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Tenth District Congressman Donald M. Payne, Ranking Member of the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Relations, announced today that the Congressional Black Caucus will hold their annual Mid-Year Brain Trust on Africa on Wednesday April 6, 2005 from 9am - 11am in Room 2226 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. Congressman Payne will lead a distinguished panel of experts on the topic of “Genocide in Darfur: What Ever Happened to ‘Never Again’?”
April 6th marks the 11th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide in which the world stood by and passively watched as nearly 1 million people were ruthlessly murdered. In the Darfur region of Sudan, there is an ongoing genocide and humanitarian catastrophe. Since February 2003, up to 300,000 people have been killed by violence, disease and man-made famine, about 2 million have been displaced internally and at least 200,000 have fled the country. The only intervention has been an African Union force of approximately 2,000 troops whose mandate does not include protecting civilians.
“As we look back on the Rwandan genocide, the world must take responsibility for failing to respond to that human tragedy”, said Payne who recently visited refugee camps in Chad near the Darfur border. “In doing so, we must acknowledge our complicity through inaction in Darfur’s genocide. It is our moral obligation not to fail the people of Darfur.”
Invited panelists include: Rwandan Ambassador Zac Nsenga, John Prendergast – Special Assistant to the President at International Crisis Group, Salih Booker – Executive Director of Africa Action, Brian Steidle – former US Marine Captain embedded with the African Union’s monitoring team in Darfur and Abdelbagy Abushanab – President of the Darfur Rehabilitation Project.
“Women and girls are raped daily,” Payne said. “Children are dying from avoidable disease and hunger. The people of Darfur are needlessly suffering. My recent bill, H.R. 1424, seeks to bring an end to the atrocities.”
Payne introduced his legislation, the Darfur Genocide Accountability Act, on Thursday March 17, 2005. Last year, Congress unanimously approved a measure Payne introduced declaring the conflict genocide.
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