OurPledge

ACTION: A Day for Human Rights

From our friends at the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition:

December 10 is the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This document, ratified by all United Nations member states, declares, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

Yesterday, December 9th was another 60th anniversary, of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Today, the list of human rights violations around the world is unbearably long. The Darfur genocide is in its sixth year.

Only individual people can make documents signed by governments effective. Today, please take one or more of the following actions to commemorate these anniversaries:

1. Take action at StopGenocideNow.org, honoring, in particular, the women of Sudan.

2. Join the Elders and send a message to the UN General Assembly. Visit www.everyhumanhasrights.org and call on individuals and governments to renew their commitments to human rights.

3. Help protect and empower Congo’s women by asking President-Elect Obama to announce his administration’s initial plan to end violence against women and girls in eastern Congo by no later than International Women’s Day, March 8, 2009.

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Reminder 2

From Nat Hentoff’s most recent Sudan Op-Ed:

“Currently, Gen. Bashir’s thugs, to show his reaction if faced with arrest [via an International Criminal Court warrant], have shut down a humanitarian project helping women of Darfur recover from his mass rapes. In retaliation, if a warrant is issued, says the Economist, many more of those rehabilitation projects will be abolished.”

This is the face of evil.

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Reminder 1

The news from the ground makes it clear what kind of horror the people of Darfur are facing on a daily basis. Katie Gualtieri from the Save Darfur Coalition files a Dec. 8 update on Hassa Hissa camp in West Darfur:

“From sources on the ground, we have heard that over 100 water pumps and irrigation systems were at least partially damaged and the main line supplying drinking water to the camp was completely destroyed [by the Janjaweed], leaving camp residents without water for multiple days. As of the weekend, the residents remained without water. Leaders from Zalengei sent a list of those injured in the attacks, including an eight-month old boy. Reportedly, two have died.”

Read the full update here.

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Thank you, STANDFasters

A thank you to everyone — student and non-student — who participated in yesterday’s STANDFast.

We need to keep Darfur and Sudan in the headlines and on the agendas of public officials everywhere. We need to strengthen and grow networks of compassion and action in our schools, places of worship, and neighborhoods. Anywhere we can. So, thank you again to all of the participants.

Many of us have been Darfur and Sudan advocates for years now. The road has been long, and we have so much more work to do. But the fact remains: together we can change the world.

Together we will close the book on genocide and mass atrocities. Let’s get back to work.

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ACTION: Urge Hillary Clinton to make Sudan a top priority

A timely action alert from our friends at the Genocide Intervention Network:

Barack Obama just nominated Senator Hillary Clinton to be America’s next Secretary of State.

Click here to send Clinton a message asking her to highlight Sudan as a critical priority during her confirmation hearings and to develop plans now so the new administration can end the crisis without delay.

Senator Clinton has been a champion for peace in Sudan. Click here to see a summary of her statements and actions.

Thank you,
Janessa Goldbeck, Director of Membership

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