GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
For Immediate Release:
Friday, September 16, 2011
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
Green Party members speak out to stop execution of Troy Davis in Georgia, urge abolition of the death penalty
• Green Party Speakers Bureau: Green leaders available to speak on criminal justice and the death penalty: http://www.gp.org/speakers/speakers-criminal.php
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States today called for a halt to the impending execution of Troy Davis, scheduled for September 21 in Georgia, and cited the case an example of why the death penalty must be abolished.
Green Party members will participate in public events urging the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole to stop the execution when the board meets on Monday, September 19.
"Supporters of capital punishment insist that it should only used when no doubt remains about the guilt of the accused. The Troy Davis case shows that death-row inmates are facing execution even when significant doubts emerge. We know that racial disparities in sentencing and abuses by prosecutors such as the withholding of exculpatory evidence have led to wrongful sentencing. The only way to prevent erroneous executions is to end capital punishment altogether," said Leenie Halbert, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States and formerly active in Angels of Mercy in Louisiana and a volunteer with Sr. Helen Prejean's Moratorium 2000 campaign.
Mounting doubts about the evidence against Troy Davis include seven of the nine witnesses recanting their testimony and the statements by several of the witnesses that they were pressured by the police to identify Troy Davis as the murderer of off-duty police officer Mark Allen MacPhail in 1989. Of the two remaining witnesses, one is the initial suspect.
Theresa El-Amin, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States, has arranged for a bus from Columbus to Atlanta on Friday afternoon, September 16, for Greens and others to participate in a "Too Much Doubt to Execute!" march and prayer service at Ebenezer Baptist Church with national and local civil rights, faith, and community leaders. The event is sponsored by Georgians for an Alternative to the Death Penalty, NAACP, and Amnesty International.
Greens noted that the Supreme Court's McClesky v. Kemp ruling (1987) upheld the death penalty despite evidence of racial discrepancies in sentencing, which amounted to approval by the nation's highest court for racism in the application of capital punishment. (Mr. Davis is Black.) See "United States of America: Death by Discrimination -- The Continuing Role of Race in Capital Cases," Amnesty International, April 23, 2003 (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/046/2003/en).
Furthermore, the Supreme Court, in Herrera v. Collins (1993), ruled that the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment does not prohibit the execution of a person known to be innocent, if he or she has already been tried and sentenced to death. Greens have called this decision a license for the state to murder the innocent.
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, signed into law by President Clinton, has imposed roadblocks, in the name of combatting terrorism, that have made it more difficult for death-row inmates to get new trials.
The Green Party Platform's section on criminal justice endorses abolition of the death penalty (http://www.gp.org/committees/platform/2010/social-justice.php#1001998).
"We urge all states to follow the example of Gov. George Ryan of Illinois, who imposed a moratorium on executions in his state in 2000 because of the number of inmates whose sentences were overturned because of the flawed and biased justice system. Capital punishment is not only irreversible, it's barbaric and inhumane and a violation of human rights that calls into question all death penalty case convictions. Capital punishment does not deter crime, but instead has been used to exterminate the poor and people of color who are consistently treated unfairly in the justice system," said Rev. Darryl! LC Moch of Inner Light Ministries, co-chair of the DC Statehood Green Party and a member of the Green Party Black Caucus (http://www.gp.org/caucuses/black/index.php).
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191
• Green candidate database and campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Ballot Access Page http://www.gp.org/ballotstatus
• Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• Video Page http://www.gp.org/video/index.php
Press conferences, forums, and other events at the Green Party's 2011 Annual National Meeting in Alfred, NY, broadcast and archived on the Green Party's Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• 2011 Annual National Meeting http://nygreenfest.org
Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States (Summer 2011 issue now online)
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog
~ END ~
Showing posts with label Farheen Hakeem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Farheen Hakeem. Show all posts
Friday, September 16, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
GP RELEASE Green Party: US/NATO must withdraw from Libya, back African Union efforts to broker a resolution
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, August 22, 2011
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
The Green Party urges US/NATO to withdraw from Libya and support African Union efforts to broker a resolution
• Green Party Speakers Bureau: Greens available to speak on foreign policy: http://www.gp.org/speakers/speakers-foreign-policy.php
WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders urged an immediate US/NATO withdrawal from Libya after the advance of rebel forces into Tripoli, and called on President Obama to support a political solution to the crisis in Libya through diplomacy, with the involvement of the African Union, Arab League, and United Nations.
"The African Union's mediation committee offered a positive outline for an immediate ceasefire, followed by negotiation without preconditions and democratic elections in Libya. This is the perfect moment for President Obama, NATO, and the UN to support the efforts of the African Union to broker a resolution. All elements of Libyan society must be invited to the table to determine the country's new direction. The Libyan people must be allowed to decide their own future," said Romi Elnagar, member of the Green Party of Louisiana and the Green Party's International Committee (http://www.gp.org/committees/intl).
"If US and NATO forces prolong military action and attempt an occupation to stabilize Libya, the result will be more civilian lives lost and a disaster similar to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the evaporation of hopes for freedom and democratic self-determination for the Libyan people," Ms. Elnagar added.
See "African Union Statement on the NATO Invasion of Libya: It's Time to End the Bombing and Find a Political Solution in Libya" by Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, Uganda's Permanent Representative to the UN, New Vision (Uganda), June 17, 2011 (http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/757904). According to the statement, "Gadaffi accepted dialogue when the AU mediation Committee visited Tripoli on April 10, 2011. Any war activities after that have been provocation for Africa. It is an unnecessary war."
The Green Party opposed the US/NATO assault on Libya from the beginning (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=399) and Greens have strongly criticized President Obama for public statements, after the beginning of the attack, in which he changed the goal from "humanitarian intervention" for the protection of Libyan civilians to ousting Gaddafi. Attacking a country to remove its leadership is a violation of international law. The Libyan war was also conducted without congressional approval, even after the US House in June voted against authorizing continued military operations in Libya for one year.
The Green Party supports nonviolent resistance to oppression, as most Palestinians have practiced for decades and Egyptians more recently, and deplores the killing of unarmed civilians.
"The severity of bombing raids over the past few months suggests that Gaddafi himself has been and may still be the target. The bombing inevitably turned indiscriminate and led to widespread civilian death and injury. NATO's claim of protecting civilian lives has become increasingly implausible. Unfortunately, Secretary of State Clinton's refusal to grant the Libyan UN ambassador a visa has censored Libya's own collected statistics on civilian casualties resulting from the raids," said Farheen Hakeem, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.
Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party's 2008 presidential nominee, recently conducted a fact-finding tour of Libya and reported on NATO's bombing of civilians at Al Fateh University, Campus B, in Tripoli on June 9 in her blog at Black Agenda Report (http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/more-nato-humanitarian-interventionthe-bombing-al-fateh-university-campus-b).
Green Party leaders noted that, while attacking Libya in the name of democracy and liberation, the US has withheld criticism of violent repression of popular movements for democracy in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, which are US allies.
Greens have agreed with the call by the United National Antiwar Committee "for an immediate halt to US intervention in regions and countries where mass mobilizations are challenging oppressive regimes" (Statement on Libya, http://nepajac.org/libya.htm) and warned against US efforts to co-opt movements for democracy in African countries and force them to accept Africom (United States Africa Command), a program to impose US military presence and strategic objectives in African countries.
"The unprovoked assault on Libya has constituted a third war, with US troops still occupying Iraq and Afghanistan/Pakistan, against the government of a majority Muslim nation. It has opened a dangerous new front in a wider unending US war that is at least in part motivated by a desire to control the planet's largest oil reserves in the coming decades. These policies, unless reversed, may eventually ignite a global conflict in this century of dwindling oil resources and advancing climate change. Already, the US has spent $3.7 trillion on wars during the past decade, draining sorely needed funds from public services and other domestic necessities and aggravating the current fiscal crisis. It's time to retire the Bush-Cheney-Obama policy of military aggression," said Muhammed Malik, co-chair of the Miami-Dade Green Party (http://www.miamidadegreenparty.org) and a member of the Green Party's International Committee.
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191
• Green candidate database and campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Ballot Access Page http://www.gp.org/ballotstatus
• Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• Video Page http://www.gp.org/video/index.php
Green Party International Committee http://www.gp.org/committees/intl/
"Libyan Deaths, Media Silence: Were Dozens Killed in Majer NATO Airstrikes?"
FAIR media advisory, August 18, 2011
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4379
Press conferences, forums, and other events at the Green Party's 2011 Annual National Meeting in Alfred, NY, broadcast and archived on the Green Party's Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• 2011 Annual National Meeting http://nygreenfest.org
Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States (Summer 2011 issue now online)
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog
http://www.gp.org
For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, August 22, 2011
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
The Green Party urges US/NATO to withdraw from Libya and support African Union efforts to broker a resolution
• Green Party Speakers Bureau: Greens available to speak on foreign policy: http://www.gp.org/speakers/speakers-foreign-policy.php
WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders urged an immediate US/NATO withdrawal from Libya after the advance of rebel forces into Tripoli, and called on President Obama to support a political solution to the crisis in Libya through diplomacy, with the involvement of the African Union, Arab League, and United Nations.
"The African Union's mediation committee offered a positive outline for an immediate ceasefire, followed by negotiation without preconditions and democratic elections in Libya. This is the perfect moment for President Obama, NATO, and the UN to support the efforts of the African Union to broker a resolution. All elements of Libyan society must be invited to the table to determine the country's new direction. The Libyan people must be allowed to decide their own future," said Romi Elnagar, member of the Green Party of Louisiana and the Green Party's International Committee (http://www.gp.org/committees/intl).
"If US and NATO forces prolong military action and attempt an occupation to stabilize Libya, the result will be more civilian lives lost and a disaster similar to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the evaporation of hopes for freedom and democratic self-determination for the Libyan people," Ms. Elnagar added.
See "African Union Statement on the NATO Invasion of Libya: It's Time to End the Bombing and Find a Political Solution in Libya" by Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, Uganda's Permanent Representative to the UN, New Vision (Uganda), June 17, 2011 (http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/757904). According to the statement, "Gadaffi accepted dialogue when the AU mediation Committee visited Tripoli on April 10, 2011. Any war activities after that have been provocation for Africa. It is an unnecessary war."
The Green Party opposed the US/NATO assault on Libya from the beginning (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=399) and Greens have strongly criticized President Obama for public statements, after the beginning of the attack, in which he changed the goal from "humanitarian intervention" for the protection of Libyan civilians to ousting Gaddafi. Attacking a country to remove its leadership is a violation of international law. The Libyan war was also conducted without congressional approval, even after the US House in June voted against authorizing continued military operations in Libya for one year.
The Green Party supports nonviolent resistance to oppression, as most Palestinians have practiced for decades and Egyptians more recently, and deplores the killing of unarmed civilians.
"The severity of bombing raids over the past few months suggests that Gaddafi himself has been and may still be the target. The bombing inevitably turned indiscriminate and led to widespread civilian death and injury. NATO's claim of protecting civilian lives has become increasingly implausible. Unfortunately, Secretary of State Clinton's refusal to grant the Libyan UN ambassador a visa has censored Libya's own collected statistics on civilian casualties resulting from the raids," said Farheen Hakeem, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.
Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party's 2008 presidential nominee, recently conducted a fact-finding tour of Libya and reported on NATO's bombing of civilians at Al Fateh University, Campus B, in Tripoli on June 9 in her blog at Black Agenda Report (http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/more-nato-humanitarian-interventionthe-bombing-al-fateh-university-campus-b).
Green Party leaders noted that, while attacking Libya in the name of democracy and liberation, the US has withheld criticism of violent repression of popular movements for democracy in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, which are US allies.
Greens have agreed with the call by the United National Antiwar Committee "for an immediate halt to US intervention in regions and countries where mass mobilizations are challenging oppressive regimes" (Statement on Libya, http://nepajac.org/libya.htm) and warned against US efforts to co-opt movements for democracy in African countries and force them to accept Africom (United States Africa Command), a program to impose US military presence and strategic objectives in African countries.
"The unprovoked assault on Libya has constituted a third war, with US troops still occupying Iraq and Afghanistan/Pakistan, against the government of a majority Muslim nation. It has opened a dangerous new front in a wider unending US war that is at least in part motivated by a desire to control the planet's largest oil reserves in the coming decades. These policies, unless reversed, may eventually ignite a global conflict in this century of dwindling oil resources and advancing climate change. Already, the US has spent $3.7 trillion on wars during the past decade, draining sorely needed funds from public services and other domestic necessities and aggravating the current fiscal crisis. It's time to retire the Bush-Cheney-Obama policy of military aggression," said Muhammed Malik, co-chair of the Miami-Dade Green Party (http://www.miamidadegreenparty.org) and a member of the Green Party's International Committee.
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191
• Green candidate database and campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Ballot Access Page http://www.gp.org/ballotstatus
• Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• Video Page http://www.gp.org/video/index.php
Green Party International Committee http://www.gp.org/committees/intl/
"Libyan Deaths, Media Silence: Were Dozens Killed in Majer NATO Airstrikes?"
FAIR media advisory, August 18, 2011
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4379
Press conferences, forums, and other events at the Green Party's 2011 Annual National Meeting in Alfred, NY, broadcast and archived on the Green Party's Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• 2011 Annual National Meeting http://nygreenfest.org
Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States (Summer 2011 issue now online)
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog
Sunday, March 13, 2011
MN Break the Bonds Day on the Hill 3.30.11
It's here. Spread the word!
REGISTER for the MN BBC Day on the Hill by providing your name, address
and/or district, and any contact information you wish to
rsvp@breakthebonds.org or 612.354.2960.
See below for links to facebook & Twitter, and for information about how to
volunteer and/or donate!
Invite your friends on facebook! http://on.fb.me/g3Zevm
Follow MN BBC on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/eZlKEk
Volunteer! E-mail mn@breakthebonds.org to express interest.
There are many tasks to be done in the next few weeks, and on the actual day
of the event, so please tell us about any time, talents, or treasure you
have to give!
Donate! to help cover the costs of the event. Find the Paypal link on our
website by scrolling half-way down the home page:
http://mn.breakthebonds.org.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)