Freedom Fighter

o bullets, no lies—you can’t hide; it’s genocide!” Back in August, on a sweltering Washington day, roughly 50 people picketed in front of Sudan’s embassy. They had assembled to denounce the Khartoum government and its grotesque human-rights abuses in Darfur. The noontime demonstration had been a daily routine on Massachusetts Avenue since late June; every Friday, an act of civil disobedience was staged. On this particular day, a Catholic priest would be arrested in solidarity with the Sudanese.

Shortly after 12:30, a blonde wearing shades strolled confidently up to the protesters. She greeted the organizers, conversed with clergymen in attendance, and then, before a crowd grown silent, delivered a damning account of Khartoum’s atrocities. She urged divestment from oil companies funding Gen. Omar Bashir’s reign of terror, and called for Sudan’s removal from the U.N. Human Rights Commission. With her remarks concluded, and the priest locked away in the paddy wagon, the protesters began to disband; she mingled with the lingering ones, discussing the crisis.

MC

About the Author

Meghan Clyne

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Religious Persecution

o bullets, no lies—you can’t hide; it’s genocide!” Back in August, on a sweltering Washington day, roughly 50 people picketed in front of Sudan’s embassy. They had assembled to denounce the Khartoum government and its grotesque human-rights abuses in Darfur. The noontime demonstration had been a daily routine on Massachusetts Avenue since late June; every Friday, an act of civil disobedience was staged. On this particular day, a Catholic priest would be arrested in solidarity with the Sudanese.

Shortly after 12:30, a blonde wearing shades strolled confidently up to the protesters. She greeted the organizers, conversed with clergymen in attendance, and then, before a crowd grown silent, delivered a damning account of Khartoum’s atrocities. She urged divestment from oil companies funding Gen. Omar Bashir’s reign of terror, and called for Sudan’s removal from the U.N. Human Rights Commission. With her remarks concluded, and the priest locked away in the paddy wagon, the protesters began to disband; she mingled with the lingering ones, discussing the crisis.