George Clooney to Address UN Security Council on Darfur

Oscar-winning actor and liberal activist George Clooney will address the United Nations' Security Council tomorrow, September 14, on the refugee crisis in Darfur, Sudan. Clooney's speech is sponsored by The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel will also address the Council.

Clooney and Wiesel will urge the UN Security Council to send UN peacekeepers into the Darfur region, regardless of Sudanese President al-Bashir's fight to keep UN troops out. The UN passed a resolution in late August 2006 to send up to 22,500 troops and police officers to augment the 7,000 African soldiers now in Darfur.

Writes Charles Woflson of CBS News, "...the UN’s troops will not be going into the region anytime soon. In fact they will not be going in until the government of Sudan gives them the green light. This is the same government whose top officials have sanctioned and assisted the violent activities of the janjaweed militia, one of the groups which have created a situation which the Bush administration has labeled 'genocide.' "

George Clooney and his father, journalist Nick Clooney, visited Darfur in April 2006. And along with Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), Clooney spoke out at the massive Rally to Stop Darfur Genocide, held in Washington DC on April 30, 2006.

Clooney commented about the Darfur situation, "If we turn our heads and look away and hope that it will disappear then they will-all of them, an entire generation of people. And we will only have history left to judge us."

For more about George Clooney's impassioned drive to contribute to a better, more just world, read The Politics of George Clooney, Actor and Liberal Activist.

Related Reading
Photos of the Conflict and Refugee Camps in Darfur, About.com's Guide to World News
Darfur's Ongoing Tragedy, CBS Special Report