This morning co-founder and president of Team Darfur, Joey Cheek, was joined via telephone by Olympic Gold medalist Jessica Mendoza at the National Press Club announcing the call for an Olympic Truce for Darfur. Dream for Darfur Director, Jill Savitt, and Research Director, Ellen Freudenheim, were also in attendance to announce their report on the Olympic Truce. Suliman Giddo, president of Darfur Peace and Development Organization represented the Darfurian support for this call. In conjunction with fellow athletes, activists, and Darfurians, Team Darfur drafted an open letter describing the conception and requirements for an operable Olympic Truce which can be read in full here [1]. In total to date the letter has accumulated 130 signatures. The formal press release is also available by clicking here. [2]

Athletes please send an email to info@teamdarfur.org [3] to sign your name to the Olympic Truce Unity Letter, fans please sign on to support the truce by clicking here. [4]

The letter begins:

"In our common aspiration to realize the ideals of the Olympic Games, we, the undersigned, urge the international community to convince the Government of Sudan to observe an Olympic Truce for Darfur before, during, and after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.  Through this letter, we issue an urgent call to the conscience of the international community.  The violence in Sudan has gone on for too long.  We hope you will use the opportunity of the Olympic Truce to work to end it." 

The letter then calls on world leaders to use the 55 days of the Olympic Truce Period work to pressure the Sudanese government to cease attacks on civilians and allow humanitarian aid workers to access people desperately in need.   The Olympic Truce period should also be used to increase deployment of peacekeepers and rejuvenate the peace process to bring lasting peace to Darfur.