During a candlelight vigil held in front of Olin Library on Wednesday night, Assistant Government Professor Ernesto Verdeja encouraged students to continue demanding a government response to the crisis in Darfur. Over 400,000 people in Sudan’s western Darfur region have died and 2.5 million have been displaced as a result of the conflict.
“It’s important to put pressure on our government right now,” Verdeja said. “Only by putting pressure [on them] can something happen. We have to try to get the media involved. Students all across [the] U.S., like you, have a very important effect on this.”
The vigil, organized by Wesleyan’s chapter of Students Take Action Now: Darfur (STAND), was one of the many held nationwide this February. Verdeja also stressed the importance of timing in the fight for justice.
According to a statement released by STAND, the month of February is crucial for the crisis in Darfur, as the U.S. is the leader of the United Nations’ security council for the entire month. The U.S. has already developed a statement supporting the presence of U.N. troops in Darfur, but STAND demands the passing of a formal resolution.
“Lobbying must continue until a resolution, not just a statement, is passed,” said STAND member Sarah Reed ’08.
The U.S. ambassador for the U.N., John Bolton, has submitted a presidential statement to the council requesting that Secretary-General Kofi Annan plan the transition from African Union (A.U.) troops to U.N. troops as peacekeeping forces in Darfur.
“The A.U. is not as effective because they don’t have a strong mandate; they don’t have the resources, they don’t have the logistic support,” Verdeja said. “And relatively speaking, they don’t have the leadership capacity to act in the situation.”
Verdeja, a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, read a news report from Christian Aid, one of the relief agencies stationed in Darfur.
“Over the past months we’ve seen an increase in attack by Janjaweed militia against the Sudanese,” Verdeja said. “The militia started targeting them inside the camps where they live. This is very, very disturbing.”. Verdeja closed his speech with a personal insight.
“It only dawned on me today, as I was preparing notes for this [vigil],” Verdeja said. “There are no boundaries between us and the people who are suffering. We share the same sun, the same sky, the same moon. We have to do something out of common decency.”
Erik Rosenberg ’08, another member of STAND, shared Verdeja’s sentiments.
“It’s time to show what kind of human beings we are,” Rosenberg said. “Are we the type who are only going to stand and watch, or are we going to help?”
After the vigil, STAND members had attendees sign postcards to be sent to President Bush on Apr. 28, National Lobby Day. Darfur activists have been working to send a total of 1,000 postcards to the president.. STAND is also holding a letter-writing workshop next Wednesday to teach participants how to write letters to the editor of newspapers in an effort to increase public awareness about the crisis in Darfur.
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