for more info: www.standcanada.org
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
Dear Prime Minister Harper:
I am deeply concerned about the situation in Darfur. As a Canadian citizen, I believe it is my responsibility to make the world outside of our democratic nation a better place to live. It is time for Canada to end the genocide that is occurring there, NOW. Darfur is being called the Holocaust of our century. I don’t want Canada to stand idly by when action is warranted. Under your direction, Canada must stand up and condemn the violence occurring in Darfur. We Canadians enjoy such luxury, such safety, such leisure. The people in Darfur - located in the Northwest region of Sudan - are barely living, displaced, in squalid camps. They are starving to death. The women are being raped and beaten. Young girls are being raped and killed. The violence has gone on for long enough: since 2003. As chief proponents of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, we have a duty to demonstrate our commitment to protecting civilians from mass atrocities. What we must do:
1. Offer military resources to the proposed UN mission for Darfur;
2. Appoint a special envoy to lead and coordinate our diplomatic efforts;
3. Publicly invoke the Responsibility to Protect and call for the deployment of a UN force with or without the Sudanese government's consent;
4. Provide financial and military resources to AMIS while the UN prepares deployment, and
5. Ask the AU to declare that the situation in Darfur fulfills the conditions for humanitarian intervention and reiterate that the UN is the appropriate body to intervene.
I beseech you, as a concerned citizen, to do something NOW. Before it is too late. Before there is a bloodbath on our idle hands. As Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and survivor of the Holocaust recently said in a sold-out speech to Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, ‘Thou shalt not stand idly by another person’s suffering.’ He then reminded us of our responsibility to the people of Darfur. The time for action is NOW.
Sincerely,
Julian E. Gregory
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
Dear Prime Minister Harper:
I am deeply concerned about the situation in Darfur. As a Canadian citizen, I believe it is my responsibility to make the world outside of our democratic nation a better place to live. It is time for Canada to end the genocide that is occurring there, NOW. Darfur is being called the Holocaust of our century. I don’t want Canada to stand idly by when action is warranted. Under your direction, Canada must stand up and condemn the violence occurring in Darfur. We Canadians enjoy such luxury, such safety, such leisure. The people in Darfur - located in the Northwest region of Sudan - are barely living, displaced, in squalid camps. They are starving to death. The women are being raped and beaten. Young girls are being raped and killed. The violence has gone on for long enough: since 2003. As chief proponents of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, we have a duty to demonstrate our commitment to protecting civilians from mass atrocities. What we must do:
1. Offer military resources to the proposed UN mission for Darfur;
2. Appoint a special envoy to lead and coordinate our diplomatic efforts;
3. Publicly invoke the Responsibility to Protect and call for the deployment of a UN force with or without the Sudanese government's consent;
4. Provide financial and military resources to AMIS while the UN prepares deployment, and
5. Ask the AU to declare that the situation in Darfur fulfills the conditions for humanitarian intervention and reiterate that the UN is the appropriate body to intervene.
I beseech you, as a concerned citizen, to do something NOW. Before it is too late. Before there is a bloodbath on our idle hands. As Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and survivor of the Holocaust recently said in a sold-out speech to Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, ‘Thou shalt not stand idly by another person’s suffering.’ He then reminded us of our responsibility to the people of Darfur. The time for action is NOW.
Sincerely,
Julian E. Gregory