Title: Brethren member participates in Darfur work of UN NGO subcommittee March 2, 2007 Church of the Brethren News Service Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director 800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org
CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN MEMBER PARTICIPATES IN DARFUR WORK OF UN NGO SUBCOMMITTEE
(March 2, 2007) Elgin, IL -- A position statement and suggested strategies for NGO action on the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, was issued Feb. 8 by the UN's "Sub-Committee for Elimination of Racism, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance of the NGO Committee on Human Rights." Church of the Brethren member Doris Abdullah serves on the subcommittee, representing the denomination and its On Earth Peace agency.
The subcommittee hosted a meeting on Darfur for more than 60 NGOs at the UN Church Center in New York on Jan. 10. The purpose of the meeting was to provide a briefing on the status of the crisis in Darfur and to develop strategies for assisting in bringing it to an end. The position statement and suggested strategies were issued as a "following narrative" to the discussion at the meeting, and have been offered to nongovernmental organizations for their consideration.
The position statement said in part, "The situation in Darfur, Sudan, remains dangerous, fluid, and volatile. News reports inform us that advocacy efforts to date are having a positive impact. This tells us that it is important to maintain the forward momentum of our efforts. At this time the dying continues, the rapes continue, the starvation and severe health risks continue, the displacement and sense of hopelessness continues, and these conditions are spreading across borders. We assert that this is a human rights tragedy that is caused by racism, discrimination, and targeted intolerance....
"We recognize that the UN NGO community has an obligation to seek, find, and use every opportunity to expand global awareness of the Darfur crisis, and to hold those who choose culpable silence and egregious indifference publicly accountable for the persistence of the crisis. The genocide in Dafur must be condemned without reservation," the statement continued. "We implore the general public to compassionately and conscientiously end the agony in Darfur."
Suggested strategies for action included sending letters to UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon, the UN's Human Rights Council, the UN Security Council, other international and national bodies, individual political leaders, and political organizations. The subcommittee also suggested forming a broadly representative interfaith delegation to Khartoum, Sudan, and putting pressure on companies and corporations investing in Sudan.
In other work, the subcommittee is preparing a presentation for the "200th Anniversary of the End of Trans-Atlantic Slavery Commemorations," a session of the UN General Assembly beginning March 26 with speaker Rex Nettleford, chair of the UNESCO Slave Routes Project.
"I am glad for the work of Doris and the UN subcommittee," said Brethren Witness/Washington Office director Phil Jones, who also noted that the subcommittee's statement at points conflicts with Church of the Brethren positions of nonviolence "This may be a good time to refer Brethren to a very helpful Annual Conference paper of 1996, 'Nonviolence and Humanitarian Intervention,'" Jones said (go to www.brethren.org/ac/ac_statements/96Nonviolence.htm).
"Darfur continues to be one of the most difficult issues I face in my work," Jones said. "If we say genocide is occurring, which I am convinced it is, and yet armed intervention, in whatever form, is not the answer--then it remains an imperative challenge that we come up with an alternative nonviolent solution."
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.
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For more information contact:
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Director of News Services Church of the Brethren General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 800-323-8039 ext. 260 cobnews@brethren.org
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