Source: Muslim American Society Press Release
http://www.masnet.org/news.asp?id=3998
WASHINGTON, DC - Jan. 29, 2007 (MASNET) How is the world responding to a crisis which has, to date, killed some 400,000 people, made 300,000 more homeless, and resulted in countless incidents of rape and other horrendous human rights violations? An important forum on January 25th in Harlem, New York offered some important insights on this question from three individuals with first-hand expertise on this complex issue.
On Thursday, January 25th, activists, lawyers, humanitarian officials and concerned citizens gathered at the historic Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to hear first-hand expert reports on the current crisis in Darfur, Sudan, as well as assessments of the possibility for the resolution of the crisis in this African nation.
The forum, presented by Women in Islam, was moderated by Sister Aishah al-Adawiyya, and featured presentations by Mr. Abu Shainab of the Darfur Rehabilitation Project, Ms. Ahumma Eziakonwa, Chief of the Africa Section of the Coordination and Response Division of the United nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Attorney Wanda Akin Brown of Newark, New Jersey, who represents individual Darfurese plaintiffs seeking justice before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
Despite some eleven proposed U.N. Security Council resolutions one billion dollars in international assistance for Darfur in 2006 alone, and the presence of African Union peacekeeping forces in Darfur (which covers a land area the size of France), Mr.Shainab, who is a native of Darfur, recounted the horror of recent attacks on villages in Darfur which have left scores of women and children killed.
Earlier last week, one such attack on a defenseless village, launched by lawless bandits referred to as "Janjaweed", resulted in the deaths of 39 individuals, including 17 children.
"There are now 27 villages that have no access at all to drinking water because of attacks on wells and water stations", he added.