People News
George Clooney campaigns against 'genocide' in Darfur
Apr 28, 2006, 5:18 GMT
Academy Award winning actor George Clooney participates in a press conference on the genocide taking place in Darfur, Sudan at the National Press Club in Washington, DC Thursday 27 April 2006. George Clooney and his dad, former TV new caster Nick Clooney returned from Darfur after filming a short documentary on the genocide taking place in that region. EPA/SHAWN THEW
Washington - George Clooney threw Hollywood star power behind efforts to stop the killing in Sudan's Darfur region, urging the US government Thursday to push for bolder international action.
Fresh from a week-long trip to Sudan and Chad with his journalist father and a cameraman, the Oscar-winning actor and director told a packed Washington news conference that time was running out.
His call for action by the US, NATO and the United Nations came ahead of weekend rallies in Washington, San Francisco and other US cities to highlight what US President George W Bush has called 'genocide' in the western Sudan region.
'Everyone has a good reason not to act,' said Clooney. 'But what we cannot do is turn our heads and look away and hope that this will somehow disappear.'
Clooney's recent films Good Night, And Good Luck and Syriana have established him a politically engaged Hollywood star. Campaigning for Darfur, he noted that the US government failed stop genocide in Rwanda a decade ago.
'Of course we're slow to act. We always are,' he said.
Clooney showed a short documentary from his trip that included harrowing accounts by Darfur refugees of family members killed by government-backed Arab militias.
'Time is running out,' the narrator says at the end.
More than 180,000 civilians have been killed in Darfur, according to UN estimates, but relief groups put the figure higher. The EU and UN have not yet called the killings genocide.
The militias, known as janjaweed, have gone on killing raids against a local rebel group and Darfur's residents, displacing at least 2 million people.
A 7,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force has been unable to stop the conflict, prompting calls for a more robust UN force or a NATO role. Those efforts have made little progress, with a Sunday deadline looming in peace talks that could trigger more commitment and involvement by the United Nations.
Two US senators - Sam Brownback of Bush's Republican Party and Barack Obama of the opposition Democrats - joined Clooney on the podium to press Bush to do more for Darfur.
Brownback praised Clooney for getting involved and said the actor was setting an example by 'giving voice to people who don't have a voice.'
'You could just sit at home,' said Brownback, drawing a laugh from Clooney.
Obama said the administration's focus on Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran had pushed down Darfur on the diplomatic agenda.
'We're not using our weight, politically and diplomatically, in the international community to make this a priority,' he said.
He and Brownback called on the Bush administration to lead an international push to put more diplomatic pressure on Sudan's government.
Also on Thursday, US President George W Bush formally authorized the freezing of assets of individuals believed to be connected to the killing in Sudan's Darfur region. The four individuals - including Sudanese military officials as well as rebel leaders - were singled out in a UN Security Council resolution on Tuesday.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
This message can be minimum when i can read the situation in Sudan. I have been in Africa a few year ago, but this genocide is very important. Children needs their family, food, water...
I just want to send my Power Love from Palm Spring. I wish all the best-for the Sudan people. I am sure that situation will be better after this Power Love intervention.
Special PowerLove for my Husband who is there either. Today is his Birthday, so Happy Birthday my beauty Love. I am proud of you. Children are without doubt. I miss you so much. Come over fast baby. It hard to be far from you. Love you.
This message can be minimum when i can read the situation in Sudan. I have been in Africa a few year ago, but this genocide is very important. Children needs their family, food, water...
I just want to send my Power Love from Palm Spring. I wish all the best-for the Sudan people. I am sure that situation will be better after this Power Love intervention.
Special PowerLove for my Husband who is there either. Today is his Birthday, so Happy Birthday my beauty Love. I am proud of you. Children are without doubt. I miss you so much. Come over fast baby. It hard to be far from you. Love you.
page: 1
randall jonesApr 28th, 2006 - 20:33:24
One thing that activists on the left and right have in common is their phony concern for what has going on the Sudan. Both groups claim that the Arab controlled government is ethinically cleansing black Africans. If there was real concern in what is going on in Sudan, there would be a discussion about all the parties involved in the atrocities in the Sudan. I suggest you Read the article 'Tactical Use of Genocide in Sudan and the Five Lakes Region' by John Bart Gerald. (which can be searched for at http://globalresearch.ca) You might want to read also '5 truths about Darfur' by Emily Wax which can be found on the washington post website (http://www.washingtonpost.com)
A good question that should be discussed among Jews, Christians, Muslims and even secular humanists is:
If we want to see atrocities committed by other governments stopped, shouldn't we set the example by stopping atrocites committed by our own government, which we benefit from?
In Liberia , Sierre Leone, and the Congo, millions have died while The United States, Israel, and European Countries have gained great wealth from diamonds, minerals, and other natural resources from these countries. THe United States has made billions of dollars selling weapons to various African countries. Child slaves in West Africa pick cocoa that is used in making chocalate. Is it okay for genocide and oppression to occur when industrialized countries benefit from it?
Unfortunately, the biased way activists on the right and left have discussed the Sudan makes it clear they don't really care about the people of Sudan and are only using the cause as a political tool.
Zionists have taken up the cause of Sudan because they like to link the Palestinian Arabs with the Sudanese Arabs. Others have taken up this cause so that they don't have to think about the genocide being committed in Iraq.
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