U.S. officials must demand strong
UN action on Darfur genocide

For the third time in two weeks the United Nations Security Council has been unable to agree upon a resolution on Darfur and has therefore delayed addressing this crucial issue. With estimates of 1,000 people dying per day as a result of ethnic violence and displacement in this northwest region of Sudan, these postponements are costing thousands of lives. Several members of the Security Council are dragging their feet on a resolution because of strong ties to the Sudanese government and Sudanese oil, and the United States is not pushing hard enough to force one.

Take action now

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Unitarian Universalist Association and the UU United Nations Office fervently urge you to contact President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to demand a Security Council Resolution.

Use our online Legislative Action Center to send an immediate message by fax.

Message

• I am deeply concerned about the tragic events in Darfur. Despite the fact that the United States Congress has condemned these actions as genocide, we have taken no action to prevent them.

• I call on you with great urgency to take whatever measures are necessary to force a UN Security Council Resolution that ends the violence and mass death in Darfur.

• The resolution must provide for a minimum of 10,000 peacekeeping troops in the Darfur Region and force the Sudanese Government to allow unimpeded access by peacekeeping forces, humanitarian groups, and monitors.

• The resolution should impose targeted sanctions, including the freezing of assets and bans on travel, directed toward perpetrators and those violating UN Security Council Resolution 1556, paragraphs 7 and 8, place an arms embargo on Sudan, and establish a military no fly zone in Darfur to prevent further bombings.

• The militias have displaced nearly 2,000,000 and killed almost 300,000 in just over two years.

• An estimated 1,000 people are dying daily from violence and the effects of mass displacement.

• We will have committed a gross moral failure if we do not take every action possible and use all of our political leverage to end these preventable atrocities.

• Please take these actions on behalf of those who are helplessly suffering in Darfur.

Background

For more information on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, visit the following:

New York Times Op-Ed about a U.S. military observer in Darfur (3/2/05) (pdf)

Washington Post: In Darfur, My Camera Was Not Nearly Enough (3/20/05)

Reuters: Over 180,000 Darfur deaths in 18 months (3/15/05)

A history of the situation in Darfur

Human Rights Watch report on China's interests in Sudan

UN Sudan news center

An archive of news articles about Darfur
 

Posted  March 24, 2005