NEW YORK PEACE NETWORK Alert #167

Dear Peace Advocate,

Every year, world leaders meet for a “Group of Eight” (G8) Summit. This year’s meeting is being held this week in Japan. The G8 countries (the United Kingdom, France, China, Japan, Canada, Germany, Italy, Russia, the U.S., and the President of the European Commission) will be meeting to discuss several topics of global concern including the world economy, environmental concerns, and African development.

One issue which has been under-acknowledged by both the global community, and by the G8, is the continuous genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Progress has been made, but much more diligent work is needed. The recent appointment of Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister Djibril Yipènè Bassolé as the new joint African Union/United Nations mediator for Sudan peace negotiations is a positive first step. Unlike his predecesor who did not spend much time in the region, Bassolé will be based in El-Facher in northern Darfur. Bassolé told a local Burkina Faso newspaper that his mission would not be complete until a complete peace agreement was achieved. While this is a step in the right direction for the peace movement, your help is still urgently needed.

The Sudanese government has been suppressing information and tampering with evidence since 2004. The world leaders that will meet in this week’s summit have the political clout to pressure the Sudanese government to bring about an end to the genocide. Urging G8 leaders to work together to alleviate the mass suffering in Darfur is an effective way to voice your concerns and frustration about the constant violence, rape, displacement, and murder that have been occuring there.

This year’s G8 Summit ends tomorrow. Your participation is needed immediately. You can send an email directly to five of the eight G8 Leaders by clicking on the link below:

CLICK HERE to email a prepared message to the following five G8 leaders all at once:

P.M. Stephen Harper, Canada - pm@pm.gc.ca
President Nicolas Sarkozy, France - info@ambafrance-us.org,
P.M. Silvio Berlusconi, Italy - politici.washington@esteri.it
P.M. Yasuo Fukuda, Japan - jicc@embjapan.org
President George W. Bush - comments@whitehouse.gov

Edit the message as you like, and don't forget to sign it!
(The individual emails listed above don't have prepared text.)

To reach the other three G8 leaders, leave messages at their web sites:

There are many, many online resources on Darfur. The column at right includes just three of them. Thank you.

Marissa Brescia
Peace Action of New York State
info@panys.org