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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green
Party of the United States has renewed its call for the U.S. to halt the
military assaults on Afghanistan, as the war threatens to spread and
Afghans face starvation in the coming months.
"Continuing the strikes
through Ramadan will further alienate Muslims and jeopardize fragile
alliances with Pakistan and other Muslim nations," said Tom Sevigny,
Connecticut Green activist and member of the national party's steering
committee.
Pakistan's President, General
Pervez Musharraf, warns that the U.S. assaults are "perceived in
the whole world as a war against the poor, miserable and innocent people
of Afghanistan" and that continuing attacks during Ramadan would
have "negative fall-out in the entire Muslim world." The
war on Afghanistan puts the military junta in Pakistan in an explosive
dilemma. Already on shaky ground, the undemocratic Pakistani government
faces destabilization, with dire consequences if Pakistan's small
nuclear arsenal falls into the wrong hands. Meanwhile, Pakistani
extremists are increasing acts of violence in Kashmir, forcing a
confrontation with India.
"Our ill-considered response to the September 11 atrocities
endangers the stability of two hostile nuclear powers -- Pakistan and
India - with unknowable results," said Robbie Franklin, a Texas
Green activist and treasurer of the national party. "It is a very
dangerous situation with consequences far greater than anything we can
hope to gain in the war on Afghanistan."
The military strikes have already proved devastating for the people of
Afghanistan, especially the use of cluster bombs, fuel air bombs, and
carpet bombing by the U.S. as the Taliban dispersed into civilian areas.
But the retreat of the Taliban from Kabul provides an opening for the
delivery of humanitarian aid and the beginning of restored human rights
for Afghans.
"The only hope for Afghanistan is massive intervention from the
U.N.," said Holly Hart, secretary of the Iowa Green Party and
co-chair of the national platform committee. "Such an effort must
provide emergency food and medical supplies, attempt to prevent further
bloodshed in the civil war between the Taliban and the Northern
Alliance, and address the brutal treatment of Afghan people --
especially women -- by both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance.
We must guarantee that the fall of repressive, misogynistic laws in
Kabul after the Taliban fled is not reversed by the Northern
Alliance."
The Green Party continues to demand that the criminals behind the
September 11 atrocities be tried according to international law in an
appropriate court. The Rome Statute, which the U.S. refuses to ratify,
would provide such a forum. The non-retroactivity clause of the Rome
Statute would preclude using the International Criminal Court to try the
September 11 criminals. However, Greens note that an ad hoc tribunal
based on the principles of the Rome Statute can be convened to indict
and try those responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon.
Unfortunately, House and Senate negotiators last week agreed to block
U.S. participation in the U.N.'s establishment of an International
Criminal Court to prosecute war crimes, genocide and other crimes
against humanity. The U.S. government refuses to cooperate in
international attempts to hold all nations responsible for crimes
like the September 11 attacks, and prefers unilateral force, since the
U.S. considers itself exempt from accountability for violation of
international law.
"We urge the U.S. government to build a worldwide coalition of
governments pledging to refrain from acts of violence against civilians
and to prevent independent groups from doing the same," said Jane
M. Hunter, vice-chair of the Green Party of New Jersey.
MORE INFORMATION:
The Green Party of the United States http://gpus.org
Green Party statement on the September 11 attacks http://gpus.org/articles/9_11_01.html
Rome Statute text http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/romefra.htm
Amnesty International on the ICC and ASPA http://www.amnesty-usa.org/icc
Hague Appeal for Peace http://www.haguepeace.org
END
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