Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
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Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
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PRESS RELEASE
May 9, 2007

Contact: Haig Hovsepian
Tel: (818) 500-1918

ANCA-WR Joins Southern California STAND for Darfur Rally

Irvine, CA – Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
(ANCA-WR) Community Relations Director Haig Hovsepian delivered remarks
at a Darfur rally presented by southern California STAND chapters and
hosted by the group’s affiliate on the UC Irvine campus. STAND, a
student, anti-genocide coalition was founded in response to the current
genocide in Darfur. The event was held in Aldrich Park on the campus of
University of California at Irvine on Sunday, May 6, 2007. The event
featured several community activists and organizations that are actively
confronting the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Speaking on behalf of the ANCA-WR, Hovsepian reviewed the evolution of
the world’s response to genocide – noting that after the Armenian
Genocide and the Holocaust, the term genocide and its legal implications
were defined, and that in the years that followed the world sought to
avoid confronting genocide by ignoring it, refusing to acknowledge it,
and now – with Darfur – neglecting to take substantive action to prevent
it.

"While a humanitarian response is needed and should not be dismissed, we
have yet to get to a point where we have the political will to stop
genocide in its tracks," noted Hovsepian. Recalling the recent
anti-genocide advocacy event in Washington, D.C. the ANCA hosted with
the Genocide Intervention Network, Hovsepian went on to note that, "We
need to build the political will to confront genocide. Without it we
have failed to achieve justice for the Armenian Genocide, we remain
paralyzed from acting today to prevent the genocide in Darfur."

Also delivering remarks to the community with the ANCA-WR were
representatives from Jewish World Watch, Camp Darfur, and
StopGenocideNow.org. Other speakers included humanitarian workers
dealing with the victims from Darfur and Father Vazken Movsesian from In
His Shoes Ministries who discussed being a child of genocide survivors
and his trip to Rwanda 10 years following the genocide there. The
afternoon featured several bands and fundraisers to help raise awareness
about and support efforts to end the genocide.

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most
influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working
in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters
throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the
world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American
community on a broad range of issues.

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PHOTO CAPTION: The Darfur region of Sudan.