Stopping Genocide, One Call at a Time

Nearly 100 students called in their support for the victims of the ongoing Sudanese genocide at an Adams House phone-banking event sponsored by the Harvard Darfur Action Group (HDAG).

The organizers of “Triple Play Call-In Day” asked students to call lawmakers at the state, national, and international level in support of policies to end the genocide.

“I think it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in the world,” said Janaki N. Kibe ’08, an Adams resident. “As young people, we need to feel as though we can make a difference.”

Participants launched a three-pronged calling campaign. Some students called the office of U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton; HDAG hopes that Bolton will use his remaining time as president of the UN Security Council to deploy peacekeeping forces into Darfur.

Others dialed up Massachusetts state politicians to voice their support for Massachusetts Senate Bill 2166. The bill would divest all state funds from businesses with financial ties to Sudan.

Students also urged their respective U.S. Representatives to vote in favor of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, a federal bill that has stalled in the House since being passed in the Senate last November.

HDAG Co-Chair of Political Advocacy Caroline B. Simmons ’08 said the phonebank was just one of a number of Darfur-related events currently taking place on Harvard’s campus. HDAG is helping to publicize the national “Million Voices for Darfur” campaign and is planning an April trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in a march supporting Sudanese refugees.

Simmons expressed concern about undergraduate response to the issue, despite the number of planned events. “We had a lot more interest last year,” she said.

Simmons said support was suffering because students had begun to feel the situation in Sudan had improved, a notion she is quick to refute. “[Harvard students] are generally willing to help, but need to be informed,” she said.

“If there’s one thing you might look back on and regret, it would be” not getting involved, Simmons said.

Harvard divested from PetroChina, a company with financial ties to the Sudanese government, last April. But the University still has investments in oil giant Sinopec and other firms that do business with the Darfur regime.

Workers at Ambassador Bolton’s office said HDAG’s work did not go unnoticed.

“We’ve gotten a lot of calls concerning [Sudan] today,” said a woman who answered the phone at the New York office yesterday afternoon.

Ben Chang, the ambassador’s deputy spokesman, wished to assuage HDAG’s concerns, saying that the U.S. is working to rectify the problems in Sudan both on the ground and in government.

“The US is in the lead on the Security Council in addressing Darfur and Sudan,” Chang said.