Genocide

March 4, 2009 -- (The Hague) - Today's decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese president General Omar al-Bashir is a major step toward combating impunity associated with the horrific crimes in Darfur, said a coalition of 46 organizations from the Justice for Darfur campaign. President al-Bashir is wanted by the court for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Justice for Darfur called on the international community to press Sudanese authorities to comply with their obligations to execute the warrant. The government of Sudan has failed to bring to justice any of those responsible for crimes under international law in Darfur, and has so far refused to cooperate with the ICC and to surrender any of the suspects.    » read more »

4 March 2009 -- The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al Bashir. The warrant details charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed during the conflict in Darfur.

The arrest warrant is an unprecedented move in the history of a conflict that, since it started in 2003, has seen more than 300,000 killed, thousands raped, and millions forcibly displaced.

The decision, reached by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC, was announced during a press conference held at the Court's seat in The Hague on Wednesday.

President al Bashir has been urged to surrender himself immediately to face trial.    » read more »

Region Needs Peacekeeping Forces, Helicopters to Help End the Genocide

May 22, 2008 -- Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) today sent a letter to President Bush urging him to take definitive action in Darfur. Senator Specter joined with 29 colleagues in the U.S. Senate in appealing to the President to “use all the power of the White House to ensure that (his) legacy includes definitive action in Darfur.”

Rebel vehicles in Sudan: Photo by Andrew Heavens (CC)    » read more »

January 27, 2008 -- "On the third International Day of Commemoration, we remember and mourn the victims of the Holocaust.    » read more »

27 January 2008 -- At former Nazi death camps and many other places worldwide - in Europe, Israel, the United States and the United Nations, among others - people remembered victims of the Holocaust on Sunday.    » read more »

December 5, 2007 -- [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – The U.S. House of Representatives passed Senator Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) Genocide Accountability Act today, sending the legislation, which closes the legal loophole that currently prevents the Justice Department from prosecuting individuals found in the United States who have participated in genocide in other countries, to the President for signature. The bill will be the first piece of legislation produced by the new Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, which Durbin chairs, to become law.    » read more »

October 17, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.)- Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, held a press conference today with Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Congressman John Tanner (D-TN), Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL), and Congressman Stephen Cohen (D-TN) to urge the House Leadership to not bring the Armenian Genocide Resolution to the House Floor for a vote.

The following are excerpts from his remarks:    » read more »

16 October 2007 -- Democrats and Republicans are trading criticisms over a resolution calling the mass killings in the early 20th century of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire a genocide. While Democratic leaders say they still intend to bring the measure to a vote in the House of Representatives in coming weeks, they acknowledge that reaction in Turkey to a recent House committee vote approving the measure has had an impact on lawmakers.    » read more »

11 October 2007 -- The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, says a resolution approved by a House committee this week characterizing the World War I-era killings of tens of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide will go to a vote in the House. President Bush wants the resolution stopped, saying it will harm relations with Turkey and U.S. interests in the region.

Speaking a day after the 27 to 21 vote in the foreign affairs committee approving the resolution, Pelosi reaffirmed her determination to see the measure come to a vote in the House.    » read more »

New York, 31 July 2007 (By Victoria Cavaliere) -- The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved sending an expanded peacekeeping force to Sudan's Darfur region. From VOA's New York Bureau, Victoria Cavaliere reports that the resolution follows eight months of negotiations over the make-up and mandate of the force.

The Security Council adopted the resolution Tuesday, just 24 hours after co-sponsors Britain and France circulated a finalized draft - the fourth revision this month.    » read more »

Washington, 29 July 2007 (By Stephanie Ho) -- Washington's envoy to the United Nations, , says he expects the world body to agree this week on a resolution to send a combined U.N.-African Union force to the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur. VOA's Stephanie Ho has more on the story.    » read more »

May 29, 2007 -- Chicago, IL--Senator Obama today released the following statement in response to President Bush's announcement of sanctions on the Sudanese government.

"President Bush's announcement today that he will finally impose tightened sanctions on the Sudanese government is welcome. But, it falls well short of what is necessary to compel Khartoum to stop the four year-old genocide."    » read more »

Bush urges Khartoum to end genocide in Darfur

29 May 2007 -- Washington –- The United States will tighten economic sanctions against Sudan for failing to end the violence in Darfur, President Bush announced May 29.

“For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing, murder and rape of innocent civilians,” Bush said.    » read more »