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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (15258)	8/27/2002 4:47:11 PM
From: Alan Whirlwind	Respond to of 80924

That's what I got for being a taxpayer!

To: sea_urchin who wrote (15258)	9/2/2002 9:59:17 AM
From: Alan Whirlwind	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 80924

Speaking of ripoffs, how about Freeport's big gold mine: >>...The Grasberg mine has long been seen by Papuans as a symbol of Indonesia's occupation and economic exploitation of the resource-rich province, and the ambush highlighted the government's tenuous control over the region, 2,500 miles east of Jakarta. In Kuala Kencana, an entire town built by Freeport to house some of its 16,000 workers, armed soldiers patrolled the streets and stood guard outside the company's buildings. The company that runs the mine - an affiliate of New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper-and-Gold Inc. - said production at the open pit mine wasn't affected by the attack. Rights activists accuse Indonesian soldiers guarding the mine of committing numerous abuses. They have raised concerns that a crackdown against pro-independence groups and rights activists would increase after the killings. ``We fear that more rights abuses will occur and innocent civilians would be harassed,'' said Aloysius Renwarin from Elsham, a human rights group in Papua. Local activists have also accused the mine - which can excavate nearly 200,000 tons of ore a day - of polluting the environment. They also claim Freeport obtained the rights to the mine through a private deal with the corrupt regime of Gen. Suharto, Indonesia's former dictator. Freeport denies claims of pollution, rights abuses or fraud in securing rights to the mine and says it has done much to aid and develop local communities. Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, was occupied by Indonesia in 1963 after the Dutch colonial administration withdrew. In 1969, about 1,000 hand-picked tribal elders voted for union with Indonesia in a process human rights groups dismissed as a sham but was recognized by the United Nations.<<