Stand With the People of Sudan
[Your Name]
[City], [State] [Postal Code]
Phone: [Your Phone] Fax: [Your Fax]
E-Mail: [Your E-Mail]
Date: [Insert date here]
The Honorable [Name of Elected Representative]
[Address of Elected Representative’s Office]
**You can find the contact information for your elected representative at Congress.org. (Please ensure to remove this message from your finalized letter)**
Dear [Representative or Senator xxxxx],
As [a] member[s] of your constituency, [I am\We are] gravely concerned about the suffering of the people of Sudan as the humanitarian crisis worsens every day. For years, many members of Congress spoke out against the genocide in Darfur and called for accountability for Omar al-Bashir. However, now that al-Bashir has been ousted, the world has forgotten Darfur, even as two of Bashir’s close associates continue to commit genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Sudan. Therefore, I am reaching out with urgency and to ask you to be a voice for the people of Sudan, particularly Darfur as atrocities continue to increase. [I/We] need you to stand with the people of Sudan by asking the Biden Administration to take serious measures and lead the U.N. Security Council to immediately deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid and authorize civilian protection forces to protect the vulnerable and hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable.
Sudan has been engulfed in a vicious war that has brought untold suffering to the people of Sudan. Since April 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have engaged in a senseless war, plunging the entire country into a catastrophic crisis in which heinous crimes are committed against the people of Sudan daily. The violence, which began in Khartoum, rapidly escalated across the country, with Darfur experiencing the most devastating atrocities, including the ethnic slaughter of the Masalit people and other indigenous African communities in Darfur. While the RSF continues to occupy, indiscriminately shell, and loot civilians’ homes, using rape, sexual, and gender-based violence as tactics of war, the SAF are employing heavy artillery shelling, air strikes, and indiscriminate attacks; predominantly targeting civilians’ homes, markets, essential public services, and evacuation routes.
With Darfur experiencing the most horrific bloodshed, 15,000 people have been slaughtered in El Geneina- a city in West Darfur- alone, where ethnic massacres of the Masalit and other indigenous African communities in Darfur have left a trail of death and devastation. Women and girls as young as 10 years of age have been abducted and raped countless times by RSF forces on ethnic bases, sometimes, in front of their families in an attempt to break the families’ and community’ will and destroy their dignity. The final report of the U.N. Panel of Experts on Sudan confirmed the occurrence of widespread and escalating conflict-related sexual violence, including kidnapping, rape, and sexual exploitation against women and girls during RSF attacks on both Khartoum and Darfur. Moreover, the U.N. fact-finding mission recently reported that serious international crimes have continued to be perpetrated by both the RSF and SAF, including mass rape, sexual slavery, child recruitment, and indiscriminate shelling of innocent civilians. The report also revealed that both factions are responsible for the destruction of essential public services- including electricity, water, and communications- intended to isolate and silence the people of Sudan.
Over 26 million people in Sudan are facing acute hunger, with famine having been officially declared in Darfur. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has reported that a child dies every two hours in the Darfur displacement camps. Both the RSF and SAF have systematically used starvation as a weapon of war and death against civilian populations, leaving countless to die in silence. Over 10 million people have been displaced internally, trapped in a war zone with no escape and minimal means of survival. More than 2 million people, most of whom are women and children, have been forced to cross the borders into neighboring countries and live in deplorable conditions. The atrocities are mounting and the Sudanese people continue to suffer while the world watches.
Given the ongoing atrocities, [I/We] urge you to stand with the people of Sudan, both in ending the longest genocide in our history and in securing a safe, just, democratic future for the people of Sudan. [I/We] urge you to leverage your influence in Congress to advocate for these priorities and to encourage your colleagues to do the same. We appreciate your kind consideration of the following recommendations:
- Make Sudan a primary focus, calling for urgent action to deliver humanitarian aid and protect civilians, especially those in areas under siege;
- Demand immediate, unconditional ceasefires from both the RSF and SAF, and call for an end to the attacks on civilians, humanitarian workers, and vital infrastructure, including hospitals and aid convoys;
- Impose immediate targeted sanctions with travel bans on parties obstructing humanitarian efforts and perpetuating violence;
- Call for the expansion of the existing arms embargo in Darfur to the entirety of Sudan to stop the supply of weapons, ammunition, and other support to the warring parties and prevent the further escalation of violence;
- Impose sanctions to hold warring parties accountable for past and present crimes committed in Darfur and Sudan.
The people of Sudan, Sudanese Americans, and members of your constituency look to you as a beacon of hope in these dark times. Your unwavering support gives us confidence that the U.S. will not ignore its obligation under international law. [I/We] look up to you and kindly urge you to be [my/our] voice and the voice for those voiceless in Sudan by supporting these immediate actions.
Thank you for your kind consideration.
Sincerely,
The undersigned
In partnership with Darfur Women Action Group
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