[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Weekly News and Action Update - October 20, 2005 Action Items: 60 Seconds of Action: As you will see below in this week's news summary, the Bush Administration has granted the Sudanese government two favors in the past week, despite Sudan's refusal to live up to its responsibility to disband the murderous Janjaweed militias. Don't let them get away with this all-carrot, no-stick approach to the perpetrators of genocide! Please take a minute and click here to email the President and here to email the Secretary of State and let them know that you're paying attention to what the U.S. is doing in Sudan. 60 Minutes of Action: As most of you are no doubt aware, talk radio has become one of the most important sources of news and opinions for millions of Americans. Whether you love it or hate it, no one can deny the power of political talk radio. With just a little effort, you can harness that power for the people of Darfur by calling in and letting listeners know what you think about the latest U.S. actions regarding Sudan. While you will likely have to call a number of times before you get through, those few seconds or minutes you're on the air are well worth the time and effort. As you will first speak to a call screener whose job it is to pick interesting and topical callers, try to tie your comments on Darfur to any discussion of President Bush, Congress or foreign policy that has taken place during the show. You can find up to date news to talk about below or on our website. If you're not already a talk radio listener, click here for a list of stations in your area. This week in Sudan: A lasting peace in Darfur seems an increasingly distant reality after a week which saw several political and diplomatic setbacks. The first came on Thursday, October 13, when the United Nations pulled all non-essential personnel out of all of west Darfur due to concerns for their safety. [Link To Article] The move comes just seven months after UN staff in outlying areas of west Darfur were confined to the regional capital of Geneina where it was thought that they would be safe. The recent dramatic increase in violence has unfortunately proven that assumption false. The UN's decision was followed by what most consider to be two counter-productive events here in America. Specifically, the Bush Administration upgraded Sudan's international slavery rating to Tier 2 status, putting them on the same level as Switzerland in terms of their efforts to combat slavery. Despite this upgrade, slavery continues to be a very real problem in Sudan. Administration officials attributed the change in status to an unspecified plan to increase their efforts to fight slavery over the next 12 months. [Link To Article] The Administration has also this week issued the Sudanese government a special waiver allowing them to hire a Washington lobbyist to improve their public image and fight any legislation they deem as hostile. Several Members of Congress, including Virginia Republican Frank Wolf, have expressed their outrage that Sudan would be allowed to hire lobbyists here in the U.S. while they continue to aid the Janjaweed militias in Darfur. [Link To Article] Not all in the U.S. government took steps in the wrong direction this week, however. Wednesday, October 19 saw the formation of the Congressional Sudan Caucus, a working group of lawmakers dedicated to finding ways to solve the difficult problems posed by the ongoing conflict in Sudan. The inaugural meeting, held in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, included speeches from several Members of Congress and from renowned Sudan expert Dr. Francis Deng. [Link To Article] Back in Africa, the sixth round of peace talks taking place in Abuja, Nigeria unfortunately seem to have come to a dead end for the moment, with all parties agreeing to adjourn for a month and resume talks on November 20. [Link To Article] Despite these recent setbacks on both sides of the Atlantic, the outpouring of support from concerned citizens, as evidenced by Tuesday's National Call-In Day for Darfur, gives everyone reasons for hope. For additional information on any of these stories, either click on the links embedded in the above paragraphs, or scroll to a list of the articles below. In addition, a more complete list of articles on Darfur is available below, and here on our website, updated daily. You may also request daily email news updates with the days top articles by emailing [EMAIL PROTECTED] Articles Referenced Above: U.N. Nonessential Staff Out of West Darfur Washington Post - 10/13/05 U.S. Government's Elevation of Sudan's Slavery Status Challenged U.S. Newswire - 10/17/05 Wolf Critical of Lobbyist Representing Government of Sudan Rep. Frank Wolf, Press Release - 10/17/05 U.S. Congress inaugurates "Sudan Caucus" Sudan Tribune - 10/20/05 Sudan's Darfur peace talks to adjourn to November Reuters - 10/20/05 Other News: Chaos Grows in Darfur Conflict as Militias Turn on Government New York Times - 10/17/05 Darfur clashes kill five civilians - AU Reuters - 10/17/05 Powell Says The World Has Not Fully Faced Darfur Genocide in Sudan All Africa - 10/17/05 US Warns Sudan of 'Costs' if Darfur Violence Continues Voice of America News - 10/13/05 Contact information: - To subscribe, enter your email address under "get email updates" at www.SaveDarfur.org. - To unsubscribe, please reply with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. - For other correspondence, please write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Please visit us at www.SaveDarfur.org. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
