GENOCIDE INTERVENTION NETWORK / SAVE DARFUR COALITION APPLAUDS SENATE ACTION TO PREVENT GENOCIDE AND MASS ATROCITIES
Twenty-one Senators co-sponsor ground-breaking resolution
Washington, D.C. – The newly merged Genocide Intervention Network / Save Darfur Coalition (GI-NET/SDC) welcomed U.S. Senate passage today of a ground-breaking resolution supporting genocide and mass atrocity prevention.
“After years of advocating for an end to the genocide in Darfur and to prevent another civil war in Sudan, we recognize the critical need for a comprehensive policy that increases the U.S. government’s capacity to take action in the face of atrocities,” stated Mark Hanis, president of GI-NET/SDC. “The genocide prevention resolution is an important step toward what we hope will be a binding legislative initiative in 2011. We thank Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sen. Susan M. Collins (R-ME) for their leadership, and the 20 additional co-sponsors of this resolution for their vision and commitment to end genocide and mass atrocities.”
S.Con.Res.71 recognizes “the United States’ national interest in helping to prevent and mitigate acts of genocide and other mass atrocities against civilians, and supporting and encouraging efforts to develop a whole of government approach to prevent and mitigate such acts.”
The resolution, backed by 21 co-sponsors ,passed the Senate without opposition and was backed by a coalition of advocacy groups including Genocide Intervention Network / Save Darfur Coalition, the Better World Campaign of the United Nations Foundation, Citizens for Global Solutions, Falling Whistles, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Human Rights First, Oxfam America, Refugees International and 3D Security.
Last week, the State Department came out in support of stronger, more comprehensive U.S. policies to prevent and stop mass atrocities. When the State Department issued its Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), it stated, “We must engage the full weight of our diplomatic efforts earlier in anticipation of potential—rather than in response to actual— violence, atrocities, or genocide. Consistent with the U.S. having joined others in endorsing the concept of ‘Responsibility to Protect,’ situations that threaten genocide or other mass atrocities warrant very high priority for prevention.”
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The Save Darfur Coalition and Genocide Intervention Network merged on November 1, 2010 to create a more powerful voice dedicated to preventing and stopping large-scale, deliberate atrocities against civilians. The organization remains committed to its work to end the crisis in Darfur and bring peace to all of Sudan as well as to end violence in other areas of mass atrocities such as Congo and Burma. The merger creates the world’s largest anti-genocide organization, with a membership base of hundreds of thousands of committed activists globally, an unparalleled nationwide student movement, more than 190 faith-based, advocacy and human rights partner organizations, and a network of institutional investors with over $700 billion in assets under management.