Harwich & DY students to participate in Hyannis candlelight vigil Tuesday night

Vigil to ensure President Obama follows through on his promise to the Sudan

STAND students from Harwich High School and Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School are hosting a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night at the Hyannis Village Green where student and community activists will gather to spotlight President Obama’s upcoming policy decision on Sudan. 

Political candidates for office O’Leary, Malone, Perry, White, Keating, and Wolf have been invited, and Sarah Peake will make a special appearance.  Student activists will be telling their stories and sharing the importance of this issue with the community.

In addition to students’ efforts on Cape Cod, STAND members across the country are holding their own local events to bring attention to this critical moment in Obama’s legacy on Sudan as part of a national initiative led by STAND, the student-led division of Genocide Intervention Network. STAND is calling on the Obama administration to enforce a holistic U.S. policy that will leverage diplomatic and economic pressure against the Sudanese regime.

Last week, the Obama Administration held a high-level meeting to discuss Sudan policy recommendations. Retired Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, President Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, presented an exclusively incentive-based policy plan, which does not hold the government accountable for its past abuses. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, was the only official who disagreed with Gen. Gration’s proposal and called for a more holistic policy. With escalating violence in the Darfur region and the potential for all-out war between Northern and Southern Sudan, this is a crucial time for Sudan.

STAND is asking President Obama to reject a Sudan policy proposal if it does not include pressures. The United States must implement a policy that holds the Sudanese government accountable for its continued backsliding. With violence increasing in Darfur and the Southern Referendum on the verge of failure, pressures must be incorporated into the policy.  We’re “Ringing the Alarm” for Sudan.

The candlelight vigil calling for President Obama’s leadership on Sudan policy will be held on the Hyannis Village Green on Main Street on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

Courtesy of STAND.

STAND, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network, empowers student leaders with the tools to prevent and stop genocide. Born out of the fight to stop the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, STAND seeks to unite students around the world in a permanent anti-genocide constituency. For more information, please visit www.standnow.org.