Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Opinions

On Saturday, April 19, community members from Dayton and surrounding areas will rally to call for an end to the genocide in Darfur.

Darfur is a region in northwest Sudan (the largest country in Africa), where as many as 400,000 people have already been killed by government-sponsored militias and more than 2 million have been driven from their homes.

It has been almost four years since Secretary of State Colin Powell referred to the emergency in Darfur as genocide, but still the violence continues.

Last summer the U.N. authorized the deployment of a peacekeeping force to Darfur, but only a third of that force is currently on the ground.

We must urge the Sudanese government to acknowledge the atrocities taking place, end their policy of obstructing humanitarian aid delivery and peacekeeping operations, and work actively to promote peace in Darfur.

We must also convince countries that have committed equipment for the peacekeeping forces to immediately honor those commitments. China, Sudan's closest economic, military, and political partner, will host the Olympics in August.

It is important that citizens, business leaders, and policy-makers in the United States encourage China to use this opportunity to uphold the Olympic ideals of peace and brotherhood by pressuring Sudan to work with the African and international communities to end the genocide.

China has started to show progress in this area, but must be encouraged to act more decisively. Please, join us in downtown Dayton on April 19 1-4pm for the Dayton Rally for Darfur.

The rally begins in downtown Dayton at Courthouse Square (3rd and Main) with a short march to the Dayton Convention Center.

Speakers will include Darfuri refugee Ibrahim Adam, journalist and politician Nick Clooney, and first year Wright State medical student Jonathan Slaughter, who was in Darfur last summer.

There will also be information displays and opportunities to take action through letter-writing, petitions, and learning about divestment strategies.

More info at www.daytonfordarfur.org. Sponsors include Amnesty International, Genocide Intervention Network, Dayton International Peace Museum, The Jewish Community Relations Council, UD's chapter of STAND, and Wright State Physicians for Human Rights.

Stand with us against genocide in Darfur.

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