FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Dick Campbell, 617-301-4370
January 16, 2007
News Release
UUSC launches Drumbeat for Darfur
campaign to end three-year genocide
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, an international
human rights organization based in Cambridge, Mass., announced
the launch of a new campaign to end the genocide that continues
to unfold with no end in sight in Darfur, Sudan.
UUSC’s Drumbeat for Darfur campaign raises the consciousness of
U.S. citizens about the Darfur crisis. And it increases the
decibel level of the voices urging the Bush administration and
Congress to live up to their moral and political
responsibilities by making this humanitarian disaster one of
their highest priorities.
“Many critical human rights challenges confront the
international community, but none is more urgent than the
genocide in Darfur, where millions of people suffer in a
preventable man-made crisis,” said UUSC President Charlie
Clements. “An estimated 300,000 civilians have lost their lives
from war, disease, and starvation, and more than 2 million have
fled their homes.
“The continuing massacre of innocent civilians, especially women
and children, remains a blight on the conscience of the world
community.”
In Darfur, a government-supported campaign of ethnic cleansing
initiated three years ago continues unabated despite an outcry
from the international human rights community. The United
Nations has described it as the world’s worst humanitarian
crisis and the United States has termed it genocide.
UUSC and others in the human rights community succeeded over the
past year in raising public awareness and exerting pressure on
the White House and Congress to take action. A “Million Voices
for Darfur” postcard campaign last year forced the Bush
administration to take notice. Pressure from the United States
and the United Nations led to the signing of a peace agreement
last May between the Sudanese government and the largest of
three rebel groups.
“There have been more recent peace agreements but the killing
continues,” said Clements. “Every day the situation worsens and
the violence has spilled over into neighboring Chad. More
pressure is needed from the United States and the international
community.”
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, founded in 1939 to
help rescue victims of Nazi persecution, advances human rights
and social justice around the world, partnering with those who
confront unjust power structures and mobilizing to challenge
oppressive policies. For more information on UUSC’s Drumbeat for
Darfur campaign, visit www.uusc.org/drumbeatfordarfur.
