John Prendergast, one of the most prominent advisers to Africa, had a strong, clear message to the standing room-only crowd at USC Law this week - the genocide in Darfur would end if we spent 15 minutes a week on the cause.
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| John Prendergast |
“You spend 7 ½ minutes a week writing to Congress and another 7 ½ minutes urging our family and friends to do the same thing. Before you know it, the crisis is over. It’s that simple. Americans are the only ones who can stop the killing,” said Prendergast, senior adviser at the International Crisis Group and former director of African Affairs at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration.
Prendergast was invited to the noontime talk on Wednesday by the USC Law International Relations Organization.
Prendergast said that since 2003, when the Sudanese government began unleashing the Janjaweed militias on its citizens in Darfur, and neighboring Chad, up to 500,000 people have been killed.
“Only American lawmakers can stop the genocide in Darfur,” said Predergast, adding that targeted sanctions, asset freezes of companies exporting oil from the region, and supporting the International Criminal Court by offering information and intelligence “would extinguish the genocide.”
“Ultimately, if Congress receives hundreds of letters, they will react. Tell them that this issue makes a difference to how we will vote,” he said.
Predergast recently visited the Darfur region in Sudan.
“To be honest, the people are beginning to lose hope. It’s absolutely crushing to hear that the villages are still being burned to the ground, women are still gang-raped and civilians are still terrorized” by the Sudanese air force's bombings, he said. “At the end of the day, it’s your choice to decide if genocide is going to end.”
For more information about the Darfur crisis, log onto the International Crisis Group web site, http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1219&l=1
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