WASHINGTON, DC – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), America’s leading civil rights organization, today endorsed S.Res.307, legislation commemorating U.S. participation in the Genocide Convention, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“Now, more than ever, it is ever more important that the U.S. government, through S.Res.307, recommit itself to the tenets and principles of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, implemented by the U.S. in 1988,” said Hilary Shelton, Director of the Washington, DC office of the NAACP.

In supporting this legislation, the NAACP joins with a broad range of Armenian, Italian, Cambodian, Lao, Bulgarian, Greek, and Arab American organizations that seek to reinforce the values and goals of the Genocide Convention. NAACP President, Kweisi Mfume, is a former U.S. Representative from Maryland who, during his ten year tenure in the House, supported Armenian Genocide recognition efforts and other issues of concern to the Armenian American community.

“The support of the NAACP – an organization with nearly a century of unparallel service to the cause of justice – holds great meaning for Armenian Americans and all those who are working to prevent future genocides,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We share with the NAACP and our friends in the African American community the realization that we can best move forward when we have dealt honestly and fairly with the painful legacies of the past – whether they be genocide, slavery, or discrimination.”

Formed in 1909, by a multiracial group of progressive thinkers, the NAACP is a non-profit organization established with the objective of insuring the political, educational, social and economic equality of minority groups. The NAACP has as its mission the goal of eliminating race prejudice and removing all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes. As the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, the NAACP has worked successfully with allies of all races.

For more information regarding the NAACP, visit www.naacp.org