OPEN LETTER TO BUSH ON DAFUR

Specific Actions to Stop the Onging Genocide On Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Africa Action hosted a media briefing, in Washington, D.C., along with other national advocacy groups, to demand that President Bush take specific steps to stop the genocide in Darfur. The groups released an Open Letter to the President on Darfur, signed by 80 prominent national organizations and leadership figures, representing millions of Americans. The letter lays out the most important immediate steps that leading advocacy groups and leadership figures from across the U.S. believe the Bush Administration must take to stop the genocide and protect the people in Darfur. Heads of leading advocacy organizations spoke about the urgency of the situation in Darfur and the necessary U.S. and international response. Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said, "The President of the U.S. has recognized that genocide is occurring, but apparently there are more pressing matters requiring his attention. We must ask, what could possibly be more pressing than genocide? Unless there is an immediate international intervention in Darfur, up to a million people may be dead by the end of this year." The Open Letter to the President on Darfur asserts the need for an urgent international intervention to support the African Union’s mission in Darfur, in order to: (1) stop the killing and provide security for millions of internally displaced people (IDPs); (2) facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance; (3) enforce the cease fire and provide a stable environment for meaningful peace talks to proceed; and (4) facilitate the voluntary return of IDPs to their land and the reconstruction of their homes by providing a secure environment. The letter calls on the Bush Administration to (1) work through the United Nations (UN) to achieve a stronger civilian protection mandate for the African Union mission and for a broader international force, and (2) encourage the UN to quickly approve and assemble a robust international force to integrate or co-deploy with the African Union and reinforce its efforts. The original signatories of the Open Letter to the President on Darfur are: Africa Action, American Jewish World Service, Coalition for International Justice, Darfur Rehabilitation Project, Foreign Policy in Focus, Genocide Intervention Fund, Physicians for Human Rights, Save Darfur Coalition, TransAfrica Forum and Professor Eric Reeves. Some of the prominent additional signatories to the letter include Members of Congress, the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women, the General Secretaries of the All Africa Conference of Churches and the National Council of Churches (USA), as well as interfaith & labor leaders, heads of women’s groups and advocacy organizations and other leadership figures from across the U.S. The letter and full list of signatories are below: Open Letter to the President on the Genocide in Darfur Dear President Bush, In September 2004, your Administration rightfully recognized that the crisis in Darfur constitutes genocide. Yet the U.S. has failed to respond to this genocide with the urgency that is required. As the death toll in Darfur continues to mount, it is clear that nothing short of international intervention can protect the people of Darfur. We call on you to assert U.S. leadership to ensure such an international intervention takes place as a matter of the greatest urgency. Up to 400,000 people have lost their lives in Darfur since the government-sponsored genocide began in 2003. More than 2.5 million people have been displaced, their livelihoods and villages destroyed by government forces and their proxy militias, and many thousands of women and girls have been raped by these forces. Recent reports confirm that the government-sponsored violence continues in Darfur, and that the security situation is deteriorating. The humanitarian crisis that forms part of the genocide is escalating, as the government of Sudan continues to obstruct humanitarian operations, creating famine conditions for millions of vulnerable people. Mr. President, our most important priority must be providing protection to the people of Darfur. The African Union (AU) has shown important leadership, and its mission in Darfur is doing what it can on the ground in the face of growing insecurity. But the AU cannot address this crisis alone, and nor should it have to. Genocide is an international crime, a crime against humanity, and it requires an international response. Unless there is an urgent international intervention in Darfur, up to a million people may be dead by the end of this year. An international intervention is essential to support the AU’s efforts, and can achieve four critical purposes: (1) stop the killing and provide security for millions of internally displaced people (IDPs); (2) facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance; (3) enforce the cease fire and provide a stable environment for meaningful peace talks to proceed; and (4) facilitate the voluntary return of IDPs to their land and the reconstruction of their homes by providing a secure environment. The U.S. is to date the only government that has rightfully recognized that genocide is taking place in Darfur. We urge you to immediately take the following steps to support an urgent international intervention to stop genocide in Darfur: First, the U.S. must assert leadership at the United Nations (UN) by circulating a resolution calling for a stronger civilian protection mandate for the African Union mission and for a broader international force under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Second, the U.S. must encourage the UN to quickly approve and assemble a robust international force, under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, to integrate or co-deploy with the African Union and reinforce its efforts. Such a force can be assembled with troop contributions and financial and logistical support from additional countries within and outside the African continent. Mr. President, genocide is a unique crime and it requires a unique and urgent response. We can still save thousands of lives in Darfur if we act now. We look to you to provide strong leadership to stop the genocide in Darfur by supporting an international intervention force to protect the people of Darfur as a critical first step to bringing peace and stability to this troubled region.

Original Signatories:

Salih Booker, Executive Director Africa Action Ruth Messinger, President American Jewish World Service Nina Bang-Jensen, Executive Director Coalition for International Justice Elnour Adam, Director Darfur Rehabilitation Project Emira Woods, Co-Director Foreign Policy in Focus Mark Hanis, President Genocide Intervention Fund Leonard Rubenstein, Executive Director Physicians for Human Rights David Rubenstein, Coordinator Save Darfur Coalition Eric Reeves Professor Smith College* Bill Fletcher, Jr., President TransAfrica Forum Additional Signatories: Rep. Sanford D. Bishop (D-GA) Member of Congress Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Member of Congress Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) Member of Congress Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) Member of Congress + Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-NJ) Member of Congress Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Member of Congress Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) Member of Congress Hilary Shelton, Director, Washington Bureau National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Dorothy I. Height Chair and President Emerita National Council of Negro Women National STAND Coalition (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) Bishop Mvume Dandala General Secretary All Africa Conference of Churches Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches USA Rev. Dr. William Lesher Chair, Board of Trustees, Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions* Bishop Charles E. Blake Presiding Bishop Church of God in Christ Founder and President Pan African Children’s Fund Rev. Jim Wallis Editor Sojourners Magazine James E. Winkler, General Secretary General Board of Church and Society United Methodist Church Suliman A. Giddo, President Darfur Peace and Development Morton Bahr President Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO* Edgar Romney Executive Vice-President UNITE-HERE* Samantha Power Professor, Kennedy School of Government Harvard University* Aram Hamparian, Executive Director Armenian National Committee of America Mayor Roosevelt Dorn City of Inglewood, CA President National Council of Black Mayors* Capt. Brian Steidle USMC (retired)* Rabbi Eric Yoffie President Union for Reform Judaism David A. Harris Executive Director The American Jewish Committee Shelley Lindauer Executive Director Women of Reform Judaism Rev. William G. Sinkford, President Unitarian Universalist Association Ron Stief Director, Washington Office United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries Susie Johnson, Washington Office of Public Policy, Women’s Division, General Board of Global Ministries Joseph Beasley Founder and President African Ascension Bishop Beverly J. Shamana, President General Board of Church and Society United Methodist Church Sameer Dossani Director 50 Years is Enough Network + Denotes Africa Action Board member

Sister Marilyn Kesler Provincial Council Leader School Sisters of Notre Dame Kateri Caron Director Interfaith Council H. Eric Schockman, Ph.D President MAZON: A Jewish Response To Hunger Daniel Sokatch, Executive Director Progressive Jewish Alliance Norman L. Epstein Co-Chair Canadians Against Slavery & Torture in Sudan (CASTS) David Rosenberg, Coordinator Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition John Goott Community Relations Committee Chair Jewish Federation of Greater Houston Rabbi David Steinberg Temple Beth Israel* Plattsburgh, NY Rabbi H. David Teitelbaum, Executive Director Board of Rabbis of Northern California Rev. Dr. George F. Regas Rector Emeritus, All Saints Church, Pasadena, California Mansour Kane President Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Mauritania Rabbi Saul J. Berman Director Edah Rabbi Deborah Bronstein Congregation Har HaShem Boulder, CO Rev. Francis Mercer, Executive Director, Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office Leonard Glickman President and CEO Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) Rev. Dr. Peter A. Terpenning, Pastor, Community United Church of Christ, Boulder, CO Marie Abrams, Chair Jewish Council for Public Affairs Florence Johnson, Former Councilwoman East Orange, NJ Tony Hileman, Executive Director American Humanist Association Rev. Dr. James Vigen Director for International Relations and Human Rights Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Jim Fussell Prevent Genocide International Eve Ensler, Founder & Artistic Director V-Day Seddik Abdel Jabbar President Western Sudan Aid Relief In The U.S.A Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory Director, Washington Office Presbyterian Church, (USA) Sabit Alley Area Coordinator South Sudanese Community in America Kim Nichols Executive Director African Services Committee Dedrick Mohammed, Executive Director Global Justice Linda Burnham Executive Director Women of Color Resource Center Dr. Ronald Walters Professor/Director of the African American Leadership Institute University of Maryland* Carolyn Makinson Executive Director Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children Jehmu Greene Executive Director Rock the Vote* Marcia Thomas Executive Director USA for Africa Marie Lucey, OSF LCWR Associate Director for Social Mission Leadership Conference of Women Religious Marie Dennis, Director Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns Gretchen S. Wallace, President Global Grassroots Network Dr. Toyin Falola Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters University of Texas at Austin* Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder & President Women’s Edge Coalition M. William Howard, Jr., DD, DHL, LLD, Pastor Bethany Baptist Church Newark, New Jersey Amy Woolam Echeverria Director Columban Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office *Affiliation listed for identification purposes only