scoop.co.nz Wednesday, 25 June 2003, 10:11 am Press Release: US State Department

Supporting Human Rights And Democracy: The U.S. Record 2002-2003

Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State; Lorne W. Craner, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Remarks on The Release of Department's New Annual Publication Washington, DC June 24, 2003

MR. REEKER: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to the State Department. Welcome to our special briefing this morning on "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record from 2002-2003." As advertised, we have the Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Richard Armitage, to deliver some brief remarks, and then Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Lorne Craner, will have additional remarks and be able to take your questions.

So, with no further ado, I would like to turn the podium over to Deputy Secretary Armitage.

Deputy Secretary Armitage remarks on the Release of Departments New Annual Publication -Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2002-2003. State Department Photo by Michael Gross DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Thank you, Phil. Good morning.

In 1948, when much of the world was still a post-war landscape of wreckage and rubble, the community of nations came together to build a new moral landscape, one based on a common standard of universal human rights. The governments of the world have reached for that standard ever since with varying degrees of success.

You might say that the U.S. Government has counted those degrees of success in inches. Every year, for the last 25 years, we have released a ten-inch-high report on human rights violations around the world. The bulk alone speaks volumes about the distance the world still needs to travel between the reality of the day and the high standard we all want to reach.

Documenting that distance is an important exercise. In some cases, scrutiny alone can motivate governments and individuals to change for the better. And while we in the United States Government believe in the power of information, we also believe in the importance of action. And so the employees of the Department of State are out in force around the world, working every day to make human rights a reality.

So I am pleased today to release for the first time a public record of those efforts. This document, "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy," looks at our work in some 92 countries with especially problematic and persistent human rights violations.

In these pages, you will find countries such as Burma and Burundi, where brutal regimes and relentless conflict have exacted a terrible daily toll of human misery. Acting alone and in concert with other governments and organizations, the United States has brought pressure to bear on both countries to release prisoners and to respect human rights, to reform the government and to reach for peace. We have worked to help create better living conditions for local populations in both places by supporting projects on everything from post-traumatic counseling to the demobilization and rehabilitation of child soldiers.

But you will also find Bahrain in these pages, a country we consider to be a key player in the war against terrorism, but one which we nevertheless hold to that same high standard. And, indeed, Bahrain has shown a commitment to improving its protection of human rights, which we have supported just as in Burundi and just as in Burma with a variety of civil society projects.

Deputy Secretary Armitage remarks on the Release of Departments New Annual Publication -Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2002-2003. State Department Photo by Michael Gross And I could go on. After all, I haven't even made it out of the Bs yet. But I think you can see the common thread that links the entities together. With friends and with foe alike, the United States is engaged in diplomacy, policy and hands-on projects to redress wrongs, but to also address the structural flaws that can lead to such violations in the first place. Indeed, freedom and human dignity are indivisible. And so it follows that many of our programs and policies are aimed at developing democratic institutions and representative governments.

But what you should really know about all of the demarches and all of the dialogues and the thousands of projects you will read about in these pages is that this is actually what we do every day; this is our daily regimen at this Department of State. It is also a representative sample of the hard work of many hands, including our partners in Congress, other agencies and organizations overseas and here at home, as well as other governments and brave individuals.

And counted among those brave individuals are our own Department of State personnel, such as the staff who stitch together the untold stories that make up this report and those cited in the closing chapter for their extraordinary dedication. I commend them for all of their work and I commend them to you as exemplars of the way in which this Department is implementing the vision of this President and the values of our American people every single day.

So, with that, I am delighted to give the helm to Assistant Secretary Craner, who is the one who orchestrated this mighty effort.

Lorne.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Well, thank you all for being here for today's release of "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy." For a quarter of a century, the State Department has issued a separate volume, "The Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices." That document has a hard won reputation as the most comprehensive, accurate volume on human rights conditions around the globe.

But many have asked about the connection between these reports and our policy. For all of their value in spotlighting human rights abuse, the Country Reports don't answer a very simple question: "What are we doing about it?"

Since becoming Assistant Secretary two years ago, I have wanted to include in our reporting a compendium of the work we are doing to advance human rights and democracy. We will not shy away from criticizing human rights violations abroad. But, in addition, we want to take concrete steps to help the builders of democracy.

In short, our support for human rights is more than a once-a-year exercise in identifying abuses. It is a day-in/day-out effort of the Department of State, other U.S. Government agencies and U.S. missions overseas. This new annual report, "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy," answers the "What are we doing about it" question for 92 of the world's most serious human rights violators.

I want to thank everybody in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor for their hard work in compiling this report. I want to particularly acknowledge Liz Dugan and Sally Buikema of my bureau, and the editors-in-chief, Cynthia Bunton, of our Country Reports Office, and Rob Jackson of the Office of Promoting Human Rights and Democracy.

I want to thank the other personnel in my bureau who worked on this report, the other bureaus in the Department, other U.S. agencies and U.S. missions overseas who have contributed to the report. Most of all, I want to thank the foreign service officers -- and you will see many of their names in the very back of this book -- who have demonstrated through their activities an unwavering commitment to advancing U.S. interests by support for human rights and democracy around the world.

Thank you, and I'll take your questions.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, there are 92 countries in this report. Does this mean that the countries we don't have in this report have good records? For example, Turkey is not included in this report.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: We were asked by the Congress to issue a report, not on all countries that are members of the UN, as we do for the Annual Country Reports, for this one. We were asked to do a report on countries where there is pervasive torture, disappearances and other serious violations of human rights. And so we came up with a list of 92 where those things occur regularly.

QUESTION: Yes. The last Human Rights Report, U.S. Human Rights Reports, questioning on Venezuela, the independence of powers, the strength of the Venezuelan institutions and the freedom of expression. I just want to know, it's in any way different, this report, and which incident would have in the relationships between Venezuela and the United States?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: No, I think we still -- we still have concerns about Venezuela, including independence of the media, independence of labor unions, and other issues. And I know we are working very, very closely with the OAS to try and better the situation there.

QUESTION: The report talks a lot about the Millennium Challenge Account, at least addresses, says this is going to be important, particularly for Africa. But this program doesn't seem to have gotten off the ground. Can you give us a sense of where you are on that?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Where we are on it is working through with Congress how much is going to be in the first year. The Millennium Challenge Account is designed to expand by 50 percent over the next -- in the next three years, our assistance, foreign aid abroad, to add an extra $5 billion in year three to that account, and, thereafter, to continue at that level. It's designed to help countries that are advancing politically, economically and socially, that have demonstrated a commitment to improving their lot on those scores.

Where we are right now is walking through with Congress and working through with Congress how much the first year of funding is going to be. But, as I said, it was designed originally to be a three-year ramp-up to the full amount of $5 billion.

QUESTION: Assistant Secretary, what would you say to -- I mean --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: What page are you on?

QUESTION: I have a question about people who are -- what would you say to people who would argue that because Israel and Turkey are not in this list that you have somehow spared U.S.'s -- America's closest allies, who other independent groups have singled out in the past for their human rights abuses?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: If you look closely in the Middle East section, you'll see West Bank and Gaza are in there.

QUESTION: West Bank, Gaza --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: -- are in there.

QUESTION: With regard to Turkey --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Within Israel, we have never -- we have always said within Israel the human rights situation is good, but the human rights situation in the West Bank caused by Israel and by the Palestinians is not good, and so we address that in this report.

QUESTION: My mistake. But what about Turkey? I mean, Turkey is a --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: We don't find that same level as these other countries, but you will find many, many U.S. allies. You find all of Central Asia in this. You find many countries in the Middle East that are allies. You won't lack for allies, if you look through the report.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is it fair to say that these are the 92 worst?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: That's a fair assessment, both democratically and human rights. You can have countries that are progressing on democracy, but they still have human rights problems. And you see many of those in here.

Another revealing -- I mean, this is 92 out of 195 or -96 countries around the world. We had a gathering of what was called the Community of Democracies in Seoul last November, and you had well over 100 countries there. If you match up the two lists, there will probably be a little bit of overlap between the two, but not very much at all.

QUESTION: Can you say, as a general matter, that there are places where the United States is less aggressive in promoting human rights for fear of running afoul of an ally?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: No, I think you can certainly say that we don't have a cookie-cutter approach to democracy around the world. The way we are addressing it in some countries, we might not address it in others. And I have to say, as a former practitioner from outside of government, in doing that every country is different.

And where every country ends up is different. Mongolia is a democracy, Mali is a democracy, Mexico is a democracy, but they are all headed in different democratic directions. And so you want to, where you can assist those countries, you want to help them in different ways.

QUESTION: Yeah, first of all, the Press Office ran out of hard copies. Will your Bureau make more available to the press?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Yes, yeah, they are being printed as we speak. But we also have them on CD, I think.

QUESTION: Well, I know, but it's not quite -- for people as old as I am, it's like really important that we have it. (Laughter.)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: I'll give you mine. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Great, I'll follow that up.

On a somewhat more serious note, I presume that the report covers things like interrogations, torture of detainees, and so on, and so forth. And as you know, there were reports last year, in particular, that the United States was dropping off various detainees from the war on terror to friendly states where more, perhaps, persuasive means could be used in order to obtain information.

Do you address this at all? And do you address the fact of those reports and their impact on your efforts to improve the situation in abusive countries?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: We don't address them in this volume, but I am happy to do so here.

Number one, the U.S. doesn't tolerate, condone or permit torture when we hold people. Before we would be willing to turn somebody over to a third country, we insist that they make the same pledge to us. And absent that pledge, we don't turn them over.

As far as what impact has this had on my talks with other countries, I have to tell you, other than France, it has never come up. And I have spent a lot of time in Central Asia, Zimbabwe, China, Colombia, Peru, many, many countries around the world, where these kinds of issues do come up, and I have never had it brought up with me by any of those countries. So it doesn't affect my ability to do my job.

I think, partly, (a) because, in the beginning, I don't think they would have the nerve to bring it up, given -- but those were in the days when these kind of salacious rumors were flying around. I think now that it's clear that that never was the case, that may be another reason why they don't bring it up.

QUESTION: I read the part about Burma, Myanmar, and this report didn't mention about the recent detained --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: It went to press right before that incident.

QUESTION: Yes. Could you add something on the recent detention of the Aung Sang Suu Kyi?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Yeah, I testified -- if anybody is interested in this, I testified about a week ago, in front of Senate Foreign Relations on this.

As you all know, we are outraged by what has happened in Burma. We consider the attack on her the work of government thugs.

We have lost our patience with the Burmese Government. And so we are working through with Congress what additional sanctions will be levied. But we are also talking to our allies in Europe and our ASEAN allies about what further steps they can take to try and remedy the situation in Burma, to get Suu Kyi out of jail, and to get a real dialogue going that leads to democracy.

QUESTION: Really related more to the Secretary of State's column in the New York Times this morning. What does the United States think that the neighbors of Zimbabwe can do that, for instance, the West or the United States can't to promote human rights?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: This kind of comes to the last question. What I have found in this job and before is that if -- if the U.S. condemns what a country is doing, and Europe condemns what a country is doing, that's very, very helpful. But it is most helpful in the case of Burma, in the case of Zimbabwe, in the case of Belarus, as another example, if the neighbors start to bring pressure on the regime.

In the case of Burma or in the case of Zimbabwe, they ought to be concerned. They ought to be concerned because those regimes are sullying the reputation of their region, (a); (b), in the case of Burma, you have drug threats; in the case of Burma and Zimbabwe, you have refugee threats; in the case of Zimbabwe, the economic situation in Zimbabwe is dragging down the South African economy.

So what we hope they will do in both cases is to make it clear to both regimes that their kind of government is not welcome in the region anymore. The Africans have talked about NEPAD, about peer review in terms of democracy, and this is certainly a case that's right for peer review by them.

QUESTION: You mentioned that you don't turn over detainees unless you extract a pledge that they will not be tortured.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: Have you followed up with any of the countries to make sure that that pledge has been adhered to?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: You would have to check with Pierre, but I believe we haven't turned over -- in time-wise, we haven't turned over anybody for long enough that they've been in the country for long enough that we would go back and check. I think it's very, very recently that we have turned over people who have not been released within the country. There were a number who were released within Afghanistan. But that is a practice that we followed in extradition cases, for example, where we insist on the same thing, that we go back and follow up on that.

QUESTION: You made a passing reference to France, and I didn't understand.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: The question, basically, was has anybody overseas pushed you on this issue or bugged you on this issue or asked you about it. And the answer was no, but the French.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on what you said about it's our hope that the neighbors in Zimbabwe and Burma would say that the kinds of governments in Zimbabwe and Burma are not welcome in the region? Do you want to take that a little further and just simply say that it's the U.S. policy that the Government of Mugabe and the Government of Burma, right now, change?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Well, I think the Secretary this morning talked about Mr. Mugabe leaving.

QUESTION: Yeah.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: And I think when he addresses -- when he calls the Burmese regime thugs, those are not the kind of people we want to see in government.

We have made very, very clear that in both cases we hope that a negotiated process will lead to the exit of those who currently hold power and a democratically elected government.

QUESTION: Some people are in any way skeptical of such reports of human rights. What are you telling to those people, their non-belief in that? Where are the concrete results of such --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: That they don't believe in human rights?

QUESTION: No, that they don't believe in such reports.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Where are the concrete results? Go to Eastern Europe and see the concrete results. Go to South Korea and see the results. Go to most of Latin America and see the results.

When I started working in Washington 20 years ago, there were almost no democracies in Latin America. Today, almost every country is a democracy. They are not without their troubles. We are not without ours. Those are the concrete results of this kind of work. Go through all of Eastern Europe and much of the former Soviet Union -- again, not without their problems. Go to South Korea. Go to Taiwan. Go to many countries in Africa.

Talk to the people who are in government now. Ask them, "Did you ever come to the U.S. on an exchange program?" "Did anybody from AID help you 10 or 15 years ago?" "Did anybody from the National Democratic Institute help you in the '90s? "

And you're going to find a lot of yeses for the people who are in power who are governing democratically, who are trying to make their economies better. You're going to find a lot of them who say, "I might not be here but for what the Americans did." I have met many, many of those people around the world myself.

MR. REEKER: Thank you all very, very much. Thank you, Lorne.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CRANER: Thanks. [End] Released on June 24, 2003

The Village Voice, by Sarah Ferguson June 25 - July 1, 2003

In what looked like a mini dress rehearsal for the cacophony of dissent that's expected to hit the streets of New York City during next summer's GOP convention, nearly 3,000 demonstrators gathered on Seventh Avenue to protest President Bush as he presided over a $2,000-a-plate fundraiser inside midtown's Sheraton Hotel on Monday. Vowing to deliver Bush a hearty unwelcome, the demonstrators clamored inside the metal pens that police had strung up along the west side of Seventh Avenue between 49th and 54th streets, denouncing everything from the war in Iraq and tax cuts for the rich to the Bush administration's heavy-fisted assaults on abortion, immigrants, and civil rights.

"In the same way that this fundraiser is a kickoff for Bush's reelection campaign, this may be the kickoff for a wave of protest across the country against Bush," said Bill Dobbs, spokesperson for the antiwar coalition United for Peace and Justice.

The size of the demo did not match the heft of Bush's campaign machine, which raked in a record-breaking $4 million at the event hosted by the titans of Wall Street and New York's real estate industry. But organizers felt they succeeded in voicing the concerns of many ordinary New Yorkers who feel the Bush administration has declared war against them.

"President Bush, you've come here to fill up your campaign cup," shouted Carla Goldstein of Planned Parenthood from a makeshift podium. "We've come to say enough is enough! Enough lies, enough hypocrisy, enough nominating right-wing judges to fulfill your conservative agendas, enough appointing those who would decide when woman can and cannot have a child. President Bush, we've had enough!"

Indeed, the fact that the protest was initiated by Planned Parenthood of New York City, which then invited United for Peace to help swell its ranks, may signal the potential for a new and broader coalition of anti-Bush forces to mobilize over the next year.

Planned Parenthood did not demonstrate at the last GOP convention and was not active in the antiwar marches over the last year. But activists say Bush's impending approval of the so-called "partial-birth" abortion ban, which effectively outlaws abortions beyond the second trimester regardless of the threat to a woman's health, has forced the pro-choice movement to take a more direct role in campaigning to unseat him. "We want to stop marginalizing issues of reproductive rights and bring them into the larger fold by uniting a larger coalition of groups who can speak to social-justice issues," says Planned Parenthood's Miriam Gerace.

Similarly, antiwar groups, many of which receded from public eye in the wake of Bush's hastily proclaimed "victory" in Iraq, say they are looking to extend their reach beyond foreign policy. "We're trying to connect the dots," says Leslie Cagan of United for Peace. "Bush and his administration are a multi-issue target, so we have to be a multi-issue movement."

But the effort to bring together a diverse array of people and issues was once again hampered by the NYPD's cumbersome protest pens, which balkanized the different groups into competing islands of dissent. Police sealed off the area directly in front of the Sheraton between 52nd and 53rd streets, forcing demonstrators to gather in pens to the north and south. At 50th Street, several dozen backers of the hard-left group International ANSWER chanted in support of Venezuela's besieged president Hugo Chavez and railed against the Bush Administration's imperialist adventures in Iraq. Meanwhile, at 54th Street a coalition of immigration-rights groups decried Bush's "terror campaign" against immigrants next to a small group of pro-Israel supporters angered by the Bush Administration's "roadmap" for peace in Palestine.

Many protesters complained they were unable to enter the pens or forced to detour to Broadway to join their protest groups. At one point several protesters toppled a metal barrier at 51st Street in an effort to merge with the other demonstrators. Police waded aggressively into the crowd to make arrests, prompting chants of "Shame!" and "Arrest Bush!" Seven people were arrested for disorderly conduct.

Investigative reporter and author Greg Palast, whose anti-Bush salvo, The Best Money Democracy Can Buy, has made him a lefty celebrity, found himself addressing a tiny crowd mobilized by the anti-Bush group Voter March in a pen near 54th Street. "They're trying to spread out the demonstration so that people inside paying two grand for their pudding won't puke when they see the reality of what's going on out here," Palast complained. "I just got in town from London, where my documentary exposing the Bush family fortunes is airing on primetime television, but here in the U.S. it's like I'm relegated to samizdat reporting. It's like there's an electronic Berlin Wall against covering this stuff," he said, gesturing to the satellite news trucks swarming around the Sheraton.

But the folks on the street seemed to have little trouble connecting the issues. Antiwar placards demanding "Where are the Weapons of Mass Destruction?" and "End King Geoge's Reign of Terror!" jostled freely with pro-choice banners and signs denouncing Bush's "War on Women." Many in the crowd said they were outraged that the Republican party continues to invoke the attacks of 9/11 as a rallying cry for Bush's presidency. "I feel like Bush coming to New York is especially hypocritical because he's done nothing for this city," said Sarah Beretczki, a 29-year-old illustrator from Brooklyn who sported a sign that read, "My Bush Sheds Its Own Blood."

And many demonstrators vowed to be out in force next August, regardless of the NYPD's expected clampdown. "I have never been this politically disturbed in my entire life," said Gloria Charny, 74, of Westchester. "Bush has got all the power in his hands, and the American public is lapping it up without even realizing what it means."

BW5012 JUN 24,2003 5:15 PACIFIC 08:15 EASTERN     Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers     ROSLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y.--(<a href=www.businesswire.com>BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 2003-- Study Results to Be Presented June, 28, 2003 at the 81St General Session of the International Association of Dental Research Goteborg, Sweden     Ortek Therapeutics Inc. announced today that CaviStat(TM), a new cavity fighting agent, was significantly more effective than fluoride in reducing cavities in a two-year 726 patient toothpaste study. The findings of this clinical trial will be presented at the 81st General Session of the International Association of Dental Research, Goteborg, Sweden on June 28, 2003. According to the study, children who brushed with a CaviStat toothpaste had 96% fewer cavities than children who brushed with fluoride toothpastes. This study, which was sponsored by Ortek, was conducted by researchers at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the University of Central Venezuela in Caracas.     CaviStat is the first in a new class of cavity fighting compounds that can counter the production of harmful plaque acids while simultaneously promoting remineralization of the teeth. CaviStat contains the amino acid, arginine, in conjunction with bicarbonate and calcium carbonate. These components are food grade, and unlike fluoride, are safe for young children to swallow in a toothpaste and can be added to candies and gum. This is a very important additional benefit of CaviStat since excessive ingestion of fluoride during early childhood can cause dental fluorosis, a discoloring of the permanent teeth. In fact, to reduce the risk of fluorosis for children aged 6 or under, the Center for Disease Control, in an August 2001 report on fluoride use, recommended that toothpaste manufacturers develop a "child-strength" toothpaste with lower concentrations of fluoride.     Cavities are still one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide. It affects people of all age groups. This infectious disease occurs when bacteria on tooth surfaces convert sugars to harmful acids that dissolve the teeth over time. CaviStat(TM) is designed to interrupt this process. Alongside the acid-producing bacteria are other bacteria that metabolize arginine and produce base, which neutralizes the cavity forming acids. This elevated pH environment also promotes absorption of calcium back into the teeth, a process called remineralization.     CaviStat, which is based on over 30 years of research on saliva's substantial role in preventing tooth decay, was developed by Dr Israel Kleinberg, Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology at Stony Brook University. Dr Israel Kleinberg said, "CaviStat represents a new direction in the battle against tooth decay. This unique compound can be very beneficial for children and for the millions of adults who are prone to root cavities due to poor saliva production. Reduced saliva flow, which often results in a rapid rise in the development of cavities, is caused by hundreds of prescription and non prescription drugs, cancer therapies and Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease."     Ortek Therapeutics, Inc. was granted exclusive worldwide licensing rights to CaviStat by the Research Foundation of the State University of New York. Ortek's President, Mitchell Goldberg said, "There has been little innovation in the fight against tooth decay since the introduction of fluoride more than five decades ago. Based on the findings of this study and the large amount of laboratory data, we expect that CaviStat will eventually replace fluoride in the $5 billion worldwide toothpaste market. We are currently evaluating regulatory strategies to commercialize CaviStat as quickly as possible."

    STUDY RESULTS EXPLAINED     Objective: Effect of an arginine bicarbonate/calcium carbonate (CaviStat) dentifrice on caries development in 11-12 year olds was assessed over two years.     Methods: 726 Venezuelan children (DMFT between 3 and 6) were examined by one calibrated examiner at baseline, 6 months, and 1 and 2 years using probing and DMFS scoring. The children were divided into two groups and 321 test and 331 control subjects completed the study. The test group received the CaviStat(TM) dentifrice and the controls used a commercially available fluoride paste. All subjects were instructed to brush three times a day for 1 minute followed by swishing for 30 seconds.     Results: After 6 months, the DMFS rose only slightly in both groups being 6.93+/-3.70 in the controls and 6.59+/-3.77 in the test subjects (p is less than 0.05). But at one year, the control DMFS rose to 8.00+/-4.18 whereas the test group DMFS decreased to 5.50+/-4.15 (p is less than 0.000) suggesting remineralization. At two years, the control DMFS leveled off (7.29+/-5.17) whereas test subject scores rose (6.59+/-4.93). DMFS difference was still significant (p is less than 0.05). Lesion size, not accounted for in DMFS scores, evidently increased much more in the controls during this time. DMFS rise from baseline after two years was only +0.03 in the experimental subjects but +0.87 in the controls. The test dentifrice was 96.6% better than the fluoride paste. DMFS scores for the anteriors, premolars and molars identified the contributions of each and the significance of eruption times in their DMFS patterns. DMFS reductions seen in the experimental subjects occurred mostly in the first molars. Later erupting premolars and second molars showed a progressive DMFS rise in controls and a delay and lesser rise in the experimentals.     Conclusion: A CaviStat containing toothpaste was much more effective at reducing the rate of dental caries development than a fluoride toothpaste control. Supported by Ortek Therapeutics, Inc.     About Ortek: Ortek Therapeutics, Inc., a private company, headquartered in Roslyn Heights, New York, is a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company primarily engaged in developing and commercializing proprietary products for the treatment of dental disorders. Ortek currently sells ProClude(R), a desensitizing prophylaxis paste, which is only available and applied by dental professionals (visit www.Proclude.com.).

--30--RS/ny*

CONTACT: Ortek Therapeutics Inc.
         Mitchell Goldberg, 516-484-4500
KEYWORD: NEW YORK VENEZUELA SWEDEN INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICA

EUROPE INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MEDICAL PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCT SOURCE: Ortek Therapeutics Inc.

BW5566 JUN 24,2003 8:25 PACIFIC 11:25 EASTERN     Energy Editors/Business Editors     MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(<a href=www.businesswire.com>BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 2003--BOC, through its local company Cryogas, has acquired Comingas, a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) wholesaler located in Colombia's coffee region. BOC purchased the entire entity of Comingas - along with the assets of two distribution companies that purchase their LPG from Comingas - for US$1.9 million.     "This acquisition provides BOC with a significant platform on which to build in the highly fragmented Colombian LPG market," says Maria Echavarria, BOC's Industrial and Special Products (ISP) business unit head in South America. "Our objective was to enter the LPG market in 2003 and establish a presence in the entire market chain within a power zone, such as the coffee region. This acquisition accomplishes that objective."     Echavarria adds that Comingas and the distributors will be integrated into a single independent entity and will retain their brand identities in the local market. "In addition," she says, "we plan to take advantage of BOC's successful experiences in South Africa and Australia in leveraging LPG into existing industrial gases accounts."     The LPG market in Colombia is about 750,000 tons per year, with a projected growth rate of 3 percent for the coming years. State-owned Ecopetrol is the sole LPG provider in the country. Wholesalers such as Comingas purchase LPG from Ecopetrol, and then store and distribute it in bulk at the wholesale level. Distributors purchase from wholesalers and bottle and sell LPG in cylinders, as well as in bulk, to the end consumer. Colombia has more than 2.5 million LPG customers. About 80 percent are residential with the balance divided between commercial and industrial accounts.     There are currently more than 100 companies involved in the storage, packaging and distribution of LPG in Colombia. Comingas presently holds a 2.7 percent share of the Colombian LPG market, but is particularly strong in the coffee region where it maintains a 20 percent share. "We are confident that once the integration with BOC is complete, we will be able to increase that share significantly," says Echavarria.     BOC's ISP South America (SA) business has a strong position in the medical, industrial and special gases market sectors in Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Aruba and Curacao, and is continually seeking opportunities for sustainable growth. BOC ISP SA serves more than 30,000 customers with 1500 employees.     The BOC Group (NYSE:BOX), the worldwide industrial gases, vacuum technologies and distribution services company, serves two million customers in more than 50 countries. It employs 46,000 people and had annual sales of some $6 billion in 2002. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at www.boc.com.

--30--BW/ny*

CONTACT: BOC Corporate Communications
         Renee Talian, 908/771-1490
         renee.talian@us.gases.boc.com

KEYWORD: NEW YORK NEW JERSEY COLOMBIA INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: CHEMICALS/PLASTICS ENERGY OIL/GAS MERGERS/ACQ
SOURCE: The BOC Group

BW5696 JUN 24,2003 11:17 PACIFIC 14:17 EASTERN     Business Editors     CHICAGO--(<a href=www.businesswire.com>BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 2003--Following Fitch Ratings' recent rating actions that upgraded the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela's foreign currency rating and the senior unsecured debt rating of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) to 'B-' from 'CCC+', Fitch Ratings has revised the Rating Watch to Positive from Negative on the following PDVSA-related transactions:     Petrozuata Finance Inc. (Petrozuata), senior secured debt rating 'B' -- US$300 million series A bonds due 2009;
-- US$625 million series B bonds due 2017;
-- US$75 million series C bonds due 2022.

    Cerro Negro Finance, Ltd. (Cerro Negro), senior secured debt rating 'B'     -- US$200 million bonds due 2009;     -- US$350 million bonds due 2020;     -- US$50 million bonds due 2028.

    Sincrudos de Oriente Sincor, C.A. (Sincor project), senior secured debt rating 'B'     -- US$1.2 billion senior bank loans borrowed by the sponsors of     Sincor Finance Inc.     Petrolera Hamaca, S.A. (Hamaca), senior Secured Debt Rating 'B'     Total senior project loans of US$1.1 billion, consisting of:     -- US$627.8 million senior agency loan due 2018;     -- US$470 million senior bank loan due 2015, borrowed on a several  (not joint) basis 30% by Corpoguanipa, S.A., a subsidiary of PDVSA, and 70% by Hamaca Holdings L.L.C.     Fitch is currently reviewing each of the projects, and shall follow up with corresponding rating actions if necessary in the coming weeks.     Petrozuata is owned 50.1% by a ConocoPhillips subsidiary and 49.9% by a PDVSA subsidiary. Cerro Negro is owned 41.67% by an ExxonMobil subsidiary, 41.67% by a PDVSA subsidiary and 16.67% by a Veba Oel subsidiary. Sincor is owned 47% by a TOTALFinaElf subsidiary, 38% by a PDVSA subsidiary and 15% by a Statoil subsidiary. Hamaca is owned 40% by ConocoPhillips subsidiary, 30% by ChevronTexaco subsidiary, and 30% PDVSA subsidiary. All four projects are involved in the development of Venezuela's extra heavy crude oil reserves.

--30--CS/sf*

CONTACT: Fitch Ratings
         Caren Y. Chang, 312/368-3151, Chicago
         Alejandro Bertuol, 212/908-0393, New York
         Carlos Fiorillo, +58-212-286-3356, Caracas
         or 
         Media Relations: Matt Burkhard, 212/908-0540, New York

KEYWORD: NEW YORK
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING BOND/STOCK RATINGS
SOURCE: Fitch Ratings