ereo
I
LO A OELES -- The leader
of t alional Baptist Con­
ven'ion U.S.A. Inc. criticized
Pre ident Bush' troop buildup
in the Pe ian Gulf.
"There i a moral i ue,"
aid the Rev. T.J. Jemi on,
pre ident of the nation'
large t African American
religious body. "It' over oil.
We' re jeopardizing our fine
young men and women over
oil in the Persian Gulf."
The convention a ex-
pected to vote Thursday at its
110th nnual meeting on a
re olution attacking the troop
deployment' that followed
Ir q' inva ion of Kuwait.
With an e iimated 7.8 mil­
lion member, the B ptist Con­
vention i the nation' third
large t Protestant denomina-
. non, nd the large t organi-
zation of Blac in the orld.
" r not fig ti 0 er
any principle or ideal. Our
fighting right- no ... is over
oil," Jemison s id Monday
during elcoming ceremonie
� at the meeting.of the Conven­
lion, hieh run through Sun­
day. "It' unfortunate Americ
ould become involved the
y u ha ."
. Jemi on urged the ad­
ministr tion to work for a
ne otiated pe ce, rather than.
spend billions on a troop buil­
dup.
"Think of the good that bil­
lion dollars could do fo� Black
America and poor while
America," he id.Jemi on's
trong statement, made in
recent interview, i voice'
crying in the wilderne .
Most of the nation's other
large church bodie have taken
no t nd, pleading only for
caution .
The executive committee of
the tional Council i Chur­
che , the ti n' I rge t
ecume ical b dy, i icheduled
to meet Sept. 12 to di cus the. .
U.S. military involvement. ac- -
cording to an A ociated Pre
report.
The 53 million-member
Roman C tholic Church,
through it ation I Con-
Co UD 2
•
ho
For �ts f ilure to ho e the
homele ,the United State
government may be in viola­
lion of the international
hum n right standards out­
lined in .the Helsinki human
righ ccord, th U.S. Com­
mission on Security nd
Cooperation in Europe aid
Sept.4.
In a 77-p ge report, "Home­
le ne in the United State ,"
the taer of the commission
id the respon e of the U.S.
government to the gro ing
problem of homele ne doe
not fulfill international human
ri b la
"The failure to formul te ef­
fective pelicte and provide
lovemment i tance to help
e
tho e mo t in need he me
elf- uff'iclent, contributing
member of ociety i not ju -
tifiabl and will imply not
with tand clo e examin tion
along the line of Helsin i and
other international commit­
ments," the report aid.
"If the United St tes doe
not how significant improve­
ment in thi area, th n we mu t
be prepared-to an 'wer why, not
only to lh nations of the world
but, more import ntly, to our
own people," the report aid.
The report noted lhat the
United State. one of 35 ig-
ne of t 19 9 Vienn Con-
cludrn Document. i
committed to the recognition
tbat "the promotion of
economic. oci I, (and) cul­
tural rights well a of civil
and politic I right is of
. paramount importance for
human dignity and for the at-
tainment 0 th gitim te
a pir tion of every in­
dividual. "
The Vienna ,t ternent al 0
committed the Unit d St te to
"achieving progre ively th
Iul] rc Iizauon of economic,
iocial and cui rural rights by II
appropri rc mean'. including
in p rticular by the adoption or
legi lation."
In the pa t, Arneric n poli y
makers h vc been 11 luctant to
give ocial and conomic
human right the me impor-
tance politic I rights, ug-
ge ti ng th l democratic
politic I procedure. including
free; pe ech nd election. I
were sufficient to en ure
hurnan right .
The report urveyed much
of the va t Ii tcraiure on hom -
le ne . in the United Sl 1
and the rail ure of Ceder I
C 2
l.