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July 1998
V.II No.2



World Cup Bits



The excitement of the World Cup can be felt from pole to pole; millions of people in countries around the world are glued to their television sets cheering their national teams (or that of their favorite countries) to victory. But while we celebrate the feast of football, people throughout the world continue to be killed, tortured and oppressed - often by the governments of the competing countries. They, at least as much as the football teams, deserve our attention.

Not all Brazilians have been celebrating their team's recent victories. At least one man found the time to call Edna and Donizeti Flor and threaten "reprisals" if they didn't leave the city of Araçatuba within the next 15 days. Two handmade bombs were also thrown in front of their office. The Flors had denounced cases of torture and extrajudicial executions perpetrated by members of the civilian and military police in their town. While Brazil has a stellar record in the World Cup, having become champion four times, its record on human rights is rather poorer, human rights and community leaders are often harassed, torture is rampant, and hundreds of people continue to be killed annually by police and death squads.

Getting to the World Cup for the first time ever was victory enough for Japan. While not making it to the second round disappointed Japanese fans, they were model supporters of their team. Not everyone in Japan could enjoy the games however - three Japanese prisoners were executed on January 25th. As usual, the executions were conducted in secret and the identity of the three men is not known. Human rights organizations have called on Japan to stop executions, but authorities vow to continue the executions for at least a year.

Yugoslavia was able to celebrate football victories against the US, but the same cannot be said of ethnic-Albanians in Kosovo. Several Albanians have been arrested in Kosovo for playing or organizing football matches without official approval. On occasions they were beaten, and their football equipment was confiscated. Albanians have set up their own football league in Kosovo to the chagrin of Serbian authorities.

Nigerians can celebrate even though their team did not make it pass its game against Germany. A number of prisoners of conscience were released by the new president, and more are expected to be released soon. Unfortunately, former president-elect Abiola died short before he was to be released.

Adidas , the official provider of World Cup athletic equipment, has conceded that some of the foot balls used in the World Cup were made by Chinese prisoners at a labor camp near Shanghai. Labor camps, where prisoners work under slave-like conditions and are often physically punished if they don't complete their quotas, have been denounced by human rights organizations worldwide and both FIFA and Adidas have assured they would not use prison labor in the manufacture of the balls used in the Cup.

While the world rejoiced at the enthusiasm of Jaimacans playing their first World Cup, it has been less ready to notice the silent cries of poor teenage boys who are increasingly resorting to prostitution to support themselves. Jamaica' s economic crisis and growing unemployment (which stands at 65% for people aged 16-30), has led to teenage boys engaging in prostitution to fill their stomachs, and continue their education.

Despite high hopes, and the support of Latino-Americans everywhere, Colombia failed to make it to the second round of the World Cup. Meanwhile, Colombians elected a new president, Andrés Pastrana, who will start his term in August. The military (and its associated death squads) continues its campaign of terror throughout the country, killing, injuring and threatening human rights activists, community leaders, peasants, and anyone suspected of having sympathies for the guerrilla.

Argentinians' attention these last weeks has been divided between their team's performance on the field and the arrest of their former president Videla (convicted and pardoned for hundreds of murders and other crimes against humanity) on charges of kidnaping of children during the "Dirty War." Videla remains in prison while the instructing judge decides whether he should be prosecuted. According to other inmates, he does not seem to show much interest in the matches, unlike in 1978 when under his presidency Argentina tried to use the World Cup to draw attention away from the "disappearances."