arrest developments

Arrest Developments. It is time to do something meaningful in Sudan. As The New Republic noted a few weeks ago:

For more than a year now, in its western province of Darfur, Sudan's Arab government has been sending its bombers and arming a militia known as the Janjaweed to slaughter and ethnically cleanse black Africans from the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa tribes, which the government accuses of backing a rebellion. The International Crisis Group estimates the conflict has already claimed 30,000 lives and displaced 1.2 million people. And usaid Administrator Andrew S. Natsios predicts that as many as one million people could die from starvation and disease during the current rainy season if the Sudanese continue to deny relief agencies access.

Members of Congress have been acting up lately. NY Representative Charles Rangel and two others were arrested after protesting outside the Sudan Embassy today, and they're not alone. From the CNS:

Rep. Joe Hoeffel (D-Pa.), his wife Francesca Hoeffel, and comedian-turned-activist Dick Gregory were all arrested at the Sudan Embassy in Washington on Tuesday, Christian Solidarity International proudly announced in a press release.

In a campaign vaguely reminiscent of the anti-apartheid demonstrations outside the South African embassy in the 1980s, liberal activists are deliberately getting themselves arrested to draw attention to the crisis in western Sudan.

Rep. Hoeffel is among those who support a joint resolution before Congress that calls on the U.S. to declare the Sudan slaughter genocide.

"The crisis in Darfur fits every definition of genocide, and must be labeled as such by the United Nations and its member countries," Hoeffel said in a press release.
...
The Sudan Campaign describes itself as the "direct action effort of a coalition of organizations working on behalf black Africans in Sudan that have suffered violence and slavery at the hands of their government."

Groups taking part in the Sudan Campaign include The Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, the American Anti-slavery group, the Wilberforce Project, and others.

Christian Solidarity International describes itself as a Christian human rights organization that helps victims of religious repression, victimized children and victims of disaster.