Cambridge human rights organization speaks out for peace in Darfur at major college rally to end the genocide

CHICOPEE, Mass. — Several hundred students and other anti-genocide activists are expected to participate on Thursday, April 12, in a major rally to end the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. The event, organized by the local chapter of STAND (Students Taking Action Now for Darfur) will be held from 4-8 p.m. at Berchmans Hall, Elms College, Chicopee.

Charlie Clements, president of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, an international human rights organization based in Cambridge, Mass., will be among the featured speakers at the rally. He will discuss how campaigns such as UUSC's Drumbeat for Darfur are bringing together tens of thousands of activists in a nationwide effort to press U.S. policymakers to make bringing peace to Darfur one of their highest priorities.

"The continuing massacre of innocent civilians, especially women and children, remains a blight on the conscience of the world community," said Clements, who visited Darfurian refugee camps in neighboring Chad 18 months ago. "Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has thumbed his nose at demands to allow a strong international force into his country to end the violence, and he continues to deny the reality of the rapes and killings.

"All of us can't visit refugee camps in Darfur or Chad, but we can all pressure the White House and other elected officials to say ‘Not on our watch.' We can insist on the need for a strong international force that can bring peace to the region. As the world's only superpower, the United States must provide the leadership to end this genocide."

Among the other speakers at the rally will be Tamador Gibreel, a Darfurian who is an African caseworker for Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts; two of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan — Santino Ngong and Abraham Loull; Rabbi Jerome Gurland of Western New England College, Springfield; Professor Eric Reeves of Smith College, an internationally recognized Sudan researcher and analyst; and Kathleen McHugh, from the international humanitarian relief organization Save The Children.

The rally also will feature a replica refugee camp constructed on the front lawn of Elms College by the members of the STAND chapter in conjunction with PeaceJam NorthEast, which helped to bring together students from 35 high schools for the service and learning project.

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee has confronted political, cultural, and economic oppression since 1939, when it was organized to help rescue children and others at risk of Nazi persecution in Europe. Today, UUSC advances human rights and social justice around the world, partnering with those who confront unjust power structures and mobilizing to challenge oppressive policies.