Genocide Intervention Network joins Million Postcards Campaign
From the UST chapter of the Genocide Intervention Network
"Little short of hell on earth" is how UN Secretary General Kofi Annan describes the conditions in Darfur, Sudan. Colin Powell has labeled the situation "genocide." Since February 2003, the government and the janjaweed militia in Kartoum, Sudan, have used rape, displacement, organized starvation and mass murder as tools of war. More than 400,000 people have been killed and nearly 2.5 million have been displaced. Hundreds more are dying every day.
After World War II, the world said, "Never again." After Rwanda, the world said, "Never again." But it's happening again and we all are responsible for making it end.
Students are mobilizing to end the genocide by forming chapters of the Genocide Intervention Network on college and university campuses across the country. The Genocide Intervention Network envisions a world in which the global community is willing and able to protect civilians from genocide and mass atrocities through empowering individuals and communities with tools to prevent and stop genocide.
St. Thomas has organized a chapter of the Genocide Intervention Network. It's part of a Million Postcards Campaign. By April 30, President Bush will receive 1 million postcards asking him to assert leadership to protect the people of Darfur. St. Thomas students ask you to participate from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6, and from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, April 10, by sending electronic postcards and making phone calls to the White House and Senators Coleman and Dayton. Tables will be set up in the cafeterias in the Binz Refectory and in Murray-Herrick Campus Center.
The network also is hosting "A Call to Action – End the Genocide in Darfur" from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, in O'Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium. Mark Hanis, national founder of the Genocide Intervention Network, and Hugh Parmer, executive director of the American Refugee Committee, will speak about Darfur. Please come to learn more and to affirm "never again."
For more information, please contact Dr. Ellen Kennedy, adviser to the organization, or Sarah Hogan, student president.
