Month: June 2005

In the past two years, a coalition of unprecedented international breadth and vitality has grown around the world. Known as Jubilee 2000, or J2K, it has roots in communities of faith but includes secular groups of every political stripe, all sharing a moral commitment to ensure a debt-free fresh start for the world’s poorest nations. The first international conference of Jubilee 2000 was held in November 1998 in Rome, with 38 national campaigns and 12 international organizations represented. That conference agreed to coordinate a Global Chain Reaction which will work toward a target of 22 million signatures – the biggest petition in history – scheduled for delivery as part of an international event at the June 1999 Summit of the G8 countries in Cologne. read more

On May 25, political Prisoner Leonard Peltier, who is suffering from a severe medical condition which causes his jaw to be frozen open 13 millimeters, requested current x-rays from prison authorities. The x-rays would help Maxillofacial expert, Dr. Eugene Keller of the Mayo Clinic, to determine what can be done to treat him.

Because prison authorities aren’t allowing Peltier to be transferred to the Rochester Medical Facility for federal prisoners, a facility where Keller could examine and treat Peltier, his defense team decided to attempt bringing Keller to Peltier instead. The physician is willing to examine Peltier at Leavenworth Penitentiary, but must have current x-rays before making the trip. read more

"Every generation should have a moral assignment, and one of ours must be justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal." —  Ossie Davis

There is a growing awareness that the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal is a travesty of justice. His case has become the focus of a growing international movement. The issues bound up in this case include the death penalty, racial bias in the US criminal justice system, and the punishment of political dissent. Where people stand on this case has become a benchmark of where they stand on social justice. read more

In London recently to promote the latest installment of his memoirs, Henry Kissinger stormed out of a widely heard radio interview when the questioning turned to his complicity in war crimes. Radio 4 host Jeremy Paxman had asked the former secretary of state whether he felt like a fraud for getting a Nobel Peace Prize after plotting a coup in Chile and orchestrating slaughter in Cambodia. Kissinger denied everything, of course, and said his host was woefully misinformed, yet declined to show up for a BBC roundtable discussion scheduled for later that day. read more

On July 31, over 700 people participated in the New York City Independent Commission of Inquiry Hearing to Investigate US/NATO War Crimes Against the People of Yugoslavia. The hearing was the first of a series that will be held in cities throughout the US, other NATO countries, and elsewhere to collect evidence, eyewitness testimony, expert testimony and analysis of Crimes Against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity.

The featured presentation at the July 31 hearing was Ramsey Clark’s 19-count indictment of William J. Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Sandy Berger, William Cohen, Tony Blair, Gerard Schroeder, and other high officials in NATO and NATO countries. The full text of the indictment is available at www.iacenter.org/warcrime/indictmt.htm. Speeches and Papers from the July 31, Hearing can be found at www.iacenter.org/warcrime/progtrib.htm  read more

On June 5, between 12,000 and 15,000 protesters marched from the Washington, DC, Veterans Memorial Wall to the Pentagon, calling for an end to the bombing of Yugoslavia and nearby areas. But neither the Washington Post nor the New York Times carried a word about it. On the other hand, C-SPAN broadcast everything.

Reaching DC on the evening of June 3, I learned that 25 people had committed civil disobedience (CD) at the White House that day, including Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and Rev. John Dear, executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. I couldn’t be there because I’d been meeting Vermont high school students who, among other things, had eagerly asked my wife Elizabeth and me about the gains that could be made with increased CD. On Friday, June 4, however, I discovered that no CD was planned for the weekend. read more