May 9, 2006

Mr. (Sysm)
(International House of Sysmetry)
Sysmville, IL 60000

Dear Mr. (Sysm):

Thank you for your thoughtful message about the crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan. I appreciate hearing from you.

I share your deep concern about this situation, which is widely considered the worst humanitarian and human rights crisis in the world today. The brutal, systematic attacks by Sudan's armed forces and allied militia groups known as the "Janjaweed" against the non-Arab inhabitants of Darfur have forced approximately 2 million people to flee from their homes since February 2003. While there is currently no way for the outside world to know with any certainty how many of Darfur's inhabitants have died as a result of violence, hunger, and disease, estimates place this number in the hundreds of thousands. The Sudanese government has allowed only limited humanitarian aid to reach these areas, placing hundreds of thousands of lives at immediate risk.

These dire circumstances require immediate action. The United States has provided more than $1.1 billion in humanitarian aid for Darfur and the surrounding region since the crisis began. In July 2004, the Senate passed a resolution which I cosponsored declaring that the atrocities unfolding in Darfur constitute genocide. The House of Representatives approved a similar measure, and Secretary of State Colin Powell testified to Congress "that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility."

These are important steps, but not sufficient. I am a cosponsor of S. 1462, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, a bill to mandate more aggressive steps by the United States to stop the genocide in Darfur. This legislation, which passed the Senate in November 2005, calls for the U.S. to work with other members of the U.N. Security Council to enact a resolution to impose economic sanctions on the Sudanese government, establish a military no-fly zone over Darfur, and strengthen the ability of the African Union mission in Darfur to protect civilians. In addition, this bill would require the President to freeze the assets of those individuals named by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Darfur as perpetrators of crimes against humanity and deny them visas into the United States.

We can and should do more, and so should the rest of the world. The May 2006 peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the largest of Darfur's rebel groups is encouraging, but implementation of the accord will not be easy. The U.S. must engage the other members of the U.N. Security Council, especially China and Russia, to put real pressure on the Sudanese government to abide by its commitment to end the violence and disarm the Janjaweed militias. We should also continue to support the African Union mission in Darfur, while leading efforts to ensure that NATO and the United Nations take up the peacekeeping mission in Darfur as soon as possible.

The forced displacement of Darfur's non-Arab inhabitants and the violence against them represent nothing less than genocide. Too often, the world has turned away from opportunities to prevent genocide or interrupt its march, only to lament the horrors that followed and pledge "never again." We must not let this tragic history be repeated in Darfur.

Thank you again for your message. Please feel free to stay in touch.

Sincerely,



Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

RJD/rp

P.S. If you are ever visiting Washington, please feel free to join Senator
Obama and me at our weekly constituent coffee. When the Senate is in
session, we provide coffee and donuts every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. as we
hear what is on the minds of Illinoisans and respond to your questions.
We would welcome your participation. Please call my D.C. office for more
details.

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