Iqbal was 4 years old when he was sold to a carpet maker. The little Pakistani boy knew he would have to repay his bond with his own little life if he escaped. At 10, he fled the loom and was murdered two years later. But Iqbal Masih must have lived — and died — in another world, since most of us believe slavery was abolished a century ago. The reality is that out of political correctness we don’t call it slavery anymore, we call it “bonded labor'” — though the U.N. recognizes bonded labor as the modern form of slavery. Of course, not all of the estimated 250 million children in the Global Village’s labor force share the same fate, but a huge part of that large number were born to bonded families, who keep a debt with their creditors up to five generations.

The story is tragic, and so are the lives of millions of children working in hazardous conditions all over the world. The children will now have a group of 11 award-winning photojournalists as spokespersons. These professionals in capturing the motion of life are about to hoist their sails, and their journey will bring them to places like the ones Iqbal used to work in. Their mission: to tell the world it is possible to change the way things are — before Iqbal’s fate sweeps his teen workmates’ plight under the rug.

The project, kicked off June 20 during a workshop in Malibu, reflects the dream Julia Dean, 43, a photographer and writer based in Venice, envisioned after witnessing a scene on a train in India. She did not capture the scene on film, but the impression remained alive inside of her.

“I had seen children working, but the one that really got me was this little boy,” Dean said. “He jumped in the train all by himself, holding a handmade broom. Soon he got upon his hands and knees and started sweeping around people’s feet, looking up and putting his hand out from time to time for a little change. And he went like that for miles and miles and miles, from train car to train car, until he changed trains and went back the other way.”

This incident wrapped Dean in a daydreaming obsession and led her to launch her project in an attempt to wrap up the century with the spirit of photographer Lewis Heine, who helped eradicate child labor in the United States in the beginning of the century. “Our objective is to educate people about the issue through visual documentation, to prompt action against abusive child labor and to applaud humanitarian efforts that are creating positive change,” Dean said. The journey’s diaries will take shape in a book, a documentary and a traveling exhibit, sponsored by UNICEF, which will tour the United States starting in New York in spring 1999 and will extend through the year 2000.

Dean picked four of her best collaborative photographers: Judy Warren, a ’94 Pulitzer winner for a series on violent rights abuses against women all over the world for the Dallas Morning News; Joel Sartore of National Geographic, a Pulitzer finalist; and Al Schaben of the Los Angeles Times, an NPPA winner; and Jon Warren, a Seattle-based photojournalist with three books published and a remarkable reputation in international editorial and documentary photography. Then she set up an international contest to reach the 11 photographers goal (mirroring Heine’s early century team composed of 11 photographers). The contest’s jury included three first-rank picture editors, Larry Armstrong with the Los Angeles Times, Kathy Ryan with the New York Times Sunday Magazine and Bert Fox, who is also the project’s director of photography, with National Geographic magazine. Out of 120 professional entries, five photographers with astounding backgrounds were selected, and out of 25 student entries, Brian Finke, a promising photographer from Brooklyn, who loves to befriend those who live in the fringe. The 11 photographers are a showcase of international awards, including 1997 Pulitzer winner Clarence Williams of the Los Angeles Times, several World Press Photo first prizes and Robert F. Kennedy award winners.

Two experienced reporters will gather and edit the work done in the field by a local reporter, sometimes going to the field themselves. They also have remarkable backgrounds: Sarah Bachman, of the San Jose Mercury News, is currently working on a book “Child Labor and the Global Economy” and on a curriculum for U.S. schools on child labor; and Nick Fleming is author of the book “In Strictest Confidence” and was UPI’s lead writer during the U.S. invasion of Grenada.

Social Concern

Beyond their talent, these individuals share a commitment to bringing awareness of the effects of the global economy in developing countries, letting us know what is happening underneath those stones we sometimes hesitate to lift — often because our own interests are at stake.

It is not easy work. They face all kinds of harassment by government forces in countries under conflict, and their ethics are questioned at home, including accusations of falsifying the pictures when these not only show minors working on the spot but also clearly highlight the logos of well-known Western brands. Awards and recognition cannot bring peace of mind to French photographer Marie Dorigny, 38, whose book “Les Enfants de L’ombre” (Children of the Shadows) received the UNICEF award in 1993. “Sometimes the images come back to me as flashbacks, and I keep having nightmares for weeks,” she said. Dorigny’s reportage on child labor for Life magazine in 1996 pointed a finger at American companies that employ minors at their Pakistani factories. She insists, “Child labor is not a social problem, child labor is a pure economic problem.”

Francesco Zizola, 35, an Italian photographer whose work for two years with the street children in Brazil materialized in the book “Ruas,” is a recipient of the University of Rome prize. Zizola also worked on the Brazilian slave children. “That experience was like a huge life workshop,” he said. “It was the need of finding the meaning of life which took me there.” In the frame of a personal 9-year project called “Heirs of 2000,” Zizola toured the most vulnerable corners of the world.

Some photojournalists have to open their souls before focusing their cameras. “I had to tell Theodora my darkest secrets if I wanted to be there,” said Williams when asked how he got Theodora’s family photographed for his Times documentary about children of crack-addicted parents. Others spend years looking for grants to finance their projects before gaining international recognition.

Ernesto Bazan wanted to document the lives of refugees in the world “after the lights shut down and the media is no longer interested because there has not been any massacre.” Bazan could not find any funding for the project, so he went to Cuba and fell in love with the island. Cuba brought him a rosary of major prizes, among them the Dorothea Lang prize, established in the name of one of the noted photographers who participated in the Depression-era photographic project headed by Heine.

“I don’t call myself a photojournalist,” said Gigi Cohen, a young woman of Ecuadorian origin raised in Brooklyn, currently working on a book about prisoners on death row. “I prefer to call myself a social documentary photographer. My work has a less-restricted time frame than that of a photojournalist. It is about the issue, not only about what is news today.”

Jon Warren is a Seattle-based globe trotter whose childlike face deludes you if you think he knows nothing about life. Warren has covered stories in more than 50 countries, from the handloom weaving in Bangladesh to the Mennonites in Bolivia and the homeless in Los Angeles. He is an avid photojournalist and has published three photography books.

Their assignments were revealed during the Malibu workshop. For periods of 30 days and throughout 1999, the photographers will follow the footsteps of 10-year-old girls as they get lost in the red light trails; they’ll bend their backs among the peasants’ children; they will share a joke with kid soldiers; they will try to capture an S.O.S. from enslaved domestics; they will get coal black with miners; and, after gathering the echoes of the chained little lives all around the world, including Latino kids’ pursuit of El Dorado in our backyard, they will tell the world with pictures, not only of the hazardous and strenuous jobs but also of those projects working in the shadows to free one child at a time.

The project is sponsored by New York-based NGO Media for International Development, UNICEF, the United National Association, the National Consumers League, the International Labor Rights Fund and the International Labor Office in Geneva, among others. To help with the project, send your tax-deductible donations to: JD & Associates, 1265 Electric Ave., Venice, CA 90291. Phone/Fax: (310) 581-9523.

Our City Council will be facing a moment of truth Monday.

Actually, it’s council members Walt Keller and Carolyn Van Horn who are on the hot seat. They must vote Yes or No authorizing the hiring of an independent counsel to assist City Attorney Christi Hogin in her inquiry into campaign law violations in the last City Council election.

The campaign violation allegations are against some supporters of Tom Hasse, many of whom are also the supporters of Keller and Van Horn. Because this investigation grows out of his election campaign and concerns several of his supporters, Hasse rightly recused himself from both the debate and the decision, leaving the four council members to decide. It also created a problem: Because it takes three votes to take action, either Keller or Van Horn must go along or the council is deadlocked 2-2. At the last council meeting, both House and Barovsky agreed with the city attorney and wanted an independent council hired to assist in the investigation. Keller and Van Horn raised a number of questions and reservations and appeared opposed to the hiring. The final decision was put off to Monday’s council meeting.

Hiring an outside attorney is not unusual. The city does it all the time because it frequently needs a lawyer with special expertise. In fact, at the same council meeting where they balked at hiring an independent council for the campaign investigation, they agreed to hire an outside attorney for eminent domain matters. The arguments against the hiring of the special counsel are, in my opinion, pure politics, obvious to every one at the council meeting. It’s politics — with a twist.

Normally, questions of politics are decided at the ballot box, with one large exception: when it involves an investigation of a possible crime. This is an investigation to decide if a crime (campaign law violations) has been committed and, if so, to prosecute those violations.

In connection with a possible violation of law, the city attorney and the City Council have totally different responsibilities and legal obligations.

A city council can pass laws, like campaign laws, to make certain things a crime. Once the council has made a law and it’s been signed, the council’s function is over. The council does not decide if the law has been violated. That begins with the prosecutor, and in the city of Malibu that’s the city attorney– Christi Hogin decides whether or not to file a criminal complaint, and if she does, it becomes “People of the State of California vs. Someone.” City Council members not only have no right to try to influence that decision but if they tried to obstruct the prosecution, that could become a separate crime called “obstruction of justice.”

You begin to get a sense of how dicey this could get.

If Keller and Van Horn hold firm and refuse to fund the help that the city attorney is asking, is that a legitimate political decision, or are they trying to derail the investigation, and is that an obstruction of justice?

Even if they vote No, is the city attorney obligated to use whatever resources are necessary to complete the investigation, whether the council supports her or not?

If they refuse but the city attorney goes ahead anyway and gets the help she needs, can they fire her for exceeding her authority?

Since Hasse has recused himself in any decision concerning the investigation, can he participate in any debate or vote about the retention or firing of the city attorney, as she is involved in the investigation?

If they fire the city attorney or even threaten it, is that an obstruction of justice and a crime?

There are certainly historical antecedents. Richard Nixon fired several independent counsels in the well-known “Saturday Night Massacre,” which ultimately ended up in his resignation.

All this doesn’t mean anyone is necessarily guilty of anything. The city attorney could complete her investigation and decide that no one has committed a crime. But in the course of that investigation, she might have to interview Hasse, Keller or Van Horn as possible witnesses, which could be one of the reasons Hogin wants to bring in independent counsel.

Alternatively, she could decide to file a criminal complaint and then prosecute it herself or bring in a special prosecutor, which seems most probable. Ultimately, the question of whether or not a crime has been committed is up to a judge or jury to decide and not a prosecutor or city council. But the investigation process and a trial, of course, has all sorts of political fallout, whether in Washington D.C. or Malibu, which is probably why it fascinates us all.

Whatever the decision Monday, this confrontation will not end at that City Council meeting. Of that we can be sure.

I had a really, really bad experience today. I am writing after having just driven through Malibu Canyon. On the dirt shoulder of the road, on that flat stretch below HRL, I saw a man dressed in dirty tan pants and a camouflage-patterned shirt, leaning against a sign post with a small bag and a hand saw at his feet. No car. Up ahead, no vehicle, but another man dressed identically, using binoculars to scope the hills across Malibu Canyon — the slope above Serra Retreat.

I pulled my car onto the shoulder where, with my binoculars, I could see both men clearly. What are they up to?

The one that was scoping the canyon began walking away. The other, the one with the saw, lit up a cigarette and began scanning the hills with his binoculars. Minutes later, he flicked the cigarette to the ground. That was it! I decided to report what I was seeing to the sheriffs.

The sheriff’s operator took my information and advised me that indeed it was deer hunting season in the Santa Monica Mountains (Zone A). My heart sank. Could I have been mistaken? The sheriffs arrived within a few minutes but not in time to see the blue truck that had driven off with both men inside. The officers were pleasant enough but said that there was nothing they could do, the men were within their rights to hunt. And about the cigarette — it’s only an infraction, and an officer would have had to see it happen. “What? What about arson,” I thought. I thanked the officers for responding and drove off in a stupor of helplessness.

I’m struggling with a few issues here. One, I’m not all that opposed to hunting — not altogether, if the life taken is held sacred and its body made use of for food. But, killing deer, here, in our hills? Knowing that men with weapons are lurking in the hills, on our hiking trails, stalking deer and coyotes and bobcats and raccoons — killing, for recreation, the wildlife we love and receive such joy from. Two, the burning cigarette butt being tossed to the ground is careless, disrespectful behavior that threatens the lives of all canyon dwellers. That there are these strangers out there, strangers in mind and in domain, who treat our land and its life with irreverence. That one ember from one of these careless person’s cigarette could ignite our hills and threaten our homes, our lives and our wild places.

I am truly at a loss. Is there something that we, the people of Malibu, should do to protect our hills and wildlife? From what I’ve been told, hunting in this area is restricted to private land. Hunters must get permission from these landowners. Maybe we could talk to local landowners and ask they adopt a no-hunting policy. Maybe we should band together in deer season and run into the hills with horns and noise makers, pushing the deer into the safety of deeper canyons. We love our wild headlands and the creatures that live in them. We love our deer. Help.

Name withheld

Editor’s note: Fish and Game officials said that in the Santa Monica Mountains, hunting is limited to bow-and-arrow use on private property only.

There has been a positive side effect to the recent closure of PCH. If we are to believe our local newspapers, many businesses were severely impacted by the loss of tourist dollars. Much hand-wringing and moaning ensued. Perhaps this will silence once and for all the minority in our community who advocate more commercial development (read “shops”) for the Civic Center while at the same time asking us to believe that they are there for the locals. Please — we weren’t born yesterday — and the recent PCH closure has proven that “the locals” can’t even support the businesses we already have. In order to attract the number of tourists needed to support more shops, restaurants, high-priced hotels, etc., we would need to make the PCH a six-lane freeway and install multilevel carparks. But! — Here’s the irony — If we did that, Malibu would lose its rural, open space character, its very reason tourists come here in the first place. The minute Malibu looks like Santa Monica, the visitors will stop coming, the businesses will go bankrupt, the strip malls will be empty and the developers will be sitting alone in the cinema multiplexes watching their favorite movie , “Urban Blight, The Sequel. “

Graeme Clifford

It’s the 21st century, Malibu. Wake up.

Throughout the years the city of Malibu has faced many traumas, none that has been so continuous as that of the traffic on Pacific Coast Highway. Whether during the rainy season or when the sun is shining brightly the traffic nightmares remain. Sure at many City Council meetings the subject is presented, however for some reason or another especially when any major problems are history the subject of traffic congestion is put on the back burner, only to simmer until another situation presents itself.

I believe its time to face this issue and address it thinking 21st century.

I propose we request directly, from the private sector to rebuild the Malibu Pier and by so doing give them the rights to initiate a hydrofoil transportation service between Malibu and Santa Monica. This type of service is currently in use between Kowloon, China, and Macao and running very smoothly as well as lucrative to the provider.

The benefits to our city would be through a use tax, the benefits to the merchants would be increased tourists reflecting on net profits and the benefit to Malibu residents would be convenience in their commute.

Let’s use our natural resources, specifically the waterways to our benefit, while continuing to eliminate air toxins by reducing automobile congestion on Pacific Coast Highway. We can then, and rightly so in the 21st century say to our offspring, “We believed in your future.”

Tom Shotke