Thousands of Students Rally in Washington for Action on Darfur
Genocide Intervention Network
Students Gather from 46 States After Lobbying Congress to Stop Genocide in Darfur
Rallies in D.C., Elsewhere Demand Support of Peacekeepers in Darfur and a Larger, Multinational Intervention to Protect Civilians
April 30, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — Thousands of high school and college students are gathering here today as part of a national Rally to Stop Genocide that includes events from Maine to California, in dozens of cities across the country.
Following on the heels of a student lobby day for Darfur on Friday in which more than 850 young constituents met with their representatives and senators, these students are joining tens of thousands of others in pressing for U.S. support of peacekeepers who are already in Darfur, and a larger, multinational peacekeeping initiative with the power to protect civilians from genocide.
“One hundred ten students boarded a bus from Chicago to D.C. to tell our representatives that our community will not sit idly by when 15,000 are being slaughtered every month,” says Brian Schwartz, 22, from Wilmette, Ill.
The crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, which both houses of Congress and President Bush declared to be genocide in 2004, has gone on for more than three years. Militias supported by the Sudanese government have slaughtered more than 400,000 civilians, and over 2.5 million refugees have been forced to flee from their homes.
“Genocide is happening right now in Darfur,” says Sarita Rosenstock, 13, from Princeton, N.J. “After the Holocaust, America said ?never again.’ I believe it is important to keep that promise.”
Joanna Zelman sees connections with previous mass atrocities as well. “We saw this with the Holocaust, Rwanda – and here we are again,” says Zelman, 20, from Lakeville, Conn. “We have the power to stop this. That’s what we’re doing in Washington. I don’t think a few years from now, anyone is going to want to say that they sat by while a genocide was occurring – while 500 people were dying every day.”
A complete listing of rallies for Darfur is available on the Genocide Intervention Network website, www.GenocideIntervention.net/rally/. The student lobby day was sponsored by the Genocide Intervention Network and Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, co-organizers of the Rally to Stop Genocide in Washington.
Contact:
Ivan Boothe,
Director of Communications
– e-mail: [email protected]
– phone: 202.557.1636