On June 24, 2008, our very own Joey Cheek testified at a Hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. The hearing was titled “From Nuremberg to Darfur: Accountability for Crimes Against Humanity.” Senator Dick Durbin opened the hearing with some remarks about the U.S.’s longstanding role as leader in the struggle for human rights worldwide. He noted that deplorable atrocities are occurring in Darfur. “There is much that must be done to end the carnage in Darfur. Part of the solution is arresting and prosecuting the perpetrators. Otherwise they will continue to act with impunity and victims will feel they have no recourse but to resort to violence themselves.”

Daoud Hari, author of “The Translator: A Tribesman’s memoir of Darfur,” testified about his personal experiences as a Darfurian. Gayle Smith, co-chair of the ENOUGH Project, and Diane Orentlicher, Professor at Washington College of Law, both emphasized the need to make crimes against humanity against the law in the U.S. As surprising as it may seem, the U.S. cannot currently prosecute perpetrators of crimes against humanity who have sought asylum in our country. Both women encouraged the Senate to pass an act similar to the Genocide Accountability Act of 2007 that would officially make crimes against humanity against U.S.law.

In Joey’s testimony, he emphasized the deliberate decisions made by those in Darfur who are committing these crimes: “Over the last five years in the desert of Darfur, almost every day men make the decision to aim a gun at the head of an unarmed person and pull the trigger.” He went on to say that, “For that decision, there must be accountability. There must be the knowledge throughout the world that if you willfully destroy the lives and homes of innocents that you will be held responsible.”

We applaud Senators Durbin and Leahy for seeing the importance of doing something to help stop the genocide in Darfur and for taking the initiative to serve on the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. For more information about this hearing, please check out the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary [1]. To read Joey's full testimony, visit our Testimony [2] page.