News Archives » Peace
IMF Must Consider Consequences for Poor and Social-Political Stability in Ukraine April 30th, 2014
IMF Reputation and Prospects for 2010 Reforms at Stake: Oblates join call for the IMF to consider the impact of their loan conditions on the people of Ukraine
Today, the IMF’s Executive Board of Directors is scheduled to review a $16.8 billion loan for Ukraine, which was endorsed by IMF staff last week. The IMF-Ukraine deal will impact the future of both Ukraine and the IMF.
The IMF deal comes with several conditions, including a move to a flexible exchange rate. Ukraine, with IMF assistance, made this change in February 2014. This has led to a 29 percent drop in the value of the Ukrainian hryvnia – making it even more difficult for Ukraine to pay its debt. Unfortunately, the IMF deal does not include any debt relief or “haircuts” – requiring creditors to accept a loss. Instead, the debt burden will carried by Ukraine’s citizens, almost a third of whom already live in poverty, according to an April 2014 UN Report.
“IMF-Ukraine negotiations have neglected the consequences for the citizens of Ukraine, and in this vein have disregarded how loan conditions will impact political and social stability in Ukraine” said Jo Marie Griesgraber, the Executive Director at New Rules for Global Finance, a DC-based NGO that pushes for responsibility in global financial institutions. “This is short-sighted and we strongly urge the IMF Executive Board to take this into consideration.”
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Spring/Summer 2014 Issue of JPIC Report Available On-Line April 28th, 2014
The Spring/Summer 2014 issue of JPIC Report is now available on line as a PDF. It will soon be available in print form.
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You can find all issues of JPIC Report on this website in the Resources section. (Download a PDF of the latest issue)
Solitary Nation April 28th, 2014
Last week, PBS FRONTLINE aired Solitary Nation, portraying the brutal reality of solitary confinement in a Maine maximum-security prison. FRONTLINE has made a significant contribution to the work to end torture by revealing, in graphic detail, the heart wrenching inhumanity of isolation.
Viewers meet a young father, desperate to earn his GED, who deteriorates repeatedly under the crushing reality of daily life in solitary confinement. And yet the inhumanity of isolation in this one prison is ongoing in prisons, jails and detention centers throughout the U.S. The full video is free and available for viewing here: http://to.pbs.org/1lNv83j
We invite you to view the video, and share it with members of your community. Thoughts and additional resources to consider when viewing the film are enclosed in a viewers guide below, and available for download here. This material is from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture: www.tortureisamoralissue.org, of which Oblate JPIC is a member.
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Philippine-MILF Peace Treaty Signed April 3rd, 2014
President Benigno Aquino meets with rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaders before the signing of a peace agreement in Manila on Thursday (photo by Ryan Lim/Malacañang Photo Bureau)
The Philippine government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed a peace agreement on March 27th that aims to formally end four decades of war in the southern Philippines region of Mindanao. The conflict killed more than 100,000 people.
The result of 17 years of negotiations, the “Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro” has been described by government peace negotiators as a “partnership” based on “shared aspirations to heal the wounds of conflict, enable meaningful autonomy for the Bangsamoro, and nurture peace and development in Muslim Mindanao.”
The peace agreement foresees the creation of an autonomous region for the Muslim population to be located in the southern Mindanao region. It will have a power-sharing agreement with the central government, allowing its own leadership to control most of its own natural resources and revenues. Elections are to be held there by mid-2016.
UN HR Council Mandates Sri Lanka War Crimes Investigation March 28th, 2014
The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution mandating an international inquiry into allegations of major human rights violations in Sri Lanka during the last seven years of the war, with 23 countries voting in favor of the document in the 47-nation strong body. While 12 countries including Pakistan, Maldives, Cuba, Venezuela, China, Russia voted against the Resolution, 12 member-states abstained from voting, including India and Indonesia.
The Resolution that passed this year’s session of the HR Council is stronger than those of previous years, largely due to the recent report on Sri Lanka by Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her report concluded that the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which identified the need to ensure independent and credible investigations into past violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, had failed in this. The UN estimated that 40,000 people – mostly Tamil civilians – were killed in the final stages of the war. Other estimates run as high as 80,000. Both sides have been accused of war crimes.
The International Crisis Group, the Chair and CEO of which is Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, asserts that the “… government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has failed to comply with two successive Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions. Failure is most obvious with respect to accountability for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the final phase of the civil war, but also by the lack of devolution of power, ongoing militarisation of the north and east, and deepening authoritarianism throughout the country. Decisive HRC action now is required in light of GoSL’s repeated failures to undertake the necessary steps alone; it is necessary also in order to decrease the risk of a return to deadly conflict in Sri Lanka.”
Read the resolution here…
