US Presidential Candidates Call for End to Violence in Darfur
By VOA News
28 May 2008
The three major U.S. presidential candidates are jointly condemning the Sudanese government and calling for an end to violence in Darfur.
In a rare joint statement, the three - Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama - said that after more than five years of genocide, the Sudanese government and its proxies continue to commit atrocities against civilians in Darfur.
They said "there can be no doubt that the Sudanese government is chiefly responsible for the violence and is able to end it."
They condemned what they called the Sudanese government's "consistent efforts to undermine peace and security," including repeated attacks against its own people and refusal to adhere to a peace agreement that ended the conflict in southern Sudan.
They pledged that if peace and security are not secured by the time the next U.S. president comes to power in January, that whoever is elected should "pursue these goals with unstinting resolve."
In tandem with the statement, the candidates also signed a newspaper advertisement headlined by the word "genocide" in large capital letters, saying they "stand united and demand that the genocide and violence in Darfur be brought to an end."
The Save Darfur non-governmental organization, which sponsored the ad in The New York Times and released the statement, describes the joint declaration as an "historic display of solidarity."
The fighting in Darfur involves rebels, the Sudanese government and government-backed militia.
U.N. officials estimate that more than 200,000 people have died in the conflict, and that more than 2.5 million have been displaced.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
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