Darfur Campaign Updates

John Morlino was one of a handful of activists from around the world invited to participate in a global human rights retreat in Graz, Austria.

John Morlino was invited to join the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

"The best article on Darfur anybody has written in a long time. A superb analysis."
- Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, President of Genocide Watch

John Morlino participated in the "Responsibility to Protect" conference at the University of California at Berkeley on March 13-14. Following a keynote address by Romeo Dallaire, John presented General Dallaire with a letter of appreciation for being the inspiration behind The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge campaign.

The second in an ongoing series of demonstrations co-sponsored by The ETHIC was held at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, DC. There, Congressman Tom Lantos announced that, as Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, he will hold a major investigative hearing on Darfur.

The ETHIC co-sponsored and helped organize the first in an ongoing series of demonstrations in Washington, DC, as part of the "I Stand with Darfur" campaign.

John Morlino's October speaking tour culminated with three presentations at the Gandhian Conference on Nonviolence in Memphis.

Thanks to all of you, we are now generating 44,000 calls and emails per month to the President calling for the deployment of 44,000 peacekeepers to stop the genocide in Darfur -- despite the posturing of the Sudanese government. The President has yet to respond to this massive call for action or to his moral responsibility to protect the victims of genocide.

The ETHIC's John Morlino attended the Save Darfur National Planning Meeting in Washington, DC, and strongly recommended that Darfur activist organizations infuse their campaign messages with truth, urgency and a call for nonviolent civil disobedience to bring more attention and action around the on-going genocide.

On June 6th, John Morlino was the sole guest on Club Cruz, a 30-minute television program on Channel 27 in Santa Cruz, California. The program, in which John was interviewed about the situation in Darfur, will be rebroadcast on June 20th and 22nd at 7 pm.

More than 2100 people have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge. With the administration declaring victory over a peace agreement that has actually increased the chaos, danger and instability of the region, it's even more important to continue contacting the President daily to insist on the immediate deployment of a peacekeeping force.

John Morlino spoke to the San Mateo, CA, Peace Action chapter on May 19th and engaged their support for the Darfur Pledge Campaign.

More than 2000 people have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge to contact the President every weekday until a powerful protection force is deployed in western Sudan. That means the White House is getting more than 40,000 messages every month demanding immediate action.

On April 30, John Morlino spoke at the San Francisco Darfur Rally, which was attended by a crowd of 15,000 people.

On April 21, John Morlino met with Paul Rusesabagina, who singlehandedly saved more than 1200 people from slaughter during the Rwandan genocide. The two discussed the similarities between the Rwandan genocide and the ongoing tragedy in Darfur, the critical need for an international intervention force, and the Darfur Pledge campaign.

Nicholas Kristof writes: "The reality is that the only way the White House will move on Darfur is if it is flooded with calls from the public" in his New York Times opinion piece. With the US serving as President of the UN Security Council this month, it's even more critical now to keep calling the White House every day!

Kofi Annan Calls for UN Peacekeepers in Darfur! Read the UN Secretary General's plea for immediate action to drastically increase the peacekeeping force in western Sudan. (Washington Post, Jan. 25, 2006)

Over the past nine months, The ETHIC's all-volunteer Darfur Pledge campaign has received commitments from two thousand people in 43 countries who've registered their pledge to call or email the White House, each workday, generating as many as 30,000 messages per month to President Bush.

Other milestones of the campaign include:
- Publication of John Morlino's article: "A Call to Action: Help End the Genocide in Darfur " in Satya magazine.

- Professionally produced Darfur Pledge Public Service Announcements (PSAs), available for use by radio stations.

- Support of The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge campaign by some of the world's leading authorities on genocide, including Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide; Smith College Professor and Sudan authority, Eric Reeves; Dr. John Eriksson, President of Global Peace Services USA and co-author of Lessons from Rwanda, Lessons for Today; John Prendergast, International Crisis Group; Stephen Weissman, former staff director of the House Subcommittee on Africa; Taylor Seybolt of the US Institute for Peace; and Brian Steidle, former US Marine who documented the genocide in Darfur with African Union monitors.

- Presentations on the Darfur Pledge campaign at dozens of conferences and events.

- Participation in a delegation of Save Darfur Coalition members that met at the State Department to discuss the crisis in Darfur with Charles Snyder, Special Representative to Sudan.

- A letter of recognition from Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) for its work to end the genocide in Darfur.

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As the new year starts, the violence in Darfur continues -- but there are signs of hope. The final weeks of 2005 were filled with editorials, in newspapers across the country, urging the international community to take stronger action to end the genocide in western Sudan. In 2006, The ETHIC will continue its work to make that a reality.

More than 1800 people have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge to contact the White House every day. Please keep spreading the word, and keep calling every day!

The mainstream media has finally started to pay attention to the Bush Administration's woefully inadequate response to the genocide in Darfur. In recent weeks, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, and many others have editorialized about the urgent need for the U.S. to press for a peacekeeping force that goes beyond the 6-7000 African Union monitors currently in place.

Help us get our Darfur Pledge PSAs on the air! Download the PSAs and take them to your local radio stations. Let us know if they agree to play them.

More than 1650 people have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge to contact the White House every day. Please keep spreading the word, and keep calling every day!

The ETHIC's President John Morlino spoke about the Darfur Pledge at the Gandhian Conference on Nonviolence and gave several presentations at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, this month. John's article in Satya magazine was distributed to 250 participants at the conference.

People living in more than 40 countries have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge, including a growing number of members of Armed Forces Americas. We are generating more than 30,000 calls and emails each month to the White House!

Almost 1600 people have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge to contact the White House every day.

Check out our new PSAs encouraging people to take the Darfur Pledge! Help spread the word: download the PSAs and take them to your local radio stations. Let us know if they agree to play them.

The ETHIC's John Morlino, along with other members of the Save Darfur Coalition, met with State Department representatives and Congressional staffers to urge them to do more for the people of Darfur.

Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM) included information about the Darfur Pledge campaign in its email newsletter, and the Darfur Pledge was mentioned on blog.iamnotashamed.net.

More than 1500 people have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge to contact the White House every day. Thanks for your continuing efforts!

Africa Action sent an action alert in conjunction with their Day for Darfur encouraging people to take The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge. The Darfur Pledge was also mentioned by Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America during his remarks at the Day for Darfur observance in front of the White House.

More than 1400 people have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge to contact the White House every day.

The ETHIC's John Morlino recruited individuals to take the Darfur Pledge at "Taking Action on Darfur" at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Brian Steidle, a former Marine who documented the genocide in Darfur with African Union monitors, acknowledged The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge campaign during his presentation at the event.

The Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM) sent information about The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge campaign to its email activist list.

More than 1300 people have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge to contact the White House every day. That means that President Bush is receiving more than 25,000 calls and emails every month!

The ETHIC volunteers got a great response tabling at an Ani DiFranco concert in Virginia. To table at concerts and fairs near you, download our new petition and stickers!

STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) included a flyer about the Darfur Pledge campaign in the information packet given to participants at their conference this month.

More than 1175 people have taken The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge to contact the White House every day.

Stop Genocide Now! has added information about The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge Campaign to their website and activist kits.

The ETHIC's John Morlino attended a Congressional Briefing on Gender Violence in Darfur sponsored by the Genocide Intervention Fund.

Thanks to everyone who is contacting the White House daily and spreading the word about the Darfur Pledge! Please keep calling every day. We are making a difference!

More than 1100 people have taken the Darfur Pledge to contact the White House every day.

New links to the Darfur Pledge campaign include: darfurgenocide.org; worship4justice.org; and Professor Eric Reeves of Smith College, a pre-eminent authority and scholar on Darfur, who linked to our campaign from his website at www.SudanReeves.org.

We have two new Darfur Pledge State Coordinators, bringing the total to five! Interested in being a Darfur Pledge Coordinator for your state? Click here to find out more.

On June 14, "The Diane Rehm Show" on National Public Radio focused on the crisis in Darfur. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof was asked what people could do about the situation. He responded that if enough people would express their concern to the White House, then maybe something would happen.

More than 925 people have pledged (either by signing the online petition or sending an email to DarfurPledge@peacemail.com) to contact President Bush every day until a sufficient number of peacekeepers are deployed to stop the genocide.

The Genocide Intervention Fund and Preventgenocide.org have linked to our campaign from their websites.

The ETHIC's President John Morlino spoke about the campaign at St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, MD.

We now have Darfur Pledge State Coordinators actively promoting the campaign in three states, and we've received inquiries from several other states. Are you interested in volunteering as a State Coordinator? Find out more!

On May 31, Alex De Waal, a Fellow with the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University, appeared on "Talk of the Nation" on National Public Radio. He said that "a minimum of 40,000 peacekeepers" with a mandate to protect innocent civilians are needed to stop the violence and create the conditions necessary for peace in Darfur.

More than 635 people have pledged to contact President Bush every day until a sufficient number of peacekeepers are deployed to stop the genocide.

At a Washington, DC, fundraiser for the Genocide Intervention Fund, Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide stated:

"I applaud The ETHIC's Darfur Pledge campaign for having the courage to call for what is truly necessary: a dramatic increase in the number of peacekeepers deployed in Darfur -- to stop the cycle of violence, allow for effective humanitarian aid and create the conditions necessary for a meaningful peace agreement."

The Rochester Area Vegetarian Society included the Pledge in its Vegetarian Advocate newsletter (May-July 2005).

More than 500 people have pledged to contact President Bush every day until a sufficient number of peacekeepers are deployed to stop the genocide. If you've called the White House recently, you've probably noticed that operators are now familiar with the campaign and are clearly getting a large number of calls. We need to continue to spread the word so that we can increase the pressure on the White House to act with greater urgency to end the genocide in Darfur!

We're pleased to report that many organizations and individuals are helping us spread the word about the Darfur Pledge campaign:

SaveDarfur.org posted a link to our campaign on its home page.

George Washington University STAND (Students Taking Action Now-Darfur) sent campaign information to its email list.

Care2.com sent our campaign information to its general email list.

Activists in Sarasota, Florida, distributed information about the Darfur Pledge campaign during a production of a play entitled “To Fetch a Pail of Water” about children in Darfur being attacked and raped on their way to get water for their families.

Additional activities to promote the Darfur Pledge:

The ETHIC's Founder, John Morlino, led two sessions related to the Darfur Pledge campaign at the 20th Annual Maryland Peace and Justice Conference.

The ETHIC attended a reception at the Capitol, where we discussed the campaign with Brian Steidle and individuals representing several organizations working on the Darfur crisis.

We distributed materials and discussed the campaign at a GW STAND forum on Darfur.