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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Officers
of the Green Party of the United States have just returned from meetings
in Europe with legislators and other officials who are members of
various European Green Parties. Meanwhile, Green activist Medea
Benjamin, founder of the non-profit organization Global Exchange and
2000 Green Party candidate for U.S. Senator from California, and three
other women from Global Exchange recently returned from a fact-finding
trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. On Thursday, December 6, they released
a report describing their findings and offering recommendations to the
Bush Administration about how to alleviate the suffering of
Afghanistan's civilian population (Reconstructing
Afghanistan: Statement by Global Exchange Women's Delegation to the
Region).
"The U.S. bombing has created a whole new class of refugees, most
of whom are not receiving any kind of aid," said Ms. Benjamin.
"The U.S. therefore has an tremendous responsibility to ensure that
the refugees we have created do not die from lack of food. We need U.N.
peacekeepers in Afghanistan now to get food to people. The U.S. must
today end its resistance to an international peacekeeping force. It is
unconscionable for the U.S. to frustrate humanitarian
efforts."
The contingent from Global Exchange has been working closely with the
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), Afghan
Womens Mission, Afghan Womens Council, and Afghan Womens Network, all of
which have demanded that women be included in the plans for
reconstructing Afghanistan and in the Bonn talks on establishing a new
Afghan government.
Annie Goeke, chair of the International Committee of the Green Party of
the United States, Tom Sevigny, a member of the party's national
Steering Committee, and Green Party Political Coordinator Dean Myerson
met last week with Belgian Green Party Minister Jean Marc Nollet, a
United Nations representative, to discuss Children's Rights and a
campaign to protest the U.S.'s refusal to sign on to the Child Rights
International Treaty. They also discussed strategies to address global
warming and control carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) emissions with
Olivier Deleuze, chair of the European Parliament.
"Green Parties on both sides of the Atlantic have continued to
develop and meetings during this visit promise to move our cooperation
to a new level of practical coordination to build the Green Party
globally and get real results on Green issues," commented
Myerson.
"We emphasized to European Greens that they are in a position to
embarrass U.S. government officials for their inaction or bad policies,
and that our own experience in the U.S. political system can help them
do so, thus getting more results on many issues of common concern. This
is the next step for the Earth's only global political party to combine
the leverage of European Greens in governmental positions with our
new-found growth and impact to affect U.S. policies in a way not
expected by the elites in the U.S."
Goeke, Sevigny, and Myerson spoke at a public forum attended by
officials from the European Federation of Green Parties (EFGP) in the
Maison des Femmes, discussing the U.S. Green Party's goals and
clarifying the party's position on the War in Afghanistan: disagreement
with the German Greens' decision under the leadership of Foreign
Minister Joschka Fischer to support the U.S.'s unilaterally conducted
military strikes; calling for an international court to try the
criminals behind the September 11 attacks in accord with international
law; demand for representation from Afghan women's organizations in the
Bonn talks.
They later met Arnold Cassola, Secretary General for EFGP, and officials
from the European Parliament Green Group and from the Heinrich Boell
Foundation, which supports and coordinates the Green movement in
Germany. Greens in Europe and the U.S. plan to participate in the 2nd
World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from January 31 to
February 5, 2002. About 100,000 people attended the first WSF in 2001,
an initiative of international NGOs that presented a democratic
alternative to the Globalization Forum in Davos,
Switzerland.
Tom Sevigny represented the U.S. Green Party in Budapest at the European
Federation of Green Parties Council meeting on international security;
Annie Goeke attended the World Citizen's Assembly conference in Lille.
More Information:
Global Exchange http://www.globalexchange.org
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan http://www.rawa.org
European Federation of Green Parties http://www.europeangreens.org
World Citizens Alliance http://www.alliance21.org
2nd World Social Forum http://www.worldsocialforum.org
Contacts:
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, scottmclarty@yahoo.com
Ben Manski, Co-Chair, 608 239 6915, manski@greens.org
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