!!!
Dear friends!
The Ukrainian Ministry of Transport still cannot leave in peace Danube
Biosphere reserve and insists on deep-water canal construction through its
territory. Now the main idea is that some of the documents for reserve
establishment were falsified and that was how the estuaries were included
into reserve. Its absolute and stupid lie, however, they are going to bring
this issue up on April 10 at Ukrainian Parliament's National committee on
safety meeting. So once again we will have to send faxes for the sake of
Danube's wildlife.
Please, do it before April 9.
More info is at http://www.seu.ru/projects/eng/dunay
Open Letter
Letter to:
For faxes - Kiev code: 8-10-380-44
President of Ukraine L. Kuchma:
fax: 291-61-61;
e-mail: questions@adm.gov.ua
Prime Minister of Ukraine V. Yanukovich:
fax: 226-20-77,
e-mail: portal@kmu.gov.ua
Chairman Of the Verkhovnaya Rada Committee of Ukraine on National
Safety and
Defense G.Kryuchkov:
fax: 255-49-28.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine A. Zlenko:
fax: 253-94-93,
e-mail: zsmfa@mfa.gov.ua
Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources V. Shevchuk:
fax: 229-83-83,
e-mail: mep@mep.freenet.kiev.ua
Minister of Economy and European Integration of Ukraine V. Khoroshkovsky:
fax: 253-06-83.
Minister of Transport of Ukraine G.Kirpa:
fax: 268-22-02,
e-mail: com@mintrans.gov.ua
Chairman of Committee on Border Control N. Litvin:
fax: 212-39-80,
e-mail: dkk@pvu.gov.ua
Odessa region Administration Head S Grineveckiy.
e-mail: webadmin@ogn.odessa.net
Danube Biosphere reserve's wholeness must be preserved!
The deep-water ship canal should go beyond the protected territories
borders.
Dear Sirs!
For year and a half by now Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences together
with environmental NGOs resist the attempts of Ukrainian Ministry of
Transport to construct a deep-water ship canal through Bistro Estuary within
strictly protected zone of Danube Biosphere reserve.
Almost for year and a half world scientific and environmental community
evinces to Ukrainian authorities the value of Danube biosphere reserve and
absurdity of construction within the protected zone. In December 2002 more
than 300 organizations from 64 countries sent their letters to the President
of Ukraine for the sake of the reserve.
However, the lobbyists of the canal construction still hope to pull through
their project. At the end of February 2003 Minister Georgy Kirpa told the
press about the plans of his office to withdraw the estuaries from the
protected area.
The issue of the Danube-Black Sea canal construction through Bystroe Esturay
will be considered on April 10 2003 on Ukrainian Parliament Committee on
National Safety meeting. Strangely, the alternative canal variant is not on
schedule.
This is why we remind you the following facts:
The canal construction will irreversibly change the hydrological regime of
the delta, disturb natural processes of delta formation, inescapable
pollution of the ecosystem by oil products, change the habitat for most of
the species, decrease of the trade fishery amount, will threaten endangered
species inhabiting the area.
The construction of the canal calls for the creation of a navigable opening
through the sand bars of the delta and the deepening of one of the central
branches of the Danube for shipping lanes. The building of the canal through
the nature reserve will necessitate the removal of water-area and adjacent
islands, dividing the reserve into two isolated sections. The latest version
of the Ministry of Transportation's plans envisions the removal of all the
water-area along the coastal sections of the reserve - a total of 5.600
hectares of channel, lake and coastal shallow waters.
The withdrawal of all the water-area along the delta in the reserve will
worsen or even make impossible the nesting of tens of thousand birds. The
reserve will lose practically all the places where flocks of waterfowl and
near-water dwelling birds congregate seasonally. The natural habitats of
birds in these territories will be radically damaged. Just in the proposed
zone of the shipping lanes reside 223 species of birds, including 5 on the
European Red List and 31 in the Red Book of Ukraine. On the territory also
reside or temporarily inhabit many rare and disappearing species of mammals
and insects. The normal habitats of many of them are incompatible with what
is being planned. If the plans of the Ministry of Transportation are
realized, the Danube Biosphere Reserve will actually lose its importance on
an international and national level.
The proposed construction project violates both national legislation and
international obligations of Ukraine.
We do not by any means oppose the restoration of ship transit through the
Ukrainian part of the Danube delta. We want to draw your attention to the
fact that the alternative canal variants beyond the Bystroe estuary do
exist; some of them have investors, while Mintrans wants to withdraw money
from state budget - the money of Ukrainian taxpayers. Is not this a root
cause for the Mintrans insistence on Bystroe project and sabotage of all
alternatives?
Taking in account all listed above, we consider repugnant the deep-water
canal construction through Bystroe estuary within strictly protected zone of
the Danube Biosphere reserve. Attempts to change the borders of the
biosphere reserve and to withdraw part of its key protected area will have a
negative impact on the international image of Ukraine, especially taking in
account the fact that Ukraine is hosting European Ecoforum in May 2003.
We hope that Ukrainian authorities will take all necessary steps to conserve
the reserve.
Signatures
We ask to send copies of your letters to Pechenegi group at
pecheneg@ic.kharkov.ua
Back to SEU Times home page
This issue was written and complied by
Sviatoslav Zabelin - the SEU Council Co-Chair, svet@seu.ru
Olga Berlova, Victoria Kolesnikova seupress@seu.ru, translated by Alla
Kapoustina
Previous Issues of The SEU Times may be found at www.seu.ru/seu-news/eng
"The Online Gadfly" at www.igc.org/gadfly
|
