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Monday, July 19, 2004

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-487-0693, mclarty@greens.org
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- "Unless we act right away in cooperation with the international community, 350,000 people will die in the Sudan from disease, starvation and murder," said David Cobb, Green Party presidential candidate.  "We urge President Bush, Sen. Kerry, and all presidential and congressional candidates and officeholders to join with the Green Party in our call to stop the unfolding genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.  This crisis is one that can and should unite all Americans, regardless of political persuasion, behind the goal of international action to save Sudanese lives before it's too late.  Either we set aside our political differences and act right now to stop genocide or we will share responsibility for it."

As many as 350,000 Sudanese civilians will die if no action is taken, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

"The Bush Administration has the power to push the United Nations towards action and provide necessary resources, and to persuade Arab nations to help stop the militias that are committing the massacres," said Terry Baum, California Green candidate for Congress (8th District).  "If we don't, we'll see a repeat of the horror of Rwanda in 1994, when the U.S. and U.N. looked the other away as 800,000 people were slaughtered."

Greens recommended several measures that the U.N. can undertake immediately:

• The U.N. Security Council must levy effective sanctions against Sudanese leaders to compel them to disarm the militias that are behind the massacres.

• The U.N. must establish a multinational force, under the leadership of African nations, to ensure access to the humanitarian relief that the Sudanese government has blocked in Darfur and to continue to monitor the conflict and the current ceasefire.  African Union forces are already present and ready to mobilize, but need global support.  The U.S. can assist the African Union's efforts by relieving the massive external debt that is choking many African nations.

"Hundreds of thousands of human lives are at stake, as is the credibility of the U.S. as a defender of human rights in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay and the War on Iraq in general," said Pat Gray, Green candidate for Congress in California (12th District).  "The Darfur crisis is one of many examples of genocidal famines and epidemics that, while exacerbated by environmental factors, are chiefly the result of war, suppression of human rights, forced relocation, rape, and imposed suffering for purposes of 'ethnic cleansing.'  Since the crisis has a political cause, we can use political means to prevent mass death."

MORE INFORMATION:

The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Cobb/LaMarche 2004
http://www.votecobb.org