Stop Genocide Now activists living outside Federal Building

The group is coordinating a Tuesday rally to demand action for victims of Darfur

4.7 million innocent people are currently affected by the genocide occurring in Darfur, Sudan – that’s more than the populations of Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA put together.

Despite the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, the United Nations and the United States have failed to take immediate and decisive action to stop the killing. Unfortunately, the situation in Darfur has mirrored that of Rwanda circa 1994 in which 800,000 people were killed, prompting the renaming of the current genocide “Rwanda in slow motion”.

That’s why Stop Genocide Now (SGN), a grassroots movement dedicated to bringing awareness and action for the people of Darfur, have taken up 24 hour presence on the grounds of the Federal Building in Los Angeles.  Since the indictment of al-Bashir last week (which forced dozens of humanitarian groups out of Sudan for fear of violent reprisal) SGN have been urging lawmakers to care about stopping genocide.

Al-Bashir, on the other hand, has taken a much more callus approach, declaring that all aid organizations will be forced out of the country within a year. With no aid coming into the country, thousands if not millions of people are in danger of starvation and illness.

Holding signs proclaiming “Honk for Darfur”, the SGN group has been sleeping in mock refugee tents at night and coordinating public awareness events by day.

In addition, the group is organizing a large rally on Tuesday March 17, 2009 from 4 to 7pm. The event will feature testimony from several Darfur refugees who fled their country and currently reside in Arizona.

The group is leaving for Darfur refugee camps in Chad on March 21, 2009 to monitor the current situation in the region, and plan on staying at the Federal Building until then. During the trip, SGN will be giving refugees video cameras and teaching them how to upload various multimedia pieces inside the camps.

Follow them on Twitter or their website for up to date information on the work of Stop Genocide Now, and the rally on Tuesday.