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.

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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.

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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.