International Committee of the Red Cross

I've started volunteering at the American Red Cross as a stepping stone to begin further human rights work in the Sub-Saharan and Horn of Africa regions. The American Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross are organizations that have one very substantial cause that is VITAL towards ending violence and genocide.

Impartiality.

Impartiality means that when the red cross, crescent or diamond is on a flag, hope is given to everyone no matter what side of the conflict they support or were forced to participate for.

I'll be giving regular updates as to the work I will be providing for the American Red Cross (Mt. Baker Chapter) and open up the opportunity for other people to work with me either online or in the local Whatcom County community.

My Research:

At first, I'll be helping to reorganize the Mt. Baker Disaster Preparedness Plan for all of Whatcom and Skagit counties. 90% of the work that is done by this relief organization is preparation in nature which leads to prevention of conflict. Ultimately, we hope to stop conflict before it rises to the level of genocide, but for those unfortuate situations where conflict (or natural disasters) do emerge, the ARC is there and ready to act.

Secondly, I'll begin working on research and development for response and prevention of malaria. The program is called, "Bite the Bite" and I would like to set up a community outreach and information program allowing Whatcom and Skagit counties to be better prepared for the effects of malaria and how to treat, respond and prevent outbreaks.

Wish me luck!

ICC Prosecutor requests arrest warrant for Sudan's President al-Bashir

Darfur: ICC Moves Against Sudan’s Leader
Charges Against al-Bashir a Major Step to Ending Impunity

- from Hrw.org website. Click link for more information.

" Charging President al-Bashir for the hideous crimes in Darfur shows that no one is above the law. It is the prosecutor’s job to follow the evidence wherever it leads, regardless of official position. "
Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program

One of the most monumental steps in bringing justice to the nation of Darfur is by the International Criminal Court finalizing their evidence and asking for a warrant for the people responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. When ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo requested that an arrest warrant be issued for the Sudanese President al-Bashier, hope can again flourish among the rebel groups fighting for their homes, families and land.

Read more about this directly from the HRW website (hrw.org) and also from the International Criminal Court website (http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/406.html)

DRC - The Democratic Republic of Congo

Darfur is one of many conflicts. There are others. Others like the forgotten conflicts occurring in The Democratic Republic of Congo. Rape is being use as a weapon of war to isolate women from their families, destroy community cohesiveness and show that the men of these villages can not protect their wives, daughters and families from danger. Rape is being used on women and girls documented as young as only 15 (fifteen) MONTHS old as well as the elderly as old as 85.

If your grandmother was being raped by a child soldier who has learned to fight his own kind, what response would you have? Besides outrage, hate and fear, mounting a defense to this kind of weapon of war has to be fought with action. We must force our leaders to see that action and consistent implementation of a justice system is a huge step forward in the right direction.

Write a letter to your governor, your representative, the human rights council in your state or the federal government branch associated with the United Nations. Search online for Non-Governmental Organizations like the Human Rights Watch to see current news and reports in these affected regions.

Gadu Kistana, Ethiopia

My newest Sponsor child! Askalu of Ethiopia.

Her name is Askalu from the Gadu Kistana community of Ethiopia. She is a beautiful girl that I am sponsoring through Save the Children. Hopefully, when I go to Egypt in February 2009, I will be able to take a side trip to Ethiopia and see her and her family.

Tomorrow's Challenge for Bloggers & Human Rights

Step 2 for Darfur - Enforcement.

Draft ----

This one isn’t turning out the way I want it to.. I’ll figure it out somehow though.. I want to tie it back up with proving that enforcement of orders is absolutely essential, but not only in a foreign commanders setting, I’d like to tie it to enforcement of our ability to provide aid and relief to the countries as well, thus putting more emphasis on what OUR senators need to be responsible for…



Senator Maria Cantwell
511 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202.224.3441

There is a genocide occurring in Darfur and it is beyond the scope of the United States Congress to ignore that the mass atrocities in Darfur do, in fact, constitute genocide. I am grateful that you have dedicated a section of your foreign affairs webpage to reflect that there is a dire situation and that you have support the need for additional funds to be used towards the potential NATO action as well as a joint UN-AU mission in Darfur. I am also grateful that you believe the United States should lead the way in international actions that would result in stabling the region for the Darfurians, Chadians and other refugees and internally displaced persons.
The reason I write to you today is to request that you hold true to these comments and start taking the lead as you say the United States should. You do not need to develop your own strategy as a single senator from Washington, but rather take the advice from the organizations who are on the ground day after day and have been witness to the atrocities that need to be stopped. The Human Rights Watch is an organization that provides solid and reliable information on the situation and more importantly a feasible way to being the process of eliminating the violence. The genocide in Darfur, as you so said yourself, has claimed more than 300,000 lives and has spanned over three years. When you say that the United States should lead the way in international action, did you mean to wait for the ethnic cleaning in Sudan to decrease the population by a million unarmed, innocent civilians before taking action?

2. Enforce orders prohibiting targeting of civilians and civilian property and indiscriminate attacks.



1440 10th Street Unit 207
Bellingham,WA 98225
360.920.9680
www.EndingGenocide.co.cc

Events Listing

The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur By Daoud Hari
A tribesman, nicknamed David, takes journalists and other travelers through the most harrowing areas of Darfur to document and witness the genocide. David is a translator and wanted his story to be told to the world to bring the ordinary person that much closer to the truth of what is happening to his home country of Sudan. It is first hand accounts like these that give us the momentum and courage to continue fighting for what we believe in, to make this genocide, the first and last, of the 21st century.
$23.00 Published by Random House, Inc.

http://www.desertintofire.com/
A New Film by Mark Brecke regarding Darfur. A man whose business card says "War Photographer and Weddings"
Of course, he doesn't actually photograph weddings, he works for a few months and gets on a plane back to the war.
"Like everyone else does..." says Brecke...



http://www.DarfurDarfur.org/main/
Darfur/Darfur - Find out if the Photographs and Stories of Photojournalists Brian Steidle and Ryan Spencer Reed are coming to a city near you.
24 cities in 24 months beginning September 2006.

Darfur. Help is in our hands, not anyone elses.

I just watched the clip from Hotel Rwanda where Don Cheadle (playing Paul Rusesabagina) says, "you must shame them into sending help."

"Reach through the phone and make it sound as though you are holding their hand, and if they let go of your hand... you will die."

His words were powerful regardless if the movie was based on a true story or not, but becuase it is based on a true story, one that is happening again in another part of the world, we must act. We must send help.

Educate yourself. It's the least you can do.

Step One. Week One.

10 Steps for Darfur

Ten Steps for Darfur: As Outlined by the Human Rights Watch

Below are the ten steps that will be the core values to which I write my letters from. I encourage everyone to write letters regarding these recommendations and show your support for the resolve that could come as a result of implementing these recommendations.



1. Publish and disseminate orders prohibiting the targeting of civilians and civilian property and indiscriminate attacks.

2. Enforce orders prohibiting targeting of civilians and civilian property and indiscriminate attacks.

3. Vet all appointments to public office on human rights grounds, and remove Ahmed Haroun, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court, from all posts.

4. Publicize and enforce a policy of zero tolerance for violence against women.

5. Provide an up-to-date list of detainees and where they are held, and ensure that UN agencies and humanitarian organizations have confidential access to all detainees.

6. Cease any use in Darfur of military airplanes, helicopters, or vehicles painted white or otherwise mimicking UN or humanitarian organizations.

7. Issue a blanket waiver of legal immunities for war crimes and serious violations of human rights.

8. Fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court, and surrender two suspects now subject to arrest warrants.

9. Fully cooperate with the African Union mission and deployment of the new UN-AU force, including issuance of expedited visas and clearance for vehicles and equipment.

10. Issue a standing invitation to all UN human rights mechanisms and give these mechanisms full and unimpeded access.

New Letter Series: 10 Letters, 10 Weeks.

Human Rights Watch proposed 10 steps that would help alleviate the Genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

This was proposed in December 2007 and was developed on part becuase the Human Rights Council (HRC) was going to review the final report that was being produced by the Group of Experts (GOE) specifically reviewing the situation in Darfur.

I will write ten letters in ten weeks regarding each of the ten steps to different officials in the United States Legislature in order to promote those key elements in hopes that new amendments and pieces of legislation will be drafted to pressure the Executive branch into taking more direct action against the genocide.

This is also in correlation with STANDNow.org The Student Anti-Genocide Coalition. Their spring 2008 goal is to target the Executive branch in order to help the citizens of Sudan.

Read more about their work here with their four main goals:

Seal the Deal: Sudan, The Executive Legacy

http://www.standnow.org/campaigns/seal/about

1. Stick to your Promises
2. Enforce UNAMID
3. Apply an All-Sudan Solution
4. Lobby China

The Translator - Hari Daoud, a Sudanese translator and guide for Journalists.

Book Description taken from Google.com Book Descriptions.

Buy the Book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400067448?ie=UTF8&tag=boohav03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1400067448





I am the translator who has taken journalists into dangerous Darfur. It is my intention now to take you there in this book, if you have the courage to come with me.The young life of Daoud Hari–his friends call him David–has been one of bravery and mesmerizing adventure. He is a living witness to the brutal genocide under way in Darfur.The Translator is a suspenseful, harrowing, and deeply moving memoir of how one person has made a difference in the world–an on-the-ground account of one of the biggest stories of our time. Using his high school knowledge of languages as his weapon–while others around him were taking up arms–Daoud Hari has helped inform the world about Darfur.Hari, a Zaghawa tribesman, grew up in a village in the Darfur region of Sudan. As a child he saw colorful weddings, raced his camels across the desert, and played games in the moonlight after his work was done. In 2003, this traditional life was shattered when helicopter gunships appeared over Darfur’s villages, followed by Sudanese-government-backed militia groups attacking on horseback, raping and murdering citizens and burning villages. Ancient hatreds and greed for natural resources had collided, and the conflagration spread.Though Hari’s village was attacked and destroyedhis family decimated and dispersed, he himself escaped. Roaming the battlefield deserts on camels, he and a group of his friends helped survivors find food, water, and the way to safety. When international aid groups and reporters arrived, Hari offered his services as a translator and guide. In doing so, he risked his life again and again, for the government of Sudan had outlawed journalists in the region, and death was the punishment for those who aided the “foreign spies.” And then, inevitably, his luck ran out and he was captured. . . . The Translator tells the remarkable story of a man who came face-to-face with genocide– time and again risking his own life to fight injustice and save his people.

Reminders.

Last night, I was working on editing this website for the presentation on Tuesday. I was singing along with my favorite band on iTunes, looking at pictures from Brian Steidle and Ryan Spencer Reed's websites. When I realized it was nearly midnight, I closed my laptop, which shut off the music and that's when it began.

First it was just a stiffled yelling, the couple in the apartment above mine were having a domestic dispute. But then the yelling turned into screams, only lasting a few seconds at a time, I can still hear her voice in my head screaming and yelling for someone, help me.. help me... you're hurting me...

It happened in a matter of minutes. From the first scream I heard to the time I called 911 requesting immediate attention to the incident.

I stayed long enough to let three policemen in the secured building and picked up my cat and went to my parents house around 12:30am. I thought I would sleep better knowing I wasn't in the same building as someone who was probably being cited and would soon be let go to continue doing the same behaviors.. I had no faith in our system. Our jails are full, and only the most heinous crimes are being punished.

---

The next morning, I went back to my apartment to change before going to work, heard footsteps above me and assumed the couple above me was still there. I went to work at my attorney's office and checked my emails, read the police daily log to check new cases and the jail roster as I usually do for my daily routine.

I see my block address, the time I called and a man's name who was arrested for a felony assault charge. Working for an attorney, I immediately recognize the severity of this charge and look further into the matter. Through contacts at the county courthouse, I find out that the man I put in jail has a hearing int he afternoon. I wouldn't find out until after my Anthro 490 class.

Completely distracted throughout the entire class, I called my contact as soon as I was outside the door. I am informed that the man is being held on $25,000 cash bail and that had I waiting a few minutes longer before calling 911, the woman probably would have been beaten, strangled and stabbed to death. He is now being charged with Attempted Homicide. Should the case go to trial which is more than likely, I will probably be called as a witness.

Overcome at the news, I tear up, thinking about how I waited 5 or 10 minutes for the police to arrive, it had felt like an eternity. I was shaking so badly during the 911 call and the feeling hasn't completely dissipated. How can I study the genocide in Darfur all day long without that reaction, and yet - be so shaken by one man beating one woman.

I only did what I was supposed to do, called the police. Helped one woman. And then it hits me, what is the child in Darfur supposed to do when she sees the same thing happen to her sister, mother, brother or father. There is no police to call, there is no authority she can trust.

It reminds me why I "keep on keeping on" as we say in class. To give everyone the chance at the freedom and the security that protects those freedoms. Every couple of years, an incident like this happens to me, and it sets me back on the right path, reminds me what it more important.

---

Every once in a while, an incident occurs that makes you sit back and realize that life is precious. And the system we have in place to protect our peace and prosecute those who offend us does still work. It may be corrupt and full of arrogance and deceit, but it is still better than nothing and we must protect that and remember why it is here in the first place. Life is precious. And it must be protected.

Response from the President.

It took a couple of months, I hadn't expected a response in a formal way except perhaps a surprise visit sometime from some government agency wanting to know why I debate so frequently against the current Bush Administration for it's inadeqacy.


But. A response I did request, and a reponse I did receive. Unfortunately, I don't believe a word of it.

Human Rights FIRST

This is a great place to find a good deal of information regarding some of the more serious human rights abuses that are currently underway around the world.


If you scroll down on the sidebar, You'll note there is a powerpoint slideshow that gives a detailed introduction to the conflict in Darfur. It's a powerful way to give a presentation and has an incredible amount of information. To fully appreciate the slideshow, Either email me or get the powerpoint from the site. It has notes in the footer below each slide that tell you what to say during the presentation of this slideshow.

www.HumanRightsFirst.org

Small Letters & Postcards

Perhaps these help make a difference if they come in great numbers to a Congressmen's doorstep. Or perhaps they simply make you feel better about what you've done that day to help support your causes.

Either way, sometimes the small things count. Opportunities to send a simple postcard are endless. Find a fun one, add your own personal touch, stamp, write your address in a fun font or eye-catching handwritting style.

Send her off.

8th Annual Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival

- 8th Annual Human Rights Film Festival -
(now over, check for next years dates on the website)
February 21st to March 1st.
"Informative and Inspirational Films from around the world."
See the website: Visit www.whrtf.org/filmfest
and www.myspace.com/bellinghamhumanrightsfilm



Each night of the Festival, Someone from a Human Rights Class or from the Fairhaven College at Western Washington University put an insert in the program to highlight some more information or links to more information about the topic of that night's film.

I worked on a film called De Nadie. About the life and immigration of Central Americans attempting to get into the United States. Here's my insert. Below the Insert is another slideshow I put together, just for flashy looks and to gain attraction to the subject. None of the photos are mine, most are readily searchable on Google.com with no references to who they taken from originally.

De Nadie

SLIDESHOW

For More Information. Please see the Insert above. or Email me above for a high-quality version of the slideshow in Powerpoint or PDF format.


Genocides.Ending@gmail.com

Dear John Letter. Human Rights Style.

Sometimes you think you get it, sometimes you're lost. But you know you will continue to try anyway. Regardless of the outcome, you know in the end you have done your part to try to change and better the world. You fight for Human Rights.


Sometimes there are certain people in your life who you love, but who neither support what you do, nor understand why you give your life to fight for it.


Sometimes their answer is simply, "I don't care." It's personal. And it hurts.


Like a bad outcome to an election, you know in a matter of 4 years, there is another chance. And you hold on to the hope of that chance for change. You pick yourself back up - and move on.


If you've ever had to write one of these letters, you understand human rights.


To --------

I am going to a place, deep in the heart of the African continent, where the people do not know what I stand for or understand what I hope to accomplish. To be quite honest, I do not know what it is that I must do or what actions I must take to feel whole. I have learned much in my many years as an American, but only in the villages of poverty can I learn what the epitome of hope is. There is hope in the weakest of children faced with malnutrition who dare to forget their own lives to ask how you are doing. At the same time, there is the darkest evil in the strongest of men who seek to silence these children. If peace and hope continue to die at the hands of our own people, than a panacea must be found. I will give up my life fighting for this cause, because there is nothing I desire more than to see the beauty of this world through the eyes of the simplest creature, human, animal or ecosystem alike, that is given the chance to pursue any dream they wish.

These are the challenges that I face and with the guidance of something beyond my own strength, I hope only that I am successful because failure is something I can’t even try to imagine. Even if that success is short lived and without grace, it is something I must attempt. It is because of this risk I face, that I cannot allow myself to stay here. There is nothing here for you to love when the support for my goals is nonexistent. If my only strength must go to my ultimate passions in life, then we both know this will fail since my strength comes from you. I love you with all my heart, and yet because of that, I cannot put you through the pain of seeing what I see every day. Africa is my dream, it is the beginning and the end of humankind, and I must see it through to whatever end.

Not every man can see the world that you can see. And not every man can understand the pain that goes into being something great. I know you understand why I have to leave, but do not agree. Together with you, I could be nothing short of being in blissful happiness, but without you, I can understand so greatly, what it is that the people of this world do not have. I wish with all my heart that you live without fear and achieve what you dream most without consequence. You will become everything you imagine, because of your honesty and passion. I am so very proud of you and I only hope one day you can forgive me.

Goodbye ---- . I will miss you with everything I am.
S

Bellingham, Washington. The United States. Yes. There are slaves here.

Now you can help free them and let them begin the lives they should have had years ago. Please visit this website. It's one of the most informative sites on the subject.

http://www.freetheslaves.net/



Kevin Bales, one of the world's foremost modern slavery experts, has been working towards freeing our country of the dependence on goods made from slave labor in foreign countries. We all know the big names, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, other mass merchandise stores selling products for cheap, but did you know that Wal-Mart has DIRECT CONTRACTS with the slave labor factories in China? How does our government get away with letting Wal-Mart proceed with imports from factories like this. People who are arrested for "looking lazy" are not charged, yet detained for years in prison factories and forced to make the toys, household goods and other imports you use on a daily basis.



Make Bellingham a Slave Trade Free City.



See the website. Free the Slaves.

Banning Cluster Munitions

BAN CLUSTER MUNITIONS by 2008.

So Far: 75 Countries have signed the Treaty.

Is your country one of them?


To get in on the action: Visit the Human Rights Watch Website (Click the Link above or visit) http://hrw.org/campaigns/clusters/index.htm

Follow up needed.

Signing off. Our president is a 5 year old. Click for Link to a Reuters Op-ed.

I'm taking a small vacation to go see something new.. preferably without having any ability to check my email, the internet or listen to the radio.

Our president has reverted in age to that of a 5 year old. Name calling and pointing fingers at anyone but himself and his administration. And I'm so frustrated that there is nothing I can do to rectify his idiocy.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1555266720080216?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10010

In particular: Mr. Bush, aka the man running out country made these quotes:

"Because Congress failed to act, it will be harder for our government to keep you safe from terrorist attack," Bush said.

That's about as anti-productive as saying the Darfur conflict would end if Al-Bashir would just hold up his end of the bargain. Even in context, it makes no sense what so ever to make a comment such as this... We learned about "constructive critism" in 4th grade... and if you didn't go to school, your parents, mentors, employers.. someone would have taught you to say nothing all at if you couldn't say something nice.

And his second blasphemous comment:

Bush had offered to delay his Africa trip if House Democratic leaders would stay to enact "a good bill."

Instead, he [Bush] said, "House leaders chose politics over protecting the country -- and our country is at greater risk as a result."

Really? I'd prefer if he doesn't go to Africa, he'll just draw attention to the fact that the United States is a country of talk and no action filled more with lies and unkept promises of foreign aid.

However
There is something we can do. We can advocate. Write letters to our senators, to the president, to anyone who will listen and let the people who run this country know that it's citizens want action, not empty promises.

Chocolate - A Human Rights Issue?

Absolutely.

Be aware of what you eat, be aware of the things you buy. Everything we do affects big and small - In this case, cocoa products are more than just the final product.

:) Here's some Great Chocolate! And it helps benefit the habitat and safety of endangered animals.

[Insert Photograph]
Coming soon!!

INHUMANE Treatment of Cows: And we're supporting it.

For More Information On this post: Please visit this website.
http://video.hsus.org/index.jsp?fr_story=346bfda2cbbf061e88fa57cbef243b30d049b3b7
Stop inhumane treatment of animals, regardless of what they were bred for.



February 6th, 2008

Secretary of Agriculture Edward Schafer
USDA
Washington, DC

Dear Secretary of Agriculture Schafer,

Atrocious cruelty like that documented by The Humane Society of
the United States at Hallmark slaughterhouse must stop
immediately. (See the investigation video at
http://video.hsus.org/index.jsp?fr_story=346bfda2cbbf061e88fa57cbef243b30d049b3b7.)
For the sake of animal welfare and food safety, please institute
a "bright line" ban on all downers in the food supply by closing
the loophole in USDA's current policy and by redirecting agency
resources to ensure meaningful enforcement.

For being the country that we are with our resources and
potentional for oversight, this is absolutely disgusting, that
you would allow this type of inhumane treatment of our animals.

Or perhaps next time you fail to show up for work due to a cold,
someone can shock your neck to force you to get up. Maybe put a
hose with cold water in your bed or and then shock you causing
not only immense pain, but severe long term health risks.

I, AS A CONSUMER, DEMAND A CHANGE. IMMEDIATELY.

This case illustrates the need for constant USDA supervision at
slaughter plants, including overseeing the way animals are
handled when they're moved off the truck, rather than occasional
check-ins.

Your prompt attention to this matter is appreciated.


Sincerely,
Sara Cartwright
1440 10th Street Unit 207
Bellingham, WA 98225

Reuters.com: My Response to Dobson.

Reuters is one of the most prominent media outlets for the Western world; however, it is still constantly underestimating the effects of posting such hateful and.. ..idiotic posts by individuals who just.. AARGGHH.. irritate the hell out of you. There is simply no other way to put that.

My Response is Below: I'll update this to see if any other individuals post responses to my response, etc. (That is.. unless they are a waste of my time and energy and I refuse to give them credit for existing because they support James Dobson's ideas)

I'll only post the actual Paragraph that prompted the my immediate response to Reuters. Please click on the link (the title of this post) to read the entire entry on Reuters.com or go here if the link does not work for you: http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/02/05/dobson-delivers-blow-to-mccain-candidacy/


REUTERS.COM FEB 5th, 2008. Article written by Ed Stoddard.

“I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life,” he [James Dobson] said.

Dobson said he was just expressing his views as a private citizen — but many of his millions of followers in the evangelical community, who listen to his radio show and read his books, will take it as a signal to do the same.


MY RESPONSE TO THE ARTICLE:

Reuters,

I pay attention to your headlines because it provides some of the most accurate and comprehensive information...

So why would you allow this garbage to be posted for the world to read?

To quote the line that prompted this response, "I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions."

Who would seek to undermine our democracy by using the word VIRULENTLY to describe these candidates' family positions?? The word implies that our presidential candidates would seek to literally poison our families... That is simply inaccurate information and violently opposes their actual intentions regarding family policy.

James Dobson has hit my top 5 list of most atrocious anti-democracy individuals.

Washington Primary Elections

PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES.

TO: Washington Democrats ---

Did you know your vote DOESN'T COUNT unless you attend a presidential caucus! Yeah... February 9th @ 1:00 or so. Figure out what precinct your in and get to your caucus! Make your vote actually COUNT.

And then write a letter to your representatives telling them how unfair it is that you must attend a political rally in order for your vote to count. It should count no matter where you are. What about our combat boys? How they voting???