Obama shining a spotlight on human rights

I'm going to deviate from our anti-genocide theme for a post and write about another human rights issue that I've been involved with for about three years: Guantanamo Bay. The prison has been in the news a lot lately, as President-elect Barack Obama's transition team tries to figure out a way to close it. According to the New York Times, Obama will announce a plan for closing the prison on January 21, his first full day in office. This announcement raises a host of other questions, many discussed on the NYTs' blog "Room for Debate," including what to do with the prisoners and how to define/redefine detention laws. I'm really skeptical about what he's going to be able to do on his first day in office. Does announcing a plan of action necessarily mean action? If he's too hasty, it might end up being more of an empty, merely symbolic gesture rather than an actual solution to the problem and redefinition of US detention laws.

Despite my skepticism as to Obama's timeline, I don't doubt that he will close the prison and ban torture. I think it is important that his transition team is discussing closing the prison as one of the first acts of his presidency because it signifies that human rights, be it in the form of anti-torture laws or anti-genocide laws, will be central to his policies.

Visit Amnesty International to help ensure that Obama makes closing Guantanamo a priority during his first 100 days in office. In these last five days of darkness, let's all work to keep shining that light on human rights!

Vote or [people in Darfur] die

Please take 30 seconds to vote to make the people of Darfur a priority for the new Obama administration:

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Making human rights a priority in Obama's cabinet

I just got an e-mail from Amnesty International directing me to call my senator to ask him to bring up specific questions in Hillary Rodham Clinton's Secretary of State confirmation hearing. Check if your senator's name is on the list and to find her or his contact information.

Be a voice for Darfur

President-elect Barack Obama will begin his term in the oval office in less than 15 days. Although we are seeing much less about Darfur in the news these days, the genocide is still going on and it is our responsibility to ensure that our new president makes good on his promise to end the violence. As senator from Illinois, Obama had an excellent record on anti-genocide legislation and if saving Darfur remains a priority, he'll be able to make a difference. He also spoke a great deal about Darfur during his presidential campaign, which you can read about here.

Be a voice for Darfur by filling out an online postcard that will be sent to the President-elect reminding him of his commitment to ending genocide in 2009.

A Parting Shot at Darfur from the Bush Administration

For all its failings, the Bush Administration has pursued some notable humanitarian causes, including the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The Administration's recent announcement that it will airlift vehicles and equipment to bolster the fledgling United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur may well be its final such act. As reported by The New York Times, President Bush ordered the emergency military action ahead of a meeting with Sudan's First Vice President.

The airlift is of course too little too late. A large-scale airlift of supplies early on could have both reduced humanitarian suffering and bolstered the peacekeeping force from the start, rather than attempting to rescue it now, would have been vastly preferable. But having said that, the airlift is a welcome sign of commitment from an Administration heading into its final hours, and a good example for its successor.

President-elect Obama has signaled that he wants to do more in Darfur, and providing sustained US logistical support for the peacekeeping force is a good way to start. US communications, intelligence, and logistics capabilities far outstrip what is available to the force in Darfur, hobbling its effectiveness. If America's new president earnestly wants to do more in Darfur, he could begin by making Bush's 11th-hour airlift a regular endeavor, perhaps complemented by American advisers. Humanity should include among its New Year's resolutions a pledge not to forget the long-suffering people of Darfur.

A new year, a new president, a new chance for Darfur?

We’re looking toward a new year, a new president, and maybe an end to genocide in Darfur. In his Sunday New York Times column, “A New Chance for Darfur,” Nick Kristof summarized a memo Ambassador Richard Williamson, President Bush’s special envoy to Sudan, wrote to the president this fall. In brief, the steps Williamson outlined were 1) the United States could jam all communications—telephones, cell phones, Internet—in Khartoum for a period of time to demonstrate Sudan’s weakness; 2) the US could apply “progressive pressure” to Port Sudan by placing naval ships near the port, searching or turning back ships, and finally halting or quarantining oil exports from Sudan; and 3) the US could destroy Sudan’s military aircraft that flies on offensive missions in Darfur, in violation of the United Nation’s ban.

Kristof acknowledges that these actions are extreme but says “genocide is pretty serious, too.”

He also points out that if President-Elect Barack Obama has the political will—and given the size and intensity of the anti-genocide movement he has the popular support—we may be able to end the genocide. Bashir is afraid of the president-elect because he understands the gravity of genocide and the importance of international justice. Kristof writes, “If Mr. Obama and his aides can work with Europe, China and Qatar to keep the heat on—and to make clear that Sudan has no choice but to hand over President Bashir once the [International Criminal] court issues the arrest warrant—then we just might avert a new war and end the first genocide of the 21st century in the new year.”