On June 2, 2015, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir was sworn in for another five-year term as “President,” after another “election” with opposition boycott and a “low turnout.” He took the oath of national assembly in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman. Omar Al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes charges, seized power in a military coup in 1989. In 1997, the United States government issued a trade ban on Sudan for hosting the former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the 1990s and for human rights abuses.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Bashir for war crimes and for crimes against humanity in 2009, and the ICC indicted Bashir for genocide in 2010. An ICC warrant for his arrest has been outstanding for over six years.
Under Omar Al-Bashir’s reign of terror, 300,000 have been killed in Darfur, countless women have been raped and abused in Darfur, and there are an estimated 3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) have been displaced from their homes and villages in Darfur.
Sudan: Indicted War-Criminal Omar Al-Bashir Sworn in for Another 5-Year Term as President (Source: Ashraf Shazly – AFP )
Such Sudan elections are regularly plagued with irregularities. In 2015, the Sudan Tribune reported that “Sudan Tribune reporters spotted several polling stations were empty from voters in different electoral constituencies in the Sudanese capital” on April 16, 2015. The Tribune also reported that “Several heads of polling stations complained of weak voter turnout on the fourth day, also they pointed to the existence of errors related to the fall of voters names and the repetition of the names of electors in a number of electoral constituencies.” The Sudan National Electoral Commission noted errors in voting in 2010 as well.
In March 2010, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo stated that elections for Omar Al-Bashir, would be equivalent to “a Hitler election.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) joins with the free people of their world in their stand against this cruel dictator and indicted war criminal. We call for the leaders of the American government to reject Omar Al-Bashir’s actions and call for the end to his tyranny in Sudan.
On Saturday, October 27, 2012, the Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) began a two day Darfur Women Action Symposium at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., with a goal to continue to empower women in Darfur and Sudan. The event was led by Niemat Ahmadi, who created the DWAG organization to work with Darfur women, advance human rights, and continue public education on the human rights issues on Darfur. The symposium had panelists on women’s rights and Darfur issues, as well as individuals testifying on their personal accounts. The symposium also included films shown on Darfur, activism training, and a women’s empowerment concert performed by “Midnight Child.” It concluded on Sunday, October 28 with a round table discussion to discuss strategies for change.
As stated in their vision, DWAG “works with victims and survivors of the Darfur genocide in the Diaspora and back home in Sudan, providing them with more access to the tools that will enable them to lead the effort to combat violence, address massive human rights abuses in their society and work with others to prevent future atrocities and promote global peace. The core priority for Darfur Women Action Group lies in advancing human rights and supporting Darfuri to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.”
DWAG maintains a website and a Facebook page which provides ongoing information about its programs and activities. DWAG founder and president Niemat Ahmadi has spoken on CNN, at numerousfunctions and rallies to educate the public on Darfur, and has also appeared in Human Rights Day events led by Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) to speak on Darfur issues, including comments in December 2010 and December 2011 (part 1, part 2) at the National Press Club.
Darfur Women Action Group
On Saturday morning, the symposium speakers included representatives from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), WE ADVANCE, Darfur Interfaith Network (DIN), Women Empowering Women, and other activists. Attendees included supporters and activists from George Washington University, American University, and activists from One Million Bones and other human rights organizations, including Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.). Some attendees traveled from Los Angeles, CA, Philadelphia, PA, and New York City, NY, including high school students who were working to promote awareness of Darfur women’s issues among their fellow students. Attendees included members of the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), which posted their own summary on the Saturday morning portion of the symposium.
Emira Woods of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) served as the moderator for discussions. Ms. Woods stated that the public needed to continue to become aware of the oppression of women in Darfur, and the ongoing problem of and that she urged everyone work towards helping internally displaced people (IDP) who have been forced to flee Sudan. Ms. Woods spoke out against rape and violence against women, speaking about how women in society must continue to challenge such violence and hate. Emira Woods stated “you strike a woman, and you strike a rock.”
Emira Woods, Director of Foreign Policy in focus, Institute of Policy studies, speaks at DWAG conference: "Strike a woman, and you strike a rock."
Emira Woods introduced a DWAG film describing the problems of continuing rape and abuse of women in Darfur. The DWAG film urged the public to help the cause of Darfur women acting to rebuild their lives and to end the genocide and oppression against women. In the film, DWAG founder Niemat Ahmadi spoke about the oppression of women and the fears for her own safety, but that “for me to die is no different than those people who are dying.” Niemat Ahmadi remembered those oppressed and those “imprisoned in the IDP camps,” urging the public “let us promise ourselves and hold ourselves back that there is still something we can do to save others, to give hope and to give life to others.” The DWAG video recounted details of the millions killed, the 25 million displaced, the 4 thousand villages burned, the use of the Janjaweed militia to kill children and others, and the use of rape as a weapon of war.
DWAG Film: Founder Niemat Ahmadi urges the public to give hope and life to others
Darfur Women Action Group leader Niemat Ahmadi spoke at the symposium. Niemat Ahmadi expressed her thanks to the many people working to support Darfuri women and promote change for human rights and dignity in Darfur and Sudan. She praised the resilience and courage of the Darfuri women in their efforts to reclaim their position of respect in society. She pointed out that we must not allow people to tell us that the genocide is over in Darfur and Sudan. “It is not over,” Niemat Ahmadi stated, and she pointed out that there continues to be violence, killings, and oppression of Darfuri women and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP).
Niemat Ahmadi explained how women were previously treated with more respect in the traditional Darfur and Sudanese society. She explained how rape was used as a weapon of war to attack Darfur society, where chastity was an important value among the predominantly Muslim women in Darfur, and was intended to divide families, villages, and society. Niemat Ahmadi had worked with women who were raped to provide counseling, support, and courage; she encouraged Darfuri women to take a stand against such violence against women. Niemat Ahmadi urged such Darfuri women to use their talents and their strengths, and reject being viewed as victims. In addition, she noted that the issues for Darfuri women were not unlike problems for women in Nuba region, South Kordofan, and Khartoum. She urged that women continue to be part of the peace process in Sudan and Darfur.
Her influence in organizing the Darfuri women was viewed as a threat by the Sudanese government. As a result, she explained how the Sudanese government sought to prevent meetings of groups of Darfuri women. Niemat Ahmadi then how she used the concept of “movable meetings,” with two women meeting at a time, to share information and to spread the word on ways to combat the violence and oppression that they faced. Niemat Ahmadi described her desire to stay and continue to help those women in the IDP camps, but she was urged to come to the United States to use her influence and voice here to help Darfuri women. She urged women to end the stigma and silence regarding the violence against Darfuri women, and urged people in the United States and the world to use their influence to help change the future for women and children of Darfur. She thanked the various individuals who came to the symposium from various parts of the country, and the groups represented there.
Niemat Ahmadi, Founder and President of Darfur Women Action Group
Human rights activist Maria Bello, and co-founder of WE ADVANCE, addressed the issues of women’s rights around the world, including the efforts to help the women of Haiti. She discussed her efforts in helping women in Haiti was focused on what local people needed. Based on understanding the people, the WE ADVANCE group focused their efforts on promoting women’s clinics, educational classes, and digital educational platforms. Maria Bello stated that WE ADVANCE developed an interactive university, promoted women’s centers, and supported the development of women’s radio stations to empower women. She stated that the women’s centers had a way to also alert women as to instances of rape, so that they could respond to such violence. She indicated that the digital educational platforms could be used in other countries as well. Maria Bello also described the importance of foreign aid goals to focus on deliverables that include stories of empowerment and strength. On a broader level, Maria Bello described what she called a “revelation revolution,” which seeks to end the idea of women as victims, but focuses instead on women empowering themselves around the world – economically, in human rights, and in their societies.
Mario Bello, Human Rights Activist for Haiti and co-founder of WE ADVANCE
Human rights student activist Charlotte Nguyen spoke of her family’s role as Cambodian refugees, whose family had been attacked by the Khmer Rouge, so she had personal experience in understanding the need to stop those committing genocide. When she was a 16 year old student, she attempted to create an anti-genocide petition, but it was rejected, and she held a sit-in, which resulted her being suspended and failing calculus (since her suspension prevented her from taking high school examinations). In promoting human rights, she became a part of a U.N. human rights organization traveling to Sudan, and she learned of the “profound disconnect” between activism here and on the need of the people in Sudan. She came away with the realization that the Darfuri people were not voiceless, but had their own voice and wanted to fight their own battles. But at the heart of the human rights efforts were strong Darfur women. She urged the public to move from charity to engagement, recommended that the public listen more rather than offer our own solutions, and since women are at the center of the war zone in Sudan, she stated that they must also be at the center of any peace and resolution in Sudan.
Charlotte Nguyen, Human Rights Activist and Cambodian-American
Hawa Mohamed came forward to testify on her personal account of violence against women in Darfur, and how she sought to speak for those left behind. She told of how over 20 people had been raped in her village. She stated that even young children were being raped. She urged the world to continue to hold Omar Al Bashir responsible for his actions. She stated that now that she is in the United States, she is learning English so that she can gain employment and hoped that the next time she spoke it would be in English. Niemat Ahmadi joined with Hawa Mohamed to provide a translation of her story into English.
Hawa Mohamed (L) and Niemat Ahmadi (R)
A leader of the Darfur Interfaith Network (DIN) spoke about the efforts of that group, and their continuing efforts working with the Sudanese diaspora, which meets once a month at the Washington Hebrew Congregation. The group is also affiliated with Act for Sudan. She stated that she was inspired by a discussion of the Darfur genocide in 2000 at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, recognizing that it is a “modern day Holocaust,” and feeling that she had to get involved in some way to work to end these crimes against humanity.
She explained how the Darfur Interfaith Network (DIN) had a public rally every third Sunday of the month at the Sudan Embassy in Washington, D.C., from 1:30 to 2:30 PM. She stated that the group’s activities were described at a Facebook page for “Hope for Darfur Justice in Sudan,” which was the basis for beginning such interfaith rallies. She urged the public to contact their government officials and their Congressional representative to call for change in Sudan. [NOTE: In addition to the monthly DIN rallies at the Sudan embassy, the next “Hope for Dafur – Justice in Sudan” rally is scheduled for Spring 2013, according to the group’s Facebook site.]
Darfur Interfaith Network 's sponsored - Hope for Darfur - Justice in Sudan March and Rally
Several individuals involved with DWAG spoke to tell about their involvement and support:
— One Darfuri woman spoke about her appreciation for the organization and its activities, who “are like my family,” and who provide an opportunity to “share my stories.”
DWAG Activist
— Another activist spoke about how the group taught “people how to grow”
DWAG Activist
— Human rights activist Carol Nezzo spoke about her joy in being involved in any effort to empower women, and she spoke about the importance of people learning about African cultures and people. She blew a whistle and said that she sought to “call foul” on those individuals who sought to oppress Darfuri women and any women around the world.
Carol Nezzo, DWAG Activist
Mr. Khalid Geasis spoke about his appreciation of efforts to restore Sudan’s culture, which traditionally had great respect and honor for women. He stated that traditionally women were the center of the culture, and Sudan was ruled by queens, prior to invasion by outside patriachal influences in the Sudanese culture, which have since sought to marginalize women and women’s rights.
Khalid Gerais
Human rights activist Carol Bluer-Bate spoke about the Women Empowering Women movement, and focused on issues of channeling activism for positive goals and human dignity. She spoke about her efforts to help survivors of torture, and her efforts to bring women together for discussion and support. She spoke about the need not to allow oppression to gain power over human beings, and she urged her fellow human beings to “love your enemies” as their brothers and sisters in humanity.
Carol Bluer-Bate, Women Empowering Women modelDarfuri Photos - shown at the symposiumPhoto of Darfuri People - displayed at symposium
Responsible for Equality and Liberty (R.E.A.L.) looks forward to the opportunity to host the Darfur Women Action Group to speak at our December 10 Human Rights Day event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. this year.
AP reports: “Sudanese forces used gunfire and tear gas to break up an anti-government protest Tuesday in the southern Darfur city of Nyala, killing at least seven protesters, most of them students, a human rights lawyer said. They were the first reported deaths in demonstrations against recent austerity measures.”
Niemat Ahmadi spoke at the National Press Club Human Rights Day Event on December 8, 2011, to address the abuse of Darfuris and Sudanese. Niemat Ahmadi represents the United to End Genocide group. She spoke about the Genocide in Sudan which has been ongoing for over 8 years, and that have driven 4,000,000 out of their homes.
Niemat Ahmadi spoke on the need for Americans to call for justice regarding Omar Al-Bashir. She noted that the efforts of Al-Bashir regime have changed their tactics and seek to use rape against women as a weapon of war against the Darfuri people.
Niemat Ahmadi spoke of the continuing attacks on Darfuri cities, homes, and attempts to stop safe travel of people of African nationalities who have been fleeing to displaced persons camps. She stated that people who spoke out for people in the camps have been kidnapped, raped, and killed; she indicated that many NGOs have abandoned the Darfuri people.
Niemat Ahmadi urged those in Arab nations seeking democracy in their nations to stand up to dictatorial Arab regimes who have supported the brutal Al-Bashir regime.
Welcome and thank you for coming today!
It is another good to be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.
That is the name of our human rights coalition, Responsible for Equality And Liberty, and we are here today to invite our fellow human rights activists in a joint event where we remember the December 10, 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the nations of the United Nations.
People around the world remember this human rights accomplishment as Human Rights Day, and there events going on around the world.
Here in Washington DC, Responsible for Equality And Liberty, has sought to also celebrate Human Rights Day here at the National Press Club, as we have done over the several years, with speakers on various human rights campaigns, to share our common bond together in our efforts to be responsible for our universal human rights for all people around the world.
Our common bond is our humanity. This includes the inherent human dignity and human rights for all people of all identity groups everywhere in the world that represent our universal human rights. We come from the nations of the world, from different races, different ethnic groups, different religions, different genders, and different identity groups – but our universal human rights apply equally to all – without exception, without reservation.
Our universal human rights are also based on our shared respect for one another as human beings. Such respect is essential in our human society. We find those who seek to be superior or arrogant in seeking rights for themselves that they would deny to others. But our universal human rights are based on shared respect for all people of all identity groups everywhere in the world. Our universal human rights require a commitment to being responsible for BOTH equality and liberty for all.
In our individual campaigns, we struggle with those who would seek to deny such universal human rights. We see extremist groups, totalitarian governments, and those with hate in their hearts seeking to deny human rights to others. Let us never forget this problem is one of human respect, first and foremost. If we are to RESPONSIBLE on this matter, we must treat all human beings with respect, even those with whom we disagree. The challenge we see in human rights is not only a challenge for individual campaigns, but it is a challenge for humanity itself.
So our combined campaigns for human rights must begin with a declaration of love and respect for our fellow human beings. The view with Responsible for Equality And Liberty is that we offer an outstretched hand, not an upraised fist – to all of our brothers and sisters in humanity.
Our common bond is our humanity and our common legacy must be one where we show our love and respect for one another, even as we challenge those who oppress, and even as we challenge those deny human rights and dignity to others. We must set an example. We must set a standard. We must offer a vision of the future based on hope.
We urge others to Choose Love, Not Hate. But we are not preaching about our own perfection, rather we are setting a goal for our society and ourselves with humility.
Our goal in our human rights campaigns must also be finding and building for the future of human society together.
That future must begin with a commitment to the most vulnerable among us, whether they are minorities in the race, religion, gender, ethnic background or other identity groups. It is easy to ignore those who are different. But the global danger is that we become arrogant and fail to respect their human rights. We have seen this around the world: in the United States, in Asia, in the Middle East, in Africa, in Europe. We have individuals who will speak today on campaigns to defend the human rights of minorities and other groups who are denied human rights based on perceptions in culture, including women in America.
Our future in human rights must also address the issue of the terrible poverty around the world, and the impact of this poverty on effectively denying the human rights of people. I also urge Americans to address this issue as well. Just a short drive from where we meet today, you can see some of the most dire circumstances of poverty and neglect. There are those who would seek to leverage such poverty to abuse the vulnerable in our society in America and around the world. To challenge the poverty in human rights around the world, we cannot also neglect the need to challenge the issue of poverty itself. Give where you can, help where you can. Use your declaration of love and respect to help those who need help.
If our commitment to the future must address the most vulnerable among us, then the most important part of that commitment is our children. Without our children, there is no future for human society. Our children are the future leaders of Earth, and we must set an example on human rights, respect, and love for one another – not just for our own sake – but also for our children’s future. I say “our children” because they are our shared responsibility and our shared future. We cannot just only expect the parents of our children to look out on their behalf, no more than only our parents looked out on our behalf. All of human society has a responsiblity to equality and liberty for our children, and all of human society has an obligation to safely protect and preserve our children, so that can live and grow to become the future leaders of our Earth.
But if we were to assess human society based on how its most vulnerable, we would a sorry story. Too few nations, including the United States of America, are signatories to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child. A few weeks ago there was a separate event where people remember the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on November 20, 1989.
If we are committed to human rights, we must first and foremost be committed to human rights for our children. Yet an endless parade of violence and abuse against children and young people continues throughout America and throughout the world.
On Monday of this week a 7 year old girl, Jorelys Rivera, was found murdered, sexually abused, and left in a trash bin. (Lifting her photo to the audience). This is the face of human rights in America and the world today. Our children are abused, raped, tortured, and killed in America and around the world with impunity. In Texas, children were killed by their own mother, after putting a Facebook posting warning of threats against them. In Pennylvania, institutional leaders ignored reports of repeated attacks and rapes of young boys for over a decade at the Pennsylvania State University, of which I myself am an alumnus.
This week in Afghanistan, a teenage girl who had been raped and imprisoned by the Aghan government as a result of being a victim, was finally given an oppportunity to be released from prison after 2 years, if she married her rapist.
Our disgrace in human rights for children are not just by criminals and extremists, it is by governments, it is by institutions, and it is by too many in society. This disgrace in human rights for children is only a reflection of the state of our society on human rights. We see extremist views from people who claim that they represent religious or cultural views justifying pedophilia and honor killings. On regular basis, such so-called “honor killings” frequently of young girls are reported at the international human rights group’s web site stophonourkillings.com. In the United Kingdom alone, there were 3,000 so-called honor killings last year.
This threat to our children affects all of us and all of in this room and the individual human rights campaigns represented here.
In Sudan and Darfur, children are killed, young girls are raped, children are starved, authorities refuse to let children learn about their culture, and some children are taught to become soldiers.
In Pakistan, we see an endless and horrifying oppression of young children, brainwashing by extremist of young minds, tying bombs onto children for terrorist acts, the abuse, rape, and murder of young Christian girls and other religious minitories, including a young girl Amariah Masih, who was murdered resisting an attempted rape and reported forced religious conversion.
In Balochistan, we have seen over 168 children who have “disappeared” and teenage boys killed as part of a brutal “kill and dump” campaign by authorities.
In China, only two months ago, the world saw heartless people continue to walk by as a two year old girl Yue-Yue was run over by a vehicle and left to die in the street. At the U.S. Congress a short drive away, I have sat and listened to testimony from young Chinese women forced into having abortions and heard reports of how the government instructed doctors to kill young babies. The Falun Gong, here with us today, could tell the story of how the children of their supporters are also oppressed, tortured, killed, and others left to be orphans or without parent as the Chinese Communist Party takes their parents away for their beliefs.
In Bahrain, I have a report from a few weeks ago of 5 children killed and hundreds of children subjected to excessive force by a brutal government that seeks deny democracy and human rights.
We such abuses too regularly, and it is easy to view such disgraces as statistics rather than as human beings, who are precious, unique, and loved.
My friends have also been asking why Responsible for Equality And Liberty has had less press conferences this year. One of my own personal focus has been dealing with people suffering in dire poverty in this nation and seeking to help them from their difficult living environment. This has included a teenage girl who came to me with her own story of abuse and I have been intervening to protect her and other American girls suffering from abuse as a result of their poverty, by those who seek to take their hope, dreams, and their innocence away.
They are all OUR children. They are all OUR responsibility for equality and liberty. Every one.
In the month of December, we see some people celebrating holidays of various sorts and some providing gifts to children.
I believe we can give them a special gift this year.
We must give the gift of our courage, our consistency, and our commitment for the universal human rights and dignity to all of our children around the world.
Some believe that abuses against our children are simply a law enforcement issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. If we are to be responsible as individuals in a human society, each of us must be responsible for the children that are our common bond and bridge to the future.
We must set an example for our children.
We must provide a beacon and symbol of hope for our children.
We must show that by our words and more importantly by actions, in the United States and around the world – to our children – and to each other…
Ladies and Gentlemen –
Good afternoon. My name is Mohamed Yahya, and I am a survivor of the genocide in Sudan and Darfur. I lead the Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy. I would like to thank the UNHCR, the UN Office for Partnerships, and the Book Wish Foundation for the invitation to speak to you today. I am deeply moved and grateful that proceeds from the book “What You Wish For” will be used to develop libraries in Eastern Chad refugee camps where many of my fellow Sudanese refuges live. They need hope, they need dreams, and they need their culture and history. I too was a refugee from Sudan, before ultimately coming to this country, and so I can tell you it means a lot to me. This is a great initiative by the Book Wish Foundation, and we can’t thank you enough for this program to help provide libraries of books to help the lives of the surviving refugees in Chad. We express our great gratitude in your efforts to help Sudanese refugees in Chad who had lost hope in getting an education. With the ongoing genocidal war, they lost the lives of their loved ones, lands, farms, belongings, animals, and properties. We also extend our thanks to those you who visited Darfur and Chad several times, putting your lives in the front to save the lives of others, providing them with the necessary means for survival or education.
As human beings, we are inspired by our wishes, our ideas, and our dreams. Many of these we find in books. Books help us grow. Books help make us who we are. Books help give us freedom.
In the West, I have read books that speak of great ideas and philosophy, including writing by Nelson Mandela. I have read great poetry and I enjoy Edgar Allen Poe’s poetry. I have read great books of drama and struggle such as those by Leo Tolstoy. I have read great religious books from people of all faiths and different philosophers. I have read many inspirational and historical books from around the world and in different languages. These books tell great stories, provide great education, and inspire great ideas.
I ask you to imagine this. What if you were not allowed to read them? What if you were not allowed to read books, poems, history books about your culture and your heritage? Books help us grow. But what if someone refuses to let you read them? This is what has happened in Sudan and Darfur, under Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir.
Imagine if someone tried to take your imagination, your history, your culture, and your books away from you? That has been the case in Sudan and Darfur.
Sudan’s Omar Al-Bashir has led a long genocide against people in Darfur and Sudan. But the genocide is not just killing my brothers and sisters there. The genocide is also trying to erase their culture, their heritage, their ideas, and their dreams.
Imagine if someone tried to prevent books on your culture, your history, and your dreams – to try to erase your identity. That is how genocide begins.
It is a crime against all of humanity, including all of you here. We need the genocide to stop, and we need to heal the Sudanese and Darfuri people who have suffered.
This is why the work you are doing with this initiative is so important not only just for the Sudanese refugees, but also for humanity. We thank you and humanity thanks you.
I wish to recognize all those involved who have sought to defend in some way, the struggle of the Sudanese and Darfuri people from the genocidal war. I wish to recognize all those even killed, raped, or kidnapped while performing their duties, from UN peace keepers to individuals, workers, staffers, teachers of the World Food Program, UNHCR, US AIDS, International Rescue Committee, Enough, Our Humanity In The Balance, Darfuri Associations, African Union, European Community, Physicians for Human Rights, I-ACT, Stop Genocide Now, Save Darfur, American Jews Service, Mia Farrow, human rights organizations, UNICEF, Save the Children, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Darfur Interfaith Network, Eric Reeves, Humanity United, Responsible for Equality And Liberty, Change the World It Just takes Cents, American Jewish World Service, Jewish World Watch, Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur, Refugees International, Radio Dabenga, Amnesty International, US Holocaust Museum, Sudan Now,Africa Action, and more.
Someday, you too will be in the books of history. We need to finish the job to end the genocide and to bring freedom to Darfur and Sudan, so that those people will be allowed to read such books.
The Darfuri refugee camps have asked me to bring to your attention, including the UNSC and the US Mission through the UNHCR, the following actions that are urgently needed:
1- The Darfuri refugees are asking for a Non-Fly Zone over Darfur and all the affected areas to stop the Sudanese government’s bombings and protect their lives outside and inside camps and villages.
2- The Darfuri refugees are in need of help to build them more schools, libraries, and a refugees’ university near the Chad border with Darfur to absorb students, who might otherwise end up on the streets or become recruited as a child soldier after high school.
3- We appreciate your ongoing efforts for a peaceful settlement to the Darfur conflict. But the real lasting solution to Darfur conflict should start with justice. Therefore, we need you to support the ICC to bring Al-Bashir and all suspects to justice. Then peace will come and all refugees will peacefully returns back home.
4- We ask all to give full access to the humanitarian organizations and aid workers to reach all refugee camp with shelters, medicine, clean water and food supplies.
Once again we thank you all for your efforts and this wonderful initiative for libraries for the refugees. We share your commitment to ideas, learning, education, and hope for a future of peace, respect, dignity, and human rights for all people.
Mohamed Yahya
===========================
Mohamed Yahya, Damanga Coalition Speaks on Human Rights, at National Press Club on Human Rights Day Event, December 9, 2010 (photo: Epoch Times)
the most pressing issue we must face is consistency in human rights.
We must face the injustice, violence, oppression, and genocide in Darfur and Sudan
that stands as the benchmark for consistency for the world on the issue of human rights.
Some of us say Never Again to genocide, but we have seen genocide again, and we must stand up against it.
Not just when it is popular or convenient, or what some people call strategic, but when it is the right thing, the moral thing to do.
That is why the issue of consistency in human rights in Darfur and Sudan is so important, so vital for the American people and the world.
Our response there is a measurement of just HOW SERIOUS we are about being responsible for human rights.
We gain no major national security advantage, no major economic advantage, no major geopolitical advantage for actively standing up and being consistent on human rights in Darfur and Sudan, like our nation has and will continue to actively stand up in other parts of the world.
In Darfur and Sudan, the issues are simply are our moral integrity as human beings responsible for human rights.
It is not a special interest, it is a human interest, and our stand is an indication of whether we truly believe in the truths that we hold self evident
Some are pessimistic about the West and the United States taking such a principled stand on human rights, not dependent on “what we get out of it.” They believe that the West and the United States can not be taken serious on such human rights principles. Some believe Americans will only act on human rights when it is in our strategic interests.
I will tell you that I know different.
I will tell you that I have seen different in my own life, and with my own eyes.
In my own life, I have seen in American cities where races were forced to live in separate housing, eat in separate restaurants, and only go to certain schools and neighborhoods change.
America’s greatest human rights challenge was the challenge of racial supremacism within our own borders, based on horrors of slavery that was the great shame of a great nation.
That human rights challenge nearly destroyed America.
In fact, for a time that human rights challenge split America apart into a United States and a Confederate States.
But I know America, and I know the American spirit. The United States of America proved then that it could and must be consistent on human rights, not just when it is in our interests, but also simply when it is our responsibility – not just as Americans, but also as human beings. We must remember the lessons of our history that define our identity, when we look at the challenges in Darfur and Sudan.
I know the American spirit of justice and respect for human rights still burns in many many hearts across this great nation. It is defended by many who walk the streets of our nation’s capital. It is still inherent in the very Declaration that defines what it means to be American. I know the American people can reach for that principled stand once again.
I know that the people in America can demand that our nation and our nation’s leaders finally take a consistent stand on human rights in Darfur and Sudan and ACT to end the oppression, ACT to end the violence, and ACT to end the injustice. We must call upon the American people to ACT and not just say high-sounding ideals, but DEMAND that our national leaders finally determine that YES, we CAN be consistent on human rights in Darfur and Sudan, yes we CAN do something about it.
Some wonder when I call my group Responsible for Equality and Liberty – what that really means
it means the commitment that we have made not just as Americans…
but also as human beings to be CONSISTENT on the issues of equality and liberty –
for ALL PEOPLE-
EVERYWHERE –
in the World with their universal human rights –
Not just when it is convenient –
Not just when it is strategic –
But just because it is the right thing to do.
It is the responsible thing to do as a fellow human being.
Jeffrey Imm
— I am too, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
CSM: The UN Human Rights Council reviews member states’ records every four years. Sudan is up for review in 2011, giving the US and partners an opportunity to demand improvements.
