ACTION ALERT – JUNE 2004

GOOD SHEPHERD VOICES FOR JUSTICE

Crisis in Sudan

The Good Shepherd Voices for Justice ministry monthly presents justice issues consistent with Gospel values and Catholic social teaching and then offers a call to action. We believe that as we gain better understanding of local, national and international issues in light of the Gospels and the principles of Catholic social teaching, and then speak and act accordingly, the process will offer opportunities for transformation and for furthering the reign of God on earth.

With this in mind, please review this month’s issue and consider taking the recommended action. We estimate it will take you only a few minutes to complete this action. We encourage you also to take time to pray and reflect on the presence of God in the process.

We welcome everyone who is interested in letting their voice be heard for God’s justice – both those in the community of Good Shepherd and beyond.

THE CRISIS IN SUDAN

THE BACKGROUND

The Human Rights Watch recently released a report stating that the Sudanese government is responsible for “ethnic cleansing” and crimes against humanity in the western region of Darfur. According to the HRW report, the UN Security Council should take measures to reverse this ethnic cleansing by creating conditions for the safe return of more than one million people already displaced.

The 77 page report documents how Sudanese government forces have overseen and directly participated in massacres, summary executions of civilians, burnings of towns and villages and the forcible depopulation of wide swathes of land long inhabited by the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. The report also documents how “Janjaweed” Arab militias – whose members are Muslim – have destroyed mosques, killed Muslim religious leaders and desecrated Korans belonging to their enemies.

Villages have been torched not randomly, but systematically – often not once, but twice. Livestock, food stores, wells and pumps, blankets and clothing have all been looted or destroyed.

For months, the Sudanese government has restricted international media access to Darfur and has limited reports about the conflict in the national press. Recently, the government has allowed minimal access to the region for international humanitarian agencies but has still failed to provide the necessary protection and assistance to displaced civilians.

“The humanitarian emergency in Darfur is immense,” said Takirambudde, executive director of Africa Division of HRW. “But a human rights crisis lies behind it. The Security Council must demand that the Sudanese government take immediate steps to reverse ethnic cleansing in Darfur.”

OUR CONNECTION

Catholic social teaching calls us to stand in solidarity with everyone in the human family – whatever national, racial, ethnic, economic or ideological difference. We are also called to protect and defend the life and dignity of every person, remembering the sanctity of human life. With this understanding we respond to the needs of our sisters and brothers in the Sudan.

ACTION

Option 1: Call, write or email Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and ask him to:

· Continue to support the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development’s (IGAD) peace process between the north and the south.

· Exert strong pressure on the Government of Sudan in Khartoum to seek a political settlement in Darfur which includes the cessation of the reign of terror being carried out by both the government troops and the government-supported militias.

· Pressure the Government of Sudan to provide unimpeded humanitarian access to the Darfur region where more than 3 million people have been affect.

Mailing address: U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520

Telephone: 202-647-4000.

Email address: http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_suggest.html

(Be sure to address to: Mr. Colin Powell, Secretary of State

Option 2: Urge your representative to co-sponsor H Con. Res. 403

http://www.vote-smart.org/ to find out who your representative is

The resolution condemns the Government of the Republic of the Sudan for its attacks against innocent civilians in the impoverished Darfur region of western Sudan. The resolution also calls on the international community to condemn the Government of Sudan for the attacks in Darfur and to demand that they cease; it also urges the Government of Sudan to allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Darfur region; and urges President Bush to direct the United States’ UN representative to seek a UN official investigation to determine if crimes against humanity have been committed.

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Information on the crisis in Sudan in this action alert was taken from the Maryknoll website – www.maryknoll.org. For more information on Sudan, also check http://www.catholicrelief.org/