FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 22 June 2004
Friends of Darfur
45 Cooks Road
London, SE17 3NG
07980 747 650
darfurmarch@yahoo.com
Darfur Protest Scheduled for Friday, June 25th in London
The Friends of Darfur, a London based coalition of Africans and anti-war activists, will hold a protest on Friday, June 25th outside the Sudanese Embassy (3 Cleveland Row, off Pall Mall) at 2:00pm.
Proceeding from the embassy, we shall march to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on King Charles Street, to the South African and Nigerian Embassies on Trafalgar Square and finally to BBC headquarters at Bush House.
Darfur, genocide or humanitarian disaster? Ethnic war or mass murder? The Friends of Darfur Coalition will on Friday urge the UK government and the stalwarts of the African Union to stop the wordplay and acknowledge that genocide has been ongoing.
We have watched nightly broadcasts of state-sponsored militias who have killed, raped, kidnapped, bombed, displaced, starved and burned thousands. Over one million have been exiled from their homes and remain subject to further attack. The response: concerned statesmen pledge humanitarian help and in hushed language encourage the Sudanese government to cease its murderous campaign. We have been here before and the result for the international community has often been shame. Is it going to be shameful accommodation or a stand rooted in the pledge of “Never Again” that the world made with more eloquence than principle half a century ago?
We are saddened and outraged that even as the world focuses so much attention on conflicts in the Middle East, so little is spared for Sudan. Is this what the war against terrorism is about? That as long as the terrorised are Africans anything goes?
This campaign, which will stretch through the summer and fall, began on Saturday with a 24-hour vigil outside the UNHCR office in Millbank Towers. Friday’s protest will be the continuation of this campaign. We expect 300-600 people to participate.
We urge you to give it the deserved coverage on Friday. Please call 07980 747 650 should you need any further details. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Martin Kimani (for The Friends of Darfur Coalition)
