News and Analysis
For The Week Ending Sept. 29, 2000

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Between The Lines co-sponsored event: INDEPENDENT MEDIA CONFERENCE. Oct. 13-14, Trinity College, Burlington, VT. Writers, media producers, and activists will gather to share experiences, examine challenges, and develop a common agenda. Friday, 8 p.m. keynote with Michael Parenti and Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now!"; Saturday workshops, lunch/dinner, and entertainment. For registration and lodging information, write IMCVT c/o Toward Freedom, POB 468, Burlington, VT 05402; e-mail, IMCVT@aol.com; Website, zenzibar.com/indymedia2000; or call (802) 654-8024. Registration: by Sept. 30 - Friday ($10), Saturday ($20); after Sept. 30 - Friday ($15), Saturday ($30).

This week we present Between The Lines' summary of under-reported news stories and:

Justice Dept. Report Reveals Profound Racial Disparity in Death Penalty Application
Interview by Scott Harris.

Last week, the Justice Department released the findings of a comprehensive study which examined the application of the federal death penalty. The review found significant racial and geographical disparities, provoking Attorney General Janet Reno to say that she was "sorely troubled" by the findings.

According to the study, in 75 percent of the cases where United States attorneys recommended the death penalty since 1985, the defendant was a person of color. Although the federal government has not executed anyone since 1963, there are now 21 inmates on death row facing capital punishment, two-thirds of them black or Latino. Earlier this year U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., called for a suspension of all federal executions. Sen. Feingold and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., proposed legislation in April to impose a national death penalty moratorium.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, who examines the findings of the Justice Dept. study and where the fight to abolish the death penalty is going in this election year.

For more information, contact the Center by calling (202) 293-6970 or visit their Web site at www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

See a copy of the U.S. Justice Department's report, "Survey of the Federal Death Penalty System" by clicking here! (www.usdoj.gov/dag/pubdoc/dpsurvey.html)

Thousands to Protest IMF-World Bank Policies in Prague and 57 U.S. Cities
Interview by Scott Harris.

Economists and representatives of hundreds of nations will be gathering in Prague for the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Sept. 21-28. But those traveling to this year's summit in the Czech Republic are bracing for major demonstrations against the policies of the financial institution founded shortly after World War II.

The actions in Prague follow major demonstrations against the World Trade Organization in Seattle last winter and an earlier mass protest against the World Bank in Washington D.C. in April. In addition to legal protest and non-violent civil disobedience, organizers are planning a "countersummit" on development policy, numerous workshops and a cultural festival. While more than 10,000 police are being deployed in Prague to prevent disruption of the event, Czech President Vaclav Havel, who has himself leveled criticism at the World Bank, has arranged to meet protest leaders at the Presidential Palace.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Soren Ambrose, policy analyst with the 50 Years Is Enough Network, who discusses the World Bank-IMF policies that have provoked growing criticism and the new coalitions that have targeted the bank in Prague and elsewhere.

To learn how you can act locally, contact the Network by calling (202) IMF-BANK or visit their Web site at www.50years.org

To view independent coverage of the Prague protests, visit the Independent Media Center's Prague Web site at: http://prague.indymedia.org.

East Coast Bike Tour Raising Awareness About Environmental Struggles and Unsustainable Energy Sources
Interview by Melinda Tuhus.

The organization Earth Challenge was founded last year by two women whose goal is to help others learn first-hand about some of the nation's serious environmental issues and to meet people who are dealing with the fallout. They do it by organizing long-distance bicycle rides that stop in communities where local environmental struggles are underway. Last year, they rode from Georgia to Nevada to expose the dangers of nuclear energy. This year, Susan Alzner of New Haven, Conn. and her partner Leigh Lytle of Decatur, Ga., have organized a project called "Shifting Gears: Ride for Environmental Action 2000."

During September Alzner, Lytle and four other women are riding from Norwich, Conn. to Atlanta. They're focusing on environmental problems caused by unsustainable energy sources such as oil, coal and nuclear power.

The bike riders will stop in places like Harrisburg, Pa., the site of the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident; West Virginia, where mountaintop removal coal mining has devastated many communities; and Barnwell, S.C. home of a radioactive waste dump.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Susan Alzner who explains what the group's bike tour hopes to accomplish.

To contact the group call (203) 421-8355 or visit their Web site: www.earthchallenge.org. The Connecticut Energy Co-Op may be found on the Web at: www.ctco-op.com

This week's summary of under-reported news
Compiled by Denise Manzari and Bob Nixon

• Members of the congressional Black Caucus report on their second official delegation to observe Cuba's medical system and speak with Fidel Castro. Castro offered Cuban doctors for work in impoverished areas.(Researched by Denise Manzari)
  
• Russian intelligence leaders pushing to reopen case against nuclear industry whistleblower Alexander Nikitin, whose acquittal on treason charges was upheld this past spring by the Presidium, Russian's Supreme Court.(Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 12, 2000)
  
• Trace levels of DDT found in green tea; three percent of all food tested coming from foreign nations contains outlawed pesticides. (In These Times: Aug. 21, 2000)