September, 29 2014, 04:45pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sophia Har, Communications Director sophia@jubileeusa.org / (o) (202) 783-3566 x101 (m) (651) 815-1818
US Judge Finds Argentina in Contempt
WASHINGTON
US Federal Judge Thomas Griesa held a hearing that found Argentina in contempt and will announce the penalty at a later date. In September, the Argentine Congress passed a debt swap bill aimed at avoiding Judge Griesa's previous ruling to only pay the 92% of Argentina's restructured bond-holders if hold-out hedge funds were paid in full. Griesa had called such moves "illegal."
Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of religious debt relief group Jubilee USA, releases the following statement:
"Holding Argentina in contempt won't help resolve this situation.
"The case highlights the need for a comprehensive bankruptcy process that brings all investors to the table. This is the only way we can have settlements that benefit everyone, not just the special interests of a few."
Read Jubilee USA's press release on today's hearing here.
Read a timeline and history of the Argentina case here.
Read Jubilee USA's filing that urged the Supreme Court to take the case here.
Jubilee USA Network is an interfaith, non-profit alliance of religious, development and advocacy organizations. We are 75 U.S. institutions and more than 750 faith groups working across the United States and around the globe. We address the structural causes of poverty and inequality in our communities and countries around the world.
(202) 783-3566LATEST NEWS
Privacy Defenders Decry 'Spy Draft' in Section 702 Renewal Advanced by Senate
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Civil liberties defenders on Thursday decried the U.S. Senate's advancement of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which critics say lawmakers are trying to ram through without protection against warrantless surveillance and with a provision that would effectively make every American a spy whether they like it or not.
Senators voted 67-32 in favor of a cloture motion to begin voting on RISAA, a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires on Friday. FISA—a highly controversial law that has been abused hundreds of thousands of times—allows warrantless surveillance of non-U.S. citizens but also often sweeps up Americans' communication data in the process.
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This so-called "Make Everyone a Spy" clause would allow the attorney general or director of national intelligence to force electronic communication service providers to "immediately provide... all information, facilities, or assistance" the government deems necessary.
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Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)—who
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The Biden administration and U.S. intelligence agencies vehemently oppose the Durbin-Cramer amendment. The White House called the measure "a reckless policy choice contrary to the key lessons of 9/11 and not grounded in any constitutional requirement or statute."
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Columbia President Minouche Shafik informed the campus community on Thursday that she had authorized the police to clear the encampment.
As it has been in the past, the school has become a center of anti-war protests—and crackdowns by school officials and the police—since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in October.
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