Amnesty International Petition on Darfur; More Information, Too

	For the most updated news & actions, visit www.amnestyusa.org/darfur		Dear Doug, I opened the newspaper today, and here's what I saw: The War in Iraq, presidential candidates battling in New Hampshire, and the slow housing market. There was little mention of the ongoing deadly conflict in Darfur, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced 2.5 million people to date. That's unacceptable. The people of Darfur need your help to put this crisis at the top of our country and the President's agenda. Please take a minute, and sign Amnesty's Global Petition to help end the violence in Darfur. What good will an online petition do? More than you think. By signing, you will join hundreds of thousands of activists who are urging President Bush to guarantee the swift deployment of more than 26,000 peacekeepers and police -- as mandated by the UN Resolution six weeks ago. You will also ensure that he lives up to his promises to get UN peacekeepers on the ground, fund peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance, and keep our attention on displaced persons in Chad and the Central African Republic as well. On October 24, United Nations Day, Amnesty activists and staff will deliver this urgent petition directly to the White House. And with the strength of our extraordinary numbers, the President will not be able to ignore our call for full deployment of all UN-AU peacekeepers by early 2008 to finally ensure peace and human rights for the people of Darfur. But it will take each and every one of us signing our names and showing our unwavering support. And, as we reported last month, Amnesty activists played an important part in the passage of the UN Security Council Resolution authorizing the deployment of 26,000 peacekeepers and police in Darfur by the end of this year. Our timing is critical. Real progress has been made, now we must ensure that the UN resolution is quickly and fully implemented, and the violence ends. Help us reach our goal of a half-million signatures by October 24. Please take two minutes of your time to sign the global petition for Darfur today. The people of Darfur continue to suffer rape, killings and displacement, and remain deprived of fundamental needs such as food, water, medical care and shelter -- every day. You play an essential role in our global campaign to protect the people of Darfur. Thank you for your ongoing activism. Sincerely, Meredith Larson Campaign Manager Amnesty International USA Campaign to Save Darfur P.S. As we approach October 24th, I'll keep you informed of other ways you can get involved and take action to end the violence in Darfur.