DLA Weblog

DLA Committee to Stop Genocide in Sudan seeks help

The Dartmouth Lawyers Association Committee to Stop Genocide in Sudan is looking for a lawyer with a military background. The lawyer would oversee a section on Peacekeeping in the Committee's report. The Committee is currently preparing a report on the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan to submit to Congress. The Report will describe the situation in Darfur and will make recommendations to ease the plight of 1.5 million Black Sudanese who have been displaced by violence which erupted 2 years ago.

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The Committee needs now is input from a lawyer with a military background. We want to include a section in the Report on Peacekeeping which will contain recommendations for military action (by countries other than the US) to safeguard the refugee camps and the humanitarian aid workers. Both Save the Children and the UN World Food Programme recently pulled out of Darfur because of violence against their workers. Those organizations had provided food to more than 500,000 refugees who now face starvation.

A truce is in effect and the government in Khartoum has agreed to no-fly zones. However, there are still only a handful of troops from the African Union -- with no aircraft -- to monitor repeated violations of the ceasefire.

Estimates of the number of troops needed varies widely. Professor Eric Reeves of Smith College has written that "authoritative military assessments" put the number at 50,000. The U.S. is currently suggesting deployment of 10,000 troops. The African Union has committed to providing 3500. We are only looking for troops to provide security to the refugees and to aid workers in the refugee camps but not to engage in offensive action.

John Mathias'69 has offered the services of several associates at his firm to do research. The DLA lawyer would direct, review, analyze and edit the work of John's associates and prepare the final section of the report on Peacekeeping. This should be about 1250 words long. If you are interested please contact Al Moncure at 212-788-1160 or amoncure "at" law.nyc.gov.

(submitted on behalf of Al Moncure)
Doug Simpson
DLA "Webster"