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Peace Radio [11-07-2003] In a surreal and escalating war between two
international institutions dedicated to peace, human rights and non-violent
conflict resolution, Radio For Peace International this week appealed to the
Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala
IV) to intervene in the shortwave station's fight for survival against the The legal motion, filed Tuesday and signed
by the station's board of directors and former President Rodrigo Carazo, asks
the Costa Rican court to order the university to repeal the UPEACE-issued
eviction notice and allow the station to continue its worldwide broadcasting
on issues of peace and social justice from the university's campus in Ciudad
Colón, 25 km west of San José. The radio station went off the air
Wednesday at 11 p.m. - for the first time in 16 years - when the university
cut the power to the transmitting building. In July 2002, the university terminated the
operating agreement and gave Radio for Peace 90 days to vacate the land. The
university claims Radio for Peace is operating without a legal contract,
broadcasting on a pirate shortwave band, has not paid outstanding debts to
the university and is not consistent with the moder-nization
efforts of UPEACE. "In the expansion and
internationalization of its programs, UPEACE is emphasizing the use of
state-of-the-art technologies and the Internet to disseminate knowledge and
teaching materials worldwide. As such, UPEACE sees no role for the shortwave
transmissions of [Radio for Peace], which are transmitted principally to Radio for Peace cofounder and director James
Latham dismisses the UPEACE's allegations as: "The same old crap they
throw at us again and again and again." Latham also takes exception to comments
that shortwave radio is antiquated, and therefore no longer relevant. "Such comments show an arrogance
toward the rest of the world that is not connected to the Internet and fall
on the other side of the digital divide," he said, adding that Radio for
Peace's strongest signals are in rural areas in Latin America and the
Caribbean. He claims the attempted shutdown of the radio is a form of
censorship and a violation of press freedom. Perhaps the most important issue at the
root of the eviction order is the fact that UPEACE wants its land back. "The University for Peace is now
expanding it activities in accordance with its mission from the United
Nations General Assembly and is extending the facilities on its campus in The eviction deadline was extended several
times during the last 15 months, but is now being enforced for the first
time, following Radio for Peace's failure to leave by last week's Oct. 31
deadline. UPEACE went on the offensive this week by
ordering university guards to prevent anyone from entering the station,
placing barbwire around the station's already-padlocked gate and cutting off
telephone and water service to the radio station's building. Five members of the station, including
Latham, remained holed up inside the station at press time, afraid that if
they leave they will never be allowed back in and will lose their radio
equipment and the building, which was built with private donations raised by
Radio for Peace. The radio station's journalists, who were
still broadcasting internationally at press time, were being fed by loyal
listeners who slid food through the gate. Buckets that collect rainwater
outside the station were being used to provide drinking water. Watching the university's maintenance staff wrap barbwire around the steel gate - once used to
keep cattle out and now serving as an unfriendly reminder that the peace
station is no longer welcome at UPEACE - Latham on Tuesday maintained a
tragic sense of humor about the situation. "At least they haven't electrified it
yet," he said. On a more serious note, Latham showed the maintenance
workers a magazine picture of Jews locked behind barbwire at a Nazi
concentration camp and comments: "This is how it starts, my
friends." The university argues that the original
1987 operating agreement was signed between UPEACE and a now-defunct UPEACE claims it does not recognize the
station's right to operate on its premises because Radio for Peace is not a
signatory on the agreement. "No such organization as Radio for
Peace International is legally registered either in However, the radio has been registered in
the Radio for Peace International did not
always have recognition problems with UPEACE. According to a document obtained this week
by The Tico Times, former Vice-Rector Francisco Barahona issued the station a letter in September 1990
saying: "Radio for Peace International is authorized to construct a new
transmitting building and antenna system at the campus of the University for
Peace and has exclusive use of said installations." Although Radio for Peace built its $200,000
two-story transmitting station with funds raised from grants and listeners,
the University for Peace has not offered to pay an indemnification for the
property, according to Latham, who claims the station doesn't have any money
to relocate. The university's lawyers, meanwhile, claim
they can't pay an indemnification to a "non-existent" entity. Latham dismisses charges that Radio for
Peace is broadcasting on illegal shortwave bands, claiming that frequency
7445MHz is an international band registered with the High Frequency Coordi-nation Committee. Since the radio is broadcasting
from UN-owned territory, Latham claims he is able to broadcast on
international bands (TT, July 25). The radio station and the UPEACE attempted
to resolve their differences in a series of meetings beginning last August
(TT, Aug. 1). But the talks collapsed last month when the two sides failed to
reach any agreement. Radio for Peace has sent two letters to UN
Secretary General Koffi Annan, but the man who is
apparently spearheading the ouster effort is UPEACE President and
Under-Secretary General of the UN, Maurice Strong. Strong, who spends his time at the General
Assembly in Latham, meanwhile, continues to scratch his
head over a raging conflict between organizations dedicated to peace and
human rights. "The UPEACE teaches Master's courses
in conflict resolution. But if they can't do it here, it is going to be even
harder in the |