HUNDREDS TAKE PART IN GLOBAL DAY FOR DARFUR

CTV.ca
ctvtoronto.ca
April 13 2008
Canada

Several hundred activists, artists and politicians gathered at
Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square on Sunday to take part in the fifth
annual Global Day for Darfur.

This year’s event focused on the plight of children in the troubled
Sudanese region that has been torn apart by civil war. Many nations
and agencies describe the conflict as genocide.

"Since the genocide began five years ago, more than 1 million children
have been tortured, raped, wounded, displaced, and/or traumatized,"
stated a press release from STAND Canada (Students Taking Action Now:
Darfur), which organized the Toronto rally.

"UNICEF reported in their Child Alert Report that ‘The children of
Darfur have little prospect of a decent, independent future for
themselves … (as the majority of them) live beyond the reach
of current international relief efforts, leaving them exposed to
malnutrition, illness, violence and fear.’"

More than 200,000 people have been killed and millions have been
displaced in the ongoing conflict between the Arab-dominated government
and African rebels.

Waterloo Regional Police Sgt. Debbie Bodnik was brought to tears as
she spoke of her trip to the country a few years ago, when she worked
as an investigator.

"I know there are horrible things going on all across the world and
it’s easy for us to get overwhelmed and want to shut it all out, but
this is just like the Holocaust again, it’s just like Armenia again,
this is just like Rwanda again and we’re letting it happen, again,"
Bodnik said.

Among the politicians in attendance was London Liberal MP
Glen Pearson. He and his wife adopted three Sudanese children,
seven-year-old twins Abuk and Achan and their 10-year-old brother Ater.

While Canada has pledged money for relief in Sudan, Pearson says
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government need to do more.

"I’m challenging him to put together a committee of two members from
each party to go to Darfur, come back and then he works with all
parties to put something forward that’s really going to have teeth,"
Pearson said.

Several motions on the issue have been introduced in Ottawa, including
one last week by Montreal Liberal MP Irwin Cotler called the Sudan
Accountability Act.

Several other Canadian cities also participated in the day of
demonstration on Sunday. The international events, in which more than
40 countries participated, were arranged by the organization Globe
for Darfur.