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Next Meeting: Tuesday 9 pm MC 310
*Announcements:
GW STAND raised over $800 for the Wilfag School of Peace, an elementary school in Darfur, last Friday at Cafe Japone. Thanks to everyone who came out for a good time, and a special thanks to the lovely Tara Biller for being so kick-ass.
Congratulations to the Janjaweed Smokers, the winners of the first annual "Dodgeball for Darfur" event. The Janjaweed Smokers won the fifth game in a five-game series with The Majority, the College Democrats' team. We raised $300 for the event and had a lot of fun playing dodgeball. The Janjaweed Smokers will be presented with the trophy at Tuesday's meeting, and special thanks to STAND Community Outreach Coordinator Caitlin Dimino for leading the group that planned the fundraiser.
STAND will be protesting at the Sudanese Embassy THIS SATURDAY, April 7th. If you want to join us in having a fun time while making your voices against genocide heard, meet us at Kogan Plaza at 11:30 am (time is tentative so look for another update or come to our general body meeting this Tuesday at 9 pm in MC 310). Contact Activism Chair Kate Lonergan at katelonergan@... with any questions! See you then!
*The next DC Divestment Meeting is TONIGHT at 8:30 in the 2nd floor lobby of the Marvin Center
DIVEST THE CAPITOL'S FUNDS from the worst offending companies whose business with the Sudanese government contributes to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Currently legislation encouraging general divestment is being brought before the city council. Our goal is to modify this legislation to be targeted divestment and then get it passed.
WHY DIVESTMENT WILL WORK TO END THE GENOCIDE IN SUDAN
• Genocide is an expensive venture. The Sudanese government relies on foreign investment to fund 70-80% its own military and the militias seeking to eliminate the non-Arab population.
• The Sudanese government has shown a historic responsiveness to economic pressure
• The divestment movement has already triggered behavioral changes in a number of companies with investments in Sudan. Hundreds of cities, colleges, and even six states have already passed divestment legislation.
• The International Crisis Group (John Prendergast) and Human Rights Watch have both recently called for targeted economic sanctions as a necessary measure for bringing peace and security to Darfur
TARGETED DIVESTMENT: INNOVATIVE AND EFFECTIVE
• Surgically Targets Worst Offending Companies: Targeted divestment
affects only companies that meet very stringent criteria; companies that (1) have a business relationship with the government of Sudan, (2) impart minimal benefit to the country's underprivileged, (3) have demonstrated no substantial corporate governance policy regarding the Darfur situation, and (4) the company refuses to change its behavior
after a period of shareholder engagement.
• Protects Innocent Civilians: Targeted divestment exempts certain companies, industries, and regions that provide benefit to disaffected civilians.
• Protects Investment Returns: Targeted divestment exempts certain investments where divestment can be convincingly proven to be infeasible, allowing the pension funds to maintain their prudent investor responsibilities.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
Call your city councilors, your mayor and your retirement board to support the bill. Demand that your retirement board does not allow your funds to support genocide.
CALL:
DC retirement board: (202) 343-3200
Mayor Fenty: (202) 727-1000
The following Council Members:
Vicent C, Gray: Not Available vgray@... Council Chair
Jack Evans: (202) 724-8058 jackevans@... Chair ProTemp/W2
Carol Schwartz:
David Catania: (202) 724-7772
Phil Mendelson:
Kwame R. Brown: (202) 724-8174
Jim Graham: (202) 724-8181 jim@... Ward 1
Mary M. Cheh: (202) 724-8062 mcheh@... Ward 3
Harry Thomas Jr.: (202) 724-8028 hthomas@... Ward 5
Tommy Wells: (202) 724-8072 twells@... Ward 6
Marion Barry: (202) 724-8045 mbarry@... Ward 8
**Ideas for talking points and a sample letter can be found at the
following websites**
• http://sudandivestment.org
• http://www.calvert.com/sudan/
*GI-Net is now accepting applications for their summer internships. If you will be here for the summer, or want to be, please think seriously about applying. It is through internships like these that GW STAND has been able to build relationships with the various Darfur-related ngo's, and it's super important that we maintain those relationships! Email khoops@... for specific information, and talk to Sean with any questions!!!
SENATE PASSES DURBIN, COBURN, LEAHY & CORNYN GENOCIDE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
[WASHINGTON, DC] – The U.S. Senate today passed legislation introduced by 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) 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.
"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 ," said Senator Leahy. "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, Genocide
Intervention Network, American Jewish World Service, Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of America, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Alliance for Justice, Refugees International, and ENOUGH.
*A message from Stand National:
The time to protect Darfurians is now! The genocidal Sudanese government has agreed to, and then defiantly rejected, an effective UN peacekeeping force. They've further rejected prosecution of those individuals that the International Criminal Court has identified as responsible for war crimes. Government-sponsored attacks on civilians continue. Rape remains a widespread danger for women in refugee and internally displaced person camps. Aid organizations face continuing insecurity and hostility from the Sudanese government. The fighting is increasingly crossing the border into Chad.
Now more than ever, it's important to tell our members of Congress that it's High Time for Higher Grades!
On April 16 – 27, 2007, join STAND students around the country in lobbying our members of Congress to:
- Give more money to help African Union peacekeepers to protect innocent civilians
- Co-sponsor and pass S.831, the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act, to protect states, cities, and schools who divest
- Tell the President to enforce the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act and other key sanctions on those responsible for genocide
(Find more info on legislation at http://standleg.blogspot.com.)
National Lobby Days: It's High Time for Higher Grades!
On April 16-27, join STAND students and community groups around the country in lobbying one of your elected officials in a face-to-face meeting at his/her in-district office. If your chapter has been collecting Darfur Report Card messages for your members of Congress, this is a great time to deliver them! Or, use the anti-genocide hotline – 1800GENOCIDE – to call and tell your elected officials that their voters want to see them
make the grade on stopping genocide.
Read more on how to get started on the STAND national blog !
Tell your members of Congress it's time to make the grade on stopping this genocide!
Also...
Want to help STAND go international? Do you know anyone abroad that would be interested in starting a chapter? Help out by simply copy-pasting the following into an email to your friends or family in other parts of the world. (You can personalize it as you see fit!)
Hey "your friend's name here"!
I might have mentioned this at some point, but I wanted to fill you in a little more. I am involved with an international organization called STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition that works to end the on-going genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Check out our website for extra details: www.standnow.org
. We really need your help spreading the word in "country name here." Would you be interested in starting a chapter? By starting a chapter at your school, you would be joining thousands of students around the world in this very worthwhile fight to put an end to the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Think about it! If you decide you want to get involved, email the International Coordinator at international@.... Thanks! Hope to hear from you soon!
Best,
Your name here.
If you'd like to talk about what you and your chapter can do during our two weeks of action, email me or one of your great SOCs! We are so excited to work with you to make this a really effective lobbying experience! And don't forget to be join us for the regional network call this Sunday- it's a great time to talk about plans for the lobbying weeks!
--
Jessica Morales
STAND:A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition
Mid-Atlantic Regional Outreach Coordinator
Email:jessica@...
Cell:951-858-3987
AIM: ABTJess218
www.standnow.org
www.standleg.blogspot.com
www.standnatl.blogspot.com
Last week, Congress passed an emergency supplemental funding bill which includes $150 million to support the peacekeeping effort in Darfur through the end of September.
While we applaud this decision, we are very concerned that this funding will run out on October 1st, leaving peacekeeping forces in Darfur stranded without adequate resources.
The Administration has failed to request any funding for Darfur in the fiscal year 2008 budget, which starts at the beginning of October 2007.
Will you please join us in calling on the President and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to urge them to fix this upcoming shortfall now before it's too late? Click here to send your message now.
Congress has agreed that the President failed to address the full funding needs of Darfur peacekeeping in his recent budget request for fiscal year 2008.
To quote the official language of the recently passed funding bill, Congress "is concerned that the Administration has not adequately planned for future peacekeeping activities in Sudan/Darfur in FY 2008 and urges the Secretary of State to work with the Office of Management and Budget to submit a budget amendment for FY 2008 addressing these urgent needs."
Please join us and Congress in urging the President and his Office of Management and Budget to provide the funds to prevent this budget shortfall that would threaten the Darfur peacekeeping effort.
With your help, we can work with our government to ensure adequate support for the essential peacekeeping effort in Darfur.
Thank you again for your commitment to ending the violence in the region.
Best regards,
David Rubenstein
Save Darfur Coalition
------------------------------
P.S. Join Global Days for Darfur, a world-wide week of rallies, marches and vigils from April 23rd to April 30th. Click here to find or host an event in your community and help alert the world that time has run out for the people of Darfur.
To unsubscribe from the Save Darfur Coalition email list,visit this link.
Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes and editor of WorldPublicOpinion.org, will present the findings. This will be followed by a panel discussion examining the relationship between global public opinion and policy options for Darfur. Panel participants include commentators from Brookings, (Susan Rice and Elizabeth Ferris), the U.S. State Department Sudan Programs Group (Deputy Director Jason Small), and the Center for American Progress (Gayle Smith).
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
The Brookings Institution
Falk Auditorium
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC
For more information, visit the Brookings web site: http://www.brookings.edu/comm
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