You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
============================================================
This story available online at: http://www.pcusa.org/ga217/newsandphotos/ga06043.htm
GA06043
Peacemaking and International Issues
Committee weighs in on war in Sudan, Haitian immigrants
By Toya Richards Hill
BIRMINGHAM, June 17 * The Committee on Peacemaking and International Issues voted to recommend two overtures to the General Assembly that call for exploring divesting from companies profiting from the war in Sudan.
Overtures 11-28 and 11-37, originating from the presbyteries of Trinity, Shenango and The Palisades, have components that empower the Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) to look at the denomination's investments and determine if corporations involved in Sudan need to be added to the GA's divestment list. The committee was careful, however, to make sure corporations that provide humanitarian products to Sudan are not included.
They also amended the two overtures in order to have MRTI do its work as soon as possible, and to allow the General Assembly Council to act on MRTI's recommendations on behalf of the GA, which will not meet again until 2008.
MRTI is charged with monitoring the PC(USA)'s investments to make sure they are socially responsible. One of the ways the committee gets its assignments is through referrals from the GA. MRTI then makes recommendations back to the GA, based on the work it has done.
MRTI currently is carrying out the actions of the 216th GA to begin the process of phased, selective divestment from specific companies doing business in Israel and Palestine.
The Rev. Bill Somplatsky-Jarman, PC(USA) staff to MRTI, said this will not be the first time divestment has come up with Sudan, and that research already is underway regarding what corporations are involved in the war-torn east African nation.
"Believe me, we've already been researching this," he told the committee.
The rationale for overture 11-37 points out that "since early 2003, the government of Sudan has followed a policy of extreme violence against the Darfur region in the western part of the country.
"At least 400,000 Darfurians have lost their lives, more than 2 million are internally displaced, and more than 200,000 have fled to neighboring Chad. It is essential to respond to the human-rights tragedy there by bringing maximum pressure to bear on the initiation of appropriate corrective measures."
The committee spent some time discussing and voting on whether to use the term genocide in reference to the situation occurring in Sudan, and ultimately determined the description is accurate. The U.S. government has classified the atrocities taking place there as genocide.
In other news, the committee took action regarding Haiti, and will make a recommendation to the GA that includes calling for the United States government to halt its current practice of immediately deporting Haitians who are "attempting to escape the horror that exists in that troubled country."
The issue originated with overtures 11-26 and 11-38 from the presbyteries of Tropical Florida and New York City, yet the committee's actions ended with the approval of an alternate resolution from the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) that used recommendations adapted from both original overtures.
Overture advocate the Rev. Raymond Anglin, pastor of Ascension Peace Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, FL, complained to the committee that there is unequal treatment given to Haitians seeking asylum versus other immigrants coming into the U.S.
"We have witnessed blatant injustice," he said, pointing to how Cubans coming ashore in the U.S. are treated in comparison to Haitians. "Our presbytery has experienced this over and over again. We are asking that this General Assembly take positive steps in prompting our government to do things differently."
The ACSWP recommendation calls for "the United States government to be generous in its trade agreements and financial aid to Haiti, providing assistance without imposing conditions that are deleterious to Haiti's economic health, self-government, and independence."
The recommendation also reaffirms "the support of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for the right of all people, in particular those of Haiti, to self-government and the free exercise of democratic processes without interference from other nations, including agents of the Unites States."
============================================================
You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.
To update your email address, send your old email address and your new one to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
For questions or comments, send an email to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
To learn more, visit http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 (888) 728-7228