Four hundred people amassed in Sheridan Circle on Embassy Row Monday, giving up their Labor Day break to protest what they believe is genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.
The Sudan Campaign, a group founded June 29 by the Rev. Walter Faultry, a former Congressman, and Joe Madison, a radio talk show host, organized the protests. The group was formed in response to what Congress called genocide in three western provinces of Sudan, collectively called Darfur.
In Darfur, government-sponsored Arab militias, called the Janjaweed, have displaced 1.2 million people and killed between 30,00 and 50,000, according to United Nations estimates. It is also estimated that 1,500 people die each day as a result of the militia's actions, either from starvation or murder.
The Sudan Campaign pledged to protest at the Sudanese Embassy every day until the fighting stops.
Monday's protest went without incident. The group marched single file in front of the embassy, shouting slogans such as, "You can't run, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide," while officers from the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service stood at the door of the embassy to provide security.
The group comprised, as the speakers noted, people from many religious faiths. Many people placed various objects on the embassy lawn as they passed, from crucifixes and teddy bears to Stars of David and Muslim Crescents.
Past protests, however, have not gone so smoothly. Both of the group's leaders have been arrested during the protests, along with other demonstrators. Some well-known protesters were also arrested, including famous personalities like actor Danny Glover and Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of ice cream fame.
The daily protests prompted the Sudanese government to close the embassy on Aug. 23, with no scheduled date to reopen. Embassy officials could not be reached for comment.
Increased international pressure has fallen on Sudan in recent weeks. A 30-day UN mandate on Sudan to crack down on the Janjaweed, which passed on Aug. 31, has resulted in no new action. No other governmental body besides the United States, including the European Union and United Nations, declared the conflict in Darfur a genocide.
The United States "contributed a total of 118,400 metric tons of food valued at more than $110 million to Darfur," according to an Aug. 10 White House press release.
The Sudanese Embassy is located at 2210 Massachusetts Ave. between Dupont and Sheridan circles.
The Sudan Campaign holds daily protests at the embassy at noon and can be reached at www.sudancampaign.com.
