From India's Zee News [1], Dec. 10, link added:
LONDON -- Protests are planned around the world on Sunday against the mass rape of women and girls allegedly by Sudanese government soldiers and allied militiamen in Sudan's western Darfur region.
"A terrible crime against humanity is taking place in Darfur and it is worsening by the week," said Amir Osman, representing Globe for Darfur [2], a coalition of activist groups, including London-based Amnesty International.
Coming on human rights day, the appeal is part of a campaign by former and current world leaders, human rights activists and others to stop massacres and human rights abuses in Darfur that some say already amount to genocide.
"We're now at a turning point," Osman said in a statement.
"Either the international community can turn its words into actions and hold the government of Sudan accountable for its violations, or it can turn its back on the people of Darfur.
"Today thousands of people right across the globe will be saying, enough is enough -- our governments must do more to end the mass rape and slaughter."
Women will set off rape alarms and blow whistles in the protests at Sudanese embassies in London and other capitals. A rape victim from Darfur will join the protest in London to talk about her own suffering.
Activists said that even though troops and militiamen are using rape and sexual violence as a weapon, not a single person has been convicted of such a crime in the conflict.
See our last posts on the politics of the Sahel [3] and the crisis in Darfur [4].
