DC Rally & March to the White House

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The pro-freedom Damanga group is planning a rally and march to the White House on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 in Washington DC.  The Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy is led by Mr. Mohamed Yahya, whose Damanga group was founded by leaders of the Representatives of the Massaleit Community in Exile (RMCE), whose cause is to seek human rights for the Darfur and Sudanese people.  They oppose the ongoing genocide in Sudan.   They seek to provide a letter to President Barack Obama on their concerns regarding Darfur and the Sudanese people at the White House.

Damanga “promotes the human rights of the people of Darfur, Sudan and elsewhere in the world. We educate the people of the region, the United States of America and beyond about their rights to freedom, equality and participation in government. Damanga seeks to aid the disempowered, including the victims of the Darfur conflict, through charitable work supporting education and livelihoods, so these people can work for the preservation of their communities.”

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Press Release on February 3 DC Damanga Rally:

Meet at the Washington, DC Mall

Rally from West Capitol Hill from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon.

March to the White House at 12:00 Noon

Urge the Obama Administration to…

* STOP ICC-indicted President Omar Al-Bashir’s bid for re-election
* STOP sentence issuance for Darfuri Opposition Leaders without guaranteeing them rights to a fair trial
* STOP unfair elections & promote free and legitimate FUTURE elections including a freed Darfur.
* CANCEL the Doha Negotiotians for Peace that lack proper Darfuri representation
* IMPLEMENT UNSC Res.1769 that calls for 26,000 UN troops to be deployed to Darfur.
* REMOVE Arab Janjaweed and their families out of Darfuri land.
* GUARANTEE PROTECTION and compensation for Darfuri villagers wanting to return to their homes.
* ALLOW expelled humanitarian organizations back in Darfur to help genocide victims
* CLARIFY the US policy towards Darfur.

Read Full Letter to the president here

We, the Undersigned people from Darfur, along with our fellow Sudanese brothers and sisters and American activists working in solidarity, would like to thank you and the people of America for your voiced commitment and action to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur in an effort to bring about needed change for all of Sudan. During the election campaign, you insisted that the “Darfur problem is a stain on our souls and we need to stop it.” We are still counting on you and your leadership to act on this statement. A year has passed since this initial statement, but little has changed in Darfur. Despite news reports that consider the situation in Darfur improving, Sudanese airplane attacks, Janjaweed raids on Darfuri civilians, and fighting between rebel and government forces has continued leading up to the Doha, Qatar talks scheduled for later this month, the April 2010 elections, and the 2011 South Sudan referendum decision.

Mr. President, Our gravest concerns are the followings:

1. Your administration is currently supporting superficial Doha peace negotiations that lack Darfuri representation. NCP representatives that support the current regime are replacing Darfuri victims’ representation at the negotiations. The major faction groups within Darfur, as well as NGOs from the region, also lack representation. The Doha Forum is thus fully dominated by NCP, the Arab League, and the African Union, not to mention that Qatar itself is partial to the regime. Darfuri’s simple demand, “give justice a chance first,” will continue to be left unanswered in Qatar. No concrete or lasting peace can be achieved in such conditions, reinforced by the fact that indicted war criminals Ahmad Horoun and Salih Kusheeb remain at large. Peace cannot be formulated without this important restoration of justice.

2. The undemocratic election process in Sudan is allowing indicted Al-Bashir and his NCP party to run for presidency in April 2010. In the months leading up to the election, the NCP government has forced protesting Darfuris to register for the election (people of Darfur stated clearly that they will never accept or register for unfair elections that do not respect their right to restore justice, peace, and democracy) and have further arrested, beaten, and killed individuals that have voiced public opposition or have demonstrated for free and fair elections. Without taking action regarding this gross violation of human rights and failing to enforce the ICC indictments, the U.S. is sending a strong political and moral message to both Sudan and the rest of the world that a government indicted for crimes against humanity is a legitimate, justified administration of a modern day country. Al-Bashir must be rightfully arrested and charged for his crimes against humanity and prevented from using intimidation tactics and fraudulent methods to win the April 2010 elections.

3. Since 2007, the implementation of special resolution UNSC 1769 that would send a powerful and robust force of western peacekeepers to Darfur has not been fulfilled. We ask that the full mandate of this resolution be implemented.

4. On January 21, Al-Bashir government has revoked the licenses of 26 humanitarian organizations working in Darfur, accusing them of “breaking the law” without any further specification. Furthermore, the government sent warnings to other 13 charitable organizations, that they must comply with the country’s laws through 30 days or face the same consequences. This action follows his previous expulsion of 13 NGOs in March 2009 following the announcement of his indictment. Little (if any) help is left for Darfuris as Al-Bashir continues expelling NGOs and harassing peacekeepers and poisoning Darfuri water resources. We thus urge you to implement the following: form an international committee co-directed by the US & the UN to stop expulsion of NGOs from the region (and return those that have been expelled), and free all Darfuri and Sudanese detainees and grant them free and fair trials.

5. We need to see a clear and well-defined US policy towards Sudan and its current government. Since The Secretary of States, Ms. Hillary Clinton, Ambassador Susan Rice and General Scott Gration announced your administration’s policy towards Sudan last year, we have never witnessed a palpable implementation or effective execution of these policies towards Darfur.

6. The Janjaweed and their families that have resettled on land that belongs to the people of Darfur must be removed immediately. After this initial evacuation, subsequent protection and compensation should be granted to Darfuris planning on returning to this land where their villages once existed.

7. Mr. President, The best solution for Sudan is to be united as one country, with respect to the CPA agreement that gives South Sudan rights for self-determination and a vote to secede under the 2011 referendum. It is imperative to realize that the South’s desire to secede arises from a foundation of complaints similar to the people of Darfur: unfair (and lack of) adequate representation in the Sudanese government, infringements on basic human rights at the will of the regime, and continual violence and destruction of their homeland. We can thus use the situation in South Sudan as a form of political leverage to restore justice, peace, and democracy for all of Sudan and thus create a harmonious, unified state.


Finally, Mr. President, we want to reiterate that we fully understand the difficult challenges facing all of our nations at this critical time in history. However, this is not an excuse to distract us from restoring justice for the people in Darfur. We want to remind you of the commitment you made when the whole world was watching: “Darfur will be my priority when I take office”. Mr. President Obama, we urge you to live up to your promises.

You are not only the leader of America, but you are the leader of the world as the face of America. Please do not let us, the citizens of America, the people of Sudan, and the citizens of the world, down.


Thank you.