Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Omar al Bashir Arrest Warrant
The International Criminal Court has officially issued a warrant of arrest for Sudanese President Omar al Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, but not on charges of genocide. For more on the warrant read the BBC's article : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7923102.stm
Friday, February 13, 2009
Welcome Back UMass
It's been a crazy first few weeks at UMass, but we are back. Our kickoff meeting was last Tuesday night, followed by Emmanuel Jal's visit to campus on Wednesday night. Jal is a former child soldier and a refugee of the South Sudanese conflict. He is also a popular hip hop artist and the subject of a documentary about his return to Sudan years after he escaped. His visit to campus was a big success, and it was an inspiration to hear him speak.
Our meetings are scheduled for Tuesday nights at 7:30 in the Bluewall cafeteria in the UMass Amherst Campus Center. If you're interested you should stop by!
Our meetings are scheduled for Tuesday nights at 7:30 in the Bluewall cafeteria in the UMass Amherst Campus Center. If you're interested you should stop by!
ICC CHARGES OMAR AL BASHIR
According to New York Times reports this week, the International Criminal Court judges have decided to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. This is the first time that the court has sought the arrest of a sitting judge.
This DOES NOT mean the conflict in Darfur is over - far from it. There is concern that Omar al-Bashir and those loyal to him may try to take out their anger over this situation on the people in Darfur. And even if al-Bashir were arrested and convicted, he is not the only person perpetrating these crimes. They would not be possible if he were the only one who supported his actions in Darfur.
But it is a step, and a significant one at that.
This DOES NOT mean the conflict in Darfur is over - far from it. There is concern that Omar al-Bashir and those loyal to him may try to take out their anger over this situation on the people in Darfur. And even if al-Bashir were arrested and convicted, he is not the only person perpetrating these crimes. They would not be possible if he were the only one who supported his actions in Darfur.
But it is a step, and a significant one at that.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
VERY IMPORTANT Action
Okay, I know it's been forever since we last updated this blog, and that's completely on me - STANDFast/The Congo Tour (both of which went FANTASTICALLY, by the way, thank you to everyone who helped out or stopped by!) and then finals and then the holidays crept up on all of us, I think.
Anyway, the semester was a big success, and I want to thank all of our volunteers, readers, contributors etc. for that. But the point of this post is actually to ask a favor from you all.
There is one thing I would like for everyone who reads this to do as soon as they read this.
Call your senators. Call them and ask them to bring up Darfur, the Congo, and other human rights crises at the confirmation hearing for Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. We need to let everyone in the upper echelons of the goverment know that we want these conflicts to stop. This is HUGELY critical.
E-mail us (UMassDarfurGroup@gmail.com) or leave a comment to let us know how your call went!
Anyway, the semester was a big success, and I want to thank all of our volunteers, readers, contributors etc. for that. But the point of this post is actually to ask a favor from you all.
There is one thing I would like for everyone who reads this to do as soon as they read this.
Call your senators. Call them and ask them to bring up Darfur, the Congo, and other human rights crises at the confirmation hearing for Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. We need to let everyone in the upper echelons of the goverment know that we want these conflicts to stop. This is HUGELY critical.
E-mail us (UMassDarfurGroup@gmail.com) or leave a comment to let us know how your call went!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
What STANDFast Is...
From my co-coordinator:
WHAT IS STANDFAST?
The best way to learn about STANDFast is to go to the website at http://www.standnow.org/campaigns/standfast. But, in the interest of time, I’ll do my best to summarize the fundraiser.
As you all might have learned by now, STAND is a national student organization whose goal is to eliminate genocide. It used to stand for Students Taking Action Now in Darfur, but now it has been renamed the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition. This year, STAND has expanded its efforts beyond Darfur to talk about genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Burma. Basically, we’re the recognized UMass Amherst chapter of STAND, which is why we’re participating in this fundraiser.
STANDFast is a national day of fundraising through the STAND organization. On December 3rd, everywhere across the country, students will be doing HUGE fundraiser efforts for civilian protection. Last year, at UMass Amherst, we raised over $2,000 on the one day. We’re hoping to break that record this year!
All of the money that we raise is donated to the Genocide Intervention Network, an amazing organization that donates 100% of its funds to the cause. That means that every single penny we donate translates directly into humanitarian aid to actual victims. You can take a look at some of the breakdown in their website, http://www.genocideintervention.net/. They have actual people on site, buying the supplies that those victims need. For example, because the Burmese genocide is carried out by government raids, they use the fundraising money to buy radios to warn Burmese villages of attack, thus saving their lives. It only costs $7 to buy one radio for a Burmese village, and that’s what the money goes toward. In Darfur refugee camps, women must travel outside of the camps to collect firewood for their families, but every time they go out, they are raped by the waiting militia. The money raised through GI Net goes to fund AU Peacekeepers to go with these women when they collect wood, to ensure that they are protected. The money also goes to solar cookers and funding sustainable businesses within the Darfur camps.
As you can see, we’re very lucky to work with this organization. Unlike other non-profits, this group actually donates 100% of funds, and so the donations translate into hard supplies – radios, AU peacekeepers, solar cookers – that better the lives of the victims of genocidal conditions.
So that’s what STANDFast is and that’s where the money goes. If you have further questions, feel free to contact us at UMassDarfurGroup@gmail.com or leave a comment.
WHAT IS STANDFAST?
The best way to learn about STANDFast is to go to the website at http://www.standnow.org/campaigns/standfast. But, in the interest of time, I’ll do my best to summarize the fundraiser.
As you all might have learned by now, STAND is a national student organization whose goal is to eliminate genocide. It used to stand for Students Taking Action Now in Darfur, but now it has been renamed the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition. This year, STAND has expanded its efforts beyond Darfur to talk about genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Burma. Basically, we’re the recognized UMass Amherst chapter of STAND, which is why we’re participating in this fundraiser.
STANDFast is a national day of fundraising through the STAND organization. On December 3rd, everywhere across the country, students will be doing HUGE fundraiser efforts for civilian protection. Last year, at UMass Amherst, we raised over $2,000 on the one day. We’re hoping to break that record this year!
All of the money that we raise is donated to the Genocide Intervention Network, an amazing organization that donates 100% of its funds to the cause. That means that every single penny we donate translates directly into humanitarian aid to actual victims. You can take a look at some of the breakdown in their website, http://www.genocideintervention.net/. They have actual people on site, buying the supplies that those victims need. For example, because the Burmese genocide is carried out by government raids, they use the fundraising money to buy radios to warn Burmese villages of attack, thus saving their lives. It only costs $7 to buy one radio for a Burmese village, and that’s what the money goes toward. In Darfur refugee camps, women must travel outside of the camps to collect firewood for their families, but every time they go out, they are raped by the waiting militia. The money raised through GI Net goes to fund AU Peacekeepers to go with these women when they collect wood, to ensure that they are protected. The money also goes to solar cookers and funding sustainable businesses within the Darfur camps.
As you can see, we’re very lucky to work with this organization. Unlike other non-profits, this group actually donates 100% of funds, and so the donations translate into hard supplies – radios, AU peacekeepers, solar cookers – that better the lives of the victims of genocidal conditions.
So that’s what STANDFast is and that’s where the money goes. If you have further questions, feel free to contact us at UMassDarfurGroup@gmail.com or leave a comment.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Weekly Wednesday Update
This is your Weekly Wednesday Update, on time and on Wednesday for once.
News Update:
This news update is about the Congo: Because of violence, a number of humanitarian aid organizations were struggling to get access to the people who need their services, and some organizations were actually pulling out. This week, a few rebel factions agreed to pull back and let the aid trucks get to where they needed to go. More on the BBC (http://www.bbc.com/)
Campaign Updates:
TOMORROW NIGHT is Beat The Genocide Out Of Darfur, our coffee house concert style fundraiser. We'll be collecting donations, but the coffee and the concert itself is free, so come by and check it out. That's tomorrow night, Thursday, November 20, at 7 pm in the Commonwealth Room of the Student Union (Earthfoods is there during the day).
We will also be collecting signatures on letters that will go to Barack Obama asking him to take quick action in Darfur.
THE WEEK OF DECEMBER THIRD we will be holding STANDFast. THIS IS OUR MAJOR EVENT OF THE SEMESTER. It is a fundraiser for the Genocide Intervention Network, with the money going to on the ground operations in Darfur, in Burma and in the Congo.
Our biggest event in that time period will be the Congo Speakers Tour, hosted by ENOUGH. On December 3rd we will hold a pannel discussion featuring John Prendergast, known human rights activist and co-founder of ENOUGH and co-author of Not On Our Watch (one of our must reads from over the summer - if you haven't read it, you should). This is a big deal for UMass; Harvard and MIT are the only other schools in the state which will have the speakers at their school.
This will be in room 65 of Bartlett Hall at 7 pm on December 3.
Other than that, STANDFast will consist largely of small fundraisers around campus and in Amherst and Northampton. If you're interested in helping out with a donation or if you'd like to volunteer your time (both equally important) e-mail UMassDarfurGroup@gmail.com or leave us a comment.
If you have a question about the Congo Speakers Tour, e-mail UMassCongoTour@gmail.com.
And your weekly action:
Come to Beat the Genocide Out of Darfur! Thursday 11/20 at 7 pm in the Commonwealth Room of the UMass Amherst Student Union!
News Update:
This news update is about the Congo: Because of violence, a number of humanitarian aid organizations were struggling to get access to the people who need their services, and some organizations were actually pulling out. This week, a few rebel factions agreed to pull back and let the aid trucks get to where they needed to go. More on the BBC (http://www.bbc.com/)
Campaign Updates:
TOMORROW NIGHT is Beat The Genocide Out Of Darfur, our coffee house concert style fundraiser. We'll be collecting donations, but the coffee and the concert itself is free, so come by and check it out. That's tomorrow night, Thursday, November 20, at 7 pm in the Commonwealth Room of the Student Union (Earthfoods is there during the day).
We will also be collecting signatures on letters that will go to Barack Obama asking him to take quick action in Darfur.
THE WEEK OF DECEMBER THIRD we will be holding STANDFast. THIS IS OUR MAJOR EVENT OF THE SEMESTER. It is a fundraiser for the Genocide Intervention Network, with the money going to on the ground operations in Darfur, in Burma and in the Congo.
Our biggest event in that time period will be the Congo Speakers Tour, hosted by ENOUGH. On December 3rd we will hold a pannel discussion featuring John Prendergast, known human rights activist and co-founder of ENOUGH and co-author of Not On Our Watch (one of our must reads from over the summer - if you haven't read it, you should). This is a big deal for UMass; Harvard and MIT are the only other schools in the state which will have the speakers at their school.
This will be in room 65 of Bartlett Hall at 7 pm on December 3.
Other than that, STANDFast will consist largely of small fundraisers around campus and in Amherst and Northampton. If you're interested in helping out with a donation or if you'd like to volunteer your time (both equally important) e-mail UMassDarfurGroup@gmail.com or leave us a comment.
If you have a question about the Congo Speakers Tour, e-mail UMassCongoTour@gmail.com.
And your weekly action:
Come to Beat the Genocide Out of Darfur! Thursday 11/20 at 7 pm in the Commonwealth Room of the UMass Amherst Student Union!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Three Weekly Wednesday Updates on a Saturday
The last three weeks have been jam packed for the UMass Save Darfur Campaign, especially the last few Wednesdays, which is why this little blog hasn't been updated in awhile. This update will tell you all about these last few weeks and all about what's coming up.
News Updates:
The most recent news is that Omar al Bashir declared a ceasefire in Darfur earlier this week. This appears to be in response to the international criticism on behalf of the International Criminal Court and other foreign governments (see, all that petitioning DOES make a difference!). It is not the first ceasefire, by any means, and it was negotiated soley by al Bashir's government, without the imput of any rebel groups, but it's still a somewhat positive sign.
Meanwhile, the international community is starting to pay a good deal of attention to the ongoing violence in the Congo, in large part because of the involvement of Rwandan Hutu and Tutsi refugees in the conflict, and because of the attention paid by the United Nations. This is good, but it isn't enough. In the next month or so our group will be paying quite a bit of attention to the Congo (more on why later), so expect some updates on the situation there as well as the situation in Darfur for awhile.
For more information on both of these issues, head to the BBC at bbc.com.
What We've Been Doing These Last Few Weeks:
Earlier this month was our Pain By Numbers exhibit, which had "homemade" bodybags strewn across the campus Library Lawn representing the dead and dying in Darfur. It was a hugely successful event that got quite a bit of media attention, thirty dollars and something like three hundred petition signatures (bringing the total on our petitions to the presidential candidates to about 500 by the time we mailed them. We now have a new petition specifically for President Elect Barack Obama). All in all it was a very successful first event.
The next week was the week of the Election, and while the Save Darfur campaign didn't have any specific events that week, we are a part of MassPIRG, so many of our members were helping get people to polls, calling people to remind them to vote, and telling people where their polling places were. It was a very interesting experience, and we had a huge student vote turnout in the Amherst area, so that was also fairly successful.
Last weekend, six of our members went down to DC to attend a national conference and network with other STAND Chapters. STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Network is our other parent organization (in addition to MassPIRG - I don't know which is the mother or the father; let's say they're gender nuetral parents :D), and they hosted the conference, and a protest in Washington DC. Those who attended all say it was a very positive experience and we're excited about the connections that came out of that weekend.
Since then we've been planning our upcoming event, Beat the Genocide Out of Darfur, a benefit concert with eight artists including Kolot, the Dynamics and other musical acts. It should be a really fun time, this Thursday night, November 20th, from 7 to 9 pm in the Commonwealth Room of the Student Union at UMass. Admission and coffee are free; we will be selling baked goods and collecting petition signatures and donations for the Genocide Intervention Network. All the funds will go to easing the situation on the ground in Darfur and in Burma.
This weekend, tonight, specifically, we'll be travelling yet again - to Boston this time, where Harvard's STAND chapter will be holding a fundraiser dance. Event details are on Facebook but it's from 10 pm to 2 am tonight if you're interested in attending.
What's Coming Up:
STANDFast is on December 3rd. This is our biggest and most signficant event of the semester. Those of you who've been at UMass for a few years now might remember Darfur Fast, which happened last year. Well this year, it's been renamed STAND Fast because we're standing fast against genocide in places other than Darfur - Burma and the Congo, for example. The idea behind STAND Fast is that we encourage people to give up a luxury item for a day - that fourth cup of coffee, a pack of cigarettes, even a candy bar - and donate the money to the Genocide Intervention Network instead.
It might not seem like you're making a big difference, donating your $4.75 that you would have spent on that latte or dessert, but even $3 makes a huge difference in Darfur. That's because $3 is the amount of money it takes to fund one peacekeeper for one year to protect one woman. That means that your $3 will be saving one woman from being raped, beaten and horrifically abused for a whole year.
Larger donations go towards helping improve communications between Burmese towns, so that when one town has been attacked, the people in the next town recieve warning, and to helping in Darfuri camps in other ways, buying solar cookers, for example, that don't require firewood, so that no one has to leave the camps and risk murder or rape.
Like I said, this is really our final stand of the semester (pardon the bad pun there). We'll be hosting a series of small events culminating in the December 3rd event.
Which brings me to JOHN PRENDERGAST, and how he's COMING TO UMASS.
Prendergast is very well respected in the human rights activism community; he co-wrote Not On Our Watch with Don Cheadle and co-founded the ENOUGH project, in addition to working for the Clinton administration in the 90s.
AND HE'S COMING TO UMASS.
ON DECEMBER THIRD.
TO TALK ABOUT THE CONGO.
More details as they come, but mark your calendars now, because this is an amazing opportunity to get yourself informed about the ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
And Your Action:
Sign a Day One Petition. There are a number out there on the web, as well as some that MassPIRG has put together, so stop by the MassPIRG office if you have trouble finding one on the web. We need to let Barack Obama know that we heard him when he said he was making Darfur a priority. We need to let him know we read his words in the forward to Not On Our Watch.
We need to let him know we're still watching and listening and waiting for a real end to this genocide.
News Updates:
The most recent news is that Omar al Bashir declared a ceasefire in Darfur earlier this week. This appears to be in response to the international criticism on behalf of the International Criminal Court and other foreign governments (see, all that petitioning DOES make a difference!). It is not the first ceasefire, by any means, and it was negotiated soley by al Bashir's government, without the imput of any rebel groups, but it's still a somewhat positive sign.
Meanwhile, the international community is starting to pay a good deal of attention to the ongoing violence in the Congo, in large part because of the involvement of Rwandan Hutu and Tutsi refugees in the conflict, and because of the attention paid by the United Nations. This is good, but it isn't enough. In the next month or so our group will be paying quite a bit of attention to the Congo (more on why later), so expect some updates on the situation there as well as the situation in Darfur for awhile.
For more information on both of these issues, head to the BBC at bbc.com.
What We've Been Doing These Last Few Weeks:
Earlier this month was our Pain By Numbers exhibit, which had "homemade" bodybags strewn across the campus Library Lawn representing the dead and dying in Darfur. It was a hugely successful event that got quite a bit of media attention, thirty dollars and something like three hundred petition signatures (bringing the total on our petitions to the presidential candidates to about 500 by the time we mailed them. We now have a new petition specifically for President Elect Barack Obama). All in all it was a very successful first event.
The next week was the week of the Election, and while the Save Darfur campaign didn't have any specific events that week, we are a part of MassPIRG, so many of our members were helping get people to polls, calling people to remind them to vote, and telling people where their polling places were. It was a very interesting experience, and we had a huge student vote turnout in the Amherst area, so that was also fairly successful.
Last weekend, six of our members went down to DC to attend a national conference and network with other STAND Chapters. STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Network is our other parent organization (in addition to MassPIRG - I don't know which is the mother or the father; let's say they're gender nuetral parents :D), and they hosted the conference, and a protest in Washington DC. Those who attended all say it was a very positive experience and we're excited about the connections that came out of that weekend.
Since then we've been planning our upcoming event, Beat the Genocide Out of Darfur, a benefit concert with eight artists including Kolot, the Dynamics and other musical acts. It should be a really fun time, this Thursday night, November 20th, from 7 to 9 pm in the Commonwealth Room of the Student Union at UMass. Admission and coffee are free; we will be selling baked goods and collecting petition signatures and donations for the Genocide Intervention Network. All the funds will go to easing the situation on the ground in Darfur and in Burma.
This weekend, tonight, specifically, we'll be travelling yet again - to Boston this time, where Harvard's STAND chapter will be holding a fundraiser dance. Event details are on Facebook but it's from 10 pm to 2 am tonight if you're interested in attending.
What's Coming Up:
STANDFast is on December 3rd. This is our biggest and most signficant event of the semester. Those of you who've been at UMass for a few years now might remember Darfur Fast, which happened last year. Well this year, it's been renamed STAND Fast because we're standing fast against genocide in places other than Darfur - Burma and the Congo, for example. The idea behind STAND Fast is that we encourage people to give up a luxury item for a day - that fourth cup of coffee, a pack of cigarettes, even a candy bar - and donate the money to the Genocide Intervention Network instead.
It might not seem like you're making a big difference, donating your $4.75 that you would have spent on that latte or dessert, but even $3 makes a huge difference in Darfur. That's because $3 is the amount of money it takes to fund one peacekeeper for one year to protect one woman. That means that your $3 will be saving one woman from being raped, beaten and horrifically abused for a whole year.
Larger donations go towards helping improve communications between Burmese towns, so that when one town has been attacked, the people in the next town recieve warning, and to helping in Darfuri camps in other ways, buying solar cookers, for example, that don't require firewood, so that no one has to leave the camps and risk murder or rape.
Like I said, this is really our final stand of the semester (pardon the bad pun there). We'll be hosting a series of small events culminating in the December 3rd event.
Which brings me to JOHN PRENDERGAST, and how he's COMING TO UMASS.
Prendergast is very well respected in the human rights activism community; he co-wrote Not On Our Watch with Don Cheadle and co-founded the ENOUGH project, in addition to working for the Clinton administration in the 90s.
AND HE'S COMING TO UMASS.
ON DECEMBER THIRD.
TO TALK ABOUT THE CONGO.
More details as they come, but mark your calendars now, because this is an amazing opportunity to get yourself informed about the ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
And Your Action:
Sign a Day One Petition. There are a number out there on the web, as well as some that MassPIRG has put together, so stop by the MassPIRG office if you have trouble finding one on the web. We need to let Barack Obama know that we heard him when he said he was making Darfur a priority. We need to let him know we read his words in the forward to Not On Our Watch.
We need to let him know we're still watching and listening and waiting for a real end to this genocide.
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