Posted 11:42 PM
by The Moderator
For Immediate Release - Contact Roy Speckhardt at (202) 238-9088
(Washington, DC) Humanists across the nation are raising a call to action in the face of alarming atrocities in Darfur, Sudan, on this International Day of Conscience. "We are committed to protecting individual human rights everywhere, and the situation in Darfur demands immediate attention," stated Fred Edwords, editor of the Humanist magazine. “We can’t ever allow ourselves to get used to tragedies so great and so preventable.”
The American Humanist Association is engaged in multiple activities in order to raise a Humanist voice in response to this human rights crisis.
Today the AHA is issuing a plea to General Secretary Kofi Annan and Secretary of State Colin Powell urging an international response and stepped-up humanitarian aid--see attached. This statement includes endorsements from Africa Action, Equal Partners in Faith, the Humanist Society, the MK Gandhi Nonviolent Institute, and the Secular Student Alliance.
The AHA is also a member of the Save Darfur Coalition, as noted in today’s Dallas Morning News, and is a financial sponsor of the United Nations Sudan Genocide rally to be held September 12 in New York City.
The AHA further joins Citizens for Global Solutions in urging President Bush to recommend that the International Criminal Court examine the Darfur situation.
"Our shared humanity calls on all of us to speak out for human rights in Sudan. We must work together to raise public consciousness about the Sudanese genocide and encourage an effective international response,” concluded Edwords.
Letter to General Secretary Kofi Annan and Secretary of State Colin Powell:
We, the undersigned organizations, have come together to express our concern over the alarming situation in Darfur, Sudan. Like the United States Congress, we affirm that the crisis in Darfur constitutes genocide. All permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and more than 130 countries worldwide, as parties to the Genocide Convention, are obligated to “prevent and punish acts of genocide.”
The situation in Darfur demands action and leadership. Reports indicate that as many as 30,000 people have already died as a result of the actions of the Janjaweed militia and over 1 million have been displaced. Estimates show that approximately 1,000 people are dying each day from starvation, disease, and physical violence. Additionally, alarming reports indicate that sexual violence, including rape is being used as a weapon of genocide.
We call upon the United Nations and the United States to conduct and support a formal multilateral peacekeeping operation of diplomacy and humanitarian intervention. Specifically, we ask that you lead the way to enforce the cease-fire, provide security and funding, staff programs assisting the displaced, and stop the widespread killings by all means available. In addition, we believe that genocide is a crime that warrants legal punishment for those who are responsible for its implementation. We encourage you to establish an international war crimes tribunal for Sudan in order to investigate this genocide and bring those who are responsible to justice.
The genocide occurring now in Darfur, warrants swift and significant attention. Legal and moral imperatives demand that the United Nations and the United States take action to stop the genocide and aid in humanitarian efforts.
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The American Humanist Association is the oldest and largest Humanist organization in the nation. The AHA is dedicated to ensuring a voice for those with a positive nontheistic outlook, based on reason and experience, which embraces all of humanity.
Posted 11:46 PM
by The Moderator
Howard was told of doubts on Iraq weapons%2C says Blix - National - www.smh.com.au: "Howard was told of doubts on Iraq weapons"says
The United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix says he told the Prime MinisterJ ohn Howard weeks before the Iraq war that he had serious doubts that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.Dr Blix'account of a one-on-one meeting in his New York office on February 11 last year undermines Mr Howards repeated claim made again yesterday that 'everybody' believed Iraq had such weapons before the military action. I am confident that far from saying to Mr Howard that there were WMDs in Iraq I conveyed to him that we were not impressed by the evidence presented to this effect Dr Blix said in an email sent last week.Regrettably there were few at that time who cared to examine evidence about Iraq with a critical mind."
Posted 10:47 PM
by The Moderator
Reuters AlertNet - Rwanda troops start AU mission in Darfur: "Rwanda troops start AU mission in Darfur A15 Aug 2004 by Nima Elbagir
- Rwandan troops arrived in Darfur on Sunday as the first foreign force there%2C mandated to protect observers monitoring a shaky ceasefire between the Sudanese government and rebels in the remote western region ASome 155 Rwandan troops were being sent to troubled Darfur at the weekend as part of an African Union force. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Saturday his soldiers would also intervene to protect civilians in danger.Rwanda says the worlds slow response to the Darfur crisis echoes its own experience during a 1994 genocide."
Posted 11:05 PM
by The Moderator
t r u t h o u t - U.N. Traces Iran's Uranium to Tainted Equipment: "Findings Could Hurt U.S. Effort On Iran
By Dafna Linzer The Washington Post
Wednesday 11 August 2004
U.N. traces uranium to tainted equipment.
U.N. nuclear inspectors have determined that traces of enriched uranium found in Iran came into the country on contaminated equipment bought through middlemen and dealers, some of whom were connected to Pakistan's nuclear black market, according to experts and diplomats working on the investigation.
The findings do not rule out the possibility that Iran may be concealing a weapons program, but they do lend support to the country's contention that it unknowingly imported tainted equipment.
U.S. officials have cited the residue as proof that Iran was enriching uranium or importing the material as part of a program to build a nuclear bomb, but the new findings could complicate U.S. efforts to muster international pressure on the Islamic republic over its nuclear program.
The uranium issue is expected to feature prominently when the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board meets in Vienna next month to determine whether Tehran is violating international law.
The Bush administration, Iran and Europe's main powers are locked in a standoff in the face of evidence that Tehran has concealed elements of a nuclear program that the country insists is designed to produce peaceful energy. "
