Saturday, April 29, 2006

The world did not respond to genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda, so Sudan is a test for the world - McGovern (D-Worcester)

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., center, is escorted to a police vehicle by members of the Uniform Division of the Secret Services after his arrest during a demonstration outside the Sudanese Embassy as part of a protest against genocide in Sudan's embattled Darfur region, Friday, April 28, 2006 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

McGovern arrested at protest

By Jim Hand
The Sun Chronicle (Mass., USA)


U.S. Rep. James McGovern said he had a talk with his two children Thursday night to explain to them why he planned to get arrest ed Friday.

McGovern, D-Worcester, said he told his children that the government of Sudan is doing terrible things to its people and he felt he had to do something about it.

So Friday, McGovern, who represents much of the Attleboro area, and four other congress men refused to leave the steps of the Sudanese embassy when ordered to move by police.

They were handcuffed, taken into custody, held in jail for a couple of hours, and fined $50 for disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly.

McGovern said he took the action in part because he did not want his children to grow up and ask him some day why he did nothing while an estimated 400,000 civilians were murdered in the Darfur region of Sudan.

"When you go to the Holocaust Museum, the words 'Never Again' are written every where. Well, those words have to mean some thing," McGovern said.

He said what is going on in Darfur is genocide.

The world did not respond to genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda, so Sudan is a test for the world.

"This is the first genocide of the 21st century. This has been too much slaughter. Too much torture. It just can't happen anymore," he said.

McGovern said this is the second time in his life he has been arrested.

The first was at a similar protest against the apartheid policies of South Africa.

Protests against South Africa in the 1980's, he said, eventually led the United States and other countries to pressure the apartheid state to change its policies.

McGovern said he hopes his arrest Friday will be a step toward getting our government to act.

The United States could pressure China to stop providing weapons to Sudan and could get the United Nations to send in peace-keeping troops.

McGovern said he is not advocating U.S. ground troops at this time.

In the short term, he said, the arrests can also bring attention to the genocide.

Events like the Michael Jackson trial get more publicity than the genocide in Sudan, he said.

McGovern said he decided nonviolent disobedience was required because legal actions were ineffective.

"I've supported resolutions. I've sent letters. I've signed petitions. I just concluded words are no longer enough. It required action," he said.

McGovern was arrested along with U.S. Reps. John Olver, D-Mass.; Tom Lantos, D-California; Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas; and John Moran, D-Virginia.

McGovern said the idea to get arrested was his and he and his colleagues told the Secret Service they would be taking the action.

He said he hopes when his children -- Molly 4 and Patrick 8 -- are older they will understand why their father got arrested.

In the meantime, McGovern said his wife told him she was proud of him because he is the first congressman to be arrested this year on charges other than corruption.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for sudan. I wish somebody do the same thing for Cabodia.

Anonymous said...

I hope the world justice can punish the vietnamese leaders in Cambodia genocide.

Anonymous said...

It's good for sudan. But for Cambodia, it's too late. Khmer Rouge tribunal is the only thing should be done now. For the people of Cambodia, elimination of poverty is needed now. I think Cambodian have already suffered too much... Cambodians living abroad who are well off should do something for their home country rather than just blame this or that and bring world hatred to their own country.