*  February 27, 2007,  Special to the Orlando Sentinel:

Plea to Bush:  Stop the genocide

by John Morlino

Dear President Bush:

Shortly after taking office, you vowed not to allow another "Rwanda" to take place during your term. Later, when the systematic annihilation of a people began in Darfur, you were the first world leader to call it by its rightful name: genocide. Yet, today, half a million defenseless civilians have been killed in western Sudan as a result of attacks orchestrated by their own government. Moreover, four million more face the prospect of death from starvation, disease and further assaults.

Much to my dismay, you, as well as many of those reporting on the carnage, continue to express optimism over announcements of various cease-fire and peace agreements. This, despite the fact that the Sudanese military and their proxy militias routinely follow each of these "breakthroughs" by stepping up their level of violence. And while the general public is gradually becoming aware of the perverse reality that the architects of this mass murder continue to have veto power over the deployment of a powerful protection force to the region, you have been less than forthcoming about the reasons behind this arrangement.

Perhaps, if the White House press corps and the mainstream media highlighted the quid pro quo between you and Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir: his sharing of intelligence information with you for your "war on terror," in exchange for your protecting his sovereign right to commit crimes against humanity – effectively deeming the lives of innocent men, women and children in Darfur expendable – it would be more difficult for you to feign interest in this crisis.

As I write this letter, I cannot stop thinking about a political cartoon I saw during the recent holidays. It depicted a child from Darfur sitting on Santa's knee. The child spoke of having only one wish: "A chance to live."

Since then, I have been unable to get the following images out of my mind: I imagine that, like you, I am a husband and father – except that I am living in Darfur. The year is 2003. My family and I are awakened one morning by screams and explosions. I run outside and, through the smoke and fire, I see dozens of armed men storming into our village on horseback. I then witness and experience the unthinkable. I am viciously beaten until I can no longer stand. After which, I am forced to watch both my wife and my seven-year-old daughter gang-raped by six of the attackers. Before losing consciousness, I see my three-year-old son burned alive.

My "dream" ends with a scene in a refugee camp in western Sudan. The year is 2007. All of the aid workers have left our area. The limited supplies we have may be our last. My wife did not survive her brutal attack, so it is just my daughter and I that remain from our family. She is eleven, now. Severely traumatized, she has not spoken since the day she was unmercifully violated. It is late at night, and, like every night, she is crying herself to sleep . . .

For an untold number of people living in Darfur, my "dream" is their reality. To be sure, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan was not far off when he described the conditions in western Sudan as akin to "Hell on earth."

Mr. President, you are, first and foremost, a husband and a father. As such, I feel compelled to ask you: If your wife and daughters were among those at grave risk in Darfur, would you ask for permission from the perpetrators to save them? Would you wait more than four years for their answer?

Would you merely issue hollow words of warning to those responsible for genocide – and let your family die?

 

John Morlino is the founder of a nonprofit organization called The Essence of True Humanity Is Compassion (The ETHIC), http://www.the-ethic.org. He directs The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge campaign,http://www.DarfurPledge.org ,an all-volunteer grassroots effort to end the genocide in western Sudan.

Reply to: john_morlino@...

 

*March 15, 2007

DURBIN, COBURN, LEAHY & CORNYN INTRODUCE BIPARTSIAN GENOCIDE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT


          [WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chairman
of the Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, Senator Tom
Coburn (R-OK), who serves as Ranking Member of the subcommittee,
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) today introduced legislation that will
close a legal loophole that currently prevents the U.S. Justice
Department from prosecuting people in the United States who have
committed genocide in other countries.



"There is no safe haven for the hundreds of thousands of Sudanese
facing genocide in Darfur and yet our country is providing a safe
haven for their killers," said Durbin.  "The current loophole in our
genocide laws has real-life consequences. While genocide rages in
Darfur, the United States must commit to holding those guilty of
genocide accountable."



Under current law, genocide is only considered a crime if it is
committed within the United States or by a U.S. national outside the
United States.  The Genocide Accountability Act would close the
current loophole by amending the Genocide Convention Implementation
Act to allow prosecution of non-U.S. citizens for genocide committed
outside the U.S.



"In America we are blessed with the most effective and just legal
system in the world.  It is contrary to our system of justice to allow
perpetrators of genocide to go free without fear of prosecution.
Fundamentally, we must decide if genocide is a bad enough crime, no
matter where it happens, that it warrants the same treatment as
terrorism-related crimes," said Senator Tom Coburn, M.D.



The Justice Department has identified individuals who participated in
the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides and who are living in the United
States under false pretenses.  Under current law, these individuals
cannot be arrested or prosecuted, because they are not U.S. nationals
and the genocides in which they were involved did not take place in
the United States.  In contrast, the laws on torture, material support
for terrorism, terrorism financing, hostage taking, and many other
federal crimes are still considered crimes when committed outside the
United States by non-U.S. nationals.



"I am pleased to join with Senator Durbin to cosponsor the Genocide
Accountability Act, which closes a loophole in current law allowing
those who commit or incite genocide to seek refuge in our country
without fear of prosecution for their actions," said Senator Leahy.
"This bill allows for prosecution of those found in the United States
who have participated in horrific acts against humanity in places like
Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur, and it gives federal prosecutors the tools
they need to bring these people to justice.  I have long called for
greater U.S. involvement in resolving the crisis in Darfur and worked
for greater accountability for those who commit war crimes and crimes
against humanity, and it was a pleasure to work with Senator Durbin to
set up a Human Rights Subcommittee in the Senate Judiciary Committee
for the first time.  This bill is an indication of the important scope
and work of the new subcommittee."



Salah Abdallah Gosh, the head of security in the Sudanese government,
has reportedly played a key role in the government's genocidal
campaign in Darfur.  In 2005, Gosh came to Washington to meet with
senior Administration officials.  Under current law, the FBI could not
even interview Gosh about his involvement in the Darfur genocide, much
less charge him with a crime.



           "The genocide in Darfur has become the world's most dire
human rights and humanitarian crisis," Sen. Cornyn said. "We must hold
those guilty of atrocities responsible and ensure they are brought to
justice. By closing the current loophole in federal law, this bill
takes important steps to rid the world of genocide."



This bill is the first to be produced by the Subcommittee on Human
Rights and the Law which was officially established at the Senate
Judiciary Committee's first business meeting of the 110 th Congress.
The subcommittee has jurisdiction over all human rights laws and
policies and will focus on issues such as genocide, human trafficking,
war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, and arbitrary detention.
The Human Rights Subcommittee's first hearing was held in February and
focused on the genocide in Darfur and other parts of the world.



The Genocide Accountability Act has been endorsed by numerous
organizations, including the Save Darfur Coalition, American Jewish
World Service, Armenian Assembly of America, Human Rights First, Human
Rights Watch, Alliance for Justice, and ENOUGH.

PSA and Press Release For Immediate Airing and Release

*  Join the Awareness Coalition for a two-year on going international
contest of art, poetry,photography, film, dance, music and
literature.This contest is open to all ages.The subject is Darfur,
Sudan and genocide and is open to personal interpretation.The purpose
is for participants to research and learn the subject for the
project.Participants will have their work displayed on
DarfurAwareness.com website and are eligiblefor judging by a celebrity
panel.We will display all finished work at the 2007 AwareFest in April
at Fair Park, Dallas, TX.Awareness Coalition's plans an international
tour at the end of two years.Contact the Awareness Coalition at
972.948.7498 or visit our website at DarfurAwareness.com###