Urgent request from the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) for support for the anti-WTO accession civil society campaign in Vanuatu

I urge you to consider if your organisation is prepared to sign-on to the letter. If it is please let the PANG Campaigner Adam Wolfenden know by emailing him at: pang_campaigner@pang.org.fj
You may be aware that the Vanuatu government has banned protests and is now investigating NGOs to see if they breached the Charities Act. This of course is almost identical to how John Howard tried to tame civil society in Australia which culminated in the AID/WATCH High Court victory. The following are three stories about this action by the Vanuatu Government.
From: http://dailypost.vu/content/govt-says-nothing-will-stop-wto-accession
From: http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=64573
From: http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=64581

This turn of events is very disturbing for those who support democratic principles.
It also shows that the anti-WTO accession efforts were making serious headway and confirms that the government is scared of losing the vote in parliament - despite holding a significant majority. The decision by the Prime Minister and Minister is in direct response to the civil society campaign which had been turning many MPs against the WTO accession package. Technical issues (i.e the government didn't provide the entire package to MPs to examine) have led to the parliamentary vote being postponed until Monday. For those who have not followed the ld up to this should be aware that the accession package was arrived at in the led up to Russia's accession package being negotiated. The US was heavily involved to ensure that nothing was given to Vanuatu that could flow onto Russia. As a result the Vanuatu package is one of the worst ever handed out to a developing country on accession to the WTO.

Yours In Unity   Harvey @ AFTINET campaign@aftinet.org.au