Lee among Black leaders
arrested at Sudan protest

From the Globe Political Desk

Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Mel Watt and caucus members Rep. John Lewis, Al Green, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Eddie Bernice Johnson and Gwen Moore were arrested Tuesday at a protest at the Sudanese embassy in Washington, DC.
    It was a protest much like those during the days of demonstrations against South African apartheid.
   “We are here because it will take more than a shaky peace agreement, which not all parties have signed onto yet, to bring peace and stability back to the people of Darfur,” said Lee. “Despite the signing of the May 5 peace agreement between the government and a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the situation in Darfur is far from resolved. We must push to keep this issue alive, because there is not yet true and complete peace for the people of Darfur. We must never, never let another Rwanda take place on our watch.”
    The action was designed to call public attention to the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to build public support for U.S. and international action to stop the violence.
    Specifically, Lee and her Black Caucus colleagues were calling for:
• An immediate stop to the violence against the people of Darfur by the government of Sudan and its Janjaweed militias;
• A Chapter 7 UN peacekeeping mission to assist the African Union Mission in Darfur;
• Protection of civilians who remain vulnerable;
• Accountability for government officials and Janjaweed responsible for war crimes and genocide;
• President Bush to push the government of Sudan to release its 300,000-500,000 metric tons of grain reserves to feed the starving people of Darfur;
• Full implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South;
• The U.S. administration to work to ensure the government of Sudan does all it can for the internally displaced and the refugees of Darfur to restore security so they can return to their homes soon.
    Lee is the most senior Democratic woman on the House International Relations committee, where she serves on the Africa Subcommittee and has been a leading voice in the growing movement to divest state pension funds and university endowments from companies doing business in Sudan.
    She has traveled twice to Darfur, first with congressional colleagues and academy award nominated actor Don Cheadle in January 2005, and most recently on a delegation led by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in February.
    Lee was placed in a cell where the bunk bed lacked mattresses.