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| Members of the Metropolitan King County Council join with members of the Save Darfur Coalition from the University of Washington. The Council unanimously adopted a motion urging the U.S. and the United Nations to act to stop the genocide occurring in the Darfur region of the Sudan. |
The conflict in Darfur started in 2003 when the Sudanese government and an allied militia called the Janjaweed began attacking people in the region. 450,000 people have been killed since then, with another 2.5 million people displaced by the violence.
Members heard testimony from students at the University of Washington working to end the fighting. U.W. student Rachel Mathisen, who worked as an intern for Councilmember Dow Constantine, the prime sponsor of the motion, raised the issue and spoke to Councilmembers about the U.N. resolution. “I realize this is not standard fare for the Council, but it is very important,” said Ben Weintraub of the Save Darfur Coalition. Weintraub said the coalition has sponsored several events in the region to inform the public about the genocide and received overwhelming response. “This is something that people in King County care about a lot,” he said.
“We represent many King County residents who have
relocated to this country to escape war and oppression, so we have a special
responsibility to speak out against injustice wherever it occurs,”
said Councilmember Constantine. “We want the citizens of the Darfur
region to know that people around the world are aware of their situation
and determined to stop the genocide.”
“Genocide is an issue so egregious that it’s everyone’s
business, no matter how far away Darfur may seem,” said Council
Chair Larry Phillips.
“I appreciate the leadership of the students who brought this issue
to the council’s attention, and I join them and my council colleagues
in calling for the United States and the United Nations to intervene in
Darfur in order to end the killings and atrocities.”
“For too long, the rest of the world has ignored the genocide in Darfur. This is a sign that people are starting to notice what is occurring in the Sudan,” said Councilmember Larry Gossett. “It is already too late for nearly a half-million people. It’s time to end the bloodshed and let humanitarian efforts aid those who are left in Darfur as well as those who have sought refuge in other countries.”
The U.N has passed Resolution 1706, which would authorize an international peacekeeping force in Darfur to put a halt to the atrocities and to allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need. The U.S. Senate has also introduced the Darfur Accountability Act, calling on measures to end the fighting. The motion approved by the Council calls on the U.S. and U.N, as leaders of the international community, to immediately implement U.N. Resolution 1706.“We have a history of fighting for human rights regardless of borders,” said Councilmember Jane Hague. “What is happening in Darfur must not continue.”
“We've spent hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq, while hundreds of thousands of innocent people have lost their lives to genocide in Darfur,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson. “The federal government's global spending priorities are out of balance. As human beings, we have a moral imperative to speak up against the mass murder that is taking place across the Sudan. The federal government should be doing more to address this tragedy.”
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