2005.02.23 : Darfur
We know what's going on. Nicholas Kristof details it in in today's New York Times.
It's easy to speak up. In U.S., e-mail your Senators and Congressperson. In U.K., fax your MP.
From: <fuchs@michaelfuchs.org> To: <president@whitehouse.gov> Cc: <annagram@mail.house.gov>, <webmail@feinstein-iq.senate.gov> Date: 23 Feb 2005 Subject: Mass Killings in Darfur Dear President Bush, Congresswoman Eshoo, and Senator Feinstein, I am writing with regard to the genocide taking place in Darfur. We now have pictures of corpses, raped and burned girls, shot children. We know what is going on - up to 10,000 more dead per month - and we have, arguably, the power to stop it. I am writing to urge you to implement sanctions against Sudan, a no-fly zone, a freeze of Sudanese officials' assets, prosecution of the killers by the International Criminal Court, a team effort by African and Arab countries to pressure Sudan, and an international force of African troops with financing and logistical support from the West. We know the U.N. is, as ever, going to do nothing - except declare that (big relief!) what's happening is not "genocide", merely 70,000 dead people who happen to be of the same ethnicity. It is up to us. I know it's difficult to save everyone. But we must try to live up to our pledge of "never again". Very sincerely yours, Michael Fuchs (U.S. citizen living abroad) [address/phone] – michael stephen fuchs msf@michaelfuchs.org www.michaelfuchs.org
Dear President Bush, Congresswoman Eshoo, and Senator Feinstein, The United States is the only country in the history of the world founded upon a philosophy, or set of principles: these include freedom of speech, respect for human dignity, freedom of conscience and religion, equal justice for all, and tolerance. The allegations of abuse and torture of detainees in the occupation of Iraq, at Guantanamo Bay, and in the War on Terror in general are extremely troubling on a number of levels. Torture is immoral, illegal, and counterproductive. Torture undermines the moral and legal principles on which society is based. The facts that the U.S. - the putative City on a Hill - has been shown to inflict abuse and torture upon people in its custody has ineradicably stained the moral authority of the U.S. It has eroded our ability to work for human rights around the world, as well as to fight against tyranny and terror. Much more to the point, it's simply horrific and wrong. The scale of U.S. involvement in torture is not fully known. We know that 28 detainees have died in U.S. custody. We know that sexual humiliation and mock torture were inflicted on detainees at Abu Ghraib. We know that the White House stopped a legislative attempt to prevent the C.I.A. from using torture last December, and still refuses to say what the C.I.A. is authorized to do to detainees. We know that detainees have been shipped to allied countries that do practice torture. And we have widespread reports of torture and other abuse out of Guantanamo and elsewhere. As a U.S. citizen - and, incidentally, as a strong supporter of the War on Terror, the liberation of Afghanistan, the liberation of Iraq, and President Bush's stated goal of ending tyranny in the world - I (along with Amnesty International USA) call on the President and Congress to investigate all allegations of torture and ensure that anyone responsible for ordering or carrying out torture is prosecuted and punished according to US and international law; and to make an unequivocal declaration that torture is never acceptable, against U.S. and international law, and never perpetrated by any agents of the United States. Thank you very much for your kind consideration of this extremely grave matter. Very sincerely yours, Michael Fuchs
