[Intl-tobacco] "U.S. Pack of Lies" demo in NYC
Robert Weissman
rob@essential.org
Tue, 06 Aug 2002 23:21:21 -0700
Dear Friends,
Here's a report on the demonstration at the UN last week. Many thanks to
all who participated, mobilized people to come out to the event, and/or
who send messages of solidarity and support!
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"U.S. PACK OF LIES" PROTEST AT THE UN
NEW YORK CITY, AUGUST 1, 2002
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This report is up at: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/nycdemo/
Last Thursday, several hundred people -- including 200 teens involved
with the youth empowerment program Reality Check -- convened near the
United Nations headquarters in New York City to send a strong message to
the U.S. delegation to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control:
SAVE LIVES, NOT BIG TOBACCO! For more information on the FCTC and how
the U.S. government is undermining global public health by fronting for
Big Tobacco see:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/nycdemo/announce.html
U.S. PACK-OF-LIES
The centerpiece of the demonstration was a 10-foot-high prop resembling
a Marlboro pack, with the words "U.S. Pack-of-Lies." Accompanying the
pack were a couple of large, removable cigarettes bearing common "lies"
promoted by both the U.S. delegation and Philip Morris (e.g. Low Tar
Death is Healthier). Another two cigarettes bore "truths" (e.g. Tobacco
Money is Addictive). Participants were asked to play "Two Truths, Two
Lies" and guess which two cigarettes represented positions taken by the
tobacco industry (and the U.S. government). Photos of prop:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/uspackoflies.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/group.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/group2.jpg
SPEAKERS EMPHASIZE GLOBAL SOLIDARITY AGAINST BIG TOBACCO
The demonstration featured a diverse array of speakers of different
nationalities, cultures, languages, and ages. International speakers
presented outrageous examples of tobacco promotion in their countries
and called on the U.S. to support a strong FCTC:
* Konstantin Krasovsky (Director, Alcohol and Drug Information
Center, UKRAINE) showed attendees an L & M advertisement
featuring a pregnant-looking woman and a toy racing car
bedecked with the Marlboro logo.
Photos:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/uk/preg.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ectoh2002/marlborocarbaby.jpg
* Inoussa Saouna (President, SOS Tabagisme - NIGER) called for
international solidarity against Big Tobacco. Last year,
Saouna was fired from his job at a radio station for tipping
off the New York Times about Philip Morris concerts at which
kids as young as 10 were given free cigarettes. More recently,
he has taken five tobacco companies (including the one that
represents Philip Morris) to court for violating Niger's
tobacco advertising ban.
NYT article:
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/intl-tobacco/2001q3/000577.html
More info:
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/campaign/global/FCTCreport2.pdf
(page 10)
Photos:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/saouna2.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/saouna4.jpg
* Eduardo Bianco (Chairman, Tobacco Control Committee,
Sindicato Medico del URUGUAY) described how the tobacco
industry sponsored the Uruguayan soccer team during the recent
World Cup. Newspaper photos of the event bore the logo of the
cigarette brand "Nevada." More info:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/aofm/0205/seffrin.html
Photos: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ur/
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/bianco.jpg
* Akinbode Olufemi (Tobacco Control Advocate, Environmental
Rights Action/Friends of the Earth - NIGERIA) called for the
U.S. to follow the leadership of African nations in supporting
a strong FCTC. His Global Partner, Tim Nichols (Director of
Government Affairs, American Lung Association of New York),
joined him to offer words of solidarity.
* Clive Bates (Director, Action on Smoking and Health - UNITED
KINGDOM) riled up the crowd with examples of the tobacco
industry's ties to terrorist organizations around the world.
Photo:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/bates.jpg
U.S. speakers:
* Kirvia Ubri and Candierrick Narcisse (teen members, Reality
Check - Bronx Chapter). Kirvia presented a powerful poem about
Big Tobacco's lies and manipulation. Read the poem at:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/nycdemo/poem.html.
Photo:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/kirvia.jpg
Candierrick called on the U.S. delegation to "make sure that
those who choose to put profit over health are held
responsible for all the harm they are causing our communities
here in the USA and around the world."
Read the speech:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/nycdemo/speech.html
* Joanne Koldare (Director, NYC Coalition for a Smoke Free
City) underlined the relevance of international tobacco
control to New York City, where 40% of the residents are
foreign born, and called on the U.S. delegation to support a
strong FCTC -- or remove themselves from the negotiations.
Colleagues held signs with the Korean translation of "Save
Live, Not Big Tobacco."
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/koldare.jpg
* Kristina (teen member, Reality Check - Richmond Co.)
displayed examples of tobacco advertising in the countries of
Georgia and the Czech Republic which rely upon New York
cityscapes and icons (e.g. Statue of Liberty) and denounced
the tobacco industry's use of New York City to promote
cigarettes abroad. To view examples, go to:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ga/dream.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/cz/nycpm.jpg
* Patti Lynn (Campaign Director, Infact) gave a brief overview
of Big Tobacco's use of political influence to undermine the
FCTC negotiations. For more info see:
http://press.psprings.co.uk/tc/june/4_200261.pdf
AN AUDIO - VISUAL AFFAIR: BANNERS, POSTERS & CHANTS!
Reality Check teens brought many homemade props, banners, and signs,
including a large skeleton holding wads of money, with its mouth filled
with giant cigarettes -- and a sign featuring a Marlboro pack sitting on
the globe with the caption "World's #1 Terrorist." Other signs
provided: "U.S., WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? BIG TOBACCO OR PUBLIC HEALTH,"
"U.S. & PHILIP MORRIS: STOP THE KILLING," and a Big Tobacco Grim Reaper
holding a "U.S. Delegation to the FCTC" scythe. Photos:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/skeleton.jpg,
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/grimreaper.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/whoseside.jpg
Large, colorful, multilingual banners commissioned by Minnesota-based
Target Market on behalf of international groups involved in Essential
Action's Global Partnerships program decorated the periphery. The
banners will be sent tobacco control groups in Ghana, Malaysia,
Mauritius, Russia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Uruguay. Teens wrote messages
of solidarity on Eduardo Bianco's (Uruguay) banner, which his
organization plans to use in their campaign to pass a tobacco
advertising ban.
Examples:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/uruguay.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/flsenegal.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/ilghana.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/mauritius.jpg
Teens involved with NY's Reality Check program enthusiastically shouted
a variety of chants -- including a Spanish chant to express solidarity
with Uruguayan speaker Eduardo Bianco. See chants at:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/nycdemo/chants.html
Additional photos up at:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/nycdemo/
NATIONAL AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT ENDORSED EVENT:
American Lung Association, American Lung Association of New York State,
American Lung Association of the City of New York, American Cancer
Society (NY), Center for Tobacco Free New York, Chinese American
Planning Council, Essential Action, Infact, New York's Asian American
and Pacific Islander Tobacco Control Network, NYC Coalition For A Smoke
Free City, SmokeFree Educational Services, Inc., South Asian League of
Artists in America, South Bronx Clean Air Coalition.
CONFERENCE CENSORS INFO ABOUT DEMONSTRATION
The International Conference on Illicit Tobacco Trade (ICITT), organized
by the U.S., intentionally tried to suppress information about the
demonstration. In the days preceding the event, security guards stopped
a consultant for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids at the UN entrance
and thoroughly searched all his papers. The guards were overheard saying
that they were looking for "flyers about a demonstration." On Thursday
morning, Essential Action passed out flyers to conference delegates at
the entrance to the UN. UN security guards soon arrived, holding several
flyers that they had confiscated from delegates. They announced that it
is prohibited to distribute anything "against the U.S." on UN grounds.
See the flyer:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/nycdemo/flyer2.doc
----------------
Essential Action
P.O. Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: +1 202-387-8030
Fax: +1 292-234-5176
Email: tobacco@essential.org
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco