Dem Congress Critters Model Protesting for the Rest of Us
Via Raw Story:
Lawmakers arrested in protest of Darfur crisis
Five Democratic members of Congress were arrested Monday morning in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., after they joined with activists in staging a protest against the country’s ruling regime and its “crimes against humanity.”Organizers said the five — John Lewis (D-Ga.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) — were detained for civil disobedience after refusing a police order to disperse. Police also arrested three organizers of the protest, including Jerry Fowler of the Save Darfur Coalition and John Prendergast, a former State Department adviser.
The protesters called on the government of Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir to reverse a recent decision to expel international humanitarian groups from Darfur and end what they called his use of starvation as a weapon of war in the region.
“President Beshir has a choice,” said another Democratic lawmaker, Jim McGovern, before the group was arrested.
“He can choose to let the humanitarian groups return, he can choose to end the violence and the killing, and he can choose serious negotiations for a just and lasting peace, or he can continue to commit crimes against humanity,” he said.
“McGovern — forgoing a tie and belt, which would have been confiscated before his lock-up — noted that he had been arrested three years ago for demonstrating for action in Darfur, where millions have died from sectarian violence and where the State Department has declared a genocide is underway,” reported the Boston Herald.
“I don’t want to be here in 2012, calling on the Sudanese government to stop the killing,” said McGovern, according to the report. “We need to care. We nee to act. Every life is of equal value.”
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir declared on March 16 that no outside humanitarian agency would be allowed to work in war-torn Darfur.
The targeted organizations, including Britain’s Oxfam, the US Care as well as the Dutch and French sections of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), make up about half the humanitarian aid capacity in Darfur.
The United Nations has said that more than a million people have already been affected by the expulsions. Although the figure is disputed, former U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland estimates at least 400,000 have died in the region over the last six years as African rebels have waged a bloody campaign against the country’s government.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Beshir, though the measure is currently unenforceable.
“We know President Obama and members of his administration care passionately about ending the Darfur crisis and promoting peace in Sudan,” Fowler said.
“As President Obama nears his 100th day in office this week, he can demonstrate that Sudan is a strategic priority for the United States by committing to build a multilateral coalition for peace and investing in the diplomacy necessary to achieve an equitable and lasting solution for Darfuris and all Sudanese,” he said.
The Huffington Post has video from the protest.
With AFP.
That is teh awesome!