New Group to Fight Genocide

A group of British and American officials, describing genocide as a growing threat around the world, announced Monday that they have formed a new organization whose goal is to prevent, where possible, the mass murder of peoples on account of their religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds.

The organization, named International Alert, will be based in Los Angeles and London and will work closely with Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, the officials said. Announcing formation of the group at a press conference were Britain’s Lord Michael Young, Los Angeles County Supervisor Edmund D. Edelman and Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude.

“We didn’t know what was going on back in the 1930s as the Holocaust began,” said Young, chairman of International Alert. “But the world is a closer place today. Because of the media, we are able to learn what is going on in different corners in the world . . . and yet nobody has even attempted to make a dent in this, one of the world’s worst problems, in a hardheaded way.”

Young, a member of the British House of Lords, said the organization will attempt to stave off mass murder through government pressure, the issuance of “red alerts” in countries where genocide is threatened and “any channel we can find that works.”

The organization hopes to raise $1 million in the next few months, according to Edelman, who is conducting fund-raising efforts here.

The first country targeted by the new organization will be Uganda, Young said. He estimated that about 200,000 members of the Baganda tribe have been killed, mostly by government soldiers opposed to them because of their association with previous rulers.