This week, congressional hearings will give the crisis in Darfur the attention it deserves. Using the script below, call your Senator today to urge them to ask the tough questions and demand a US plan of action on Darfur (instructions below the jump).The United States has been without a comprehensive strategy for Sudan for too long. At these hearings, the House and Senate will question influential figures such as U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Major General Scott Gration on the United States’ plan for promoting peace in the Sudan. By calling your Senator today, you can help us expedite a comprehensive peace plan for Sudan that will end abuses and enable refugees and the internally displaced to return home and rebuild their lives in safety.Hundreds of thousands of people have already died and at least two million civilians have been displaced in the ongoing genocide in Darfur. Sudanese are continually tortured and killed, evident in Nowhere to Turn: Failure to Protect, Support and Assure Justice for Darfuri Women, a report released by PHR in May 2009. The report examines the long-term impacts of rape and other sexual violence experienced by women who fled attacks on their villages in Darfur and are now refugees in neighboring Chad. These women and other innocent civilians continue to be abused and murdered every day.The most important hearing—with US Special Envoy Scott Gration–happens tomorrow. Call your Senator today to urge them to attend this hearing and press Gration for an effective peace plan for Darfur. (Instructions and call script are below the jump.)Want to do more? Meet with your Senator’s office in your state. Email us at sudan [at] phrusa [dot] org and we can help you set up an in-district meeting in August where you can urge your Senator to take action to achieve peace, security and justice for the people of Sudan.
Instructions and Script for Calls
- Call 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senator.
- Introduce yourself as a member of Physicians for Human Rights and a constituent of your Senator.
- Use the call script below:
- Got an extra minute? Call Senator Kerry and/or Senator Lugar, the Chair and ranking minority member of the Foreign Relations Committee respectively, and send them the same message.
- After you've called your rep, send an email to Sarah Kalloch (skalloch [at] phrusa [dot] org) and tell us how the call went.
"I am calling to urge Senator ____ to attend the Senate Foreign Relation Committee hearing on Thursday, July 30th. The Committee will question Special Envoy to Sudan Major General Scott Gration on progress in Darfur, and it is essential that Senators press the Special Envoy for a clear and effective US policy on Sudan. People continue to be killed and abused in Darfur and Chad. These hearings must demonstrate that the Obama Administration is ready to press the Government of Sudan and stakeholders in the region to assure immediate cessation of atrocities, protection of civilians and a more effective peace process. Senator ___ can help by asking the tough questions of Special Envoy Gration tomorrow."