This year Thailand's GDP will shrink 7 percent, Malaysia's 6 percent, and the Philippines' nearly 2 percent. Most of these countries are expected to stay in recession next year.
Many banks in these countries are nearing collapse. In Indonesia bad loans could rise 35 percent by year's end. Thailand can expect a 30 percent rise, Malaysia 25 percent, and at least 10 percent for the Philippines. Official unemployment rates have risen 13 percent in the Philippines, 9 percent in Indonesia, 7 percent in Malaysia, and 8 percent in Thailand. "Over 30 billion dollars fled Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines in 1997 and 1998 (as a result of the crisis which has been pounding the region since July 1997)," the ADB reported.
Indonesian troops massacred W. Papua independence fighters
The facts about a government-organized massacre of scores of
West Papuan independence fighters were recently pieced together
based on accounts of the Biak people. The island is just off
the New Guinea coast. In the first days of July, Biak residents
held a festival commemorating the July 1, 1961, proclamation of
West Papuan independence from New Guinea. Part of the
ceremonies included a four-day raising of the West Papuan
independence movement flag. The Indonesian government caught
word of the flag raising and sent a memo to surrounding police
stations warning of a "rash of OPM- led pro-independence
actions." OPM is the acronym of the Free Papua movement.
Indonesian troops stormed the activities. The crowd resisted attempts to "give guidance and direction" to the demonstrators, as a local military commander put it. At 5:30 a.m. the next morning, as 200 participants slept at the tall tower the flag was hanging from, soldiers opened fire. According to reports from Biak survivors, many people were brutally tortured, raped, and killed. Dozens of people were bound and thrown into the sea. Government officials claim only one or two people were killed that morning. But as weeks passed following the attack, bodies began washing ashore in the area.
Indonesia: protests persist
November 26 marked yet another of the near-daily protests
occurring across Indonesia in response to the deepening
economic crisis there. More than 1,000 students marching toward
the house of former Indonesian president Suharto in the capital
city of Jakarta, were blocked by government troops. Two-hundred
more protesters attempted a sit-in at the attorney general's
office. Dozens more held an action outside Television Republik
Indonesia against the network's coverage of the protests. In
Pinrang, located on Sulawesi island 850 miles northeast of
Jakarta, residents hit the streets en masse protesting the
inability of banks to handle customer withdrawals. A day
earlier in Semarang, students held protests against government
corruption. Cops attacked the demonstrators, injuring at least
54. Some 31 people have been killed in demonstrations in
Jakarta in the past two weeks alone.
Zimbabwe unions add demands
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) suspended its
third one-day strike November 23, giving the government one
week to respond to expanded demands. Unionists demand that
President Robert Mugabe reduce his ministerial staff from 55 to
15, the government reschedule debt repayments, an audit of
government spending, all funds stolen through corruption be
recovered, the media be freed from government control, and that
a new constitution be prepared by 1999. These proposals are in
addition to demanding subsidized fuel prices, which shot up 67
percent October 31.
The first two nationwide strikes brought the country to a virtual standstill. The ZCTU vowed to continue the walkouts if their demands are not met. "Everywhere in Zimbabwe people are frustrated both by their rising poverty and lack of any serious steps to address it," said ZCTU general secretary Morgan Tsvangirai.
Le Pen banned from office
Ultrarightist Jean-Marie Le Pen, a central leader of the
National Front in France, was banned from holding government
office for a year for physically assaulting Socialist Party
candidate Annette Peulvast-Bergeal in 1997. According to an
article in the Financial Times, this was the first such ban was
made by the courts. Le Pen, who is notorious for his openly
racist and other reactionary positions, blasted the
government's as an attempt to "shove aside Jean-Marie Le Pen,
who enjoys the confidence of millions of voters."
The National Front has won 15 percent of the vote in the previous legislative and presidential elections. If Le Pen does not appeal this decision to a higher court, he will have to resign from his seat as a member of the European parliament and will have to relinquish his position as councilor on the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azul regional administration.
UN cops will remain in Haiti
The United Nations Security Council decided to keep UN police
in Haiti for another year, after the original 1997 resolution
stated they were to leave at the end of this year. Moscow and
Beijing reportedly abstained from the vote. The cops replaced
the 1,300-member UN "peacekeeping" team sent in 1995. While
Haitian president Rene Preval requested the extension, many
members of Haiti's parliament have openly opposed it. The UN
police are supposedly there to train Haitian cops. Meanwhile,
Haitian police were confronted by angry protests November 7,
after unjustly arresting a bus driver in Saint-Michel-Gonaives.
Demonstrators marched to the local headquarters of the Haitian
National Police, demanding Michel Gaspard's release. When the
cops refused, residents chased them into hiding, burned up the
police station and one cop car. Protesters blocked roads,
causing public transportation to be suspended. The so-called
Intervention and Maintenance of Order Company attacked
residents, arresting 13 people and wounding four.
Florida: antichoice law struck
A Florida law banning late-term abortions in the state,
passed in June but suspended by a temporary restraining order,
was ruled unconstitutional November 24 by U.S. District Judge
Donald Graham. Doctors at the two-day hearing, which took place
in August, testified that the law, though supposedly aimed at
ending a particular type of abortion, would make nearly all
abortions illegal. About 80,000 abortions are performed
annually in Florida, all but a tiny fraction in the first two
trimesters. Similar laws have also been found unconstitutional
in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, and Montana.
BRIAN TAYLOR