The Green Party of Minnesota joins human rights advocates and people of good will across the world to call on the U.S. government, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations to prevail upon Rwanda to release Peter Erlinder immediately. We applaud his defense of the human and civil rights of Rwanda presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire, who was charged in April, 2010, with the same crime of which Erlinder is accused -- genocide denial.

Ingabire's party, the United Democratic Front (FDU), works closely with the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, within the Consultative Council of Opposition Parties. Both parties have suffered governmental persecution and severe limitations on their ability to organize.

Rwandan president Paul Kagame seeks to silence Erlinder's efforts to expose the facts surrounding the 1994 Rwandan genocide (http://www.rwandadocumentsproject.net). His arrest was politically motivated and effectively punishes him for fulfilling his responsibilities as a vigorous and conscientious legal advocate for his client. "For decades Professor Erlinder has sought justice for his clients in the face of political repression," says Gena Berglund, Associate Director, International Humanitarian Law Institute of Minnesota and a member of the Green Party. "I am very skeptical of a government that locks up lawyers for speech crimes."

Peter Erlinder is a professor of law at William Mitchell College in St. Paul. In addition to his position as executive director of the Humanitarian Law Institute of Minnesota, he is Lead Counsel for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Defense Lawyers Association, past president of the National Lawyers Guild, and a practicing attorney. In an email sent to Berglund shortly before his arrest he wrote: "Victoire Ingabire, Rwandan Presidential Candidate, is like Mandela and I am very honored to be defending her."

"Rwanda remains one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign assistance in Africa," says Berglund. "Given the U.S. government's expressed commitment to democracy and the rule of law, it is critical that the Obama Administration and the U.S. Congress uphold these values in Rwanda and demand the immediate release of Peter Erlinder."

At a nominating convention held May 1 in Red Wing, Minnesota Green Party delegates voted unanimously to endorse Annie Young for the office of state auditor. According to Cam Gordon and Rhoda Gilman, members of her campaign team, if Young wins election to the office, it will be a victory for both her and the Green Party. If she receives at least five percent of the vote it will still win major-party status for the Greens in Minnesota.

Young has served for twenty-one years on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and was recently elected to a sixth term as a city-wide member. She is the longest-serving Green Party officeholder in the nation and has wide experience with local government, environmental nonprofits and community organizing.

Richard Klatte of Brooklyn Center sought Green Party endorsement in the race for governor but failed to achieve the sixty percent vote needed.

In keeping with the Green Party constitution, resolutions adopted at the February caucuses will be considered at a biennial meeting scheduled for June 12 in St. Cloud.

The statewide nominating convention of the GPMN will be held on May 1, 2010, in Red Wing. Due to the chilly weather, we will move to our backup location, the Red Wing public library, 225 East Ave.

If the weather warms up later in the day, we will hold a potluck meal after the convention at Colvill Park, 515 Nymphara LN. (Colvill Park is accessible from US Highway 61 south of the main part of Red Wing.)

For questions about location call Amber Garlan at (651) 249-7286.

Endorsements for state-wide offices are the only business to be conducted at this meeting. Delegates eligible to vote on endorsements were selected at local Green Party caucuses on Feb. 2. All Green Party members are invited to come and participate in the discussion. Visitors and observers are always welcome at Green Party meetings. Endorsements for local offices and legislative districts are generally decided at meetings of the appropriate Green Party local.

Minnesota currently has three major parties: DFL, Republican, and Independence. The Green Party is the state's only legally recognized minor party, although in Minneapolis and St. Paul its endorsed candidates for local office normally run second to those backed by the DFL. In 2006 it collected more than 17,000 signatures in three weeks to run a full slate of candidates for state offices.

CONTACTS:
Rhoda Gilman, spokesperson, (651) 224-6383
Dave Bicking, spokesperson, (612) 276-1213

Cynthia McKinney will be the keynote speaker on Saturday, November 7, when Minnesota Greens gather at their fall membership meeting. McKinney is a former six-term Congresswoman from Georgia and the Green Party's candidate for president in 2008. She has been noted in the past year for her efforts to get medical supplies and other humanitarian aid into Gaza and for being jailed by the Israeli government.

The meeting, which will focus on Green Party electoral strategy in 2010, will be held in the Hennepin County Government Center at 300 So. 6th Street in downtown Minneapolis. McKinney will speak at 12:30. All members and friends of the Green Party are invited.

Contacts:
Rhoda Gilman, Spokesperson, (651) 224-6393
Dave Bicking, Spokesperson, (612) 276-1213

The Green Party of Minnesota is outraged at the sudden vote on April 2 by which the state Senate seeks to bypass public debate and end the ban on licensing new nuclear reactors. The measure, already defeated in one House committee, was attached as an amendment to another energy bill on the floor of the Senate and passed by a vote of 42 to 24.

"This is another strong-arm play by the energy companies to achieve a deal behind closed doors, as they did in 1994, when a conference committee reversed the clearly expressed will of Minnesota voters," declared Rhoda Gilman, one of the party's spokespeople. In that year Northern States Power Company (now a part of Xcel Energy) was allowed to extend the life of its Prairie Island plant by building 17 above-ground casks to store high-level nuclear wastes on the flood plain of the Mississippi River.

Greens believe that nuclear power is neither safe nor cheap. As evidence they point to millions of public dollars spent on the failed attempt to create a secure storage place for radioactive wastes at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. They also cite the failure of private investors to build new plants anywhere in the country since the 1970s. "Reactors are far too expensive," says Gilman, "but now that the nuclear companies scent taxpayer subsidies in the form of stimulus funds, they are once again interested."

Greens think Minnesota's energy needs should be met by stringent conservation and by development of decentralized renewable sources, such as wind and solar energy. They point out that power produced and consumed locally would not be dependent on vulnerable distribution networks nor on plants subject to possible terrorist attack.

Contacts: Rhoda Gilman, (651) 224-6383; Dave Bicking, (612) 276-1213

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 10, 2009

The Green Party of Minnesota condemns the ongoing bombing of the Palestinian territory of Gaza by the Israeli military. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, and many more are seriously wounded. There can be no justification for this violence.

The situation is compounded by the ongoing humanitarian disaster caused by the 18 month long siege imposed by Israel as an illegal act of collective punishment. The 1.5 million residents of Gaza were already facing malnutrition and shortages of medical supplies, water, and electricity. Hospitals that were already barely functioning are now overwhelmed with the wounded.

We call upon our representatives and our government to condemn these attacks and to work for an immediate ceasefire. This must be backed up by a cessation of all aid to Israel as long as it persists in these crimes against humanity and against international law. The silence of our leaders has allowed the siege to continue, and it has encouraged this escalation.

We also encourage our members and the public to contact their representatives.

It is with deep sadness that St. Paul Greens have seen our city become an armed camp during the past week. The presence of the RNC gave St. Paul an opportunity to set a shining example of a community where diversity of opinion and freedom of expression are welcomed and where civil disobedience is handled firmly but with restraint. The result would have been trust and respect for law officers and a long step toward realizing our vision of St. Paul as one of the world's greenest cities.

Instead we have seen a virtual army of anonymous, heavily armored and armed troopers take control of our streets. We have seen how helpless and compliant our local authorities are in the face of such a quasi-military occupation. And we have experienced a sense of violation as our homes and meeting places have been invaded on the flimsiest of excuses, our roads and bridges closed to traffic without warning, and our jails packed with people who were rounded up brutally and indiscriminately. Some are angry young protesters, some are journalists who were seeking to do their jobs, and some are citizens who simply ventured to ask questions.

We were told it would not be this way. We feel misled and betrayed. We ask that our city council and county commissioners authorize an independent investigation along the lines suggested in Minneapolis by council members Cam Gordon (Green, Ward 2: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/ward2/) and Gary Schiff (Dem., Ward 9)

Thanks to hard work by volunteers and lots of signatures of regular Minnesotans, the Secretary of State has accepted our petition to put Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente on the ballot in November. To read more about the Green Party nominated candidates for president and vice president, check out our candidates page.

Greens have been among those targeted for harassment and intimidation by police in a wave of pre-emptive actions taken before the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

On Saturday police surrounded the home of Michael Whelan, a long-time Green Party supporter, whose Arise Bookstore at one time housed the party's office. He was host to a group of independent journalists. The police broke down doors and subjected occupants to house arrest. "You figure this would be going on in South Africa, or Russia, not in St. Paul," Whelan said. "St. Paul is nice."

The previous night, police had invaded a meeting space in St. Paul rented by the anarchist RNC Welcoming Committee. They seized equipment and subjected some fifty people to handcuffing and search. Next day Monica Bicking, a leading member of the organization, was jailed along with three friends, and her home in Minneapolis was boarded up for alleged violation of city codes.

Meanwhile, the group's nonviolence consultant and trainer, Betsy Raasch-Gilman, expecting arrest, took "sanctuary" at the meetinghouse of Twin Cities Friends (Quakers). As of this morning Bicking had been released, but those arrested with her and several others remain in custody. Both Bicking and Raasch-Gilman are daughters of former Green Party candidates and present spokespeople.

According to Minnesota poet and writer Richard Broderick, who is a member of the Green Party and has also been one of its candidates, "The erosion of civil liberties and constitutionally guaranteed rights in this country makes all the eloquent calls we heard from Denver for unity and restoring the American Dream little more than hollow rhetoric."

Despite the efforts at intimidation orchestrated by federal authorities and carried out by DFL administrations in both Hennepin and Ramsey counties, Minnesota Greens have united to bring their VP candidate, Rosa Clemente, to the Twin Cities. She addressed the antiwar marchers in St. Paul today and tonight appeared with the National Truth Commission on Poverty. She will be participating in the Poor People's march from Mears Park tomorrow.

On Tuesday, August 26th, supporters of Cynthia McKinney delivered over 2,700 petition signatures to gain ballot access for the candidate and her running mate Rosa Clemente. A minimum of 2,000 certified signatures is required by the state of Minnesota in order to gain ballot access in the November 4th general election.