An action for Sudan, and news updates…

An Action

As we’ve mentioned, July 9^th is a remarkably important day in Sudan’s history. The Save Darfur/Genocide Intervention Network is planning a stand in solidarity event that day.  They’re asking folks around the country to make a donation to their organization for which they’ll receive a t-shirt. And then, they’re asking everyone to wear those shirts on July 9^th.  So, if you can, please do that.  Here’s a link that will take you to the website where you can do so.

We’re also going to suggest that you can wear your One Million Bones t-shirt that day.  All of us in the OMB office will be wearing ours. Here’s a link to the website where you can get an OMB t-shirt. 

And, if anyone asks you about it, tell them that you’re standing with Sudan.  Here’s a link to the Save Darfur website where you can find information about the current situation that you can share with them.

Two bits of news:

Pauline Nyiramasuhuko and her son were convicted last week of crimes against humanity during the Rwandan genocide. She is the first woman tried and found guilty and this verdict represents some measure of justice. This is a link to a BBC article.

And, the same court has issued a warrant for the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi who they say is criminally responsible for the deaths of thousands of Libyans during the current uprising.  Also from the BBC.

Considering our discussions of R2P and Libya, I have to wonder if this action has anything to do with its use or if it will have any impact on the use of R2P in the future. Thoughts?

Back on track, R2P and Burma

We’ve taken a few detours from our R2P focus this past week, but we're back today, with this article from The Irrawaddy.  Here’s the beginning of The Irrawaddy’s description of themselves, and a link to the rest of the statement.

“The Irrawaddy Publishing Group (IPG) was founded in 1993 by a group of Burmese journalists living in exile in Thailand. The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma and the Southeast Asian region.

From its inception, Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. The Irrawaddy is neither an advocacy group nor an NGO campaigning for particular causes. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

The Irrawaddy inspires democratic values via the publication of news that is censored in Burma. We work with international media and media inside Burma, to provide uncensored information on the on-going crisis in Burma for both the Burmese and international community.

The Irrawaddy originated from the activities of a group of young Burmese activists who were forced to flee the persecution of the military regime in Burma, over the1988 democracy uprisings. They fled into exile in Thailand where they worked passionately to alert the international community about the atrocities occurring in their homeland.”

The article, an opinion piece, is a few months old but makes the connection between Burma, one of OMB’s focus countries, and R2P. 

Update and Up-Coming

The Update part:

I’m happy to share that Ai WeiWei has been released by the Chinese authorities and is back with his family.  This link will take you to a story in The Guardian for more details. 

The Up-coming part:

This past April we were posting about some of the women who are working towards peace, justice and democracy, particularly in and for countries dealing with genocide and on-going human rights abuses. Of course, we posted about Aung San Suu Kyi, the heart of the Burmese pro-democracy movement.

June 19^th was Suu Kyi’s 66^th birthday, and the first one that she has spent out of prison or house arrest in over 15 years.  In her honor, and also in solidarity with the over 2000 political prisoners still in detention in Burma, our 4^th Sunday bone-making event this month will also be a celebration of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Details:  This Sunday, June 26! If you’re in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, come out to the One Million Bones office at 100 Gold SW in downtown ABQ at 2pm.  We’re making bones (lots of them) and serving cake and we’d love to share both the art making and the delicious goodies with you. It’s free although we suggest a donation of $5.  You can call us for more information at 505-314-1114.

We hope to see you!

World Refugee Day

June 20^th is World Refugee Day.  This is the explanation of the day from the UN website:

“For years, many countries and regions have been holding their own Refugee Days and even Weeks. One of the most widespread is Africa Refugee Day, which is celebrated on 20 June in several countries.

The UN General Assembly, on 4 December 2000, adopted resolution 55/76 where it noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June.

The General Assembly therefore decided that, from 2001, 20 June would be celebrated as World Refugee Day.

This year the UN refugee agency, in its 60th year, will mark World Refugee Day with a rich and varied programme of events in locations worldwide and the launch of a new global awareness campaign. UNHCR will start rolling out the multimedia "One" campaign next week. Over the next six months it will increase awareness about the forcibly displaced and stateless by telling their powerful personal stories. The campaign will carry the message that "One Refugee Without Hope is too Many." Every day, millions of refugees face murder, rape and terror. We believe even 1 is too many.”

This is a link to the Secretary-General’s message for today.

Here are some statistics from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) concerning OMB’s focus countries:

In Burma (Myanmar) the “total population of concern” is 859,403.

In Sudan it’s 1,958,524.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2,366,035.

The UNHCR’s total population of concern for all countries is 33,924,475. Almost 34,000,000 people. This is a link to a page where you can look at statistics that you have an interest in.  There are documents that break down refugees by country of origin, country that they’ve fled to, numbers of IDPs (internally displaced persons), asylum seekers, stateless persons, etc.

Take a minute to call or email your legislators and tell them that one refugee without hope is too many.  You’re aware of the problem, now let’s make sure our politicians are!

Kickstarter

Today we’re going off topic to ask you to help One Million Bones do our work.  We launched a Kickstarter campaign a couple weeks ago. It’s for an upcoming preview of 50,000 Bones in Albuquerque and to let us film the event. As of this morning we have $2788 pledged and we’d love to have $3000 by the weekend.

So, here’s the link to One Million Bones’ Kickstarter campaign. 

If you don’t know about Kickstarter this is what they say about what they do:

Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every month, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.

A new form of commerce and patronage. This is not about investment or lending. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Instead, they offer products and experiences that are unique to each project.

All or nothing funding. On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.

Each and every project is the independent creation of someone like you. Projects are big and small, serious and whimsical, traditional and experimental. They’re inspiring, entertaining and unbelievably diverse. We hope you agree... Welcome to Kickstarter!

It only takes a few minutes to sign up and any donation from $1 to $1,000 (or more) is welcome and appreciated. Help us make $3,000 today.  Thank you!