MONTREAL/September 8, 2006—
Dear members of the press,
My name is Tara Tavender and I am the organizer for the upcoming September 17th ëRally for Darfur' in Montreal, an event coinciding with the ëGlobal Day for Darfur' (www.dayfordarfur.org) and sister rallies around the world. Other events will take place place in Abuja, Addis Ababa, Berlin, Cairo, Hong Kong, Khartoum, Kigali, London, Melbourne, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Toronto, Paris and Vancouver, and elsewhere. Influential organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights First, the International Refugee Rights Initiative, Save Darfur, Physicians for Human Rights and the International Crisis Group are supporting and endorsing these initiatives.
I am writing to inform you that on the 17th of September, MIGS (the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies), Amnistie Internationale (Canadian francophone section) and other Montreal-area organizations will be calling for an effective UN intervention in the Darfur region of Sudan. As you may already know, more than 250,000 people have been killed and another 3 million forced from their homes in the bloody three-year conflict. Government forces and their Janjaweed proxies have been (and continue to be) responsible for the violence. The UN calls the human devastation in the conflict's wake ëone of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.'
The situation in Darfur continues to worsen despite the May 2006 peace agreement, and the Government's recent military advances in the north warn that it could further deteriorate. The African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur will be leaving the region on 30 September 2006 when its mandate expires, as they are unable to adequately keep the peace. President Omar el-Bashir has refused entry to a 20,000-member UN force created under a unanimous August 31st vote of the Security Council, which would overtake the ineffective AU mission with a Chapter VII mandate. At this time it appears that on October 1st, there will be no international mission in the region, leaving millions of civilians without protection from their government, or access to humanitarian supplies. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of Darfuris could lose their lives before year's end.
It is essential that Canadians tell our government and the world that the conflict in Darfur must end. We are soliciting the help human rights, faith, student and other groups in Montreal to get our message out, to endorse the Rally for Darfur's objectives, and to bring people out on September 17th.
Montreal's Rally for Darfur will be a peaceful bilingual event featuring speakers from Darfur, NGOs working in the field, student groups, Montreal academia, and Quebec and Canadian politics. The rally venue, time and speakers' list will be announced soon on our website.
We are encouraging everyone to wear a blue hat on September 17th, in support of a UN ëblue helmets' solution to the conflict in Darfur.
Sincerely,
Tara Tavender
Organizer
September 17th Montreal ëRally for Darfur'
Email: Montreal.Rally.for.Darfur@gmail.com
And: Rassemblement.pour.le.Darfour@gmail.com
Website: http://migs.concordia.ca/RallyforDarfur17Sept.2006.htm
And: http://migs.concordia.ca/RassamblementpourleDarfour.htm
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Source :
Tanya Churchmuch
Senior Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University
