Documents and publications
Newsletter Nº 21
Augus 6, 2004

CONTENT:

1. JUSTICE IS ASKED TO DISARM CELLULLAR PHONE'S ANTENNAS
   
   
2. PRESENTATION OF THE PUBLICATION "ADRIANA SCHIFFRIN
   ESSAY PRIZE - 2003"
   

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JUSTICE IS ASKED TO DISARM CELLULLAR
PHONE SYSTEM'S ANTENNAS
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With the sponsorship of the lawyers of the Citizen Control Program on Environment, the local associations Belgrano "C" Manuel Belgrano, and Belgrano "C" San Benito, presented an injunctive relief in order to disarm six cellular phone's antennas that were illegally installed in the area of Parque 3 de Febrero (known as "Los Lagos de Palermo").
This area, considered as one of the main green lungs of the city, is protected by the Urban Planning Code in the category of Urbanization Park (UP) and Area of Historical Protection (Área de Protección Histórica -APH 2 -"Parque 3 de Febrero"). However, the public space has been permanently reduced by different constructions and now by the proliferation of the cellular phone's antennas.

The said ones have been installed without authorization or permission from the local and national authorities, that it is why they are clandestine ones. As it is mentioned in diverse researches of the Defensoría del Pueblo of the City of Buenos Aires, at present none of the installed antennas count on the correspondent study of environmental impact.

It is important to outline that the installation of the cellular phone's structures is being carried out in such an unmeasured and uncontrolled way in the entire city, and this shows the urgent need of actions from the competent official public organisms.

In the other hand, it is questioned the effects of the non-ionizing emissions of the antennas on people's health. Some important organisms have issued a report on this; among them it is important to mention the International Health Organization, which has exhorted to apply the precautionary measure. This measure has been received in our country by the Environmental General Law (25,675), establishing that "when there exists danger of serious or irreversible damage, the lack of information or scientific accuracy should not be used as a reason to postpone the adoption of efficient measures, according to the costs, in order to avoid the environmental degradation ".

In the injunctive relief presented on August 3rd, the NGOs asked the Justice to remove immediately the said antennas and to warn the Government of the City to exercise the police's power in this issue, because the exponential and uncontrolled development of the activity affects the right to health, quality of life and environment of the citizens.
This report was presented before the Administrative Litigation Contentious Jurisdiction of the City of Buenos Aires Nº 9 Secretariat Nº 17, and is in charge of the Judge Alfredo A. Kersman.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

   Dr. Andres Nápoli / Juan Martín Vezzulla / Daniel Perpiñal
   4787-3820/4783-7032 ext. 216 and 222

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PRESENTATION OF THE PUBLICATION
"Adriana Schiffrin Essay Prize- 2003"
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In June, FARN published the awarded works in the second issue of "Adriana Schiffrin Essay Prize". This time, the researches were about "Governance for the Sustainable Development ".

The purpose of Adriana Schiffrin Essay's Award is to remember and pay tribute to an exceptional woman, who fought for the ideal of the environmental conservation and the promotion of the sustainable development, with the hope that her seed spreads all over the dreams of the new generations.

This publication confirms FARN's commitment regarding the institutionalization of an annual award for the promotion of the ideas and institutions in order to reach the sustainable development.
It is open the call to the third issue of the "Adriana Schiffrin Essay Prize - 2004" on Minimal Standards of Environmental Protection. The papers will be received until October 4th.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

   Adriana Schiffrin Essay Prize Website
   http://www.farn.org.ar/investigacion/premio/