U.S. lawmakers arrested at Sudanese Embassy protest

[yngliberal]

U.S. lawmakers arrested at Sudanese Embassy protest

'We will not watch the slaughter in Darfur'

Friday, April 28, 2006


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Five Democratic members of Congress were arrested at the Sudanese Embassy and led away in plastic handcuffs Friday to protest the atrocities in the Darfur region.

The lawmakers -- Reps. Tom Lantos of California, Jim McGovern and John Olver of Massachusetts, Jim Moran, of Virginia, and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas -- were among 11 protesters arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly. The charges are misdemeanors.

The international community has accused the military dictatorship in Sudan of an ongoing genocide of its non-Arab citizens. Several hundred thousand refugees are in the Darfur region after having been driven off their land.

"This generation has watched the slaughter in Cambodia. This generation has watched in the slaughter in Rwanda. We will not watch the slaughter in Darfur," said Lantos, who's a Holocaust survivor. "The Sudanese government has shown total disregard for the wishes of the global, civilized community. I have no optimism as to the actions of the Sudanese government."

Around 50 demonstrators marched in front of the embassy carrying signs that read "Stop the slaughter" and "Women of Darfur suffer multiple gang rapes."

Moran said the United States needs to act to stop the abuses.

"This is about our own humanity," he said. "This is a small planet and when we allow evil like this to go on unabated, it is a stain on the soul of all of us -- the world community. The United States has the ability to stop this -- to lead -- thus we have the responsibility."

The arrests were expected, according to The Associated Press. Lantos' office issued a news release about them in advance.

The protesters called on the Sudanese government to accept a U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur and allow humanitarian relief organizations full access to victims, AP reported. The three-year-old conflict between rebels and government-backed militias has left at least 180,000 people dead, mostly from war-related hunger and disease, and at least 2 million people homeless, according to the AP.

President Bush on Friday renewed his call for a stronger international presence in Darfur.

"The message to the Sudanese government is: We're very serious about getting this problem solved," Bush said at the White House. "We don't like it when we see women raped and brutalized. And we expect there to be a full effort by the government to protect human life and human condition."

The United Nations' World Food Program warned Friday that thousands could starve because it has not been able to collect funds pledged to pay for food aid. (Full story: U.N. forced to cut food aid to Sudan)

"Despite repeated appeals to donors, WFP has received just $238 million, or 32 percent of the $746 million required to provide food assistance to 6.1 million people in Sudan this year in Darfur, the South, Central, East and the Three Areas (formerly the Transitional Areas of Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile)," said a WFP statement. "WFP is particularly concerned about the effect of reduced rations in Darfur, where rampant insecurity continues to cause enormous suffering."

Rallies against the violence in Darfur are planned in more than a dozen U.S. cities this weekend, AP reported, including on Washington's National Mall on Sunday.

-------

Sorry if this has already been posted.

[lostexpectation]

1. What to do other then sending a UN peacekeeping force?

?

[Book Lover]

2. I am VERY proud of my Rep

You go, Tom!