Introduction
"The External Debt of the countries of the South…is illegitimate, unjust, and ethically, legally, and politically unsustainable."
-Verdict,
International Peoples' Tribunal on Debt
February 2, 2002, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Over recent years an important movement has reemerged in favor of the cancellation and repudiation of the debt of countries of the South and the reparation of the social, historical, and ecological debts it has compounded. In several countries- among them Brazil, Argentina, Senegal, Philippines, the Andean and Southern African regions -- popular or ethical tribunals on the processes of indebtedness have been held or are being prepared, as valuable tools for truth-building, denunciation, and mobilization, within the context of strengthening and broadening that movement.
The International Peoples' Tribunal on the Debt, with the first three sessions held February 1-2, 2002, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, as part of the second World Social Forum and a fourth and concluding session held April 18, at the First Congregational Church, Washington DC, USA, highlighted and built on the experiences of local and regional ethical or peoples' tribunals, deepened the understanding on the illegitimate nature of external debt domination and contributed to the launching of a new global campaign intended to broaden support for the legitimate efforts of Southern peoples to break free from debt.
Convened by the international network of Jubilee South, together with the American Association of Jurists, the Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt, the World Council of Churches, Kairos-Canada, the Worldwide Women's March, Ustawi, the Jubilee USA Network and others, the Peoples' Tribunal drew the direct participation of over 5,000 persons from throughout Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the world at large.
The Tribunal received testimony from victims and expert witnesses from more than 20 countries of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
It was constituted on the basis of a Presidium of judges and a Popular Jury. Members of the Presidium were:
- Judge Dumisa Ntsebeza , former chief investigator of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission;
- Representative Loretta Ann Rosales, member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines;
- Dr. CP Chandrasekhar, university professor and chairperson of the Center for Economic Studies and Planning in India;
- Sra. Nora Cortiñas of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo of Argentina;
- Dom. Demetrio Valentini of Brazil; and
- Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian physician and writer.
Members of the Jury, headed by Argentine human rights activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Laureate, were Dep. Rosemary Nyerere (Tanzania), Ms. Ivonne Yanez (Ecuador), Ms. Marie Frantz Joachim (Haiti), Mr. Sekou Diarra (Mali), Prof. Dennis Brutus (South Africa), Mr. Rogate Mshana (Tanzania), Mr. Pedro Ross (Cuba), Mr. Samba Tembile, and, Ms. Shelly Emalyn Rao (Fiji).
The Prosecution Team, headed by Mr. Alejandro Teitlebaum (Argentina), was composed of Dr. Medha Patkar (India), Dr. Manuel Maria Mercedes Medina (Dominican Republic), Dr. Angel Luis Rivera (Puerto Rico), and Dr. Demba Dembele.
The fourth session was called by the Presidium to give the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, creditor and debtor governments and others accused for their culpability in the accumulation and maintenance of the debt of the South the time to present their defense. In spite of a notice given them earlier, the IMF-WB and the governments of the North and the South failed to present a defense. The judgement was handed down by four officiating members of the Presidium -- Judge Dumisa Ntsebeza, Dr. CP Chandrasekhar, Sra. Nora Cortinas, and Dr Nawal El Saadawi.
This is an initial documentation of all the sessions. Some testimonies and presentations by prosecutors have yet to be transcribed. The defense and the judges' comments will be part of the complete documentation that will come out in June 2002.
