ABA urges U.S. action in Sudan crisis

CHICAGO, IL, June 11, 2004 (UPI) — The American Bar Association said Friday it is urging the U.S. government to take action on what it calls a humanitarian crisis in western Sudan.

A letter from ABA President Dennis Archer in Chicago to President George Bush acknowledges the administration’s efforts in the region, but says “there remains considerable alarm.”

The letter reports an estimated 1 million Muslim Sudanese have been displaced and thousands more have been killed, injured or raped, and says much more must be done to prevent atrocities and “ethnic cleansing” being carried out by Sudanese authorities engaged in war crimes.

Archer told Bush, “We hope that you will be able to make a difference at this critical moment when the survival of an entire Muslim population and the rule of law in east Africa are at grave risk.”

The letter is available online at wwww.abanet.org/humanrights/