Letter from Prime Minister Paul Martin

PRIME MINISTER
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2

March 21, 2005

Dear Mr. Weintraub:

Thank you for your letter dated March 8, 2005.

The time you have taken to write is greatly appreciated, and let me assure you that your specific comments regarding the conflict in Darfur have been given careful and appropriate consideration. Indeed, this particular matter is of great concern to our Government and country, and I am personally and strongly committed to our efforts to support a peaceful solution to the conflict in Darfur as well as to the Southern peace process.

With this in mind, as you have already sent a copy of your letter to the Honourable Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs, I have asked that a copy of our exchange of correspondence be sent to his office for his information. I am certain that he will also appreciate being made aware of your views on this matter, and will wish to give your comments every consideration.

Please accept my warmest regards.

Sincerely,

Paul Martin

Mr. Mark Weintraub
Chair
Canadian Jewish Congress
National Office
650-100 Sparks St.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5B7

National Post: UN fails to deter Sudan genocide

March 19, 2005
By: Mary Vallis

UN fails to deter Sudan genocide

The photo opportunities have ended, the official statements have been read, the foreign politicians have flown off in their jets and the Arab militias in Darfur have been left to get on with the slaughter.

Months after a parade of celebrities and Western leaders visited Sudan to express distress over a crisis that is killing thousands a month, little has changed. The militias have not been reined in, the Sudanese government is being as unco-operative as ever, and the death toll is escalating.

This week the United Nations calculated 180,000 have died in the western region of Sudan.

That is more than double the previous estimate. The Security Council, after lengthy debate, is locked in a stalemate, while China blocks sanctions to avoid hurting its oil interests.

Just four months ago, Paul Martin, the Prime Minister, flew to Sudan and warned President Omar al-Bashir that his Arab-dominated government must rein in the janjaweed militia, which has spread a campaign of terror through non-Arab villages in Darfur.

"The President indicated with us that he was not able to control the janjaweed. That ... they were operating on their own," the Prime Minister told reporters during his brief stopover. "The point we made to him is that we expect the janjaweed would be controlled. Period."

He was only one of a number of visiting Westerners.

"All of us have watched with concern and alarm at the death, disease and destruction that has come to Darfur," British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared during his visit last fall.

Colin Powell, then U.S. secretary of state, walked the dusty paths of a refugee camp and voiced American resolve to ensure something was done. Even Angelina Jolie, the UN's goodwill ambassador, comforted children ripped from their homes.

But the situation has not improved. Indeed, it is worse.

"There are a lot of people in camps still effectively imprisoned because it's too dangerous to go out of the sites that they're sheltering in -- they are scared they'll get attacked or raped or beaten or killed," Jo Nickolls, an Oxfam worker, said over a crackling telephone line from Khartoum yesterday. "The situation has not improved. It's a massive-scale crisis. People are going to be increasingly dependent on external assistance."

Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief co-ordinator, said this week the death toll has been about 10,000 a month since October, 2003. The number includes death from starvation and disease, but reportedly not those slain by militias. Close to two million people have been driven from their homes. Meanwhile, the UN was forced to pull its foreign staff out of parts of Darfur this week after the janjaweed threatened to target foreigners and humanitarian convoys.

Mr. Egeland stressed his latest figures are only rough estimates. Other international observers say the death toll could be much higher.

Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., who independently produces some of the most comprehensive death-toll estimates for Sudan, said his latest analysis indicates more than 380,000 people have died in Darfur since the conflict began in 2003 -- far more than the UN figures suggest, and approaching half the number believed to have died in the Rwanda genocide a decade ago. He said the international community must immediately send troops.

"Under the circumstances, the only way to prevent ongoing genocidal destruction is to protect civilians acutely at risk. That can be accomplished only by military means at this point," Mr. Reeves said.

But the UN Security Council is bickering over which court should punish Darfur's war criminals, should they ever be arrested. The United States is opposed in principle to the International Criminal Court, established by the UN in 2002 to try such cases. It wants the killers to appear before the UN special tribunal in Tanzania, which was set up to deal with the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.

The United States accused the Sudanese government and the janjaweed of genocide last September, citing a report with 1,100 refugees that found 61% had witnessed the slaying of a family member.

However, Russia and China are also blocking sanctions against Sudan because of their own interests. Russia sells arms to Sudan, while China is a major consumer of the African nation's oil.

While the diplomats squabble, the task of policing Darfur, an area roughly the size of France, has been left to 2,200 poorly equipped African Union troops who do not have a mandate to protect civilians. The number is well below the 3,400 the African Union was scheduled to deploy and represents about a quarter the number the UN says is necessary.

"The bottom line is this: The UN is failing. The African Union is doing something, but it's underfunded, it's untrained," said Mark Weintraub, chairman of the Canadian Jewish Congress's Darfur committee. "There are thousands and thousands of Canadians who care about this issue. They do not want, five years from now, to be watching the movie Hotel Darfur," Mr. Weintraub said, referring to the recent film Hotel Rwanda about the Rwandan genocide.

The crisis in Darfur began in February, 2003, after two non-Arab rebel groups began fighting the Arab-dominated government for greater power and resources. International observers allege the Sudanese government responded by arming the janjaweed.

The government in Khartoum admitted arming some militia, but denies any links to the janjaweed, insisting they are outlaws.

"For countries to simply be in a state of paralysis -- or worse, be leaving Darfur -- sends a terrible signal to the janjaweed militia that the world doesn't care," said Stockwell Day, the Conservative party's foreign affairs critic. "I don't even want to think what the ramifications of that will be."

On Thursday, Mr. Day sent a request to Mr. Martin and Pierre Pettigrew, the Foreign Affairs Minister, urging the Canadian government and the international community to "show a presence" in Darfur.

"'I'm glad the Prime Minister was over there last year. He was only in Khartoum for 10 hours," Mr. Day said from Montreal on Thursday. "Now back up that 10 hours with some hard work pulling together a multilateral group that will simply go in there and be a deterring presence."

"The response to the tsunami has shown how much people can care about remote crises around the world," said Ms. Nickolls, the aid worker. "We need to make sure people are aware of the severity of what's happening in Darfur, because it isn't going to go away."

COUNTDOWN TO GENOCIDE

African farmers in Darfur, western Sudan, have a long history of clashes over land with Arab pastoralists:

1994 Khartoum gives Arab groups new positions of power.

1998-99 Hostilities break out in West Darfur when Arab nomads begin moving south with their flocks earlier than usual.

1999 First attacks from government-supported Arab militias, dubbed janjaweed.

FEBRUARY, 2003 Fighting breaks out between government forces and the rebel groups Sudan Liberation Army and Justice & Equality Movement after rebels demand a share in power.

APRIL The first refugees begin arriving in Chad as janjaweed start a reign of terror, raping, killing and pillaging; others flee within Darfur.

SEPTEMBER 65,000 refugees in Chad; UN estimates 500,000 people need humanitarian aid.

DECEMBER UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expresses alarm at human rights violations. About 100,000 refugees are now in Chad, but the number continues to grow daily.

FEBRUARY, 2004 Khartoum agrees to give aid workers better access to Darfur.

MARCH For the first time, the UN says that what is happening in Darfur is genocide and compares it with Rwanda in 1994.

APRIL Ceasefire signed between Khartoum and rebels.

MAY UN calls Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis, estimating one million people have been displaced; the number of refugees in Chad tops 120,000; the Security Council calls on Khartoum to disarm the janjaweed.

JUNE UN estimates two million people have been displaced and says the campaign of genocide is continuing.

JULY Sudan pledges to disarm janjaweed and bring those responsible for human rights abuse to justice. Nothing else changes, leading the Security Council to adopt a resolution paving the way for action against Sudan and giving Khartoum a deadline of Aug. 30.

SEPTEMBER UN envoy says Sudan has not met targets for disarming janjaweed and must accept outside help to protect civilians. Then-U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell calls Darfur killings genocide.

NOVEMBER Security Council meeting in Nairobi fails to pass a resolution imposing any sanctions on Darfur combatants.

JANUARY, 2005 Security Council commission reports serious violations of international law have occurred in Darfur and recommends referral to the International Criminal Court. Between 180,000 and 380,000 civilians are estimated to have died.

http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=itn&Story=1216

Canadian Jewish News: CJC urges Canadian action on Darfur

By PAUL LUNGEN
Staff Reporter

Canadian Jewish Congress is calling on the government of Canada to follow up its earlier pledges to help protect the residents of Darfur, Sudan from an “unfolding tragedy” that has already claimed 300,000 lives.

In a letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin, Congress urged the prime minister to make good on the “responsibility to protect” guidelines – which would give the international community the right to intervene in Sudan to prevent gross violation of human rights – that Martin has previously advocated.

“We trust that all necessary further steps will be implemented forthwith to ensure a successful Canadian foreign policy as it relates to Darfur. We also know from our advocacy work that many Canadians await with great anticipation the speedy enactment of an effective strategy, which will help protect the millions of innocents whose lives are at risk, while simultaneously bringing credit to us as a nation impelled by conscience,” states the letter from Mark Weintraub, chair of Congress’ national Darfur committee.

Following the NATO summit in Brussels recently, Martin said Canada was prepared to take part in an international force in Sudan. “We are prepared to do whatever is required, but we cannot simply sit by and watch what is happening in Darfur continue,” he said at the time.

Martin discussed the Darfur situation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and hinted that Canada would support United Nations efforts to establish a UN peacekeeping force in the Sudanese territory.

Weintraub, however, said the UN route appears to be stalled.

“Notwithstanding the efforts of Canadian and others, the [UN] Security Council seems no closer to taking effective action to provide protection to the people so tragically affected,” his letter stated.

In a telephone interview from Vancouver, Weintraub suggested Russia, China and Algeria were blocking a proposed UN peacekeeping force. While Canada can’t overcome these roadblocks alone, it can shine a spotlight on these countries for obstructing action on Darfur, he said.

The international community must do something to prevent genocide in Darfur, whether under UN auspices or as part of a NATO operation, he continued.

“We don’t have the final answer here. We have skilled people in Ottawa and we need to have the political will to say, we are going to find a political solution here. This has got to be doable.”

The Jewish community in particular must lend its support to Canadian efforts to end the Darfur genocide, he continued.

The phrase “never again” must apply to all people, and Jews and Canadians face an “ethical imperative” to speak out against mass murder. “We don’t want to add Darfur to the list of genocides in five years and be watching Hotel Darfur (a reference to Hotel Rwanda, a film about the 1994 murder of Tutsis in that African state) in five years,” he said.

“For our own internal credibility, we have an ethical imperative here,” he said.

Congress has been urging the government for at least a year to take a leading role to end the crisis in Darfur. It is also calling on the Jewish community to lobby their MPs and other decision-makers on the issue.

Congress is sponsoring a national Purim petition that will be delivered to the government and it is working with rabbis to formulate a Passover program that might be included at seders to highlight the crisis in Darfur.

“The greatest response we’ve received is from the Holocaust survivor community, as this community wants to know their suffering was not in vain,” Weintraub added.

http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=5816

Canadian Jewish News: CJC urges Canadian action on Darfur

March 16, 2005

By: Paul Lungen

CJC urges Canadian action on Darfur

Canadian Jewish Congress is calling on the government of Canada to follow up its earlier pledges to help protect the residents of Darfur, Sudan from an “unfolding tragedy” that has already claimed 300,000 lives.

In a letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin, Congress urged the prime minister to make good on the “responsibility to protect” guidelines – which would give the international community the right to intervene in Sudan to prevent gross violation of human rights – that Martin has previously advocated.

“We trust that all necessary further steps will be implemented forthwith to ensure a successful Canadian foreign policy as it relates to Darfur. We also know from our advocacy work that many Canadians await with great anticipation the speedy enactment of an effective strategy, which will help protect the millions of innocents whose lives are at risk, while simultaneously bringing credit to us as a nation impelled by conscience,” states the letter from Mark Weintraub, chair of Congress’ national Darfur committee.

Following the NATO summit in Brussels recently, Martin said Canada was prepared to take part in an international force in Sudan. “We are prepared to do whatever is required, but we cannot simply sit by and watch what is happening in Darfur continue,” he said at the time.

Martin discussed the Darfur situation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and hinted that Canada would support United Nations efforts to establish a UN peacekeeping force in the Sudanese territory.

Weintraub, however, said the UN route appears to be stalled.

“Notwithstanding the efforts of Canadian and others, the [UN] Security Council seems no closer to taking effective action to provide protection to the people so tragically affected,” his letter stated.

In a telephone interview from Vancouver, Weintraub suggested Russia, China and Algeria were blocking a proposed UN peacekeeping force. While Canada can’t overcome these roadblocks alone, it can shine a spotlight on these countries for obstructing action on Darfur, he said.

The international community must do something to prevent genocide in Darfur, whether under UN auspices or as part of a NATO operation, he continued.

“We don’t have the final answer here. We have skilled people in Ottawa and we need to have the political will to say, we are going to find a political solution here. This has got to be doable.”

The Jewish community in particular must lend its support to Canadian efforts to end the Darfur genocide, he continued.

The phrase “never again” must apply to all people, and Jews and Canadians face an “ethical imperative” to speak out against mass murder. “We don’t want to add Darfur to the list of genocides in five years and be watching Hotel Darfur (a reference to Hotel Rwanda, a film about the 1994 murder of Tutsis in that African state) in five years,” he said.

“For our own internal credibility, we have an ethical imperative here,” he said.

Congress has been urging the government for at least a year to take a leading role to end the crisis in Darfur. It is also calling on the Jewish community to lobby their MPs and other decision-makers on the issue.

Congress is sponsoring a national Purim petition that will be delivered to the government and it is working with rabbis to formulate a Passover program that might be included at seders to highlight the crisis in Darfur.

“The greatest response we’ve received is from the Holocaust survivor community, as this community wants to know their suffering was not in vain,” Weintraub added.

http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=itn&Story=1212

News 1130 radio: Marijuana party candidate upsets Canadian Jewish Congress

March 7, 2005 - 11:49 pm
News 1130 AM All News Radio
Marijuana party candidate upsets Canadian Jewish Congress
Niki Upton/Tamiko Nicholson

The Canadian Jewish Congress objects to comments made by a pot activist comparing the plight of pot users to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. The comments were made during a weekend interview with News1130 in reaction to the shooting of four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe. Marijuana Party candidate Marc Emery, who’s running against BC’s Solicitor General Rich Coleman in the provincial election, was upset at media coverage that said a marijuana grow operation was behind the shootings. Emergy said, “I compared it to Crystalnacht in 1938 in Germany where a Jewish person, you know, injured a Nazi official and then the hysteria was so great that tens of thousands of Jews were prosecuted.”

News1130 chose not to air the possibly contentious comments until playing the tape for the Canadian Jewish Congress. Chair Mark Weintraub says the analogy is extreme and that it almost amounts to holocaust denial in the sense that such a comparison completely trivializes the destruction of an entire ancient civilization. He says it is inappropriate to compare genocide to criminal law.

Pacific Monthly CJC Newsletter

PRESENTATION TO VANCOUVER SCHOOL BOARD

In response to the brief CJCPR prepared and submitted to the Vancouver School Board regarding their Anti-Racism Programs and Plans, CJCPR Vice-Chair Mark Wexler, Officer Chris Friedrichs, and Community Relations Coordinator Romy Ritter made a formal presentation to the Vancouver School Board Trustees. The meeting provided an opportunity for CJCPR to put forward recommendations on how to make Vancouver public schools a safer and more inclusive environment and assist the VSB update and extend their anti-racism strategies. The VSB Trustees expressed their appreciation and interest in the recommendations and ideas put forward by CJCPR and invited CJCPR to have a representative serve on the VSB’s Race Relations Advisory Committee.

CRISIS IN DARFUR

CJCPR continues to make the ongoing crisis in Darfur, Sudan a priority for our community as evidence now reveals that some 300,000 people have died from starvation, disease and violence over the past two years.

Petition for Darfur

Responding to a request from Canadian Jewish Congress, Rabbis and other community leaders urged members of the Jewish community to act to prevent further catastrophic acts against humanity in Darfur by signing a petition that will be presented to Parliament. The petition, proposed by Rabbi Charles Feinberg of Beth Israel Synagogue, called for action to prevent continued bloodshed and displacement that has so far killed 300,000 and forced two million people from their homes in the Darfur region of Sudan. Signatories to the petition pledged not to be silent while crimes against innocent civilians in Darfur continue to be committed.

Letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin

Mark Weintraub, Chair of the CJC National Darfur Committee, wrote to Prime Minister Martin to commend the government for both its international advocacy and monetary commitments relating to the unfolding tragedy in Sudan’s Darfur region. As the situation worsens, CJC sought assurance that the government, in cooperation with other like-minded nations, will find appropriate means to provide protection to Darfur’s civilian population and that all necessary further steps will be implemented to ensure a successful Canadian foreign policy relating to Darfur.

To view the petition, visit http://www.cjc.ca/

Letter to Senator Jack Austin

In his capacity as Chair of the CJC National Darfur Committee, Mark Weintraub also wrote to Senator Jack Austin. In the letter, Weintraub acknowledged that the Prime Minister has shown leadership in his public pronouncements and that Canada is doing more than the public is aware of and that more should be done to bring those actions into the public light. As well, significantly more could be done to pitch Canada's leadership on this issue at the highest international levels. CJC urged Canada to take a higher profile and use whatever experience and expertise to take a leading role in facilitating peace and/or intervention.

Letter to Mr. Stockwell Day

Following a conference call with Mr. Stockwell Day, M.P. Okanagan-Coquihalla, Mark Weintraub, Chair of the CJC National Darfur Committee, corresponded with Mr. Day to express appreciation of his support of the issues of concern to the Jewish community as well as our deep concern about the crimes against humanity being perpetrated in Darfur. The letter stressed that a sustained effort by the Conservative Party, and all Canadians, could have a substantial influence on the world community in ensuring protection for the innocent civilians in Darfur.

LAUNCH OF CJCPR PUBLIC AFFAIRS ACTION AGENDA

CJCPR announced the launch of the Public Affairs Action Agenda 2004-2007. The 64-page triennial document acts as a summary of CJCPR priorities and guides the ongoing human rights work of the organization over the next three years, including a continued push for restoration of funding to the provincial Hate Crime Team.

The issues contained in the document are priorities for Jewish Canadians, but like so much of CJC’s work, they affect all Canadians. The Public Affairs Action Agenda 2004 - 2007 identifies six areas of particular concern, including Hate and Bias Crime; Hate Propaganda; Holocaust Education; Human Rights Protections in B.C.; Multiculturalism; and Affordable Housing. Each section includes background briefing, a summary of the issue’s current status, and recommendations for action. In addition, CJCPR will also be addressing issues pertaining to Aboriginal rights.

The recommendations spelled out by the Public Affairs Action Agenda 2004 - 2007 include a call on the provincial government to fully fund the province’s Hate Crime Team; intergovernmental cooperation on monitoring and combating hate propaganda; ensuring that Holocaust education remains part of B.C.’s required curriculum; the establishment of an information and advisory office within the provincial human rights apparatus; improved links between multicultural stakeholder groups; and increased funding for affordable housing, among other specific actions.

To view the CJCPR Public Affairs Action Agenda 2004 - 2007 click on the link below: http://www.cjc.ca/docs/RD/177_PAAA 2005.pdf

Vancouver Sun: New meaning to 'never again'

New meaning to 'never again': B.C. Jews link the large-scale agonies of the Holocaust with the recent mass killings and rapes in Sudan's Darfur

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Page B2

Section: Westcoast News

By DOUGLAS TODD

Robbie Waisman is a Vancouver Jew who survived four years as a child labourer in the Buchenwald concentration camp. His parents and four brothers died during the Holocaust.

Nouri Abdalla is a Port Coquitlam Muslim who had eight relatives murdered in 2003 by machete-wielding, camel-riding Janjaweed militia in his homeland, the Darfur region of Sudan.

The African-born Muslim and Polish-born Jew, in a rare alliance, are at the forefront of a movement determined to end more than 60 years of global indifference that saw the world stand by while ethnic slaughter ravaged Nazi-occupied Europe, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and now Darfur.

Brought together by the Pacific Region of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Waisman and Abdalla are bent on transforming their grief and rage into an interfaith effort that will pressure Canada and the world to send United Nations peacekeeping troops to stop a massacre that's so far cost at least 100,000 lives, with some human-rights
agencies saying the total may be more than 300,000.

But the pleas of people such as Waisman and Abdalla are coming up against a wall of political and military torpor, despite the United Nations calling the massacres in Darfur "the world's worst [continuing] humanitarian crisis."

Some national leaders, particularly Prime Minister Paul Martin, have expressed grave concern about the horror in Darfur.

But little is being done to stop the killing or rescue the roughly two million Muslims in the region who have been raped, tortured or forced from their homes by a militia said to be backed by Sudan's Muslim fundamentalist government.

"Eight members of my extended family in the village of Shoba Mountains were hauled out and shot and hacked to death on July 25, 2003," says Abdalla, 44, a businessman who has lived in Canada for more than a decade.

"With 170 other people, their bodies were buried in a mass grave, which is now gone. When the killings began to be investigated by Amnesty International, the militia started taking the bodies out of the mass grave and burning them. It's happening all over Darfur."

As Waisman, a 74-year-old retired accountant, drinks coffee in the Vancouver condominium of Sheila Fruman, an official with the B.C. wing of the Canadian Jewish Congress, he listens to Abdalla tell the tragic story of his relatives' murders.

Then the Holocaust survivor says: "I feel anger. I have no words to describe the anger. Then I feel saddened the world hasn't learned a thing from the Holocaust. And then I feel encouragement that there are people of different faiths coming together to care about their fellow human beings."

Many call it an ethnic genocide -- a concerted campaign by nomadic Arabs to destroy a long-standing community of indigenous blacks. The perpetrators and the victims are all Sunni Muslims. But the Darfur rivalry has ripped apart their Muslim solidarity.

Abdalla says the people of Darfur grow furious when they hear Sudan's leaders and the Janjaweed raiders dare refer to themselves as authentic Muslims.

The atrocities in Darfur have galvanized activists from many spheres: Canada's major Jewish organization, Muslims, ecumenical Christians groups, European human-rights watchdogs, labour organizations in North America, black organizations in the U.S. and the former UN forces commander in Rwanda, Canada's Romeo Dallaire.

Mark Weintraub, chair of the Pacific Region of the Canadian Jewish Congress, says there would be little point in Canada's 300,000 Jews remembering the recent 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp if they aren't determined to stop another genocide in the making.

"The Jewish mantra of 'never again' wasn't meant to protect only the Jewish community from annihilation," says Weintraub, a lawyer. The cause of anti-Semitism, he says, is about protecting all people from being scapegoated.

" 'Never again' was a battle cry for a fundamental shift in human consciousness," Weintraub says. The efforts of Jews to stop another Holocaust, he says, has already helped lead to the creation of the UN and initiated a drive for human rights throughout the latter part of the 20th century, especially in Canada.

"Unless the world utters a collective scream to stop the killing in Darfur," Weintraub says, "all the words about anti-Semitism and about the Holocaust, about Cambodia, about Kosovo, about Rwanda don't mean a damn thing."

Abdalla, who attends the Tri-City Mosque in Port Coquitlam, returned to *Darfur* in 2003. He keeps in constant touch. "You should see my phone bill."

His family of origin have so far been safe because they live in a large city, and not a vulnerable village. But Abdalla hears on a near-daily basis from family and others about unfolding catastrophes.

Given Abdalla's activism in Canada's Sudanese community, Weintraub asked him to speak last fall at a Vancouver synagogue during Yom Kippur, the most holy event in the Jewish calendar. Most Greater Vancouver synagogues devoted their Yom Kippur services to the mass murders in Darfur.

Still, the Jews and Muslim sitting around the table in Vancouver worry not nearly enough is being done at the geopolitical level to force the Sudanese government to stop the killing in Darfur.

They believe the Canadian government must give much greater support to the work of B.C. Senator Mobina Jaffer, a Muslim and Canada's special envoy to Sudan, who has been desperately trying to create a workable solution for Darfur.

The Vancouver-based human-rights advocates acknowledge, however, that one of their campaign's challenges has been creating an easy-to-grasp picture of what is going on in conflict-ridden Sudan, which is the size of France and has a population of 32 million.

In early January, in a deal separate from the Darfur atrocities, Sudan agreed to a peace agreement to end a 21-year civil war between the hardline Muslim government in the north and Christians and animists in the south. That conflict left 1.5 million people dead.

The peace agreement, signed under international pressure from the U.S. government, U.S. evangelical Christians and European nations, assured Christians and animists in the south they would get some access to Sudan's rich oil reserves and the right to vote on independence in six years.

Then, in early February the UN envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, argued the north-south peace deal will not last unless violence is also ended in the conflict among Muslims in Darfur, in western Sudan. Darfur's troubles were sparked in early 2003 when indigenous black rebels began fighting for greater independence from Sudanese authorities, maintaining the northern government had long favoured the region's Arabs over its blacks.

Pronk has urged the UN to send more than 10,000 peacekeeping troops to stabilize Darfur. However, some permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia, are balking at moving in troops or imposing economic sanctions to force an end to the Darfur massacres.

Weintraub notes that China relies on Sudanese oil, and Russia profits from arms sales to Sudan's government, which claims it has nothing to do with the marauding Janjaweed militia.

International efforts to pressure the authoritarian Muslim rulers of Sudan were further complicated in early February when a UN panel report fell short of calling the massacres a "genocide," which can be defined as the obliteration of a people because of their nationality, ethnicity or religion.

Instead, the UN report said the killings in Darfur revealed "genocidal intentions" and amounted to a crime against humanity.

An official "genocide" label would have obliged the 15-member UN Security Council to take immediate measures to stop the killing.

In addition, the UN and the U.S. disagreed in early February over how to prosecute Sudan's wrongdoers.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged that trials for those behind Darfur's atrocities be held at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. But U.S. President George W. Bush's administration has long opposed the Dutch-based international court, fearing it could someday be used to prosecute American soldiers. The
U.S. believes prosecutions should take place at a separate court in Tanzania.

Currently, only 1,200 UN-backed African Union soldiers are stationed in Darfur. They have been ordered to do little more than observe the so-called "ceasefire." They are not allowed to stop the massacres.

That's similar to the tragic situation Dallaire found himself in in Rwanda in the mid-1990s, says Fruman, who was once communications adviser to former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt and who has worked for pro-democracy organizations in the ethnically torn Balkans.

The Rwandan disaster, which occurred 10 years ago, has been the subject of many official apologies, says Fruman. The mishandled crisis has recently been depicted in Dallaire's biography, Shake Hands with the Devil, an award-winning documentary of the same name, and the new movie, Hotel Rwanda.

"Darfur is in the shadow of Rwanda," says Fruman. "The aid always seems to come too late. We don't want the seriousness of the conflict in Darfur to be the subject of another set of apologies 10 years from now."

Waisman, remembering his dead family members and the 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust, adds: "As a survivor, our greatest fear is that all those people will have died in vain and we won't free the world of genocide. It affects us all. Mass murder always starts with an identifiable group. But it never ends there."

The interfaith campaign being launched by Waisman, Abdalla, Fruman and Weintraub is urging Martin to capitalize on Canada's good reputation in Africa. The group has already convinced the Canadian Jewish Congress to work with the mainline Christian organization, Kairos (Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives), to make Darfur a
priority letter-writing campaign.

The Vancouver group has also sent letters to Martin urging him to press harder for 50,000 UN peacekeeping troops to be moved into Sudan and particularly Darfur. They also want Martin to insist on a no-fly zone over Darfur. That's because when the Janjaweed militia are not storming into villages on horses or camels, they fly in in government-owned, Russian-made airplanes, causing villagers to rush in panic into the forests.

"They burn everything; and they kill everything they need to," says Abdalla.

The pro-government militia has been accused of torching villages, systematically raping women, throwing babies into fires, singling out men and boys for execution and torturing fathers in front of their families.

The Vancouver-based human-rights advocates want Martin -- who during a fall visit to Sudan urged President Omar al-Bashir to protect Darfur's refugees -- to inject more bite into the arguments he made before the UN last September.

That's when, addressing the UN General Assembly, Martin went further than most heads of state. He said the attacks on civilians in Darfur show that the world, under the auspices of the UN, must sometimes override the traditional sovereign rights of a country by sending in troops to intervene to stop massacres.

Although the activists sitting around the table in Vancouver regretted that Canada is now ranked only 37th in the world in terms of its commitment to peacekeeping troops, Weintraub is convinced the globe-trotting Martin is the prime minister who will launch a new era in Canada's foreign policy.

"Canada has often been able to punch above its weight" in global influence, says Weintraub.

Weintraub envisions Canada returning to the era of former Liberal prime minister Lester Pearson, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for brokering a deal that avoided armed conflict over access to the Suez Canal.

If Canada fails to raise enough pressure to end the slaughter in Darfur, Weintraub worries Jaffer, as the country's special envoy, will "have to bear the cost of a vast humanitarian crisis."

Why do so many in the West seem indifferent to Darfur, or at least to making something happen to stop the deaths of an estimated 10,000 people each month?

Dallaire says the developed world virtually ignored the murders of 900,000 Rwandans for two basic reasons: Because they were black, not white; and because their land and resources were of no economic significance to the superpowers.

The people of Darfur suffer similar invisibility, say the Vancouver activists.

They are largely indigenous black subsistence farmers, victimized by nomadic Arabs bent on forcing them out of their villages so they can control their land and use it for grazing their animals.

Former British colonialists helped create Sudan's problems through their map-making. Just as they did throughout much of the Middle East, British rulers gave Sudan virtually unworkable borders, which allowed antagonistic groups to assume power over each other.

Even though Western colonialists have guilt on their hands in Africa, Fruman says, people in the West tend to write off Sudan's problems. They shake their heads and blame the troubles on Africans, saying the continent is such a mess nothing can be done about it.

Unlike some genocides-in-the-making of the 20th century, however, Fruman maintains that this time, leaders and citizens of the West can't honestly say they didn't really know what was going on in Darfur.

Modern communication technology, she says, has kept the world informed about Darfur's atrocities, whether we like it or not.

"We really have no excuse," she says. "Every day we know somebody is dying because we're not doing enough."

dtodd@png.canwest.com

Jewish Independent: Shoah lesson for Sudan

February 4, 2005

Shoah lesson for Sudan
Now is the time to scream, says Holocaust survivor.
PAT JOHNSON

In the Buchenwald concentration camp, Robbie Waisman listened to his elders imagine a world without the sort of barbarism they were experiencing under the Nazis. They were sure that, once the world understood what people had done to other people during the Third Reich, such inhumanity would never be allowed to happen again.

"In the dark, in the bunks before falling asleep, I remember listening to some of the inmates who were important men before the war – learned, intelligent, politicians, writers and philosophers. They were there because they were against the Nazis," Waisman said last week on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the death camp Auschwitz. "Their conversations gave me hope. I was a teenager. They believed anyone lucky enough to survive would live in paradise – no more war, no more hunger. That resonated within me, I wanted to live in that kind of world. I wanted to survive."

Waisman did survive, but his dreams, as well as those of other inmates, of a world without human-made atrocities, did not. Next to him at a table in the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver Jan. 27 was Nouri Abdalla, a British Columbian who is a representative of the Darfurian community in Canada.

In Darfur, a region in the northeast African country of Sudan, armed militias and Sudanese government soldiers are perpetrating atrocities. The United Nations is debating whether the violence there should be called "genocide."

About 1.6 million people have been forced from their homes in Darfur, some escaping to neighboring Chad, but most displaced internally, without adequate food, water or shelter. About 70,000 have been killed, with hundreds of thousands more in immediate peril. As many as 12,000 villages have been burned in their entirety. Thousands of women have been raped, thousands of children have been abducted. International aid organizations say more than three million people in Darfur – half the population – are completely dependent on relief aid.

Waisman and Abdalla were speaking at a news conference convened by Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region, to mark the anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation but also to draw attention anew to the crisis in Darfur.Abdalla echoed Waisman's warning that the world must not avert its eyes again when it sees genocide looming.

"The world community has not learned at all from past experiences with regard to genocidal acts going back to World War Two, through Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and now we have a genocide standing tall in Darfur and it seems like nobody is doing anything about it, to stop it," said Abdalla. "The situation in Darfur today is worse than what it was six or seven months ago when the [United Nations] Security Council had actually started to intervene to stop the genocide, the mass killing, the mass raping and the mass abducting of children and the burning of villages in the Darfur region of Sudan."

In July 2004, the security council passed a resolution asking the Sudanese government to disarm the Janjaweed militias, which had been operating independently, but with the approval and active support of the Sudanese government. Although the Sudanese government maintains it is not directly involved in the conflict, evidence refutes this. Darfurian villages are being bombed from the air, said Abdalla, and the Sudanese government is the only entity in the conflict with air power.

"Unfortunately, what the Sudanese government has done since then is incorporated those Janjaweed militias, or members of the Janjaweed militias, into its paramilitary forces," said Abdalla. "It's incorporated them into their regular armed forces and now they're working with even more impunity in Darfur than ever."

Though the UN approved the intervention of 3,300 African Union troops in Darfur – a fraction of the number Darfurians and others say are needed – only 1,200 have been deployed and those are only observing. They are not empowered to intervene on behalf of endangered civilians.

"The intervention up to date is simply not working at all," said Abdalla. "What the security council is doing in Darfur is absolutely not working."

Reportedly, last week government troops raided civilian villages and government planes bombed three more Darfur villages.

"It has been such a great comfort for those of us who are Darfurians living here in Canada to see the Canadian government taking the lead. We have definitely been able to count on the prime minister to raise this issue to the highest level."

Abdalla commended Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin – one of the few world leaders to press the issue onto the international agenda – but urged the government and ordinary Canadians to do more.

"We are certainly looking for more from our government and from the prime minister," Abdalla said. He urges the international community to demand the immediate imposition of a no-fly zone over Darfur, an arms embargo against the Sudanese government and the complete disbanding of the Janjaweed.

"Without doing that, there is no end that I can see," said Abdalla.

Mark Weintraub, chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region, said his organization has sent a second letter to the Canadian prime minister. It acknowledges the actions by Canada and calls on the government to "mobilize all resources – political, diplomatic and financial" to stop the suffering and prevent a genocide.

He urged Canadians to keep the issue at the top of the Canadian agenda by calling or writing politicians.

"Our message to the larger Canadian community is that we know Canadian leadership is deeply troubled by Darfur, but there are many issues with which our politicians are engaged and it is vital that Canadians speak out so our decision-makers know that many Canadians want and expect powerful leadership on this issue," said Weintraub.

Reflecting on the echoes of history, Waisman compared the near-silence of the contemporary world on Darfur to the silence of the world as the Final Solution unfolded.

"My eyes have seen unimaginable horrors. I'm a witness to the ultimate evil. I'm a witness to man's inhumanity to other humans," Waisman said.

"I represent one and a half million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust and no one protested. The world remained silent," said Waisman. "Today, we have instant communication. There's no excuse for silence. I cannot understand why so many people with good intentions, with all the evil around them, choose to look the other way. We must not let it happen again.

"What do we need to do to finally learn the lesson and look out for one another?" he asked. "Now is the time to speak out. Now is the time to scream."

Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.

http://www.jewishindependent.ca/Archives/Feb05/archives05Feb04-01.html

CJC News Release: CJC seeks action from Prime Minister on Darfur

Feb 02, 2005 - CJC seeks action from Prime Minister on Darfur

For Immediate Release

TORONTO - Canadian Jewish Congress has sent a letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin appealing for the mobilization of resources to help end the crisis in Darfur.

The letter was sent just as a new United Nations panel strongly criticized the role of the Sudanese government in the catastrophic situation in Darfur and as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the Security Council to take urgent action to stop the killing.

In the letter, Victor Goldboom, Chair of CJC's National Executive, said "We very much appreciate the international advocacy on Darfur that has been forthcoming from you and your government. At the same time, the situation on the ground in Darfur continues to deteriorate and the African Union mission does not have the necessary troops and resources to protect civilians. This mandate must be strengthened and more international resources dedicated to support them."

"Whether or not what is occurring is technically 'genocide' should not deter Canada from recognizing that by all accounts, there is a great humanitarian disaster unfolding in Darfur," said CJC Pacific Region Chair Mark Weintraub.

In the letter, Weintraub said "Every tragedy has its own unique context. Our own experience with the Holocaust has taught us that such evil must be recognized and that we have a responsibility to ensure that it never happens again."

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Contact:

Wendy Lampert

Acting National Communications Director

Canadian Jewish Congress

416-631-5844 (office)

wlampert@on.cjc.ca

www.cjc.ca

http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=news&story=687

Western Jewish Bulletin: No charges for MIRACLE

January 28, 2005

No charges for Miracle
CJC is disappointed, but has faith in judicial process.
PAT JOHNSON

The publisher of a local Muslim newspaper that ran a viciously anti-Semitic article will not face charges. The Miracle, a Delta-based publication, had reprinted a litany of anti-Jewish accusations, blaming "the jews" (sic) for the attacks on the World Trade Centre, two world wars, the Depression, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and another 83 similar assertions.

The Crown announced last week, following a year of investigation, that the case would not be recommended for criminal charges for the wilful promotion of hatred.

Nusrat Hussain, the publisher of the Miracle, said he is relieved and he condemned the article that he ran Dec. 26, 2003. The article was a reprint of an anti-Semitic tract making the rounds via the Internet. It was written by Edgar J. Steele, a disbarred lawyer from Idaho."I had apologized and I was very clear about it, for the article was offensive," Hussain told the Bulletin last week. "I had never said that I was in favor of the article or I agreed. On the contrary, I was very clear. I condemned the article. But I was doing a different line. I was defending the freedom of speech."

Canadian laws regarding the promotion of hatred rest on the intent of the speaker or publisher of allegedly hateful comments. Hussain compares the standard of intent to the difference between murder and accidental death.

"There's a difference if you murder a person [or] if somebody is killed under your car by accident," he said. "Although in the end it is the death of a person, you have to prove the intentions.

"The intention was never to promote hate in this case," he said.

Though he is pleased with the outcome, Hussain said the experience has been wrenching. He was hospitalized with a heart ailment for five days last February, shortly after the investigation began.

"I have suffered in my business also," he said. "I lost advertisers. I lost reputation. Politically, there were senators, a member of Parliament, a member of the legislature, who were writing for my newspaper. All of them withdrew."

The publisher sees a silver lining in the incident, though, citing what he says is a growth in dialogue between the Jewish and Muslim communities as a result of the issue and its surrounding publicity.

"There were positive things," said Hussain. "The Jewish and Muslim communities – the interaction which has started now – it was unheard of [before]. The people in my community would not like to listen about the Jewish community, the same way, I'm sure it was, on the other side. But this is a very positive thing that is happening. People are talking to each other. They are sitting together and talking about each other's views and listening to each other and that is, I believe, required."

Canadian Jewish Congress, which brought the article to the attention of police, said the decision not to proceed to criminal charges does not diminish the harm done by the article.

"It has to be understood that, even though the Crown did not proceed with charges, the fact that something as anti-Semitic and as destructive as what was contained in that piece was published in our community created extreme distress for us," said Mark Weintraub, chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. "The Jewish community and the larger community should not have to be subjected to such vile propaganda. It has to be understood that simply expressing regret really doesn't go to the heart of the damage that is done when we have to continually deal with these terrible attacks on Jews."

Weintraub said that his organization sees no silver lining in hateful remarks, though he hopes the incident opened some eyes."We were heartened by many comments and expressions of empathy and sympathy and support from Muslim leaders," said Weintraub. "We have had excellent relations in the past with many segments of the Muslim community, so we did not need these kinds of expressions of anti-Semitism to bring our communities closer. What has occurred has perhaps made certain segments of the Muslim community aware that there are individuals in their community who hold views that are intolerant and really have no place in our community."

Because it was the complainant in the case, Canadian Jewish Congress was verbally briefed on the decision by Crown not to proceed with charges. CJC has requested a copy of the Crown's written report, but Weintraub said he does not know if they are entitled to it.

"The Crown has to make a determination as to whether there is a likelihood of conviction and that it's in the public interest," explained Weintraub, who is a Vancouver lawyer. "Not every action that appears to be a crime always results in prosecution. The Crown does have discretion."

A decision not to go to charges can be based simply on likelihood of conviction and does not necessarily imply that the article was not hateful.

"The verbal summary was to the effect that the statements that were published were anti-Semitic," said Weintraub. "They could be construed as hate-filled. However, the means of the publication of these statements, which were a republication of an American anti-Semite in this particular newspaper, meant that it was not necessarily likely that the incitement-to-hate provisions of the Criminal Code would have been breached, because there are certain technical and procedural requirements to prove intent to incite and because of the mode of republication. The Crown was not satisfied that they would be able to meet the test."

Weintraub said he is satisfied that the investigation was thorough and his organization did the right thing in bringing it to the attention of the police.

"To our minds, we were satisfied that we had acted appropriately by turning this over to the Crown, because it was deemed to be highly anti-Semitic," he said. "But, at that point, we have to let the justice system take its course. We have advocated over the years for a highly specialized hate crime team. We have been successful in that regard and we think that there are very competent people in that hate crime team who understand the technicalities of the law and, if they considered that a charge should not be proceeded with, while we are disappointed, we have confidence in the process and in the judicial system. As far as we're concerned, we saw a crime, we acted appropriately, we co-operated with the authorities and we continue to have confidence in our judicial system."

CJC is awaiting a decision on whether charges will come in another prominent British Columbia case under investigation by the Hate Crime Team. Last year, Sheik Younus Kathrada, a Vancouver imam, made international headlines when tapes of the Muslim religious leader's comments, in which he referred to Jews as "the brothers of monkeys and swine" and called on Muslims to kill Jews, were made public. The case is under investigation by RCMP.

CJC has used the two incidents to repeat requests that the province fully fund the Hate Crime Team, a specialized group of police, Crown counsel and support staff that saw its funding sharply cut under provincial cost-saving measures. Premier Gordon Campbell has promised to restore funding for the body, which has been reduced to one RCMP officer, but the money has not been forthcoming. Observers expect funding may be provided in the budget before this May's provincial election.

Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.

CJC News Release: CJC Pacific Region and Darfur Association call on Prime Minister to keep his commitments

Jan 27, 2005 - CJC Pacific Region and Darfur Association call on Prime Minister to keep his commitments.

VANCOUVER, B.C, January 27, 2005…On the 60th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region and the Darfur Association of Canada – B.C. Chapter held a joint press conference to appeal to Prime Minister Martin to show leadership and follow through on his commitments to help end the crisis in Darfur where 80,000 innocent people have been murdered and 1.5 million are homeless after their villages were burned.

“We call upon the Government of Canada to mobilize all resources - political, diplomatic, and financial - that are necessary to stop the suffering and avert what is becoming another Rwandan-like catastrophe in Darfur,” said Mark Weintraub, Chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. “Whether or not what is occurring is technically ‘genocide’ should not deter Canada from recognizing that by all accounts, there is a great humanitarian disaster unfolding in Darfur where innocent people, including women and children, are being murdered, raped, and tortured because of their ethnicity,” he charged. In a letter sent to the Prime Minister, Weintraub reminded the Prime Minister of the remarks he made during his November visit to Darfur that “there are always excuses, but it is our responsibility to create a situation where there can be no excuses.”

Nouri Abdalla, an activist in the Darfur community in Vancouver confirmed that the situation in Darfur today is worse than it was four months ago when the UN Security Council Resolution asked the Sudanese government to disarm its proxy, the Janjaweed militia, and bring their leaders to justice. “Despite UN resolutions and all the signed agreements, the Sudanese government continues to violate all its commitments,” he noted. Abdalla called on the Prime Minister to demand “the immediate disarming of the murderous Janjaweed militias initially unleashed by the Sudanese government; the immediate apprehension of their leaders; the imposition of ‘no-fly zones’ over Darfur; intervention by highly experienced, properly funded, well-trained and well-equipped peace-keeping forces; and an immediate investigation with respect to the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Robert Waisman, a survivor of the Holocaust said the world must be reminded, especially on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, of its commitment to “never again” allow such evil to prevail. “Every human tragedy has it's own unique context. Our own experience with the Holocaust has taught us that such evil must be recognized and that we have a responsibility to ensure that it never happens again. In Darfur, inter-ethnic issues have unleashed terrible forces putting hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of innocent victims at risk. The human price that has been paid is already too high.”

Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region addresses issues of human rights, combats all forms of discrimination and antisemitism; establishes an ongoing political liaison with all political parties and all levels of government; aims for an open and enhanced dialogue with other religious, ethnic and minority groups to foster understanding, goodwill and cooperation on issues of mutual concern and speaks on a broad range of public policy, humanitarian and social-justice issues.

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Contact:
Erwin Nest, Executive Director
Suite 201-950 West 41st Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Z 2N7
Phone: 604-257-5101
Fax: 604-257-5131
E-mail: erwinn@cjc.ca
http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=news&story=686

Building your Estate Practice Seminar

Building your Estate Practice
A lunch seminar on Estate Administration for Accountants.
Presented by:
CLARK, WILSON
BC's Law Firm for Business

Estate Administration for Accountants

Acccountants are ideally suited to act as executors for Estates, a function which carries important responsibilities and can provide reasonable compensation. There are many opportunities for a trusted accountant to be asked by clients and other professionals to act as executor.

Yet how many accountants actually take advantage of these potential opportunities?

Clark, Wilson is offering a short, powerful seminar specifically for accountants, which will provide practical information and approaches to building your estate practice.

This complimentary seminar is part of Clark, Wilson's outreach programming, desiged to provide practical advice and business development information to other professionals involvd in the estate planning industry.

All participants will receive a binder of helpful articles complementing the seminar content.

The time commitment is limited and the venue is convenient - don't miss this opportunity.

Space is limited, so reserve early.

Agenda

11:45 am Registration

Noon Welcome & Overview

12:05 pm Douglas Howard
Acting as Executor/Trustee for Your Client

• Duties and Responsibilities - what's involved in acting as Executor/Trustee for your client?
• Application for probate - why is probate necessary?
• Charging Clauses in Wills/Remuneration/Fee Agreements - can you charge your professional hourly rate?
• Summary of the new investment rules

12:25 pm Amy Mortimore
Presenting an Passing Estate Accounts

• Requirement for Accountings - can they be avoided?
• Practical advice regarding the form of accounts - what is the Court looking for?

12:45pm Mark Weintraub
Common Sources of Litigation (and how to avoid them)

• Wills Variation Act applications
• Cy-pres applications
• incapacity/undue influence claims

1:05pm Question & Answer Period

Speakers

Douglas Howard is a senior partner with Clark, Wilson, and Chair of the firm's Wills and Estates practice group. His extensive practice in developing and implementing tax effective estate plans for his clients encompasss a wide variety services, including: tax planned Wills; Trusts; Representation Agreements; Powers of Attorney; Committeeships; Estate Administration; Executor's right, duties and compensation; and Estate issues in connection with RRSP and RRIF. Doug may be reached at tel. 604 643 3110, or by email mdh@cwilson.com.

Mark Weintraub is a partner in Clark, Wilson's Litigation Department. He has had considerable experience as counsel in highly disputed Estates, involving allegations of negligent or fraudulent administration. A number of his cases have involved novel points of law or complex factual issues, including legal obligations of executors, committeeships, powers of attorney, status of parties and gender discrimination. Mark may be reached at tel. 604 643 3113, or email msw@cwilson.com

Amy Mortimore is an associate with Clark, Wilson's Estate Litigation Practice Group. She has experience in various estate litigation issues, including contested accounting, incapacity issues, variation claims, and undue influence claims. She is also a co-author of CLE's text, British Columbia Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation, specifically in the chapter addressing claims pursuant to the Wills Variation Act. Amy may be reached at tel. 604 643 3177, or email aam@cwilson.com

Letter to Prime Minister re: situation in Darfur

Letter to Prime Minister re: situation in Darfur

Rt. Hon. Paul Martin, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister's Office
Langevin Block
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister:

On May 13, 2004, Canadian Jewish Congress wrote to you conveying "profound concern" in the face of "reports of mass murder, systematic rape and ethnic cleansing in Darfur." Since then the massive suffering continues largely unabated. Inter-ethnic issues have unleashed terrible forces putting well over one million people, at risk. The price that has been paid by innocent victims is unconscionable.

The purpose of this letter, on the eve of the release by the United Nations on an investigation on whether genocide has been committed in Sudan's Darfur region and on the day prior to a press conference on the issue by CJC's Pacific Region, is to once again call upon the Government of Canada to mobilize all resources - political, diplomatic and financial - that are necessary to stop the suffering and avert what is becoming another human catastrophe of major proportions. We add that the recent North-South peace agreement in Sudan is very good news, but any positive impact on Darfur is far from clear.

Since our last correspondence to you on this issue, our CJC National leadership has met with Gilbert Laurin, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations; our Quebec Region co-organized a Day of Conscience; our Ontario Region, working closely with KAIROS (representing ten Christian churches on domestic and international social justice issues) co-sponsored an important public rally supported by over forty NGOs; all synagogues in British Columbia were addressed on Yom Kippur by rabbinical and lay leadership about the urgency of the matter; and leaders of the Jewish community have raised Darfur at numerous meetings with parliamentarians. Our university students, through the Canadian Federation of Jewish Students and National Jewish Campus Life, also are in the process of planning a series of initiatives. As a result of our active involvement on this issue we have seen that many Canadians, like us, consider this crisis a top priority.

Our initial correspondence to you, reinforced in meetings with Senator Mobina Jaffer, Special Envoy to the Sudan Peace Process, and various Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament, called for the immediate disarming of the murderous Janjaweed militias initially unleashed by the Sudanese government; the imposition of "no-fly zones;" intervention by highly experienced, properly funded, well-trained and well-equipped peace-keeping forces; and immediate investigation with respect to the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

We very much appreciate the international advocacy on Darfur that has been forthcoming from you and your government. At the same time the situation on the ground in Darfur continues to deteriorate and the African Union mission does not have the necessary troops and resources to protect civilians. This mandate must be strengthened and more international resources dedicated to support them. You have been in the forefront with the "responsibility to protect" doctrine and a renewed priority to such diplomacy in the context of Darfur is urgently needed. As you pointed out on your visit to Darfur, “we live in a world that is divided into countries. But there is something more important than countries. It is our common humanity.” And you added "there are always excuses, but it is our responsibility to create a situation where there can be no excuses."

Every tragedy has its own unique context. Our own experience with the Holocaust has taught us that such evil must be recognized and that we have a responsibility to ensure that it never happens again. That is why our National President, Ed Morgan and our past chairman of the Holocaust remembrance committee who is a survivor of Auschwitz, Nate Leipciger, are currently in Poland commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of this death camp.

A recent newspaper headline asks, "Will the world ever learn?" above a picture of the gates into Auschwitz. That is a legitimate question to be asked after Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia (to provide but three examples in a longer list) and, now, Darfur. The difference is that in Darfur it is still possible to stop the crisis but it must be done quickly if more lives are to be saved and untold suffering averted.

We have every confidence that Canadians will support you and indeed encourage you to take the initiative on the world stage in protecting the people of Darfur. The Jewish community is only one of countless communities across this great nation who will do all in our power to vest meaning in the words “never again”. As a world community we failed in Rwanda; we implore you to ensure that we not once again fail in Darfur.

We thank you for your attention to this matter of such great urgency and look forward to your response at your earliest convenience

Yours very truly,

Dr. Victor C. Goldbloom, C.C., O.Q.
Chair
National Executive
Canadian Jewish Congress

Mark Weintraub
Chair
Canadian Jewish Congress
Pacific Region

CC.
Hon. Pierre Pettigrew Hon., P.C., M.P.
Minister of Foreign Affairs

Hon. Bill Graham P.C., M.P., Q.C.
Minister of National Defence

Hon. Aileen Carrol, P.C., M.P.
Minister for International Cooperation

http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?Language=EN&action=briefs&item=78