National Leaders Release Open Letter to President Bush on Darfur

Open Letter Signed by Scores of National Advocacy Groups, Members of Congress, Interfaith Leaders & Women’s, Youth & Labor Organizations

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 (Washington, DC) — Africa Action this morning
hosted a media briefing, 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 & protect the people in Darfur.

At this morning’s briefing, 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 & 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

Released May 24, 2005

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 &
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

– 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

– 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

– 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

– Sameer Dossani,
Director,
50 Years is Enough Network

– 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

*Affiliation listed for identification purposes only
+ Denotes Africa Action Board member