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| News Release - Tuesday, September 17, 2001 |
Greens From Around the World Express Sympathy and Solidarity with Americans. |
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The Green Party of the United States Contacts: Messages below from: * * * * * All strength to you, to the United States, and to all the Americans; the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas feels devastated for this National and International Tragedy. Today, we begin the day with this news of high impact, with this criminal and coward terrorist act, which we completely reject. We would like to express our solidarity, and support to the Country, its victims and their relatives. We want to reiterate that violence has never been and never will be a form of coexistence among men. These acts of barbarism deserve the reject of the international community, because all acts of terrorism affect all the nations of the world. No cause justifies these criminal acts. Jorge González Torres * * * * * Greens/EFA, deeply shocked by terrorist attack, send condolences to the people of the USA Heidi Hautala and Paul Lannoye, Co-Presidents of the Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament, and Nelly Maes, President of the European Free Alliance, today expressed their deep shock after the unprecedented horrifying terrorist attack on the USA. In a letter addressed to the Ambassador of the United States Mission to the European Union, Rt Hon. Richard L. Morningstar. They expressed their condolences to the people of America: "The Right Honourable Ambassador for the United States of America, We are writing to express our heartfelt condolences to the people of America following today's tragedy. We are deeply shocked by such a senseless terrorist attack on the United States, which claimed the lives of so many innocent victims. In this dark hour, our thoughts are with the victims of this tragedy, their families and with all the American people. On behalf of the Greens/ European Free Alliance in the European Parliament, Heidi Hautala, Co-President Your Excellency, The European Federation of Green Parties would like to express its condolences to the American people for the tragic loss of innocent lives in the terrorist actions of today. Human life is sacred, and we cannot but express the solidarity of our Federation to all those eople who have had to suffer the loss of a relative, friend or acquaintance. Such ignoble terrorist act is a tragedy for all human kind. Yours Sincerely, Marian Coyne, Spokesperson Dear US Greens, We send our deepest love and sympathy to all those hurt and killed in this terrible attack, their relatives and friends, and to all of you. Life will never be the same after such terror striking so viciously. We join you in condemning the perpetrators and abhorring violence, whoever commits it. We are ready to help in any way we can but mostly just want to say how immensely sorry we are for the suffering that this tragedy has unleashed. With all our good wishes, [To] Mr. George W. Bush Copy: Mr. Carlos Pascual Dear Mr. Bush, On behalf of the Green party of Ukraine and its parliamentary faction, allow me to express my sincere condolences at the devastating consequences of the extremely audacious terrorist attacks on the United States, as a result of which the famous landmark of New York, the two towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, and the Pentagon and State department headquarters damaged in Washington. Our deep condolences to the bereaved families of the numerous deceased and sincerest sympathies for those hundreds and thousands so seriously injured. The Green party since its inception has promoted the idea of peace and harmony and the human cause. Terrorism has no place in today's world and in our attempts to build a better place for humanity we stand against any acts of terror. In this context, we sharply criticize any terrorist attack and stand beside the people of the United States at this sad hour for the nation. Please accept the assurances of highest consideration. Yours sincerely, 1. The terrible attacks that were perpetrated against the United States of America on September 11, 2001 were a cynical strike against the values of an open civil society for which we stand. These attacks have evoked paralyzing horror, sadness, rage and great concern, but they have also given rise to a strong solidarity with the victims, their relations and the entire American people. Alliance 90/The Greens share in this solidarity. 2. We support the United Nations Security Council's demand that those responsible for the mass murder, the organizers as well as the sponsors, be found out and brought to justice. We support the Security Council's declaration that terrorist acts must be combated as a threat to international peace. 3. The government of the United States has let it be known that they will respond harshly to terrorist aggression. They have, for example, spoken of "wiping terrorism off the map". This has fueled the concerns of a broad part of German as well as European society that an insufficiently circumspect reaction on the part of the USA could in the end be what the terrorists are counting on to build on the escalation of violence. Against this background we would emphasize the legitimate right of the USA to self-defense on the basis of the United Nations Charter. A democracy based on the rule of law is only credible if in the detection and punishment of evildoers, it does not violate its own principles. International law does not provide cover for vengeance; we reject an escalation strategy tainted by it. Every possible course of action must be accompanied by a political concept that stands the test of time and contains the proposition for effective handling of conflicts that feed on violence. We are calling for a fundamentally new orientation in security policy, one in which first and foremost new global threats can be countered by crisis prevention, by civil conflict resolution, by the creation of global justice and the fair resolution of regional conflicts. 4. After the national tragedy, the USA turned to the NATO Council with an application that a joint-defense-situation be established in accordance with Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. On September 12, 2001, The NATO Council unanimously found that the facts of the terrorist attacks, that they were directed from outside the USA, established the applicability of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty.In so doing, for the first time, NATO has acceded to formally assisting a member-state against an armed attack, including military assistance, if necessary. The German Federal Government has acceded to this as well. This was a very difficult decision. In the face of terrorist attacks against US citizens, however, we cannot oppose the employment of the joint-defense-situation. 5. The acceptance of the joint-defense-situation does not yet mean a decision in favor of participation in the USA's military planning or actions. The acceptance of the joint-defense-situation does not revoke the responsibility on the part of Germany to decide for itself, in keeping with Constitutional rules and especial Parliamentary provisos, what type of assistance with what means it considers necessary to reestablish and maintain security. 6. The worldwide dismay produced by the terrorist
violence has made graphically clear to what extent the world in which we
live has grown together. We strongly object to all attempts to
capitalize on this dismay in order to pursue authoritarian policies
using strategies of insularity, national narrow-mindedness and
xenophobia. Civil and open societies tolerate no struggle between
cultures. They are founded on a diversity of cultures and religions.
Every failure in the dialog between cultures, especially the Islamic
culture, every failure to improve living conditions in those countries
that are breeding grounds for terrorism catches up with us. Insularity
is a backwards-looking illusion. We continue to stand by our vision of
an international community of cosmopolitan democracies. That includes
not only the readiness to stand against terrorism in the defense of a
cosmopolitan democracy. It also includes depriving terrorism of its
political basis through the promotion of human rights, democracy,
tolerance and international justice. Alliance 90/The Greens
champions these principles. search: trr, s11 |
