Olympic Dream for Darfur is organizing an Olympic Torch Relay to draw attention to China's role in the Darfur crisis.  The torch lighting began on August 9 in Chad, near the Darfur border. The second leg of the symbolic torch relay took place in Kigali, Rwanda on August 15. Most recently, the torch traveled to Yerevan, Armenia. The torch relay will also travel through Berlin, Germany; Sarajevo, Bosnia; and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with a final stop in China in January.  

Here in the U.S. Dream for Darfur will be working with the Save Darfur Coalition and STAND to organize events in various cities throughout the nation.  The Los Angeles Torch Rally will take place this Sunday, November 18, at 1pm at the LA Memorial Coliseum.  

I'm also including a Media Advisory from the Dream For Darfur website: www.dreamfordarfur.org 

ARMENIANS JOIN THE CALL FOR END TO GENOCIDE IN DARFUR

Special Plea to China, as host of ’08 Olympics: Bring the Olympic Dream to Darfur

Olympic-style Torch Relay Unites Survivors of All Modern

Genocides to call for an End to Darfur and All Genocides
 

Who:   

• Survivors and descendants of survivors of the Armenian genocide
• The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the presiding bishop of the Church of England and Symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. 
• His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, head of the Armenian Orthodox Church, is the spiritual leader of millions of Armenians worldwide.
• Omer Ismail, a Sudanese survivor from Darfur living in the United States.
• Freddy Mutanguha, the General Secretary of IBUKA (the umbrella organization of Rwandan survivors of genocide) and Rwanda Manager of Aegis Trust.  
• Jill Savitt, Director of Dream for Darfur, which runs the Olympic Dream for Darfur campaign.

What:      Symbolic Olympic Torch lighting at Genocide Memorial site in Yerevan. The torch will be lit from the eternal flame and passed among survivors of genocide and other Darfur advocates.
Press Conference to follow.

Where:     Tsitsernakapert Genocide Memorial (event and press conference)

When:     Tuesday, September 25 at 10.30AM, Yerevan, Armenia (time to be confirmed)

                We can provide transportation for members of the press who require transportation from     Republic Square to the Armenian Genocide Memorial. Please contact Arpi Vartanian     (aaa@arminco.com / +374-91-40-42-67) for more information.

Why:    Armenia is the third stop on an international symbolic Olympic Torch Relay that began             on   August 9 near the Darfur border exactly one year before the summer Olympics                     (video and photos available at www.dreamfordarfur.org) to call attention to the                         constructive role that China could play in the Darfur crisis.  On August 15, the torch was             lit in Kigali, Rwanda, at a site where thousands of Tutsis were killed after UN forces                 withdrew. 
 

During the Armenian Genocide approximately one and a half million Armenians were slaughtered, perished or exiled. The event in Armenia honors genocide victims and survivors worldwide, and highlights the vital role the international community must play to protect innocent civilians. The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said about his participation in the event, “The international community must join together to ensure that the world does not look away, yet again, when mass killing is taking place.  We honor victims and survivors of previous genocides and must listen to their plea to make the words ‘never again’ a reality, both for the people of Darfur and for the future.”

Background: 

Dream for Darfur, a global advocacy campaign, is organizing the symbolic Olympic Torch Relay to urge the international community, with a special appeal to the Chinese government in its role as Olympic host, to use its influence to bring security to civilians in Darfur before the 2008 Olympic Games begin. After Armenia, the torch will travel to Bosnia, Germany, and Cambodia, all countries whose peoples have suffered genocides.  In solidarity with global Olympic Torch Relay, there are national relays slated for the US, Canada, Italy, Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom, France, Brazil, and South Africa.

Dream for Darfur’s symbolic Olympic Torch Relay seeks to use the Olympic ideals of peace and international cooperation to raise awareness about Darfur and as a step toward building an international anti-genocide movement for the future. (www.dreamfordarfur.org)
 

NOT A BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN:

Olympic Dream for Darfur is not a boycott campaign, nor does it support a boycott of the Olympics. The campaign believes that the sports arena is the best forum for countries to “do battle” and does not advocate withdrawal by any nation from this essential forum.

Focusing on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the campaign urges China -- Sudan's strongest political and economic partner, as well as the host of the ‘08 Summer Olympics -- to use its special influence with the Sudanese government to allow for the implementation of a robust civilian protection force into Darfur before the Games begin. China’s active, constructive engagement on this issue is even more important since the UN authorized the deployment of a peacekeeping force to Darfur on July 31.

Symbolism of the Olympic Torch Relay:

The Olympic torch has been associated with the Games from classical times. The modern torch relay was introduced at the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany as a means to celebrate the Third Reich. Dream for Darfur has adapted the torch relay both to commemorate past victims and as an evocative rallying cry to end the first genocide of the 21st century. 

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