VARIOUS: Demonstrators march in London on a global day of action for Darfur, where hundreds of thousands of people haved died in a four year confIict and in Cairo, an exhibition to raise awareness about the conflict in Darfu

Record ID: 345371

  • Title: VARIOUS: Demonstrators march in London on a global day of action for Darfur, where hundreds of thousands of people haved died in a four year confIict and in Cairo, an exhibition to raise awareness about the conflict in Darfu
  • Date: 29th April 2007
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE)(English) HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS AND SUDANESE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, SALIH M. M. OSMAN, SAYING: "The message is that the situation is still there. People are dying on a daily basis. Survivors and victims in Darfur need protection. We ask the world to provide protection to the people and to help them go back to their homes."
  • Embargoed: 14th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9DB8TUX27SGN8OPOUZU0B2NB5
  • Story Text: A protest took place in London on Sunday (April 29), a global day of action for Darfur to put pressure on the international community to make more efforts to end the conflict during which 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million people have been displaced.
    Martin Stern, a 68-year-old survivor of the Nazi holocaust, took part in a march to London to speak at protest.
    Stern, whose father and uncle died at Auschwitz concentration camp, told reporters that regarding Darfur the Sudanese government was acting in way which was "a disgrace to humanity". He said: "At the moment we have a genocide going on in Darfur and obviously it is my duty to draw attention to that and to draw the attention of the Sudanese government to the shame that they are heaping upon themselves now and for the future, for future history books and for future schoolchildren the world over for ever by what they are doing in Darfur, which is a disgrace to humanity."
    Many demonstrators held posters bearing phrases including: "No more excuses" and "Protect the people of Darfur."
    Campaigners held red egg timers aloft during a minute's silence.
    A letter addressed to British Prime Minister Tony Blair was handed in to the prime minister's office at Number 10 Downing Street. It read: "Time is running out for the people of Darfur, and we urge you to keep the pressure on the government of Sudan until there is an effective peace-keeping force on the ground protecting civilians. The letter called for the fastest means possible for the implementation of a heavy support package. It also called for effective peacekeeping by increasing pressure on the government of Sudan to consent to the rapid deployment of an effective peacekeeping force.
    In Cairo, an exhibition to raise awareness about the conflict in Darfur was organized on Sunday. Many of the people who went to the Sawi cultural centre to view the photographs and paintings on display were members of Egypt's Sudanese community, many of whom are refugees from southern Sudan and Darfur.
    Salih M. M. Osman, a Sudanese MP and human rights lawyer, said the message of the awareness campaign, called the "Global day for Darfur", was to encourage the international community to do more to help the people of Darfur.
    He said: "The message is that the situation is still there. People are dying on a daily basis. Survivors and victims in Darfur need protection. We ask the world to provide protection to the people and to help them go back to their homes."
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