International human rights campaigns for small peoples of the Arctic and against genocide in Darfur passed

The consequences of the climate change, which are already noticeably threatening the small peoples in the Arctic, are the main subject of the new joint campaign of the eight national sections of the Society for Threatened Peoples International (GfbV). This was decided by the General Meeting of the federatively structured international human rights organisation, which met from Saturday until Monday afternoon in Göttingen.

The representatives of the sections from Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina and speakers for the GfbV sections in Chile and Kurdistan/Iraq also agreed on continuing and intensifying their campaign for the ending of the continuing genocide in west Sudanese Darfur alongside the international campaign "Save Darfur", founded in the USA.

"The indifference of public opinion throughout the world in the face of the crimes against the black African Muslim civilian population in Darfur is really frightening", criticised the President of the GfbV International, Tilman Zülch. Some 400,000 people have fallen victim to the Arab militia squads, who have the support of the military, about 2.5 million have been expelled and are living in refugee camps. They are not even in safety there from attacks by the militia from southern Arabia and from the government troops. Zülch pointed out that behind these abstract figures are hidden the fates of people who are waiting for the intervention of the United Nations and for the support of the international community.

The General Meeting of the GfbV International has, in addition to these two central human rights campaigns, agreed to the admission of the new GfbV section Kurdistan/Iraq to the joint umbrella association. The "Dutch Melanese Foundation" from the Netherlands also joined the Society for Threatened Peoples International.

In New York, London, Dublin and Pristina/Kosovo the GfbV has representatives. It has consultative status at the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and participant status at the Council of Europe.