-Caveat Lector- Peace Advocates Gather in The Hague THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Peace advocates are gathering this week to promote a 21st century without war, launching campaigns against nuclear weapons, child soldiers and small arms. Some 5,000 participants -- including Nobel laureates, religious leaders, and the U.N. secretary-general -- will meet in the Netherlands for a four-day conference beginning today to discuss how to create ``a culture of peace'' in the new millennium. The conference is launching several political campaigns including efforts to stop the use of child soldiers, nuclear weapons and small arms. Two other new programs will promote education about peace and raise support for the permanent international criminal court. The Washington-based Worldwatch Institute also hopes the conference will produce a peace proposal for the Balkans. Special sessions on the crisis in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo have been added to the schedule. The Hague Appeal for Peace Conference commemorates the 100th anniversary of the First International Peace Conference, an 1899 meeting that sought to avert violence in the 20th Century. The 1899 meeting was called by Russian Czar Nicholas II, who feared German aggression and hoped to avert danger. Worldwatch estimates that by 1995, 110 million people had died in war. ``There are no guarantees for a different outcome, but there is more political space and open discussion about what can be done,'' said Michael Renner, a senior researcher at Worldwatch. ``Just the experience of the 20th century can be seen as a warning. We have to pay closer attention to the root causes of conflict.'' U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Queen Noor of Jordan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor and John Hume of Northern Ireland are among those planning to attend. One Nobel laureate who will not attend is Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. In a tape due to be played at the conference, Suu Kyi said that a life without peace was not worth living. Life in military-ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, is like a ``battlefield'' where human rights are constantly abused, she said. ``When we talk of peace we cannot avoid talking about human rights, especially in a country like Burma where the people are troubled constantly by the lack of justice, by the lack of peace,'' she said. Myanmar has been run by the military for decades. In 1990, the junta refused to recognize elections that gave Suu Kyi's party a landslide victory. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
