MADRE Supports US Congress Members' Request for Election Monitors

July 22, 2004--New York, NY--MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, calls on United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to support the request made by members of the US Congress for United Nations observers to monitor the US presidential election on November 2, 2004.

MADRE recognizes that the UN must tread carefully when it comes to issues of national sovereignty of any Member State. However, the Executive Branch of the US government and national electoral agencies have minimized the seriousness of pervasive problems in the electoral process which resulted in the denial of the right to vote for countless persons, raising disturbing questions about our electoral system. MADRE has therefore mobilized 32 US-based organizations to appeal to the United Nations for monitors in order to prevent the widespread voter disenfranchisement that plagued the 2000 election.

Unfortunately, members of the majority party in Congress have sought to thwart such an effort by introducing legislation that would prohibit all requests for UN monitors. The legislation was introduced at the last minute and passed with little opportunity for debate, with one opponent of the amendment being censured and her remarks stricken from the record because they were deemed too inflammatory by the majority party.

MADRE Executive Director, Vivian Stromberg, commented that, �The right to vote in free and fair elections is a non-partisan issue. The effect of efforts to prohibit UN monitors is to deny US citizens� access to the UN as an instrument for the protection and promotion of their human rights.�

MADRE reiterates the support for the request by members of Congress as expressed by the signatories to the attached letter. We believe it is a good-faith effort motivated by deeply felt and legitimate concerns about the dangers posed to our democratic system of governance.

MADRE is an international women's human rights organization that works in partnership with women's community-based groups in conflict areas worldwide. Our programs address issues of sustainable development, community improvement and women's health; violence and war; discrimination and racism; self-determination and collective rights; women's leadership development; and human rights education.