Jerry Fowler, Save Darfur Coalition president, yesterday emailed Darfur activists regarding the presidential and vice presidential debates wherein Darfur was a topic of discussion. Jerry said tough words from the candidates on Darfur was only part of our work:

Now we must ensure that strong words in debates turn into strong actions in the Oval Office. And to do it, we must raise our voices together as one.

Jerry urged all activists to be a voice for Darfur by sending a message to the next U.S. president.

The full text of Jerry’s email follows:

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Esquire Magazine today named genocide scholar Samantha Power one of the most influential people of the 21st century - citing her critical involvement in the Save Darfur movement and a 2003 Pulitzer prize for her book A Problem from Hell.

What Norman Podhoretz is to the neocon movement Power is to this as-yet-unnamed force. (Neo-internationalism? Moral interventionism? Machiavellian idealism?) She espouses talks–firm talks–with rogue states, a respect for internation-al law, and a moral and pragmatic duty to intervene–with troops if necessary–in cases of genocide.

Read the full story here.

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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Samantha Power, award-winning journalist, anti-genocide advocate and Harvard University professor, recently participated in Esquire magazine’s "Portrait of the 21st Century." The project, a creation of sculptor and new-media artist Lincoln Schatz is "an evolving video portrait of the most influential people of the coming decades."

Below is Samantha Power’s video portrait

Just one day after Save Darfur named Lopez Lomong its August Darfur Hero and Olympic gold medalist Joey Cheek’s visa was revoked by China, U.S. Olympic team captains selected Lopez as the flag bearer for the Opening Ceremonies. Lomong - who spent 10 years in a refugee camp in Kenya after fleeing South Sudan - will compete in the 1500 meter run and gained U.S. citizenship just 13 months ago.

In a statement published in an LA Times column by Helene Elliott, Lomong said:

“The American flag means everything in my life — everything that describes me, coming from another country and going through all of the stages that I have to become a U.S. citizen. This is another amazing step for me in celebrating being an American. Seeing my fellow Americans coming behind me [in the opening ceremony] and supporting me will be a great honor — the highest honor. It’s just a happy day. I don’t even have the words to describe how happy I am.”

More coverage can be found on Bloomberg.com and the front page of the LA Times.

Salim Salim, the former chief mediator for the African Union in Darfur, published an op-ed in the International Herald Tribune yesterday strongly criticizing the international community for failure to support UNAMID:

If the international community is serious about fulfilling its responsibility to protect civilians in Darfur, it can start by providing the basics that Unamid urgently needs. Such support could have saved some of those peacekeepers who died this month gallantly trying to protect civilians. The least we can do in their memory is to make sure that no more civilians or peacekeepers perish because of resource constraints.

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Our partner organization, GI-NET, recently recorded the following interview with Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Journalist Diana Mukkaled wrote an interesting piece last weekend in the Arabic Daily, Asharq Alawsat, about ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s charges of genocide against Sudanese president Omar
al-Bashir.

She suggests that many in the Arab media have been too quick to condemn the charges, saying:

Confronting the indictment must be preceded by proving the injustice that surrounds it. But for sovereignty to precede justice, this is a violation of the rights of those groups and victims, estimated at tens of thousands, as they remain in their [refugee] camps with no real indications of when their ordeal will be dealt with.

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Amjad Atallah, Save Darfur’s senior director for international policy and advocacy, was interviewed last night on News Channel 8’s Federal News Today by Beverly Kirk. In the interview, Atallah discusses yesterday’s ICC indictment of Sudanese President al-Bashir and the potential ramifications for the process of bringing peace to Darfur.

The Nation published a column today by American Jewish World Service president Ruth Messinger and Save Darfur Coalition president Jerry Fowler on the essential role that China must play in bringing peace to Darfur. Below is an excerpt from the column, which can be found here.

Beijing’s theme for this year’s Games is “One World, One Dream.” According to the official website, this theme is meant to convey China’s commitment to “peaceful development, harmonious society and people’s happiness.”

We’ll state the obvious: China’s espousal of universal brotherhood flies in the face of its policies in Darfur. But China still has time to set things right. This is why advocates worldwide are urging China to take the following steps. First, immediately stop dealing small arms in Sudan. Providing these weapons only serves to arm many of the actors that are killing, raping, and maiming at will. Second, pressure Sudan to comply immediately with all existing UN Security Council resolutions, including the deployment of African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) forces to secure the region from the government-backed Janjaweed militia. Third, if Sudan does not change its behavior, China should refrain from vetoing UN sanctions against Sudan and its officials.