Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

In order to put an end to the ‘debt system’ that uses debt repayment as a pretext to implement austerity policies, the CADTM demands that all illegitimate debts be cancelled, in the North as in the South. It is not only concerned with public debts, it also demands the cancellation of illegitimate private debts such as those connected with microcredit, with women being their first victims, debts contracted by peasants, by students, by families that were evicted by the banks.

As we are aware that cancelling illegitimate debts is a necessary but not sufficient condition to the emancipation of people (a condition that is not compatible with patriarchy or capitalism), the CADTM also fights neo-colonial free trade agreements and the impunity of TNCs and governments that support international financial institutions, for instance the agreement reached in mid-April between the Tunisian government and the IMF IMF
International Monetary Fund Along with the World Bank, the IMF was founded on the day the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. Its first mission was to support the new system of standard exchange rates.

When the Bretton Wood fixed rates system came to an end in 1971, the main function of the IMF became that of being both policeman and fireman for global capital: it acts as policeman when it enforces its Structural Adjustment Policies and as fireman when it steps in to help out governments in risk of defaulting on debt repayments.

As for the World Bank, a weighted voting system operates: depending on the amount paid as contribution by each member state. 85% of the votes is required to modify the IMF Charter (which means that the USA with 17,68% % of the votes has a de facto veto on any change).

The institution is dominated by five countries: the United States (16,74%), Japan (6,23%), Germany (5,81%), France (4,29%) and the UK (4,29%).
The other 183 member countries are divided into groups led by one country. The most important one (6,57% of the votes) is led by Belgium. The least important group of countries (1,55% of the votes) is led by Gabon and brings together African countries.

http://imf.org , which include a number of neoliberal capitalist measures to be implement between 2016 and 2019.

The CADTM is an internationalist network. It also demands freedom of movement for people who flee poverty or war, climate justice and the protection of our planet.

Among the many actions carried out by the network since its last Global Assembly in 2013, we can mention its active participation in auditing the Greek debt 2015 under the auspices of the former president of the Greek Parliament, its involvement in citizen debt audits on all continents, its active support to the audit campaign of the Tunisian debt launched in December 2015 and the international campaign of solidarity with women who are victims of microcredits in Morocco, its key role in the fight against vulture funds Vulture funds
Vulture fund Investment funds who buy, on the secondary markets and at a significant discount, bonds once emitted by countries that are having repayment difficulties, from investors who prefer to cut their losses and take what price they can get in order to unload the risk from their books. The Vulture Funds then pursue the issuing country for the full amount of the debt they have purchased, not hesitating to seek decisions before, usually, British or US courts where the law is favourable to creditors. , notably in Argentina and Belgium, where an act against vulture funds was recently voted, etc.

(Reminder the network’s Global Assembly was to take place in Morocco, but because of the political repression in this country, with ATTAC-CADTM Morocco one of its victims, it was moved to Tunisia, where it is warmly welcome.)

Rabat, 24 April 2016
The CADTM’s Shared International Secretariat

Contacts:
 Omar Aziki (ATTAC-CADTM Morocco’s General Secretary) : +212 661 17 30 39
 Éric Toussaint (spokesperson for CADTM International)
 Fathi Chamkhi (Tunisian MP and spokesperson for RAID-ATTAC-CADTM Tunisia): +216 555 22 378

Translated by Christine Pagnoulle

You can also view the messages of support :
 News and support from Greece - Moisis Litsis
 United Nations Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt statement to be delivered at the CADTM network’s Global Assembly
- Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky (NU))