Calling For Action On Darfur And To Prevent Genocide

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Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to call attention once again to the crisis in Darfur and to thank the Genocide Prevention Project, Darfur advocates, and survivors of past genocides who have come together to mark this April as Genocide Prevention Month in order to raise critical awareness.

In April 2009, the slaughter in Darfur will enter its seventh year. During that time roughly 450,000 have been killed and more than two million displaced. It is an international disgrace that on this April anniversary of the start of the genocide, the people of Darfur are suffering more than ever. Just recently thirteen international aid organizations were expelled from the area, severing the final lifeline. It is imperative that they be allowed to return.

Along with Darfur, past civilian slaughters similarly mark anniversaries in April. These include the tragedies of the Holocaust, Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, and Armenia. With this significance of April in mind, survivors of atrocity crimes have untied with advocates to observe Genocide Prevention Month this month--as a way to remind the world of its responsibility to the people of Darfur and to protect other civilian populations under threat. In April, survivors, and their descendents and supporters, will honor their dead with more than one hundred events. The plea at these events will be for protection for the people in Darfur and an effective global genocide prevention system.

To launch the month-long commemoration, more than sixty survivor and anti-genocide organizations from around the world have signed the following statement:

``Remarkably, six genocides have major anniversaries in the month of April--a tragic testament to the international community's inexcusable failure to stop inhuman and barbarous acts.

This April, we--survivors of genocide and mass atrocities, their descendants, and anti-genocide advocates--will honor those who were lost and those who survived. And we will urge immediate action to stop the ongoing Darfur genocide.

Our collective voices will remind the international community to make its commitment to mass atrocity prevention absolute. Until we do, we are destined to repeat the most shameful chapters in human history.''

GENOCIDE PREVENTION MONTH STATEMENT

Remarkably, six genocides have major anniversaries in the month of April--a tragic testament to the international community's inexcusable failure to stop inhuman and barbarous acts.

This April, we--survivors of genocide and mass atrocities, their descendants, and anti-genocide advocates--will honor those who were lost and those who survived. And we will urge immediate action to stop the ongoing Darfur genocide.

Our collective voices will remind the international community to make its commitment to mass atrocity prevention absolute. Until we do, we are destined to repeat the most shameful chapters in human history.

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