John Bagwell's blog

Throughout the month of February, Enough and our partners at Resolve Uganda and Invisible Children have been leading a campaign in Oklahoma targeting Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), who is single-handedly blocking the passage of the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act (S. 1067). This bill has more bipartisan support in the Senate than any other piece of legislation focused on sub-Saharan Africa in over 30 years and would go a long way to help bring about U.S. leadership to end Africa's longest running insurgency. 

Tomorrow, the campaign by Oklahoma constituents to influence Coburn comes to a crucial point as activists gather for a demonstration in front of Oklahoma's State Capitol building, calling on the senator to lift his hold and allow this bill to pass. A number of participants have committed to a "hold-out" – waiting outside of Coburn's office 24 hours a day in Oklahoma City for as long as it takes to reach a compromise. 

If you're in Oklahoma, we encourage you to attend in person. There will also be a live video feed of the event starting at 3 p.m. EST tomorrow. Continue to follow all the latest news and developments on the campaign CoburnSayYes.com.

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UPDATE: We just submitted our question via video to CitizenTube. Click here to vote for our Sudan question! 

Last night, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address to the nation. Now CitizenTube is taking our follow-up questions. Over the next few days, the public will vote to choose which questions the President will answer in a live YouTube event next week. 

The State of the Union, combined with this opportunity for citizen engagement with President Obama, comes at a pivotal time for Sudan. With violence on the rise in Sudan as national elections quickly approach, more than three million Darfuris still displaced from their homes, and a senior member of the Obama administration voicing concern about the influx of weapons in the very fragile South, we ask that you join us in taking advantage of this unique opportunity. We must ensure that President Obama hears the voices of activists and is challenged to do more and take the lead in bringing together an international coalition to lay the groundwork for peace in Sudan.

The attention activists generated around the meeting of the deputies committee of the National Security Council last week helped generate a buzz in Washington about this behind-the-scenes policy assessment. It’s important that we work together to keep a spotlight on Sudan at this critical moment.

Over the next few days, submit your own question about Sudan for President Obama. Tag your questions with “SudanTube” so we can all find them easily.

Next Monday, we'll find the best questions, and ask everyone to join together in voting those to the top so that the President will respond. Be sure to send your questions to us as well.

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This morning brought the long-anticipated release of the Sudan policy. Activists have been waiting for this moment, not as an end goal, but as a starting point for the real work to begin. John Prendergast's response piece helps explain why our work as activists is so important as the Obama administration begins rolling out the new approach:

As difficult as the process has been to achieve a potentially effective policy on paper, the hard part is now only beginning. Implementing this policy will require clear-headed assessment and courageous action. At key junctures, success will require the direct involvement of President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary Clinton, and Ambassador Rice, all of whom have important and valuable history on dealing with the multiple challenges of Sudan policy.

This week, while Sudan is in the headlines, activists have the chance to capitalize on the increased attention to make sure that the policy is implemented quickly and correctly.  See the list below for ways you can take action this week:

• Join Enough, Save Darfur, and GI-NET tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the new policy on a conference call. Hear Enough’s John Prendergast, Save Darfur’s Jerry Fowler, and GI-NET’s Sam Bell talk about the policy and next steps for activists. Dial (877) 254 - 9825 and say you're calling for the Sudan Policy Call.
• Call 1-800-GENOCIDE (1-800-436-6243) to tell the White House and your elected officials that the policy looks good on paper, but the people of Sudan can’t afford a strategy that puts incentives ahead of real changes on the ground.
• Write an op-ed to your local paper. Talking points and additional actions can be found at our Take Action page.

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As President Obama addresses the both the United Nations General Assembly and the G20 Summit this week, Sudan activists are watching closely to see how U.S. and world leaders confront the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur and the major political firestorm brewing between northern and southern Sudan, which is already having tragic human consequences. To keep the pressure on U.S. leadership and challenge world leaders to make Sudan a priority, our friends at the Save Darfur Coalition have organized an array of actions to draw attention to the ongoing crisis.

On Tuesday and Wednesday in New York, SDC will present the Darfur/Darfur photo exhibit near the U.N. Headquarters. Sudan Special Envoy Scott Gration will give remarks at the opening night of the exhibit.

Throughout the week, dozens of street teams will line the streets along the route from the hotel to the U.N. to collect petition signatures calling on President Obama to use the international gatherings this week to “lend the weight of your personal engagement to your policy plan for Sudan.”

SDC will also be holding a live webcast on Wednesday, September 22, at 3 p.m. Eastern time from Pittsburgh. Watch online as a panel featuring Sean Brooks, Suliman Giddo, Mwangi S. Kimenyi, and Rabbi Steve Gutow discuss what the world's richest countries can do to help promote peace in Sudan.

At the G20 this week, The Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition will display the Darfur Destroyed Villages exhibit on Flagstaff Hill (right across from Conservatory, where delegates will be eating dinner on Thursday night). The display includes over 600 signs with the names of Darfur villages that have been destroyed since 2003.

No matter where you are in the world this week you can still get in on the action to raise the profile of Sudan at this critical time. Tune in to Wednesday's webcast and sign this online petition as we all work together to press U.S. and world leaders to make Sudan a priority as they gather this week. 

Photo credit: GI-NET/Janessa Goldbeck

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The Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy will hold a rally in Washington, D.C. next Wednesday, July 22. Damanga – an organization founded by members of the group Representatives of the Massaleit Community in Exile, or RMCE – is organizing to put pressure on the Obama administration to support justice and peace in Darfur. Local Sudanese activists will gather in Lafayette Square Park across from the White House at 1:00 p.m. and deliver a letter to President Obama before marching to the State Department to deliver their message to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. If you're located in or around D.C., head down and take part next Wednesday.

For more details see this flyer.

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On Monday morning, more than 1,500 activists will descend on Capitol Hill to call on U.S. leaders to do their part to end Africa’s longest running conflict and stop one of the continent’s most notorious rebel groups. For over 20 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has terrorized Central Africa, abducting children and forcing them to be soldiers and sex slaves, torturing and massacring civilians, and destroying villages. But with commitments from our senators and representatives -- as our rallying call next week states -- this is “How It Ends.”

In partnership with Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda, we’re hosting the two-day event to get activists up to speed on the latest developments in the international efforts to halt the LRA rebels and begin the process of rebuilding the communities devastated by their reign of terror. On Monday, the first day of the conference, a high-level panel of experts, government officials, and prominent activists will prepare activists to be effective advocates for their cause.

Some of the notable panelists include:

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman of Senate Committee on African Affairs
Betty Bigombe, Former Uganda Government Minister
Stephen Lewis, Former U.N. Special Envoy
John Prendergast, Co-founder of Enough
Kristin Bell, Actress
Melissa Fitzgerald, Actress

We’ll also lead trainings on how to lobby Congress, so that activists will have the knowledge and skills to present a compelling case to their senators and representatives and urge them to support U.S. efforts to stop LRA violence. We’ll devote the second day to meeting face-to-face with our senators and representatives and their staffs to urge them to co-sponsor the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.

If you’re unable to attend the conference, a live video feed will be available on our website, so tune in. And even if you’re not in Washington, you can still take part in the lobby day by calling your senators and representative and urging them to co-sponsor and support the LRA bill (Senate bill 1067, House bill 2478).

With solid legislation in the U.S. Congress and the dedication of activists, we can be part of the solution to years of conflict in central Africa. Do your part next week to ensure that our government doesn’t miss this opportunity to help establish a lasting peace in this war-torn region.

For additional background on the Lord's Resistance Army, visit our special page.

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As the clock continues to tick on the looming humanitarian crisis in Darfur, cries for action from the anti-genocide constituency are getting louder. Students, faith-based groups, and community activists continue to organize local events to call on the Obama administration to lead the effort to bring not only food and water to those immediately in need in the Darfur camps, but also a lasting peace to all of Sudan. Check out this video from a rally held in Boston, Massachusetts this week .

To learn how you can get involved and help put pressure on the White House to take action on Sudan, sign this citizen letter to President Obama. Also, read our most recent Activist Brief for more ways to take action. 

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Did you know that six different genocides have major anniversaries in the month of April? Commemorations of events including the Holocaust as well as events in Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur all happen in April. In an effort to honor the victims and survivors of past genocides and to prevent future atrocities, a group of anti-genocide advocates along with genocide survivors and their families will push for an official observation of April as Genocide Prevention Month. The hope is to commemorate the past and in doing so build a better, more peaceful future.

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Sources are reporting that international aid organizations – including Oxfam, Care International, Doctors without Borders, and others – are being asked to leave areas of Darfur by the government of Sudan in reaction to today’s issuance of an arrest warrant for for President Bashir today. While we aren’t sure if this move by Bashir is just reactionary political posturing or a step toward escalating, it does present yet another opportunity for President Obama and the United Nations to demonstrate that this kind of action is intolerable. 

Enough and several of partner organizations issued a joint statement today welcoming the announcement by the International Criminal Court that an arrest warrant has been issued for President Omar al-Bashir. In the statement, we call on the United States and other members of the United Nations Security Council to make clear that Bashir’s regime will be held responsible for any retaliatory action against civilians, humanitarian aid workers or peacekeeping forces and to outline consequences for any such action.

Additionally, the statement spotlights the potential for peace during this important window of opportunity. The Obama administration needs to take a comprehensive approach to Sudan, dealing not only with Darfur and the arrest warrant against Bashir, but also through efforts to get the CPA back on track while addressing the power-sharing issues that have driven the country’s multiple conflicts.

The State Department’s initial support for the arrest warrant is welcome, as is the declaration that any violent retaliation from the government of Sudan "must be avoided and will not be tolerated." We can only hope that such strong rhetoric will be backed by action. 

We are calling on President Obama to immediately appoint a high-level special envoy to Sudan as outlined in Enough’s recent publication “What the Warrant Means: Justice, Peace, and the Key Actors in Sudan.” The time is now for a fundamental shift in the way in which the United States and the world reacts to crimes against humanity. Please take five minutes today and call 1-800-GENOCIDE to tell President Obama to appoint a special envoy. 

You can read our full statement here. Also, Enough and Save Darfur will be hosting a live webcast next Monday at 4:00 pm ET to discuss the warrant and next steps for activists. Keep an eye on this space for more details. 

Emily Roberts contributed to this post.

Technorati Tags: Darfur and Southern Sudan Genocide Peace Prevention Protection Punishment Sexual Violence United Nations Violence Against Women War Crimes

Last weekend, our friends at the Genocide Intervention Network, or GI-NET, launched their Carl Wilkens Fellowship program with a powerful two-day leadership retreat in Washington, D.C. 

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