What's happening in the Sudan?

The International Criminal Court in the Hague formally requested an arrest warrant on Monday for the Sudanese president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the past five years of bloodshed in his country's Darfur region.

You can learn more:

Here - Statement of the Sudenese Bishops to the Lambeth Conference on the Situation in Sudan

Here - The Committee on Conscience from the US Holocaust Museum

Here - Save Darfur - an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations

What can we do? Thanks to Rev. Mike K. for these abstracts from the statement:

• International pressure for peace in Darfur as part of a "whole Sudan approach" to conflict in Sudan, realizing that the conflicts in Darfur and in the South are inextricably linked.
• Continued education and political pressure around the Referendum of 2011, which would provide the opportunity for independence for Southern Sudan.
• Continued political pressure to abide by the Abyei protocol of the CPA.
• Support for the Church in the North in the face of religious persecution from the government.
• Continued pressure on peace talks with the Lord's Resistance Army and Ambororo.
• Support in terms of relief and development, to help communities provide clean water, security, health and education for returning refugees and internally displaced persons.

and from an advocacy guide (find it linked here):

1. Thank the administration (senators, representative and president) for its excellent work in helping the people of South Sudan construct a functioning government for themselves and urge increased funding for these noble, yet underfunded efforts.

2. Urge the administration to continue to develop policy recognizing the interrelation of conflicts within Sudan (Darfur, north-south, conflict in Eastern Sudan) and the broader region (Uganda, Chad, Congo) and to recognize the ripple effects.

3. Urge the administration to use the opportunity of the Olympic Games to hold China to a higher standard on human rights, particularly with its trading partner, Sudan.

4. Encourage broadly increased investment across the board in South Sudan as a way to further strengthen the efforts at building democracy there.