wfn.org | B'NAI B'RITH URGES MORE ACTIVE U.S. ROLE IN DARFUR

["David Michaels" <dmichaels@bnaibrith.org>]

>B'nai B'rith International
>News Release

>Contact:  Sharon Bender
>202-857-6699 or sbender@bnaibrith.org

B'NAI B'RITH URGES MORE ACTIVE U.S. ROLE IN DARFUR

(Washington, D.C., Jan. 8, 2010)-On the fifth anniversary of the  Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between north and south Sudan, B'nai  B'rith International is urging the United States to play a more active  role in ensuring implementation of the accord and in facilitating free  and fair Sudanese elections in April.

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, B'nai B'rith  International President Dennis W. Glick and Executive Vice President  Daniel S. Mariaschin wrote: "Last year B'nai B'rith welcomed the U.S.  administration's commitment to enforcing sanctions against the Sudanese  government, combined with incentives for compliance with international  demands, as a positive step toward ending the human rights crisis.  A  balance of pressures and incentives, along with the sustained attention  of the U.S. administration at the highest levels, is needed to end the  violence and permit implementation of the 2005 peace accord. We further  support the administration's pledge to furnish incentives to the  Sudanese regime only upon witnessing verifiable progress, given the  latter's long record of broken promises."

We have an obligation to speak out against genocide. Since 2003, B'nai  B'rith has been in efforts to end the crisis. It is impossible to know  exact numbers, but most experts agree that at least 300,000 people have  been killed since the conflict began seven years ago, and about a  million displaced as they fled to avoid the brutality and seek safe  haven, often in squalid refugee camps in neighboring nations.

In the letter, Glick and Mariaschin further noted: "As the fifth  anniversary of the CPA nears, continued U.S. leadership is needed not  only to facilitate concurrence on outstanding CPA issues, but to build  the multilateral coalition necessary to foster such agreement and  enforce compliance by both sides with their longstanding commitments."

It is imperative that U.S. involvement on this issue comes from the  highest levels. Therefore, B'nai B'rith is asking President Obama and  Clinton to personally lead U.S. peace efforts regarding Sudan.

Follow this link to read the full letter:  http://www.bnaibrith.org/ClintonLetter.cfm

B'nai B'rith International, the Global Voice of the Jewish Community, is  the oldest and most widely known Jewish humanitarian, human rights, and  advocacy organization.  For 166 years, BBI has worked for Jewish unity,  security, continuity, and tolerance.  Visit www.bnaibrith.org.

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>David J. Michaels Director of United Nations and Intercommunal Affairs

B'nai B'rith International phone: 212-986-4901
fax: 212-687-3429 www.bnaibrith.org