Debt is a Justice Issue

Illegitimate Debt includes loans that

• Exploit the vulnerability or impoverishment of the borrower
• Are so unsustainable that repaying them undermines human rights by making it impossible for the state to meet obligations / fulfill core aspects of economic, social and cultural rights
• Were given for obviously useless or overpriced projects
• Caused harm to people or to the environment 

Odious debt describes loans

• Given to a despotic power (i.e. a ruler or regime with unlimited power over other people, and often using it unfairly and cruelly) or authoritarian regime
• Given by a creditor who knew (or should have known) that the money would not be used to benefit the people
• Used against the interests of the population, for instance to fund military regimes that deny people their fundamental rights