Time to take a step back from the action alerts to get informed. Today, please read this recent New York Times editorial. It’s a short but good recap about what the Sudanese government has been doing to the people of Darfur and the international community these past few months.
Please send this commentary to your friends and family members. Thank you!
[An action alert from STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition:]
Tonight, President Bush will deliver his annual State of the Union address to the Congress and the American people. His words will be heard not only by all of Congress and over 50 million Americans, but also governments and citizens throughout the world.
Call the White House at 202-456-1111 today to urge President Bush to include Sudan in his State of the Union and address how he will use his final year in office to pursue a Sudan strategy that will advance the Darfur Peace Process, see to the deployment of UNAMID, and follow through on the CPA.
The President must make good on his promises and demonstrate the high priority he has placed on peace in Sudan. Help make Sudan a Presidential priority in 2008 by calling the White House today!
[If you've already called, please ask your friends and family members to do the same. Time is of the essence re: the request below, so please try to get your calls in before Jan. 31. Thank you!]
[An Action Alert from the Genocide Intervention Network:]
What to say:
Call 1-800-GENOCIDE (1-800-436-6243) and urge your representative to sign-on to Congressman Higgins’ letter encouraging President Bush to ensure that the Darfur peacekeeping mission is successful.
Why it is important:
The UN mission in Darfur will fail if it does not have the resources necessary to protect civilians. The United States can lead the effort to secure these resources.
StopGenocideNow.org is in Eastern Chad right now, reporting from the Darfuri refugee camps there.
Today, this week, and next week, take some time to visit the StopGenocideNow/i-ACT website. Watch the videos there. Read the journals. Take the daily actions. And remember the people — the real lives and livelihoods — we’re fighting for.
UPDATE: If you’ve already voted on or submitted a question, tell your friends and family members to take the same action. The earlier you submit your question, the higher the likelihood that yours or a similar question will be chosen!
At the end of this month, CNN and The Politico will be hosting both a Democratic and Republican presidential debate in Los Angeles. Here’s how you can get the candidates to talk about Darfur:
[Hat tip to the Ask the Candidates campaign, which wrote the blog entry below:]
Last week, we asked you to submit Darfur questions for the upcoming presidential debates. Since that time, one question in particular has received a lot of attention. It was submitted for the CNN/Politico Debates in Los Angeles at the end of the month:
“In Darfur, as a genocide rages, the United Nations/Africa Union peacekeeping mission is being undermined by a lack of support from the international community. They need helicopters, soldiers, funding, and help overcoming the obstructions of the Sudanese government. As president, what tough, proactive actions would you take to stop the peacekeeping mission from failing. (And please give tangible solutions, not just a vague statement of support.)”
The government of Sudan is doing all it can to prevent peacekeepers from fully deploying on the ground in Darfur. Sudan’s hostility towards UNAMID, the hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force, recently peaked when the Sudanese army opened fire on a UNAMID convoy in Darfur. This is unacceptable.
In authorizing UNAMID, the Security Council tried to end the violence in Darfur and ensure that lifesaving humanitarian aid can be delivered to the region. While UNAMID began partially operating in Darfur on December 31, 2007, Khartoum continues to block the force’s deployment at every opportunity. This obstructionism is unlikely to stop without further action from the Security Council and strong pressure from Sudan’s biggest ally, China.
The AADG team is very sad to hear this news. We send our heartfelt thanks to Congressman Lantos for his public service.
A Holocaust survivor, Rep. Lantos has led Congress in standing up for the people of Darfur. He has spoken out in the media, he has spoken out via substantive Darfur-related legislation, and he has spoken out in protest. Where others have sold false promises about helping Darfur, Congressman Lantos has actually helped the people of Western Sudan. Which is to say — there’s no doubt the Sudanese government would have gotten away with even more, with the murders of hundreds of thousands of additional Darfuri lives if not for the Congressional statements, the Op-Eds, the legislation … the outright moral outcry generated by champions like Rep. Lantos.
Thank you, Congressman, for all that you do and have done for the people of Darfur. And thank you, too, to Congressman Lantos’ staffers — including Dr. Pearl-Alice Marsh, Hans Hogrefe, and Margery Farrar — for your earnest, constant work on behalf of the people of Darfur.
Here’s a video of Congressman Lantos speaking at a January 2007 rally at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, DC (AADG helped organize this event):
[From an Africa Action alert. Adapted by the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition:]
Last week, the Secretary of State swore in a new Special Envoy to Sudan, Richard “Rich” Williamson. Today we invite you to send a welcome card to Mr. Williamson, urging him to take action to stop the genocide in Darfur and uphold the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Click here to send your welcome card electronically or you can download a card there and mail it in for extra impact!
Williamson has described the genocide in Darfur as “evil.” He has called for a move from “rhetoric” to “action” saying, “…the U.S. cannot turn its back on the principles we hold nor the values we cherish. We cannot deny our humanity … Surely ethnic cleansing and genocide so offend our ideals and trample our values that it must stir us to action.”
While his statements on Darfur are encouraging, Williamson has on countless occasions insisted that that the blame of inaction should fall squarely on the United Nations — falsely pointing to U.S. rhetoric and hesitant action…
[If you've already signed the petition mentioned below, please ask your friends and family members to sign! Thank you!]
Peacekeepers in Darfur, once they are deployed, will be operating in a vast desert with only dirt tracks between major towns. To be effective in such an environment, they will need 24 helicopters for transport and security. But no country has stepped up to provide these helicopters. NATO countries among them have 18,000 helicopters at their disposal. But no one has yet contributed any to the Darfur peacekeeping mission.
