Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: anca@anca.org
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE
September 8, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ARMENIAN AMERICANS JOIN WITH DIVERSE ANTI-GENOCIDE COALITION
IN MARKING “A DAY FOR DARFUR” WITH WHITE HOUSE RALLY

— ANCA Calls upon 1,000 Activists to
Work to End the Cycle of Genocide

WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian Americans joined today with a thousand
activists brought together by Africa Action and a broad-based
coalition of religious, ethnic, and human rights groups at a White
House rally calling for decisive U.S. action to end the genocide in
the Darfur region of Sudan, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA.).

The demonstration marked a year of inaction by the Administration
following the President’s declaration that a genocide is taking
place in Darfur. The aim of the gathering was to kick off a period
of renewed activism by people of conscience across the country to
encourage the President to take every step necessary to ensure an
urgent multinational intervention to provide security to the people
of Darfur. To date, over 400,000 people have been killed; hundreds
are dying every day and hundreds of thousands more are at risk in
the coming weeks and months unless urgent action is taken.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, in his remarks at the close
of the program, stressed that:

“If we have learned anything in the year since the President
declared that genocide is taking place in Darfur . . . If
we have learned anything from a century of genocide – in
Armenia, during the Holocaust, in Cambodia, Rwanda and
today in Darfur – it is that having the facts on your side
is not enough. We have seen 400,000 deaths, 2.5 million
displaced. But the facts are not enough.”

“Having morality on your side is not enough, for what could
be a greater moral imperative than our nation working to
prevent genocide?”

“The fact is that it will take advocacy, it will take
organization – sustained organization – if we are to live
in a nation that does not measure our interests in dollars,
barrels of oil, or military bases, but rather in lives
saved, suffering alleviated, and humanity served.”

Several speakers, notably Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General
Secretary of the National Council of Churches, Ruth Messinger,
President of American Jewish World Service, and Salih Booker, the
Executive Director of Africa Action noted the Armenian Genocide in
their remarks.

Among the media assigning reporters and film crews to cover the
event were CNN, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, NBC news,
MTVu, Nippon TV (Japan), Inter Press Service, ARD TV (Germany),
Voice of America, Radio France International and Yahoo News.

Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, “As
Americans struggle to cope with the President’s failure of
leadership on the domestic front in the horrific aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina, we must also condemn the President’s failure of
political leadership on the international front, where he has
failed to act to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur, and the death
toll continues to mount.”

Speakers and activists at today’s event emphasized the urgent need
for protection for the people of Darfur, and called on President
Bush to take every step necessary to ensure an immediate
multinational intervention to support the African Union and provide
security to Darfur.

Ruth Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service, said,
“As Jews who understand the consequences of silence and
indifference in the face of genocide, we must respond to the crisis
in Darfur and increase pressure on the international community to
end the violence and suffering. No-one can stand silently by.”

Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council
of Churches, said, “It is unacceptable for us to sit idly by as
people die. This is true whether it is in the Deep South or Darfur,
Sudan. This genocide is one of the greatest horrors of our day. We
urge people of conscience everywhere to call on our leaders to take
action now before events force us to one day have to confess our
sin of negligence and complicity.”

Today’s event also saw the release of a petition signed by over
100,000 Americans, calling on the President to act urgently to
provide protection to the people of Darfur. Across the country,
citizen engagement on the crisis in Darfur continues to grow, as
Americans raise their voices to emphasize that genocide cannot be
ignored.

Rev. Jim Wallis, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sojourners
Magazine, said today, “People of faith are united in their call for
bold and immediate Presidential leadership in order to restore hope
and security to the people of Darfur. Now is the time to put real
meaning behind the words ‘never again’.”

Fatima Haroun of the Sudan Peace Advocates Network said today, “The
people of Darfur have suffered more than enough already. It is time
for international action to stop the violence and bring relief and
peace to this troubled region.”

David Rubenstein, Coordinator of the Save Darfur Coalition, said
today, “The Save Darfur Coalition’s 134 member organizations
represent more than 130 million Americans. We call on President
Bush – one year after he recognized the genocide in Darfur – to
take decisive and effective action to end the violence that is
brutalizing innocent civilians in Darfur.”

Among the groups working with the ANCA in this Africa Action-led
initiative were: American Jewish World Service, Evangelical
Lutheran Church of America, Faithful America, Greater Washington
Jewish Task Force on Darfur, NAACP, National Council of Churches,
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Save Darfur Coalition,
Sojourners, STAND, Sudan Peace Advocates Network, TransAfrica
Forum, and the United Methodist Church.

Following the rally, organization leaders gathered at the ANCA
headquarters for a reception. That same evening, the Lutheran
Church of the Reformation hosted a candle-light vigil marking the
one-year anniversary of the Bush Administration’s statement on
Darfur.

For more information about Darfur:

To send a free ANCA WebFax protesting the Darfur Genocide:

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