Religious groups stepped up pressure in September on the Bush administration and the U.S. Congress to help end the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.
The Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of 134 religious and humanitarian groups, said Washington must provide increased aid to African Union troops who are on the ground in Darfur and impose economic sanctions on the Sudanese government in Khartoum.
Coalition leaders met with Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and members of Congress and delivered a letter to President Bush as part of the “National Day of Action for the People of Sudan.”
“The United States has a moral duty to lead the world to stop the slaughter of innocent civilians in Darfur,” said the Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. “We proposed specific steps to resolve this horrific humanitarian crisis that is killing one Darfurian civilian every four minutes.”
In a separate statement, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops joined calls for action in Sudan. (RNS)
