Call on President-Elect Obama to prioritize Gulf Coast recovery efforts

from Amnesty International USA:

Change has not yet come for the tens of thousands of people who remain displaced more than three years after Hurricane Katrina. But the new administration gives us a new opportunity in the Gulf Coast.

President-Elect Obama ran on a pledge "to partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever". It's up to us to support him in fulfilling that promise. Sign our petition and tell Obama's transition team to prioritize Gulf Coast recovery.

Every Katrina survivor has a human right to return home. But a lack of affordable housing remains a crucial obstacle to returning. Ongoing demolitions of public housing have made the problem even worse.

Join Amnesty International, the Equity and Inclusion Campaign, Oxfam and other national and Gulf Coast organizations: ask President-Elect Obama to follow through on his commitment to rebuild the Gulf Coast.

Thank you for standing with us,

Monika Gerhart
Gulf Coast Project Coordinator
Amnesty International USA
New Orleans

Work to Stop Bombing in Darfur

from Amnesty International USA:

The Sudanese government used a Russian-made Antonov plane with the “UN” symbol on its wing to drop bombs on Darfur. This act shows that the Sudanese government does not intend to comply with the UN arms embargo. This is a clear violation of international humanitarian law and a clear example of why the current UN arms embargo needs to be expanded to cover all of Sudan.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International issued its new report Blood at the Crossroads with accounts of Russian and Chinese weapons used to violate human rights in Darfur. In one case, the report describes Russian-supplied Mi-24 attack helicopters being delivered to the Sudanese government in 2006. Since then, the Sudanese government has used these helicopters in indiscriminate aerial attacks in Darfur.

It is undeniably clear that the current UN arms embargo cannot effectively restrain the arms flow into Darfur. At the same time, Sudanese armed opposition groups in Darfur are allegedly receiving their weapons from Chad. The innocent people of Darfur are left in the middle of this conflict.

With your encouragement, your Senator and Representatives can help stem the flow of weapons to Sudan. Senate Resolution 660 and House Resolution 1462 1) condemn the ongoing flow of weapons into Darfur and 2) call for an expansion of the UN arms embargo to cover all of Sudan. Leadership from the United States is necessary to signal to the rest of the world that ongoing violence in Darfur will not be tolerated.

DO SOMETHING: Take action to stop the flow of weapons into Darfur.