I saw in the Washington Post Express today that they’re playing at a local club on Thursday night.  “Who the heck are they???,” you’re probably asking.

They are a Czech punk rock band from the 60s and 70s – they were harassed and oppressed by the Communist government for playing their music, and in 1976 they were arrested and put on trial for “disturbing the peace.”

The trial inspired Vaclav Havel and other dissidents to draft and sign Charter 77, demanding basic human rights for the Czech people.  It also led him to write a famous and prescient essay called “The Power of the Powerless.”

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As part of the Save Darfur Coalition’s efforts during this year’s elections, Darfuri refugee Daoud Hari and SDC’s Amjad Atallah were at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi on Wednesday and Thursday in advance of the Presidential Debate.

Daoud and Amjad addressed a standing-room-only crowd of students and faculty, met with Darfur activists from Mississippi and sat down for interviews with local and international press.

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Last Wednesday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed The Darfur Contracting Act into law. This important move will bring pressure to bear directly companies that are very interested in California contracts that until today have not taken steps to stop their revenue from helping to fund the Sudanese military. We will be following through with them to make sure that they change those operations and confront the Sudanese government.

Thanks to the ideas, words, emails and the consistent support of activists across the state, the Sudanese government will have to face further economic consequences for its truly unconscionable behavior. California groups took the lead in passing this law, including Jewish World Watch, American Jewish Committee, San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, Armenian National Committee, Genocide Intervention Network, STAND: A Student Anti- Genocide Coalition, Sudan Divestment Task Force, Orange County for Darfur, Americans Against the Darfur Genocide, Genocide No More-Save Darfur, Sacramento Committee on Conscience and others.

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While the United Nations Security Council and diplomats at the UN General Assembly were discussing Darfur this week, they forgot to listen to the voices of Darfurians – who are the most important voices to be heard in this crisis. Darfurians feel that they are being left behind, and that their voices should be considered that is why we decided to meet with Mr Luis Moreno Ocampo. On September 24, myself and a group of about 150 Darfurians and Sudanese from different parts of the United States gathered in Brooklyn, New York to meet with Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and have a Ramadan Iftar with him. They wanted to stand with him and support his work – and make sure that he knows that they are the ones whose voices need to be heard.

When Ocampo entered the room, we as Darfurians stood up and showed our appreciation to him with one voice. We clapped and welcomed him with chants of support for over 10 minutes. People shouted things like, “Thank you” and “Justice for Darfur Now.” We as Darfurians said that we are there to show our unanimous support of the ICC to continue its work and indict Bashir – because at this critical moment we feel like we have been left behind. So many African and other international leaders have come to New York to figure out how to protect al-Bashir, who has committed genocide against our people. They have not, instead, thought of how to protect the IDPs and refugees and the Darfuri people who have suffered over the last six years.

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As Congress prepares to adjourn prior to the November elections, the Senate has passed an important resolution, S. Res. 684, which demonstrates the continued resolve of Congress to ensure that the U.S. Government remains dedicated to ending the conflict in Darfur. The resolution reaffirms Congress’ 2004 finding that genocide is occurring in Darfur, and highlights the need for a just and inclusive peace process, the full deployment of UNAMID, and the free flow of humanitarian aid.

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In May, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama signed a joint statement promising their “unstinting resolve” to end the genocide in Darfur. This historic moment has afforded us a great opportunity.

No matter who is elected the next president, we’ll have a champion for the Darfuri people in the White House.

To make the most of this opportunity, we created an ambitious plan to keep Darfur on the national agenda and make sure the next president acts to end the violence. We have the promise, we have the plan, but we need support.

For the past week, we’ve been asking supporters and activists to help us meet our goal of raising $250,000 by September 26 to put our plan into action. Our deadline is midnight tomorrow – will you help us meet our goal?

Donate Today.

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After being a voice largely ignored in media coverage surrounding International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s case against Sudanese President al-Bashir, more than 100 Darfuri and Sudanese diaspora leaders today publicly urged the U.N. Security Council to veto any effort to delay the pursuit of justice in Darfur.  In a letter to Burkinabe Ambassador to the United Nations Michel Kafando, the diverse alliance said that the ICC provided the international community a unique opportunity to match action with its rhetoric about ending the Darfur genocide.  (more…)

This weekend, on CNN’s special “The Next President: A World of Challenges,” former secretaries of state gathered to give advise to our future president on issues that he will face upon entering office - including Darfur. During the special, Michael Hermon of Minneapolis, Minnesota asked the following of Warren Christopher, Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, James Baker, and Colin Powell:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Michael Herman (ph). I’m from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

And I was wondering, how do you see the U.S. responding to humanitarian crises, like the situation in Darfur?

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After billions spent, countless hours of debate, and an endless stream of tough words, it is deplorable that the most powerful nations in the world can muster only a ‘half-strength force’ to protect Darfuri civilians. The U.N. has now admitted what has long been clear: the previous promise to deploy 80 percent of the UNAMID force by December will not be kept.  Even the new, reduced goal of 50 percent seems a stretch.  Vitally needed helicopters, trucks and logistics are nowhere in sight. How can that be so?

This ‘half-strength force’ is a product of U.N. member states’ half-strength political will – not just on peacekeepers, but on the Darfur crisis overall. Talking tough about protecting Darfuris is easy; contributing equipment and peacekeepers and overcoming Sudanese government intransigence as part of a comprehensive strategy for peace is not. Speaking in platitudes about justice and accountability is easy; standing behind the ICC chief prosecutor is not. Calling for peace is easy; putting sustained effort into creating a viable and inclusive peace process is not.  Deploring violence is easy; but calling out China, Russia, and others for arming a genocidal regime is not.

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“It started firing. People began screaming. The shooting continued until the houses were burning. The woman was burned on her legs. Her body had a bullet hole that went from her chest to her back.” Such statements have tragically become routine since the start of the Darfur genocide, but what makes this quote of particular note is that the “it” was identified as a Chinese-made anti-aircraft gun mounted on the back of a Dong Feng truck, also manufactured in China.

Despite a UN embargo on arms transfers into Darfur, several countries, including Russia and China, continue to funnel weapons to the Sudanese government by exploiting a loophole. The existing embargo allows weapons sales to the Government of Sudan provided they are not bound for Darfur — but the Sudanese government has publicly stated that it has every right to transfer military equipment wherever it wishes.

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