On Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Africa Action hosted a media briefing, in Washington, D.C., along with other national advocacy groups, to demand that President Bush take specific steps to stop the genocide in Darfur. The groups released an Open Letter to the President on Darfur, signed by 80 prominent national organizations and leadership figures, representing millions of Americans. The letter lays out the most important immediate steps that leading advocacy groups and leadership figures from across the U.S. believe the Bush Administration must take to stop the genocide and protect the people in Darfur. 

Heads of leading advocacy organizations spoke about the urgency of the situation in Darfur and the necessary U.S. and international response. Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said, "The President of the U.S. has recognized that genocide is occurring, but apparently there are more pressing matters requiring his attention. We must ask, what could possibly be more pressing than genocide? Unless there is an immediate international intervention in Darfur, up to a million people may be dead by the end of this year." 

The Open Letter to the President on Darfur asserts the need for an urgent international intervention to support the African Union’s mission in Darfur, in order to:

(1) stop the killing and provide security for millions of internally displaced people (IDPs);

(2) facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance;

(3) enforce the cease fire and provide a stable environment for meaningful peace talks to proceed; and

(4) facilitate the voluntary return of IDPs to their land and the reconstruction of their homes by providing a secure environment. 

The letter calls on the Bush Administration to

(1) work through the United Nations (UN) to achieve a stronger civilian protection mandate for the African Union mission and for a broader international force, and

(2) encourage the UN to quickly approve and assemble a robust international force to integrate or co-deploy with the African Union and reinforce its efforts. 

The original signatories of the Open Letter to the President on Darfur are: Africa Action, American Jewish World Service, Coalition for International Justice, Darfur Rehabilitation Project, Foreign Policy in Focus, Genocide Intervention Fund, Physicians for Human Rights, Save Darfur Coalition, TransAfrica Forum and Professor Eric Reeves. 

Some of the prominent additional signatories to the letter include Members of Congress, the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women, the General Secretaries of the All Africa Conference of Churches and the National Council of Churches (USA), as well as interfaith & labor leaders, heads of women’s groups and advocacy organizations and other leadership figures from across the U.S. The letter and full list of signatories are below: 

Open Letter to the President on the Genocide in Darfur 

Dear President Bush, 

In September 2004, your Administration rightfully recognized that the crisis in Darfur constitutes genocide. Yet the U.S. has failed to respond to this genocide with the urgency that is required. As the death toll in Darfur continues to mount, it is clear that nothing short of international intervention can protect the people of Darfur. We call on you to assert U.S. leadership to ensure such an international intervention takes place as a matter of the greatest urgency. 

Up to 400,000 people have lost their lives in Darfur since the government-sponsored genocide began in 2003. More than 2.5 million people have been displaced, their livelihoods and villages destroyed by government forces and their proxy militias, and many thousands of women and girls have been raped by these forces. Recent reports confirm that the government-sponsored violence continues in Darfur, and that the security situation is deteriorating. The humanitarian crisis that forms part of the genocide is escalating, as the government of Sudan continues to obstruct humanitarian operations, creating famine conditions for millions of vulnerable people. 

Mr. President, our most important priority must be providing protection to the people of Darfur. The African Union (AU) has shown important leadership, and its mission in Darfur is doing what it can on the ground in the face of growing insecurity. But the AU cannot address this crisis alone, and nor should it have to. Genocide is an international crime, a crime against humanity, and it requires an international response. 

Unless there is an urgent international intervention in Darfur, up to a million people may be dead by the end of this year. An international intervention is essential to support the AU’s efforts, and can achieve four critical purposes: (1) stop the killing and provide security for millions of internally displaced people (IDPs); (2) facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance; (3) enforce the cease fire and provide a stable environment for meaningful peace talks to proceed; and (4) facilitate the voluntary return of IDPs to their land and the reconstruction of their homes by providing a secure environment. 

The U.S. is to date the only government that has rightfully recognized that genocide is taking place in Darfur. We urge you to immediately take the following steps to support an urgent international intervention to stop genocide in Darfur: 

First, the U.S. must assert leadership at the United Nations (UN) by circulating a resolution calling for a stronger civilian protection mandate for the African Union mission and for a broader international force under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. 

Second, the U.S. must encourage the UN to quickly approve and assemble a robust international force, under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, to integrate or co-deploy with the African Union and reinforce its efforts. Such a force can be assembled with troop contributions and financial and logistical support from additional countries within and outside the African continent.

Mr. President, genocide is a unique crime and it requires a unique and urgent response. We can still save thousands of lives in Darfur if we act now. We look to you to provide strong leadership to stop the genocide in Darfur by supporting an international intervention force to protect the people of Darfur as a critical first step to bringing peace and stability to this troubled region. 

Original Signatories: 

Salih Booker,
Executive Director
Africa Action

Ruth Messinger,
President
American Jewish World Service

Nina Bang-Jensen,
Executive Director
Coalition for International Justice

Elnour Adam,
Director
Darfur Rehabilitation Project

Emira Woods,
Co-Director
Foreign Policy in Focus

Mark Hanis,
President
Genocide Intervention Fund

Leonard Rubenstein,
Executive Director
Physicians for Human Rights

David Rubenstein,
Coordinator
Save Darfur Coalition

Eric Reeves
Professor
Smith College*

Bill Fletcher, Jr.,
President
TransAfrica Forum

Additional Signatories:

Rep. Sanford D. Bishop (D-GA)
Member of Congress

Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
Member of Congress

Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA)
Member of Congress

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Member of Congress +

Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-NJ)
Member of Congress

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
Member of Congress

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Member of Congress

Hilary Shelton,
Director, Washington Bureau
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Dorothy I. Height
Chair and President Emerita
National Council of Negro Women
National STAND Coalition (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) 

Bishop Mvume Dandala
General Secretary
All Africa Conference of Churches

Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar,
General Secretary,
National Council of Churches USA 

Rev. Dr. William Lesher
Chair, Board of Trustees,
Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions*

Bishop Charles E. Blake
Presiding Bishop Church of God in Christ
Founder and President
Pan African Children’s Fund

Rev. Jim Wallis
Editor
Sojourners Magazine

James E. Winkler, General Secretary
General Board of Church and Society
United Methodist Church

Suliman A. Giddo,
President
Darfur Peace and Development 

Morton Bahr
President
Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO*

Edgar Romney
Executive Vice-President
UNITE-HERE*

Samantha Power
Professor, Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University*

Aram Hamparian,
Executive Director
Armenian National Committee of America

Mayor Roosevelt Dorn
City of Inglewood, CA
President
National Council of Black Mayors*

Capt. Brian Steidle
USMC (retired)*

Rabbi Eric Yoffie
President
Union for Reform Judaism

David A. Harris
Executive Director
The American Jewish Committee

Shelley Lindauer
Executive Director
Women of Reform Judaism

Rev. William G. Sinkford,
President
Unitarian Universalist Association

Rev. Dr. James Vigen
Director for International Relations and Human Rights
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Jim Fussell
Prevent Genocide International

Eve Ensler,
Founder & Artistic Director
V-Day

Seddik Abdel Jabbar
President
Western Sudan Aid Relief In The U.S.A

Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory
Director, Washington Office
Presbyterian Church, (USA)

Sabit Alley
Area Coordinator
South Sudanese Community in America

Kim Nichols
Executive Director
African Services Committee

Dedrick Mohammed,
Executive Director
Global Justice

Linda Burnham
Executive Director
Women of Color Resource Center

Dr. Ronald Walters
Professor/Director of the African American Leadership Institute
University of Maryland*

Carolyn Makinson
Executive Director
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children

Jehmu Greene
Executive Director
Rock the Vote*

Marcia Thomas
Executive Director
USA for Africa

Marie Lucey, OSF
LCWR Associate Director for Social Mission
Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Marie Dennis,
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Ron Stief
Director, Washington Office
United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries

Susie Johnson,
Washington Office of Public Policy,
Women’s Division, General Board of Global Ministries

Joseph Beasley
Founder and President
African Ascension

Bishop Beverly J. Shamana, President
General Board of Church and Society
United Methodist Church

Gretchen S. Wallace,
President
Global Grassroots Network

Dr. Toyin Falola
Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters
University of Texas at Austin*

Ritu Sharma,
Co-Founder & President
Women’s Edge Coalition

M. William Howard, Jr., DD, DHL, LLD, Pastor
Bethany Baptist Church
Newark, New Jersey

Amy Woolam Echeverria
Director
Columban Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office

Sameer Dossani
Director
50 Years is Enough Network

Sister Marilyn Kesler
Provincial Council Leader
School Sisters of Notre Dame 

Kateri Caron
Director
Interfaith Council

H. Eric Schockman, Ph.D
President
MAZON: A Jewish Response To Hunger

Daniel Sokatch,
Executive Director
Progressive Jewish Alliance

Norman L. Epstein
Co-Chair
Canadians Against Slavery & Torture in Sudan (CASTS)

David Rosenberg,
Coordinator
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition

John Goott
Community Relations Committee Chair
Jewish Federation of Greater Houston

Rabbi David Steinberg
Temple Beth Israel*
Plattsburgh, NY

Rabbi H. David Teitelbaum,
Executive Director
Board of Rabbis of Northern California

Rev. Dr. George F. Regas
Rector Emeritus,
All Saints Church, Pasadena, California

Mansour Kane
President
Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Mauritania

Rabbi Saul J. Berman
Director
Edah

Rabbi Deborah Bronstein
Congregation Har HaShem
Boulder, CO

Rev. Francis Mercer,
Executive Director,
Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office

Leonard Glickman
President and CEO
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)

Rev. Dr. Peter A. Terpenning,
Pastor,
Community United Church of Christ, Boulder, CO

Marie Abrams,
Chair
Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Florence Johnson,
Former Councilwoman
East Orange, NJ

Tony Hileman,
Executive Director
American Humanist Association

*Affiliation listed for identification purposes only

+ Denotes Africa Action Board member

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