DC Metro Action is a listing of local actions, entertainment, volunteer opportunities and the occasional rant on a wide range of socially just issues.
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Action of the Day Many of these action alerts are found on the listservs and websites of organizations listed in our "Act Locally" section (Left).
Monday, May 23, 2005
Activists on Trial
Seven activists go on trial on Wednesday, May 25, at 9 a.m., at the DC Superior Court (500 Indiana Ave. NW, Room 120) for protesting against genocide in Darfur at the Sudanese Embassy.
At the embassy on Feb. 2, 2005, activists displayed photos of some of the more than 2 million displaced people in the west Sudanese region of Darfur, where over 300,000 have been killed since 2003. After embassy officials refused to meet with them, the activists blocked the entrance by kneeling in prayer and were charged with unlawful assembly. They face a maximum of three months in jail and/or $250 in fines if convicted.
The defendants and expert witnesses will argue at trial that their nonviolent civil disobedience was justified as an effective means to stop a far greater harm being perpetrated by the Sudanese government in Darfur. The defense witnesses include Dr. Eric Reeves, the world’s leading authority on genocide in Darfur; Mwiza Munthali, the director of information at TransAfrica, one of the organizations that led protests against apartheid at the South African embassy in the 1980s and against genocide in Darfur at the Sudanese embassy last summer; Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, auxiliary Catholic bishop of Detroit and founder of Pax Christi USA; Dr. Mark Lance, a professor of peace studies at Georgetown University; and Barbara Wien, the co-director of Peace Brigades International.
On Tuesday, May 24, from 7 to 9 p.m., John Prendergast of the International CrisisGroup, Dr. Reeves and the defendants will speak and answer questions at the True Reformer Building (1200 U St. NW). More detailed information about genocide in Darfur, pre-trial events (including vigils at the Sudanese Embassy and White House), the witnesses, defendants and their protest at the embassy is available at this website. For more information, contact Scott Schaeffer-Duffy at 774/239-4022 or theresecw@aol.com; or Paul Magno at 202/234-2000 or pmagno@igc.org.
DC Metro Action is published by Michael Schlesinger, a 32-year veteran of electoral and issue organizing who is committed to social justice and to increasing participation in the political process.
All original content (C) 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Michael Schlesinger
At the embassy on Feb. 2, 2005, activists displayed photos of some of the more than 2 million displaced people in the west Sudanese region of Darfur, where over 300,000 have been killed since 2003. After embassy officials refused to meet with them, the activists blocked the entrance by kneeling in prayer and were charged with unlawful assembly. They face a maximum of three months in jail and/or $250 in fines if convicted.
The defendants and expert witnesses will argue at trial that their nonviolent civil disobedience was justified as an effective means to stop a far greater harm being perpetrated by the Sudanese government in Darfur. The defense witnesses include Dr. Eric Reeves, the world’s leading authority on genocide in Darfur; Mwiza Munthali, the director of information at 
