Help Darfur

There is a genocide that is happening RIGHT NOW in Darfur, Sudan. Council Member, Sheila Kerry wrote a brief summary of the situation there that she gave in May 2006 to Immanuels church council:

In early 2003, after years of unrest and harassment from the Sudanese government soldiers, open warfare erupted in Darfur, Sudan, when rebels attacked military installations. The government responded by arming Arab militias called Janjaweed who have carried out nothing less than genocide rape, torture, murder, eliminating entire villages with civilians fleeing to refugee camps wherever they can. In 2004, President Bush and the US Congress declared that genocide was indeed occurring in this region.

To date, over 2 million refugees have fled their homes and as of August 2006, an estimated 400,000 have died. (In May the number was over 200,000 died), and the numbers continue to rise with 500 people dying every day.

After the genocide in Rwanda in the 1970s, the world (including the US) said Never Again. President Bush himself wrote in the margin of a report on Darfur Not on my watch. Though the US government has taken some action, much more needs to be done. Since there is no strong advocate in the US government working to end this genocide, we, as Christians, must become that advocate. We cannot allow it to become “too little, too late”, and mourn later of another genocide occurring in our lifetime.

In the emergency supplemental Fiscal Year 2006 funding bill , H.R. 4939, for Iraq and Katrina relief, President Bush requested $123 million for Darfur peacekeeping. The House and Senate added $50 million, bringing it to a total of $173 million. The President has agreed to this amount. But Congress has added so much pork to the bill that he is now threatening to veto it. Unfortunately the amount was dropped to $50 million. Pork appears to be more important than genocide.

Per a recent email (Tuesday, October 21, 2008) from Save Darfur Coalition:

The new president must act on Darfur, as promised, on Day One.

Add your voice before Election Day.

In just two weeks, Americans will select the next president who is responsible for taking strong actions on Darfur.

We've set a goal of collecting 20,000 new postcards for the next president before Election Day.

A stack of urgent messages from Darfur activists will be waiting for him when he sits down in the Oval Office in January. Make sure yours is among them. Send your postcard, and be one of 20,000 new voices for peace.

We've come such a long way with your help. People are alive today in Darfur because we raised our voices together. And your consistent work has sparked strong words on Darfur from our nation's leaders. Look at what we've accomplished just this year:

May 28: The three presidential candidates issue an unprecedented joint statement pledging to pursue peace in Darfur with "unstinting resolve."

October 2: In their debate, both vice presidential candidates express their plans for U.S. leadership on Darfur.

October 7: In the presidential town hall debate, Sens. McCain and Obama discuss how to end the genocide.

Your actions have spurred strong words on Darfur. Now we have to take the next critical step together: ensure that strong words in debates become strong actions in the Oval Office.

Thousands and thousands of voices speaking together can compel the next president to keep the promise he made to Darfuris. Will you be a voice for Darfur?

Add your voice: send a postcard today!

http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/addyourvoice08

After you've added your voice, please click here to ask your friends and family to add their voices and help us collect 20,000 signatures before Election Day.

Thank you for your commitment to ending the violence in Darfur.

Best
regards,

Colleen Connors
Save Darfur Coalition
http://www.SaveDarfur.org

On Friday 5/1/09, Jerry Fowler, Save Darfur Coalition wrote:
Civil disobedience is not something I would normally do. But dramatic times call for dramatic action.

Just ask Rep. John Lewis, a living civil rights hero who was arrested 40 times during the civil rights movement-and as of Monday morning, twice for Darfur.

John Lewis believes that citizens of conscience must stand up to injustice. So with aid yet to be restored to Darfur and the rainy season coming soon, he stood up. Will you join us?

We need bold leadership to restore aid and end the violence- click here to sign a citizen open letter to President Obama.

The rainy season in Darfur is coming soon, and it will only make matters worse for the over 1.1 million people at risk due to Sudan's expulsion of major aid organizations.

Yesterday, the Save Darfur Coalition, the ENOUGH Project, and the Genocide Intervention Network came together and outlined a strategy for peace in Darfur that presents the Sudanese regime with a choice:

* Behind Door One: If Sudan permits unrestricted humanitarian access, secures peace in Darfur, fully implements the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for South Sudan, ensures free and fair elections in Sudan, and removes the indicted President, a clear process toward normalization of relations with the U.S. will be mapped out.

* Behind Door Two: If President Bashir and his party renege on recent humanitarian commitments and continue to undermine efforts at peace, they will face diplomatic isolation, targeted multi-lateral economic sanctions, an effective multilateral arms embargo, and if necessary to stop massive loss of civilian life, targeted military action.

Now is the time for bold agenda-setting leadership to help ensure that Sudan chooses the most mutually beneficial path, and to prepare real consequences if it does not.

Add your name to the citizen open letter today.

We will end this genocide by speaking out, loudly and as one, from the steps of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. to our homes and communities.

Please don't spare a moment before signing on to the citizen letter—it is your hard work and support that gives all of us hope.

Sincerely,
Jerry Fowler
President, Save Darfur Coalition

P.S. I hope you will join me in thanking Representatives John Lewis, Donna Edwards, Jim McGovern, Keith Ellison, and Lynn Woolsey; Rabbi David Saperstein; and ENOUGH Project founder John Prendergast. There's no better way to show your appreciation than adding your name to the citizen open letter.

Donate to Help Save Darfur
Help build the political pressure needed to end the crisis in Darfur by supporting the Save Darfur Coalition's crucial awareness and advocacy programs. Click here now to make a secure, tax-deductible online donation.

The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region. To learn more, please visit http://www.SaveDarfur.org.