Between the Lines.

Jubilee Progress

On September 29 President Clinton announced that the administration would erase 100 percent of the debt owed to the United States by 30 heavily indebted poor countries. Much of the credit for this move goes to the grassroots efforts of the Jubilee 2000 movement for debt cancellation. Jubilee welcomed the pledge saying, "If the U.S. announcement has the intended effect and results in other major creditors matching this challenge, the impact in terms of new resources for poverty reduction could be significant."

Marie Dennis, chair of the Religious Task Force on the World Bank and IMF, echoed this sentiment, stating, "This is a welcome step, as it goes beyond any commitment the United States has made thus far."

While celebrating the victory, activists will continue to press for a just implementation of debt relief. "The real value of any debt cancellation is determined by how well it serves the needs of the poorest people," said Dennis, "and it will never be tested unless Congress sees fit to appropriate the necessary money."

Insult to Injury

While the U.S. military has spent more than $30 million on its fortress-like base in Kosovo--complete with a Burger King--Kosovars themselves are left with a war-ravaged homeland, including among other hazards radiation from depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used by NATO forces.

In Iraq, where armor-piercing DU shells were used extensively, doctors found an exponential increase in child cancers and birth defects. It has also been linked to the so-called "Gulf War Syndrome," as doctors have found high levels of DU in U.S. veterans' urine even after eight years.

Briefly Noted

* An estimated 10 million Colombians--a quarter of the country's population--took to the streets this fall in protests demanding an end to 40 years of armed conflict that has claimed at least 30,000 lives and displaced 1.4 million people.

* An amendment to cut funding to the U.S. Army School of the Americas--which the House approved last August, 230-197--was defeated 8-7 in a House-Senate conference committee in late September. More than 130 Catholic bishops in the United States and 40 in Latin America have called for the closing of the School that is linked to many of the hemisphere's worst human rights violations.

* Poor people and activists from the United States, Canada, and Latin America joined this October in the March of the Americas, marching from Washington, D.C., to the United Nations in New York City as part of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. The campaign consists of more than 35 organizations, and is spearheaded by the Kensington Welfare Rights Union.

Justice Remains Elusive in Guatemala

Celvin Galindo, the prosecutor investigating the murder of Guatemalan Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi, has fled to the United States for fear of his life. Bishop Gerardi was bludgeoned to death in April 1998, two days after presenting "Guatemala: Nunca Mas" ("Guatemala: Never Again," released in English by Orbis Books in October), a report from the Guatemalan Catholic human rights office that found government forces responsible for the overwhelming majority of atrocities committed during that country's armed conflict.

Death threats against Galindo had intensified as he awaited DNA test results possibly implicating military officers in the bishop's murder. Galindo admitted being "frustrated at not reaching the end [of the case], but I believe that, in reaching the end of the case, I would run a very great risk."

His exodus follows that of a judge who abandoned the case and the country after only a month, and witnesses--including a former military officer-who fled to Canada after offering testimony showing military involvement in the murder.

Action on Sudan

The U.S. State Department this fall cited Sudan as potentially subject to economic sanctions under the International Religious Freedom Act for its persecution of Christians and other religious groups. Civil war between ethnically African rebel groups and the Arab-Muslim government has displaced more than four million people and resulted in nearly two million deaths. In addition to the government's toleration of slavery, both sides regularly commit atrocities against civilians, conscript children, and manipulate relief efforts, creating "the worst humanitarian situation in the entire world," according to Roger Winter, executive director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees.

The Sudan Peace Act introduced in the U.S. Senate last July, though not without its shortcomings, rightly condemns human rights violations by all sides, supports an official peace process, and calls for reform of U.N. relief programs. It also seeks to strengthen civic institutions in war-ravaged areas, including people-to-people peace and reconciliation efforts supported by the New Sudan Council of Churches.