President Bush announced new sanctions for Sudan today. These sanctions will target 31 companies and four government officials.
The United States is also working with England to draft a UN resolution calling for an arms embargo on all of Sudan.
"I promise this to the people of Darfur: the United States will not avert our eyes from a crisis that challenges the conscience of the world."
-President Bush
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/29/bush.sudan.reut/index.html
May 29, 2007
May 11, 2007
This is an excerpt from the speech given at the Washington, DC Diplace Me event by Norbert Mao, the mayor of Gulu, Northern Uganda.
Many of you don’t know what is happening in northern Uganda. I don’t blame you. There are also many Ugandans who don’t know what is going on in northern Uganda. Because of television, many Ugandans know more about what is going on in Baghdad than what is going on in northern Uganda. The humanitarian catastrophe in northern Uganda has been neglected. The question is why? Is it because of default? Is it by design? But that is not the subject of my speech tonight. There will be another day to discuss that. The important thing is that the suffering must end and it is up to us to end it.
The world has also been guilty of a conspiracy of silence. People have continued to suffer and no one seems to be bothered. The rebel group - so vicious, so capricious, and so malevolent – has unleashed a suffering on our people, which we cannot comprehend. The rebels have killed people, but that is just part of the story. 97% of the deaths in northern Uganda is a direct result of the conditions in the camps. The rebels are only responsible for 3% of the deaths. That is why tonight is very important because you are tackling the foundation of the suffering, the 97% of the people who are dying due to the conditions. Now, like any other country, Uganda has got neighbors. We have Kenya, we have Tanzania, we have Rwanda. You would think that our neighbors should be the ones to come to our aid. That’s why I am so moved tonight to see that people who are so far away are the ones who are so concerned about the suffering of my people. You are thousands and thousands of miles away, but you are the ones who have showed that you care the most.
The international community is now supporting the peace process in Juba. I have been to the rebels. I have met them. They have expressed the desire to talk peace...
Our desire is to see peace, freedom and prosperity in northern Uganda so that Gulu can become a haven again. The displaced people should go home, but after more than 10 years in these camps they need help. They need material support from a country like yours. A country which is so rich, that sometimes I think it has more cars than people. We need the moral support of the USA. We need the moral support from a country that produced the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. So, standing here in the shadows of the Washington Monument, I say to you, the young people of America: stand up for the rights of other young people in the world...
Tell your leaders in the Congress and the White House, let the displaced people go home. Write to them, call them, threaten not to vote for them if you must. Let them do something. Let the US government support the peace talks going on in Juba.
People of America, the cause of the suffering people in northern Uganda is your cause. You have said, “we want peace, we want the displaced people to come home, we want northern Uganda to become a haven again, so that the ordinary people can go and till their land.” We stand together with you. We the leaders of northern Uganda, we stand together with you and I’m sure everybody who matters is listening. I have come all the way to share your faith that every war has an end...
-Norbert Mao, Mayor of Gulu, Northern Uganda
Many of you don’t know what is happening in northern Uganda. I don’t blame you. There are also many Ugandans who don’t know what is going on in northern Uganda. Because of television, many Ugandans know more about what is going on in Baghdad than what is going on in northern Uganda. The humanitarian catastrophe in northern Uganda has been neglected. The question is why? Is it because of default? Is it by design? But that is not the subject of my speech tonight. There will be another day to discuss that. The important thing is that the suffering must end and it is up to us to end it.
The world has also been guilty of a conspiracy of silence. People have continued to suffer and no one seems to be bothered. The rebel group - so vicious, so capricious, and so malevolent – has unleashed a suffering on our people, which we cannot comprehend. The rebels have killed people, but that is just part of the story. 97% of the deaths in northern Uganda is a direct result of the conditions in the camps. The rebels are only responsible for 3% of the deaths. That is why tonight is very important because you are tackling the foundation of the suffering, the 97% of the people who are dying due to the conditions. Now, like any other country, Uganda has got neighbors. We have Kenya, we have Tanzania, we have Rwanda. You would think that our neighbors should be the ones to come to our aid. That’s why I am so moved tonight to see that people who are so far away are the ones who are so concerned about the suffering of my people. You are thousands and thousands of miles away, but you are the ones who have showed that you care the most.
The international community is now supporting the peace process in Juba. I have been to the rebels. I have met them. They have expressed the desire to talk peace...
Our desire is to see peace, freedom and prosperity in northern Uganda so that Gulu can become a haven again. The displaced people should go home, but after more than 10 years in these camps they need help. They need material support from a country like yours. A country which is so rich, that sometimes I think it has more cars than people. We need the moral support of the USA. We need the moral support from a country that produced the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. So, standing here in the shadows of the Washington Monument, I say to you, the young people of America: stand up for the rights of other young people in the world...
Tell your leaders in the Congress and the White House, let the displaced people go home. Write to them, call them, threaten not to vote for them if you must. Let them do something. Let the US government support the peace talks going on in Juba.
People of America, the cause of the suffering people in northern Uganda is your cause. You have said, “we want peace, we want the displaced people to come home, we want northern Uganda to become a haven again, so that the ordinary people can go and till their land.” We stand together with you. We the leaders of northern Uganda, we stand together with you and I’m sure everybody who matters is listening. I have come all the way to share your faith that every war has an end...
-Norbert Mao, Mayor of Gulu, Northern Uganda
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