As the International Criminal Court ruled that Sudan President Omar al-Bashir may be charged with genocide, Damanga, Sudan human rights activists, and their supporters rallied in Washington DC at the Capitol and the White House on February 3, 2010.  The Sudan human rights activists supporters called for the U.S. Congress, President Obama, and Vice President Biden to do more to end the genocide in Darfur and Sudan.  Activists at the rallies came from around the country, including some from San Francisco, California.

The human rights rally began in the morning at the Capitol building on the Capitol West Lawn, where activists turned up despite a late night snow that brought 3-5 inches on snow on the roads.

At the Capitol, Damanga’s Mohamed Yahya spoke about the current situation in Darfur and why every day mattered, calling for U.S. Congressional representatives to take action on Darfur.

Major issues addressed by Damanga at the Capitol rally included topics such as urging the U.S. government and Obama adminstration to:

* STOP ICC-indicted President Omar Al-Bashir’s bid for re-election
* STOP sentence issuance for Darfuri Opposition Leaders without guaranteeing them rights to a fair trial
* STOP unfair elections & promote free and legitimate FUTURE elections including a freed Darfur.
* CANCEL the Doha Negotiotians for Peace that lack proper Darfuri representation
* IMPLEMENT UNSC Res.1769 that calls for 26,000 UN troops to be deployed to Darfur.
* REMOVE Arab Janjaweed and their families out of Darfuri land.
* GUARANTEE PROTECTION and compensation for Darfuri villagers wanting to return to their homes.
* ALLOW expelled humanitarian organizations back in Darfur to help genocide victims
* CLARIFY the US policy towards Darfur.

In addition, Ibrahim Tahir, President, Beja Congress organization from East Sudan spoke and called for urgent action by the world  community on the Darfur situation.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)‘s Jeffrey Imm called upon the American people to realize that we cannot tolerate another day of genocide in the Sudan, and that stopping genocide is the responsibility of every human being as part of our shared responsibility for equality and liberty for each other, stating that in the face of genocidal conflict, “we are all Darfurians.”

After the Capitol rally, many of the activists then marched to the White House, where the rally continued.

At the White House, Ms. Niemat Ahmadai with the Darfur Women Action Group spoke out in support calling for action to protect the Sudanese people and calling for an end to the Genocide in Darfur.   Mr. Khalid Graise, Director, Nubia Forum of North Sudan, also spoke calling for the the international community to support the ICC’s warrant against Sudanese President Al-Bashir.  Damanga’s Mohamed Yahya had a message for President Barack Obama asking him not to forget his campaign promises to take action in Darfur.

The Obama campaign had stated that: “As president, Obama will take immediate steps to end the genocide in Darfur by increasing pressure on the Sudanese and pressure the government to halt the killing and stop impeding the deployment of a robust international force.”

After the rally, Damanga’s Mohamed Yahya sought to present a letter to U.S. President Obama at the White House to address Damanga and other Darfur human rights activists concerns on Darfur and Sudan.   The U.S. Secret Service could not accept the physical letter at the gate, and Mohamed Yahya agreed to fax the letter to President Obama.

Mr. Yahya thanked the activists for coming out in the winter weather for the Capitol and White House rallies, and appreciated their friendship.  He also thanked American people and people around the world, including the Jewish and Christian communities, that have come out to support the Sudanese people on the issue of human rights in Darfur.  Mr. Yahya hoped that the in the future, rather than future rallies, we could get together to celebrate the end of Al-Bashir’s crimes against the Darfur and Sudanese people and that we could celebrate freedom and human rights for all in the Sudan.

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February 2 Letter from Mohamed Yahya to Supporters:

Dear Friends and Darfur Supporters,

We would like to let you know that what we have anticipated was happening now. THE SNOW. We have encouraged by many of you who
decided to come out to the rally this morning despite the bad weather. Challenging the snow and deliver the letter the president. We know that
the Congressmen and Women who wanted to attend might not able to make it. However, We are trying to do our best and take this challenge for the Victims living in Hell in Darfur. Thank you for those coming from outside the area, Philadelphia, Virginia , Maryland and New Jersey. We are so proud of you even if you are not able to make it for the weather for cast changes. Your spirits will be with us.

Thank you for the media, Specially PBS and other TV Chanel’s who wanted to come.

Please stay in touch and let’s to have some fun together if this snow will witness to write a new victory for those suffering in Darfur, Specially while we observing the ICC announcement this morning regarding genocide in Darfur.

Please check your letter that you all signed to be delivered to President Obama. The letter attached here also as a witness and evidence for your enormous support. Also find the list of the confirmed speakers below:

1- Mr. Mohamed A. Yahya, Founder/ Executive director,
Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy.

2- Mr. Andrew Eiva, Director of Freedom 4 Sudan.

3- Ms. Niemat Ahmadai, Liaison Officer, Save Darfur Coalition,

4- Mr. Ibrahim Tahir, President, Beja Congress organization from East Sudan,

5- Mr. Garelnabi Abusikin, Out reach Director,
Darfur Human Rights of the USA, Philadelphia,

6- Mr. Khalid Graise, Director, Nubia Forum of North Sudan,

7- Ms. Faith McDonnell, Director of the Religious Liberty Program.

8- Mr. Nouredin Mannan, Nubian Community Organization- MD.

9- Mr. Hayder Abdalla, Charlottesville Darfur Community.

10- Mr. Jeffrey Imm, Director of R.E.A.L. Responsible for Equality and Liberty.

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Damanga Letter to President Obama – HTML Version, Microsoft Word Version

Letter to President Barack Obama

The Honorable Barack Obama

President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W

Washington DC, 20500

January 31, 2010

Dear Mr. President,

We, the Undersigned people from Darfur, along with our fellow Sudanese brothers and sisters and American activists working in solidarity, would like to thank you and the people of America for your voiced commitment and action to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur in an effort to bring about needed change for all of Sudan. During the election campaign, you insisted that the “Darfur problem is a stain on our souls and we need to stop it.” We are still counting on you and your leadership to act on this statement. A year has passed since this initial statement, but little has changed in Darfur. Despite news reports that consider the situation in Darfur improving, Sudanese airplane attacks, Janjaweed raids on Darfuri civilians, and fighting between rebel and government forces has continued leading up to the Doha, Qatar talks scheduled for later this month, the April 2010 elections, and the 2011 South Sudan referendum decision.

Mr. President, Our gravest concerns are the followings:

1.  Your administration is currently supporting superficial Doha peace negotiations that lack Darfuri representation. NCP representatives that support the current regime are replacing Darfuri victims’ representation at the negotiations. The major faction groups within Darfur, as well as NGOs from the region, also lack representation. The Doha Forum is thus fully dominated by NCP, the Arab League, and the African Union, not to mention that Qatar itself is partial to the regime. Darfuri’s simple demand, “give justice a chance first,” will continue to be left unanswered in Qatar. No concrete or lasting peace can be achieved in such conditions, reinforced by the fact that indicted war criminals Ahmad Horoun and Salih Kusheeb remain at large. Peace cannot be formulated without this important restoration of justice.

2.  The undemocratic election process in Sudan is allowing indicted Al-Bashir and his NCP party to run for presidency in April 2010. In the months leading up to the election, the NCP government has forced protesting Darfuris to register for the election (people of Darfur stated clearly that they will never accept or register for unfair elections that do not respect their right to restore justice, peace, and democracy) and have further arrested, beaten, and killed individuals that have voiced public opposition or have demonstrated for free and fair elections. Without taking action regarding this gross violation of human rights and failing to enforce the ICC indictments, the U.S. is sending a strong political and moral message to both Sudan and the rest of the world that a government indicted for crimes against humanity is a legitimate, justified administration of a modern day country. Al-Bashir must be rightfully arrested and charged for his crimes against humanity and prevented from using intimidation tactics and fraudulent methods to win the April 2010 elections.

3.  Since 2007, the implementation of special resolution UNSC 1769 that would send a powerful and robust force of western peacekeepers to Darfur has not been fulfilled. We ask that the full mandate of this resolution be implemented.

4.  On January 21, Al-Bashir government has revoked the licenses of 26 humanitarian organizations working in Darfur, accusing them of “breaking the law” without any further specification. Furthermore, the government sent warnings to other 13 charitable organizations, that they must comply with the country’s laws through 30 days or face the same consequences. This action follows his previous expulsion of 13 NGOs in March 2009 following the announcement of his indictment. Little (if any) help is left for Darfuris as Al-Bashir continues expelling NGOs and harassing peacekeepers and poisoning Darfuri water resources. We thus urge you to implement the following: form an international committee co-directed by the US & the UN to stop expulsion of NGOs from the region (and return those that have been expelled), and free all Darfuri and Sudanese detainees and grant them free and fair trials.

5.  We need to see a clear and well-defined US policy towards Sudan and its current government. Since The Secretary of States, Ms. Hillary Clinton, Ambassador Susan Rice and General Scott Gration announced your administration’s policy towards Sudan last year, we have never witnessed a palpable implementation or effective execution of these policies towards Darfur.

6.  The Janjaweed and their families that have resettled on land that belongs to the people of Darfur must be removed immediately. After this initial evacuation, subsequent protection and compensation should be granted to Darfuris planning on returning to this land where their villages once existed.

7.  Mr. President, The best solution for Sudan is to be united as one country, with respect to the CPA agreement that gives South Sudan rights for self-determination and a vote to secede under the 2011 referendum. It is imperative to realize that the South’s desire to secede arises from a foundation of complaints similar to the people of Darfur: unfair (and lack of) adequate representation in the Sudanese government, infringements on basic human rights at the will of the regime, and continual violence and destruction of their homeland. We can thus use the situation in South Sudan as a form of political leverage to restore justice, peace, and democracy for all of Sudan and thus create a harmonious, unified state.

Finally, Mr. President, we want to reiterate that we fully understand the difficult challenges facing all of our nations at this critical time in history. However, this is not an excuse to distract us from restoring justice for the people in Darfur. We want to remind you of the commitment you made when the whole world was watching: “Darfur will be my priority when I take office”. Mr. President Obama, we urge you to live up to your promises.

You are not only the leader of America, but you are the leader of the world as the face of America. Please do not let us, the citizens of America, the people of Sudan, and the citizens of the world, down.

Thank you.

1-     Ms. Janette Lane Bradbury, California

2-     Mr. Mohamed A. Yahya, Founder / Executive Director, Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy
http://www.damanga.org
Falls Church –VA

3-   Ms. Mastora Bakheit, Director, Darfur Women for Peace and Development, Indiana.

4 – Ms. Munira Mohamed, Director, Miram Dar organization, Minnesota.

5-Mr. Andrew Eiva, Director, Freedom 4 Sudan, Washington DC.

6-Ms. Supriya A.Desai, Darfur Activist, New Jersey

7-Mr. Daowd Salih, President, Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, New Jersey.

8- Dr. Adam Gaiser, Professor of Religions Studies and Islamic Research, University of Florida State.

9-Ms. Fatma Haroun, Darfur Alert Coalition, Philadelphia.

10-Ms. Lillian Riziq, President & CEO, South Sudanese Women’s Empowerment Network-SSWEN, Inc

11- Mr. John Nassar, President, WAF Sudan.

12- Ms. Judith Dierkes

13- Ms. Katie Scott, Director of Community Programming, Stop Genocide Now. California.

14- Ms. Tragi Mustafa, Darfuri Activist, Canada.

15- Ms. Nell Okie, Darfur Activist, Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur.

16- Dr. Howard Chudler, Darfur Activist

17- Mr. Bakheit A. Shata, Founder/ Executive Director, Darfur Community Organization

18- Dr. Jerry Ehrlich

19- Mr. Yahya Osman, President, Darfur Rehabilitation Project, New Jersey.

20- Mr. Gafar O. Kangam, Director of Public Relations, Voices for Sudan, Virginia.

21- Mr. Ablelkarim Bacher, Darfuri Activist, San Francisco- CA.

22- Mr. Abdulrahman Siddig Abdulla, Darfuri Activist, Europe.

23- Mr. Garelnabi Abu Sikin, Out Reach Director, Darfur Human Rights Organization, Philadelphia.

24- Mr. Hayder Abdalla, Darfuri Activist, Charlottesville, VA.

25- Mr. Ibrahim Tahir, President, Beja Congress of East Sudan, Virginia.

26- Mr. Noureldin Mannan, Activist, Nubia People of North Sudan, Maryland.

27- Mr. Alghali Shigifat, Sudanese Journalist and Darfuri Activist. Philadelphia.

28- Mr. Ibrahim Ali, Darfuri Activist, West Virginia.

29- Dr. Abdulgabar Adam, President, Darfur Human Rights Organization, Philadelphia.

30-Ms. Marwa Salah, Darfur Association, Portland Maine.

31- Mr. Mohamed Suleiman, President, San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, San Francisco, CA.

32.    Jerry Fenning, Darfur Activist, California

33- Ms. Niemat Ahmadai, Darfuri Liason Officer, Save Darfur Coalition, Washington DC

34- Dr. Charles Jacob, President, American Anti-slavery Group, Boston, Massachusetts.

35- Mr. Gabriel Stauring, Director, Stop Genocide Now.

36- Mr. Seddik Abdulgabar, President, Western Sudan Aid Relief, USA, Inc.

37-Mr. Abdalla Hamid, Engineer, Indiana.

38- Mr. Mohamad Mohamad, Student- Indiana,

39- Ms. Julia A. Hays, Founder/ Director, Keokuk for Darfur- Keokuk, IA.

40- Mr. Khalid Graise, Director, Nubian project of North Sudan- VA.

41 – Jeffrey Imm, Founder, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

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The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) Committee on Conscience provides the following biography for Mohamed Yahya:

“Mohammed Adam Yahya is a refugee from the Darfur region of Sudan and is the founder and Executive Director of Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy. From 1995 to 2005, he was Chairman and spokesman of the Representatives of the Massaleit Community in Exile, which was the first human rights group to alert the international community to human rights abuses in western Sudan. Mr. Yahya was born in a small village east of Al-Geneina, the capital of Darmassaleit (West Darfur state). Both as a child and adult, he experienced the brutal racism that permeates Sudanese society. In 1993, his village witnessed the first attacks of the Sudanese government’s Arab militia raiders, known as janjaweed. Yahya’s home was completely decimated and most of his relatives and neighbors were shot, raped, or burned alive in their huts. Yahya was studying at Al-Azhar University in Cairo at the time his village was destroyed. He received word that his parents were safe, but he lost 21 other family members. Yahya and other Sudanese students living in Cairo sought to alert the international community to the humanitarian crisis that had begun to unfold. In 1995, they formed the Representatives of the Massaleit Community in Exile (RMCE). The RMCE’s founding members came from many different ethnic Sudanese backgrounds including the Massaleit, Fur, Dajo, Zagawa, Bargo, Gimir, Tama, Berty, Barno, and Meme, in addition to people from the Nuba Mountains, southern Sudan and elsewhere. The RMCE began this work by writing reports and circulating them on foot to all the international embassies in Cairo. Their first major open letter to the international community, “The Hidden Slaughter and Ethnic Cleansing in Western Sudan,” was distributed in 1999. Over the next couple of years it was widely referenced by the United Nations General Assembly and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, along with organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Between 1999 and 2003, working in Cairo with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Yahya and the RMCE were also able to sponsor more than 20,000 refugees from various parts of Sudan. They helped ensure that nearly 95% of the people fleeing Sudan received political asylum and resettlement in Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States. In 2002, fearing reprisal from the Sudanese government for his humanitarian and advocacy work, Yahya sought political asylum in the United States. After his relocation to Charlottesville, Virginia, Yahya founded Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, in order to continue and expand on the work of the RMCE.”

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Resources:

— February 3 – DC Rally and March to White House – Free All Sudanese People

— ICC: Judges allow genocide charge against Sudanese leader

— Damanga Web Site (currently being revised)

— U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Web Site on Sudan

—  Mohamed Yahya Biography (USHMM)

— Report on Janjaweed

— U.N. Security Council Resolution 1769 “Authorizes Deployment of United Nations-African Union ‘Hybrid’ Peace Operation in Bid to Resolve Darfur Conflict”

— International Criminal Court (ICC): “ICC Prosecutor presents case against Sudanese President, Hassan Ahmad AL BASHIR, for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur”

— Mapping Initiatives – Crisis in Darfur

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