[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 1, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          CALLING FOR ACTION ON DARFUR AND TO PREVENT GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JERROLD NADLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 1, 2009

  Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to call attention once again 
to the crisis in Darfur and to thank the Genocide Prevention Project, 
Darfur advocates, and survivors of past genocides who have come 
together to mark this April as Genocide Prevention Month in order to 
raise critical awareness.
  In April 2009, the slaughter in Darfur will enter its seventh year. 
During that time roughly 450,000 have been killed and more than two 
million displaced. It is an international disgrace that on this April 
anniversary of the start of the genocide, the people of Darfur are 
suffering more than ever. Just recently thirteen international aid 
organizations were expelled from the area, severing the final lifeline. 
It is imperative that they be allowed to return.
  Along with Darfur, past civilian slaughters similarly mark 
anniversaries in April. These include the tragedies of the Holocaust, 
Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, and Armenia. With this significance of April 
in mind, survivors of atrocity crimes have untied with advocates to 
observe Genocide Prevention Month this month--as a way to remind the 
world of its responsibility to the people of Darfur and to protect 
other civilian populations under threat. In April, survivors, and their 
descendents and supporters, will honor their dead with more than one 
hundred events. The plea at these events will be for protection for the 
people in Darfur and an effective global genocide prevention system.
  To launch the month-long commemoration, more than sixty survivor and 
anti-genocide organizations from around the world have signed the 
following statement:

       ``Remarkably, six genocides have major anniversaries in the 
     month of April--a tragic testament to the international 
     community's inexcusable failure to stop inhuman and barbarous 
     acts.
       This April, we--survivors of genocide and mass atrocities, 
     their descendants, and anti-genocide advocates--will honor 
     those who were lost and those who survived. And we will urge 
     immediate action to stop the ongoing Darfur genocide.
       Our collective voices will remind the international 
     community to make its commitment to mass atrocity prevention 
     absolute. Until we do, we are destined to repeat the most 
     shameful chapters in human history.''

  I now would like to enter into the Congressional Record a copy of 
this statement along with a list of the organizations that have signed 
it. I want to thank all of those involved in this effort. Their work is 
critical in making sure people never forget the human suffering in 
Darfur and commit themselves to preventing or stopping genocide, 
wherever and whenever it may occur.

                  Genocide Prevention Month Statement

       Remarkably, six genocides have major anniversaries in the 
     month of April--a tragic testament to the international 
     community's inexcusable failure to stop inhuman and barbarous 
     acts.
       This April, we--survivors of genocide and mass atrocities, 
     their descendants, and anti-genocide advocates--will honor 
     those who were lost and those who survived. And we will urge 
     immediate action to stop the ongoing Darfur genocide.
       Our collective voices will remind the international 
     community to make its commitment to mass atrocity prevention 
     absolute. Until we do, we are destined to repeat the most 
     shameful chapters in human history.
         Advocacy Project, Aegis Trust, Americans Against the 
           Darfur Genocide, Armenian Assembly of America, American 
           Jewish World Service, Armenian National Committee of 
           America, Armenian National Committee of Canada, 
           Armenian Youth Federation, Eastern USA, Awareness 
           Unlimited, Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at 
           NYU, Cambodian Americans for Human Rights and Democracy 
           (CAHRAD), Canadians Against Slavery and Torture in 
           Sudan, Center for Social Development (Phnom Penh, 
           Cambodia), Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness 
           and Action, Council for Prejudice Reduction, Citizens 
           for Global Solutions, Damanga Coalition for Freedom and 
           Democracy, Darfur Alert Coalition, Dear Sudan, Do 
           Something, Dream for Darfur.
         Educating Against Prejudices, Bosnian Library at the 
           Conrard Sulzer Public Library of Chicago, Foundation 
           Rwanda, FRA Nor Seround--Nouvelle Generation 
           Armenienne, Generations of the Shoah International, 
           Genocide Intervention Network, Genocide Prevention 
           Project, Genocide Watch, Great Rainbow, I Stop 
           Genocide, IBUKA, Institute for the Study of Genocide, 
           International Association of Genocide Scholars, 
           Investors Against Genocide, Kentuckiana Interfaith 
           Taskforce on Darfur, Khmer Legacies, Kigali Genocide 
           Memorial Centre, Jewish Community Relations Council of 
           the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Liquidnet 
           Holdings, Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur, 
           Minnesota Interfaith Darfur Coalition, Miracle Corners 
           of the World, Mothers of Srebrenica.
         New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, New Jersey 
           Responds to the Crisis in Darfur Coalition, Pittsburgh 
           Darfur Emergency Coalition, Public Interest Projects, 
           Righteous Pictures, Save Darfur Coalition, Second 
           Generation of Los Angeles (Children of Holocaust 
           Survivors), Society for Threatened People, South 
           African Holocaust Foundation, Southeast Asia Resource 
           Action Center, Southern Sudanese Voice for Freedom, 
           STAND, Stop Genocide Now, Survivors Fund (SURF), The 
           Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, The Sparks 
           Fly Upward Foundation, Three Generations, UN Watch, 
           Voice of Witness, Youth Initiative for Human Rights.

                          ____________________