Religious, Humanitarian Aid Leaders Urge Nation to Stand Up, Speak Out to Save Darfur
The Save Darfur Coalition held a National Leadership Assembly to highlight the urgency of the Darfur situation and the need to face the millions that are being abused, starved and displaced.
Correction appended
WASHINGTON – More than a year after President Bush first declared the crimes in Darfur as genocide, leaders of religious and humanitarian aid groups came together on a strong call to stop the violence.
The Save Darfur Coalition held a National Leadership Assembly on Sept. 21 at the nation's capital to highlight the urgency of the Darfur situation and the need to face the millions that are being abused, starved and displaced in Sudan.
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In the midst of such sweeping disasters as last year's tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and now Rita, the Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, executive director of the National Council of Churches, stressed that the Darfur genocide must be the world's top issue of concern.
“The issue of genocide is one that needs to break through the haze and is one that needs to be lifted in scale," said Edgar, "and we need to stand firm against genocide wherever it happens."
With 400,000 people killed, 3.5 million suffering in hunger and 2.5 million displaced, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) encouraged the crowd of participating groups, including Bread for Life, Open Doors, World Relief and the American Jewish World Service, to make every effort in pushing the issue forward.
"Your thoughts and your prayers and your actions are all necessary," he said.
"This is a moment for civilization to step up."
Religious leaders sent a letter to President Bush on behalf of the Save Darfur Coalition to call for more action.
"The United States government has to do more," said Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals.
"There is a moral imperative to respond to these atrocities," stated the signers in the letter that called for four steps of actions.
The points of action called the President to: continue to speak out forcefully against the ongoing atrocities in Darfur, press China and other leading nations to support international action to end the crisis, employ the coalition's mission to the United Nations to propose a Security Council resolution, and instruct the State Department to issue regular reports on the situation in Darfur and the effectiveness of the involvement of the coalition and other partnering groups there.
The Security Council resolution proposes the expansion of the African Union Mission in Sudan's (AMIS) mandate to include civilian protection with the guarantee that the United States and other nations will provide the AMIS with the financial and logistical support necessary to fulfill the mandate.
Drawing attention to the grassroots involvement in what the United Nations dubbed as "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world," Brownback said that "there are a lot of people who care about this."
A phone call from Faisal Hussain Omar, a witness to the genocide in Darfur, made the situation more real to the assembly attendants as he described his burned down village and murdered family members.
"We need to stand up when others tell us to sit down, and we need to speak out when others tell us to be silent," stated Edgar during the assembly.
Students, religious groups, and church communities spoke out as they hosted local events across the states to spread awareness.
Access Sudan, a student organization led by Askia Tariq West, a senior at Washington International School, hosted a screening of "Hotel Rwanda" to get the word out about the atrocities in Sudan to the youth.
"We want to take a holistic view of Sudan and we wanted to give context to [the situation] in Sudan," said West.
Following the National Day of Action that brought hundreds to their feet in action, the Save Darfur Coalition will be reconvening Thursday to review the words spoken and steps taken on Wednesday and plan for further action.
"The real heroes of the movement, of history will be the people who unite together behind this – the Darfurians who are being so mercilessly slaughtered," said Cizik.
Correction: Thursday, September 22, 2005:
An article on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005, about the Save Darfur Coalition incorrectly reported that Sept. 21, 2005 was the first anniversary of President Bush's declaration that the crimes in Darfur amounted to genocide. The correct date is Sept. 9, 2005.
