Who We Are
Tennesseans Against Genocide (TAG) is committed to raising public awareness and to mobilizing an effective, unified response to acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other acts of inhumanity.
We are a coalition of community activists, faith-based and non-profit organizations, academics, and interested local citizens. Our purpose is to educate and encourage:
to educate our community and ourselves with regard to historic and current realities and the need for intervention
to encourage our government, the United Nations, and the world community to be proactive, including intervention when necessary.
Of immediate interest to us is to make certain that everything possible is being done to end the atrocities and reduce the suffering in Darfur and nearby refugee camps. Of continual interest is the need for the world to respond to any acts of genocide and mass atrocity that arise and that threaten to arise.
We recognize that the Darfur situation is but one of many humanitarian crises,
so why Darfur:
• The situation is deplorable;
• There is already some general public awareness to build upon;
• There is a larger national coalition (savedarfur.org) for us to connect to;
• The situation involves a particular form of violence that very clearly meets the definition of genocide;
• The number of victims has reached genocidal proportions (though some places, such as Congo, equal or surpass this);
• Our focus must remain on the one issue we can address, right now,
ALL genocides, crimes against humanity, and outbreaks of ethnic cleansing are deplorable.
The Genocide Prevention Project has just issued a United-Nations-commissioned genocide watch list that names 33 nations and regions of which 8 are considered condition RED. The most imperiled populations include Darfur, Eastern (Democratic Republic of) Congo, Burma, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
We invite people to take action on any human rights issue they in which they are interested.
Be an UPSTANDER, not a bystander.
What’s Happening Now:
The UN now estimates that 300,000 have died (by violence, disease, and starvation) and over 3 million have been displaced in Darfur.
Threatening to worsen the situation in Darfur and the rest of the Sudan is the increasing fragility of the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] that ended Sudan’s 22-year North-South civil war.
Gov’t. aerial bombing and fighting against rebel positions (Justice and Equality Movement) in north (El-Fasher) and south (Muhajariya); highest level of violence in a year; 30,000 more displaced to UNAMID [United Nations—African union Mission In Darfur] camps
Fighting among rebel groups: JEM vs. Sudan Liberation Army
On March 31, 2005 the United Nations Security Council made its first ever referral of a situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation–the situation in Darfur. The court issued its first two warrants in April 2007, for government minister Ahmad Harun and Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, for their leading roles in a series of attacks against civilians in West Darfur in 2003 and 2004. However, Sudanese authorities have from the start refused to cooperate with the ICC, and have refused to arrest and hand over the two suspects. Instead Ahmad Harun has been promoted to State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs.
On July 14, 2008 the ICC prosecutor announced he was seeking a third warrant, this time for Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, on 10 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
The African Union has just asked former South African leader Thabo Mbeki to head a panel on how to reconcile the need for accountability in Darfur with opposition to calls for Sudan’s president to be prosecuted.
