At the national conference of the Campus Progress organization of the Center for American Progress, hundreds of young college student gathered together to hear a discussion about the “forgotten factor” in foreign policy: human rights. Nancy Rubin, former U.S.ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights urged young adults to take action on human rights.

Rubin said that human rights is in all of our hands and is based on the inherent dignity of people. International human rights laws were created after World War II and we still need it, however the United States has not ratified many of the newer human rights conventions such as the Kyoto Protocol. Rubin said that human rights are fundamental to how we do business around the world.

The United States was a strong, bold, strategic leader in the fight for human rights, but lately “we have fallen behind on ratifications,” Rubin said. The U.S. is a leader in many other things and has a huge potential to create change if youth and others band together and fight for human rights.

Mallika Dutt, founder and executive director of Breakthrough, said that human rights is a complex, complicated issue that covers a myriad of issues from deportation, to immigration, HIV/AIDS, counterterrorism and national security. Dutt also called the youth to action to petition the government and the government of offending nations to respect human rights.

Deng Deng Nhial of the Mission of the Government of Southern Sudan to the U.S. blames the silence of “the Muslim voices” on the ability of the Sudanese government to manipulate the international community. He says that the government will destroy any dissidents and remain in power “at all cost.”

 

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Suliman Giddo, the President of Darfur Peace and Development, gives instructions to the Muslim community on how to help the situation in Sudan. He says that Muslims must spread information about the violence in Sudan, work to hold the government accountable, and support the reconciliation of Muslim Arabs and non-Arabs. (1:00)

 

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The American Islamic Congress held a discussion of “Violence in Sudan: Muslim and Arab Responses.” Deng Deng Nhial of the Mission of the Government of Southern Sudan to the U.S. said that the Sudanese government is using a strategy of Islamization to manipulate the Sudanese people. He warned that the country is like Mount Vesuvius and will disintegrate like the former Soviet Union if nothing is done. (more…)

TRNS bureau chief Ellen Ratner interviews Edward Luck, senior vice president and director of studies at the International Peace Institute about his dual roles in the institute and the United Nations and the responsibility nations have to protect their people from genocide, ethinic cleansing and war crimes. (9:17)

 

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At an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says that America’s progress in Iraq is a “direct result” of the new military strategies that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) “vehemently opposed” and that he predicted would fail. McCain says that Obama’s plan to withdraw one or two brigades per month until they are all removed, “regardless of the conditions in Iraq, regardless of the consequences for our national security, regardless of the Israel security, and in disregard of the best advice from our commanders on the ground” will “surely result in catastrophe.” McCain says that if U.S. troops are forced to retreat, the Middle East will be subject to “all-out civil war, genocide, and a failed state.” (0:55)

 

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At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Darfur, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) says that the U.S. cannot take more extreme action in Darfur because it is overextended in Iraq. (0:35)

 

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At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Darfur, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) says that if it were his choice, he would “literally, not figuratively” unilaterally deploy U.S. forces to Darfur because “when a nation engages in genocide, it forfeits sovereignty.” He said that the only way to take action is for the United States to mobilize the rest of the world. (0:45)

 

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At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Darfur, Jane Holl Lute, officer in charge of the United Nation’s Department of Field Support, says that there are 4,000 helicopters available in NATO countries, and asks if there are not 24 for Darfur. (0:41)

 

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The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing this morning to discuss “The Continuing Crisis in Darfur.” A long line awaited entrance to the hearing half an hour before it commenced, which Chairman Joe Biden (D-DE) cited as a testament to the resonance this issue has with the public. Biden, along with many other senators, said he believed the situation in Darfur is little improved since last year’s April hearing about a “Plan B” to stop the slow-motion genocide.
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