Peacemaking

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This page is archived from the 217th GA, 2006

Peacemaking and International Affairs

Presbytery of New York City calls for support for the rights of the people of Haiti

[5-16-06 -- submitted by the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship]

RESOLVED: that the Session of the Rutgers Presbyterian Church asks that the Presbytery of New York City approve and adopt the following overture to the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):

RECOMMENDATION

The Presbytery of New York City overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to:

1) give thanks to God for the life and dignity of all human beings, especially those whose condition of poverty and oppression is contrary to the will of God as expressed by Jesus Christ, our Lord;

2) reaffirm 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;

3) warn against all lawless or excessive violence in Haiti, whether that of political groups, street gangs, insurgent movements, the Haiti National Police, the United Nations peacekeeping force (MINUSTAH), kidnappers, or common criminals;

4) express its alarm and disapproval of interference made in recent years by agents of the United States Government in Haiti's constitutional and democratic processes;

5) call upon the Government of the United States to adopt a Haiti policy that is friendly toward the political empowerment of the vast majority of Haitian citizens, who are poor, often disenfranchised, and systematically excluded from participation in political life;

6) ask that the United States Government 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.

7) instruct the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to communicate this resolution to the President of the United States of America, the United States Department of State, Majority Leader of the United States Senate and the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

RATIONALE

1. Since Haiti declared its national independence in 1804 after a successful war of rebellion from France, it has been subject to highly oppressive measures, usually of an economic nature but sometimes military, imposed upon it by stronger nations. Since the early 20th century the dominant force in Haiti's political and economic life has been the United States Government.

2. To speak only of recent troubles: Between 2000 and 2004, the U.S. Government and organizations allied with it de-stabilized Haiti by undermining its democratically elected President, fomenting a crisis that led to a second coup d'etat against him. For example, in 2001 the U.S. government initiated a loan-embargo, using its veto power in the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) board of directors to block release of already-approved loans for health care, education, and water -- unjustly increasing the hardship of Haiti's people. Although U.S. interference in Haiti's political process has been observed for years by many scholars and reporters, it has received scant attention in major news outlets until a work of investigative journalism published in The New York Times in January this year. ("Mixed U.S. Signals Helped Tilt Haiti Toward Chaos: Democracy Undone: Back Channels vs. Policy,' by Walt Bogdanich and Jenny Nordberg, January 29, 2006).

3. The Interim Government of Haiti that the U.S., France, and Canada, installed in March of 2004 has incarcerated many political prisoners. In spite of the recent presidential election, the democratic process in Haiti is far from secure.

4. Haitian people need political and economic empowerment more than they need charity. Indeed, the lack of such empowerment and the heavy-handed treatment of the Haitian government by the U. S. Government are prime causes of poverty in Haiti.

5. The people of the United States, by and large, have come to take Haiti's destitution for granted and to view it as irremediable. This Overture is predicated on the belief that the PCUSA has a responsibility to do what it can to correct these attitudes and to influence the U. S. Government to support the democratic aspirations of Haiti's poor, who are its vast majority.

Passed by the Presbytery of New York City, March 25, 2006.

Peacemaking at the 217^th General Assembly

By Marilyn White, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

Israel-Palestine and Divestment

The controversial process initiated in 2004 by the 216^th General Assembly to consider divestment from selected companies doing business in Israel will be reconsidered by the 217^thGA when it meets in Birmingham in June. At press time, 14 overtures on the Israel-Palestine conflict had been received. Only one (O-62 from the Presbytery of San Francisco) reaffirms the divestment decision. It also encourages investment in joint Palestinian-Israeli ventures and directs the Peacemaking Program to offer study tours to visit both Israelis and Palestinians.

Seven overtures would overturn or apply brakes to the divestment process by asking GA to "suspend," "cease," "revoke," or "rescind" it. Of these, the most extreme is O-1 from the Presbytery of Mississippi, which not only calls for rescinding the process to explore divestment, but also would remove the 2004 request for the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinian leadership to negotiate compromises leading to peace. The overture goes on to suggest that the only restriction against an Israeli security wall should be that it not encroach upon land that was Palestinian before 1967. It calls for repeal of the 216^th GA's criticism of Christian Zionism. It concludes with an interesting proposal to refer future overtures that might "damage relationships with Jews to the presbyteries for a period of study and reflection before voting to approve or reject such overtures."

The mildest of this group of overtures (O-57 from Eastern Virginia) merely "suspends" divestment activity until a new task force can prepare a comprehensive Middle East policy for consideration by the 218^th GA.

Six overtures address the controversy itself without asking to terminate the divestment process. O-15 asks the GA to be "fair, evenhanded and just in their language and actions." Overtures from National Capital, New York City, Transylvania, and Chicago include among their requests that new investments be made in ventures which are contributing to the region's peace in some way. A second overture from the Presbytery of New York city joins Eastern Virginia in the call for a task force but without adding a suspension of the policy in the interim.

With at least seven overture advocates representing the anti-divestment forces at General Assembly, divestment defenders will be at a disadvantage when the issue is considered in committee. The Israel-Palestine mission network is looking for people willing to testify at the open hearing and to help distribute briefing materials to commissioners.

More on Israel/Palestine >>

Constructive Nonviolence

The Presbytery of Baltimore has submitted an overture "on recognizing the value of proactive, constructive nonviolence and establishing nonviolence training." If passed, the church would incorporate proactive, constructive nonviolence as an essential part of the peacemaking program by implementing an ambitious training program for clergy and laypersons in constructive nonviolence. Each presbytery would be encouraged to recruit a training coordinator and offer retreats and workshops to congregations.

Torture

O-64, from the Presbytery of San Francisco, calls for an independent investigation of torture allegations against the U.S. and for the appointment of a special counsel to prosecute those involved in mistreatment of detainees. Commissioners from National Capital Presbytery are planning to introduce a resolution "to condemn torture in any and all of its forms anywhere, particularly by any agent of the United States government, and ask the General Assembly to instruct its agencies to pursue broadly ecumenical and inter-religious strategies to promote the faith community's unique responsibility to protect human rights of all persons under custody."

Haiti

Two overtures address problems in Haiti. The Presbytery of Tropical Florida is specific in its request to cease the practice of immediate deportation of Haitian refugees, but vague in its call for our government to "address the political and social situation in Haiti." An overture from the Presbytery of New York City fills the gaps by naming the groups who have contributed to the violence and expressing its disapproval of U.S. interference in Haiti's democratic processes. It suggests generous trade agreements and financial aid without deleterious conditions.

The Congo

The Presbyteries of New Hope, Chicago, and Eastern Virginia have submitted similar overtures advocating appropriate actions for the U.S., the U.N., and concerned Presbyterians to promote peace in the poverty-and-war-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo. All three overtures emphasize the need for free, fair, and democratic elections.

International Trafficking

The Synod of the Northeast has submitted on overture on condemning international trafficking in and sexual exploitation of children. In addition to focusing attention on the need for education and advocacy, the overture calls for a boycott of companies in the travel and tourism industry that have not yet signed the "Code of Conduct for Protection of Children from Commercial Exploitation in Travel and Tourism."

How you can help

Most General Assembly committees will hold open hearings on Friday, June 16. If you would like to testify on one of these issues at an open hearing, please contact PPF's General Assembly issues coordinator, Bill Galvin (galvinbill@yahoo.com). If any commissioners or delegates from your presbytery would like more information on any of these overtures, ask them to contact Bill.

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This website has been created by a number of progressive organizations related to the Presbyterian Church (USA), with two main purposes:

1. We want to share our concerns and views with commissioners and others attending the Assembly, and with anyone else who is watching from afar. While some of our groups focus on one area of concern and others are more general in their focus, we are all committed to the wholeness of our world, which we understand to involve justice and peace and the well-being of all people; and we are committed to the wholeness and health of our Church and its witness and service in the world.

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