March/April 2008

Help Protect our Activist Colleagues in Colombia
from Death Squad Violence

Tens of thousands of Colombians marched on March 6 in Bogota (See Sara Koopman's photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/sarakoopman/M6Marcha) and many other cities to stand with the victims of right-wing paramilitary violence and to protest violence by all armed groups. Solidarity events occurred in New York, Washington, and San Francisco.
 
Now, in the wake of accusations by a presidential advisor that the activists in Colombia who helped organize these peaceful marches are guerrillas, they are being targeted with paramilitary threats, kidnappings, and even killings.
 
Lethal attacks on Colombian labor activists also continue. On March 4 in Washington, President Bush called on Congress to approve the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, although Colombia is the most dangerous nation in the world to be a trade unionist. As if in response, in the four days following his statement, four labor leaders in Colombia were murdered.
 
It is crucial that we act to detain the US-supported Colombian government from its threats to nonviolent activists. Please call your member of Congress today and urge her or him to sign a letter to President Uribe and to oppose the anti-labor Free Trade Agreement.
 
In the days leading up to March 6, José Obdulio Gaviria, a close advisor to President Uribe, went on national radio to suggest that the March 6th rally was "convened by the FARC." In the days after the march, dozens of organizations, including Peace Brigades International, received emails informing them they were military objectives of the paramilitary group "Black Eagles." In a downtown Bogota hotel, masked men broke into a conference organized by a known human rights group and kidnapped two men at gunpoint, threatened them, and left them on the sidewalk. Several march organizers around the country were threatened, and at least two were killed.
 
President Bush says passage of the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia is a matter of US national security, and plans to submit the bill in the coming month despite the opposition of every labor federation in Colombia and the US, indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, the major Colombian opposition party, Democratic Party leaders and human rights organizations. The FTA is more likely to generate displacement than security, just as NAFTA is estimated to have led millions of Mexican farmers going under because the market was flooded with US-subsidized grains. For background, see the the excellent resource produced by the American Friends Service Committee, "Violent Intersections of Commerce and Conflict." (http://www.tradeandwar.org/connections.html)
 
Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) are circulating a "dear colleague" letter (http://www.forcolombia.org/sites/www.forcolombia.org/files/McGovern_Schakowsky_Threats.pdf) to President Uribe. The letter calls on the Colombian government to fully investigate these threats and murders and to bring those responsible to justice. The letter also urges President Uribe to take concrete actions to ensure government officials stop making comments that put the lives of human rights defenders at risk.
 
Please contact your Members of Congress and urge them to:

   1. Support McGovern-Schakowsky Letter on Recent Wave of Threats and Killings in Colombia, and
   2. Oppose the Colombia Free Trade Agreement that President Bush is pushing onto Congress

Call your member of Congress today! Simply dial the Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121 to be connected to their office and ask to speak to their foreign policy aide. Urge them to oppose the Colombia FTA and sign on to the McGovern-Schakowsky letter on Colombia.
If your member of Congress is interested in signing on, they should contact Cindy Buhl in Rep. McGovern's office, or Megan Garcia in Rep. Schakowsky's office, by close of business on Thursday, April 10. As the administration seeks more aid for war and approval of the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement, we have to demand our elected officials take human rights seriously.
 
FOR joined with twenty-three other groups to send a strong letter to President Uribe also urging him to publicly disavow his advisor's comments and to express support for the legitimate efforts of human rights defenders. You can read the letter here. (http://www.forcolombia.org/sites/www.forcolombia.org/files/JointNGOlettertoUribe.pdf) Let's continue to work together to ensure our Colombian partners who speak out and work for human rights are neither threatened nor harmed.

"Leap Into Action" for Jubilee
Call Congress on the week of February 25 - 29

Use your "extra" day this Leap Year to call your Senators AND Representative about the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation (HR 2634 / S 2166).  www.jubileeusa.org

Right now, Congress is discussing the most important piece of debt legislation in seven years! Since Jubilee 2000, we have seen 23 countries receive near 100% cancellation of eligible debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Paris Club of lender countries. In countries like Zambia, Tanzania, and Nicaragua, debt relief has produced results - eliminating fees that had blocked access to primary education and rural health clinics for the poorest, helping millions of children return to school and providing access to basic medical care.

Yet, despite the remarkable track record of debt cancellation, more than 40 poor countries, such as Haiti and Lesotho, are still waiting to see their debts canceled. Every day over $100 million flows out of impoverished countries in the form of debt payments. This is money that could be invested in health care, clean water and education.

The Jubilee Act (HR 2634 / S 2166) builds on past debt cancellation successes, by calling for expanded debt cancellation to all countries that need it to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015.

The Jubilee Act would prohibit specific harmful economic and policy conditions while insisting on transparency and accountability. The prohibited harmful conditions include user fees for primary health care and education, increased cost for the poorest for clean drinking water, measures that compromise worker' rights, and IMF constraints on government spending for essential health care and education.

Research by the Jubilee Debt Campaign (UK) found that in order to access debt cancellation under the IMF's HIPC Initiative:
· Zambia had to privatize its national bank in the face of parliamentary and public opposition. IMF policies also forced it to restrict public sector spending through a wage and hiring freeze, leaving it unable to employ 9,000 teachers;
· Nicaragua had to privatize electricity. Electricity prices rose by 200%, pricing the poor out of the market, and blackouts became frequent.
· Sierra Leone has had to prepare for privatization of 24 state enterprises, including water, power, and telecommunication.

Another problem addressed in the Jubilee Act is that of so-called vulture funds. When countries such as Nicaragua receive substantial debt cancellation, they suddenly have more access to cash freed up by the cancellation - and thus look more attractive to opportunistic vulture funds which have bought the country's debt for a few cents on the dollar but now demand payment in full. An August 2007 report by IMF and World Bank staff found that 11 out of 24 poor countries approached said they were involved in litigation by commercial or vulture creditors worth a total of $1.8 billion with 46 creditors.

At this very moment, Zambia, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Nicaragua, Honduras and Liberia are facing judgments to pay, pending suits, or the threat of litigation from vulture funds or other commercial creditors.

The Jubilee Act calls on the Secretary of the Treasury to collaborate with appropriate government agencies to stop the practices of vulture funds by designing legal remedies to curtail vulture fund activity; by providing legal support to countries being sued by vulture funds; and by providing technical assistance to advise governments likely to be targeted by vulture funds.

Another challenge facing nations that have received debt cancellation is the fact that new lenders often threaten to send countries that benefit from debt relief back into unsustainable debt. To ensure that this doesn't happen, the Jubilee Act calls on our government to provide that the international financing needs of low-income countries are primarily met through grants rather than new lending and mandating the development of policies to ensure that all creditors work together to preserve the gains of debt relief. The Jubilee Act is one of the most widely supported anti-poverty bills in Congress. We have a historic opportunity to end debt and make big step forward in the fight against poverty.

CALL TODAY
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Senator Feinstein and Rep. Pelosi have not signed on.

 

Support Anti-sweatshop legislation in 2008:

Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competitions Act

Thanks to the National Labor Committee (NLC) members who contacted Nike and reported the illegal firing of 48 workers for organizing a union at STARSA factory in Honduras’ free trade zone (owned by US Anvil, a t-shirt company). To its credit, Nike immediately sent a representative to Honduras who concluded the workers were unjustly and illegally fired. The 48 workers were reinstated to their jobs with back wages and legal recognition for their union.

The United Steelworkers Union anti-sweatshop legislation is moving in the US Congress. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced the Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act (S-367) and (HR-1992), with 152 co-sponsors in the House and 18 in the Senate in 2007. The bill would make corporations legally accountable for basic worker” rights, including: no child labor, no forced labor, freedom of association and the right to organize unions. Products found to be made under illegal sweatshop conditions would be prohibited from entry into the US and sale or export from the US would also be banned

Contact your members of Congress and make sure that they have signed on to HR-1992 in the House of Representatives and S-367 in the Senate. More co-sponsors are need now!
              February 26, 2008

Support immediate debt cancellation for Haiti!

Haiti's Supporters in Congress Need Your Help!

February 12, 2008


Representatives Maxine Waters (D- CA) and Spencer Bachus (R- AL) are calling on their colleagues to sign their bi-partisan letter to the Secretary of the Treasury (below) urging him to 1) expedite the cancellation of Haiti's debts to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other multilateral financial institutions, and 2) urge an immediate suspension of debt service payments from Haiti.

Both Representatives have gone out on a limb for the poor of Haiti, and now they need you to tell your Representative to stand up with them. Haitians need you too: recent headlines remind us of Haitians eating cookies made of salt, butter and dirt, because they cannot afford food. While Haitians are forced to eat dirt, their government is forced to send almost $1 million each week in debt service to wealthy banks that were established to fight poverty. Over half of Haiti's outstanding loans went to dictators like Francois "Papa Doc" and Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who spent the money on fur coats, fast cars and death squads. Haiti's poor are now repaying the loans, by eating dirt and by foregoing elementary education and basic healthcare.

The International Financial Institutions (IFIs) recognized that Haiti's debt is unjust when they accepted Haiti into their debt cancellation programs last year. But these programs would only cancel about half of Haiti's debt, after more waiting (a year or more) and only if Haiti makes changes to its economy that could exacerbate hunger (see Debt Cancellation for Haiti: No Reason for Further Delays, by the Center for Economic Policy Research).

Representatives Waters and Bachus have also introduced H. Res. 241, the Haiti Debt Cancellation Resolution, but they felt that issuing a quicker letter right now is warranted by the extreme suffering in Haiti. Their letter also seeks to broaden its appeal to Republican House Members who understand that debt relief is the just, the decent and the right thing to do, but disagree with H.Res. 241's stance against IFI conditions placed on debt relief. The letter seeks to immediately alleviate poverty in Haiti by immediately stopping Haiti's payments to the international financial institutions, which would allow the government to immediately invest the money in public services that can save lives.

$1 million per week would go a long way in Haiti, where half the population struggles to survive on $1 US per day or less. Please do what you can to keep that money in Haiti.

A call-in script is below. If you need more information, including fact sheets, analyses and an activist toolkit, see the Haiti Debt Cancellation section of www.HaitiJustice.org.

Phone Script to call your Member to cancel Haiti's debt!

(If you are pressed for time, just saying the first paragraph will help. If you can, go through the whole script). If your Representative has not co-sponsored H.Res. 241, ask her or him to do that too!

My name is XXX and I live in YYYY. I support debt cancellation to release resources to fight poverty in Haiti. I am calling to encourage Representative XXX to sign on to the bi-partisan letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, urging the immediate cancellation of Haiti's debt.

Haiti is the most impoverished country in the Western hemisphere. Close to one in four children are chronically malnourished. People are forced to eat cakes made of dirt, because they have nothing else. At the same time, the government is forced to send almost $1 million per week to the World Bank and other banks that were set up to fight poverty.

The bi-partisan letter was issued by Representatives Spencer Bachus and Maxine Waters. To sign on or for more information, please contact Kathleen Sengstock in Representative Maxine Waters' office at (202) 225-2201.

Thank you for your time!

Week of Action to Protest Anti-Terrorist Law and Repression in El Salvador

February 4-8 marks an international solidarity week of action to demand that terrorist charges against Salvadoran protestors be dropped. On July 2, 2007 fourteen people were arrested in Suchitoto, El Salvador for taking part in a protest against water privatization. Police brutality against the peaceful demonstration and the arrests of 14 of them produced international outrage, and ultimately this pressure forced the Salvadoran government to temporarily release the detainees. Nevertheless, protestors continue to be charged under the “anti-terrorism” law and could face up to 60 years in prison. This draconian law that criminalizes different forms of public protest as acts of terrorism is being used to silence the social movement in El Salvador, criminalizing acts that do not in any way constitute terrorism!

Take Action!

1. Call the State Department and demand that the United States government hold the Salvadoran government accountable for these acts.  Contact Hillary Thompson at the U.S. State Department’s El Salvador desk at 202-647-4161.  Click here for sample script.

2. Call the Salvadoran Ambassador to the U.S. and demand that terrorist charges against the Suchitoto protestors are dropped.  Contact Rene de Leon at 202-265-9671 in the Salvadoran Embassy

3. Donate to the Suchitoto 13 legal defense fund by going to https://chavez.mayfirst.org/cispes/ and writing “suchitoto” next to your donation.

More information: Click here (Word document)

 

Haitian Human Rights Activist and His Family in Grave Danger, Says Amnesty International

Thursday, January 10, 2008

(New York) -- The lives of Haitian human rights activist Wilson Mesilien and his family are in grave danger, and the Haitian government must protect them, Amnesty International said today.

On December 19, a man posing as a journalist went to the Mesilien family home, seeking to confirm a supposed report that Mesilien had been kidnapped. Fearing for their lives, Mesilien, his wife and four children fled and have been in hiding since. Mesilien is coordinator of the September 30th Foundation; his predecessor Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine was kidnapped in August.

Mesilien has said that Haitian authorities have not heeded Amnesty International's repeated requests to provide him with protection. He has been running the September 30th Foundation, an organization which has worked to defend the rights of victims of the 1991-1994 military coup, since Pierre-Antoine was kidnapped.

"Haitian authorities have an obligation to protect their own citizens," said Barbara Joe, a Haiti specialist with Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "The threats against Mesilien and the disappearance of Pierre-Antoine will have an intimidating effect on civil society in Haiti unless the crimes are investigated thoroughly and those responsible for them are brought to justice."

The Haitian Embassy in Washington says it has received more than 500 letters of concern about the activists. Amnesty International members across the world are appealing to Haitian authorities to protect Mesilien and redouble efforts to find Pierre-Antoine.

Background
Days before he was kidnapped, Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine had announced his intention to run for election as a senator for the Fanmi Lavalas party. He is feared to have been abducted by people connected with the army disbanded by President Aristide in 1995 because he was publicizing human rights violations committed during the 1991-1994 military government and gathering signatures on a petition calling for a change to the Constitution that would eliminate all provisions for the existence of a Haitian army. Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine's whereabouts are still unknown.

Contact the President René Preval and ask him to pressure the Haitian authorities to protect Mesilien and redouble their efforts to find Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine. The Embassy of the Republic of Haiti, 2311 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC 20008
Tel: 202-232-4090; fax: 202-745-7215; e-mail: embassy@haiti.org

 

Support Anti-sweatshop legislation in 2008:

Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act

Thanks to the National Labor Committee (NLC) members who contacted Nike and reported the illegal firing of 48 workers for organizing a union at STARSA factory in Honduras’ free trade zone (owned by US Anvil, a T-shirt company). To its credit, Nike immediately sent a representative to Honduras who concluded the workers were unjustly and illegally fired. The 48 workers were reinstated to their jobs with back wages and legal recognition for their union.

The United Steelworkers Union anti-sweatshop legislation is moving in the US Congress. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced the Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act (S-367) and (HR-1992), with 152 co-sponsors in the House and 18 in the Senate in 2007. The bill would make corporations legally accountable for basic worker rights, including: no child labor, no forced labor, freedom of association and the right to organize unions. Products found to be made under illegal sweatshop conditions would be prohibited from entry into the US and sale or export from the US would also be banned

Contact your members of Congress and make sure that they have signed on to HR-1992 in the House of Representatives and S-367 in the Senate. More co-sponsors are needed now!
                                                                -- January 2008

 

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© 2003 2004 Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas (415) 924-3227

Updated March 30, 2008