COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 2, 2005)-- A group of concerned Tennessee Tech students will be holding a community forum titled “What’s Going On in Sudan” about the genocide situation in Sudan on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the Tech Pride Room of the Roaden University Center.

The TTU Student Human Rights Club plans to educate those interested in the current religious persecution in Sudan’s Darfur region. The forum will feature distinguished speakers from the University of Tennessee, TTU and the U.S. State Department.

“[The Sudan situation] is something I’m extremely passionate about,” said Erick Veliz, TTU student and Legislative Coordinator for Amnesty International USA for Tennessee.

According to the Amnesty International web site, more than 70,000 people are believed to have lost their lives since the Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003. Systematic human rights abuses have occurred, including killing, torture, rape, looting and destroying of property by all parties involved in the conflict, but primarily by the Sudanese government and government-backed Janjawid militia.

Veliz, also member of the SHRC, is heavily involved in legislative advocacy and serves as the Southeast Regional Coordinator of United Students for Fair Trade. He has also participated in a documentary for college campuses with Coldplay’s lead singer from Oxfam America, a relief agency and one of the largest international organizations in the world concerned with fair trade.

For more information, contact the SHRC at ttu_humanrights@yahoo.com or visit www.amnestyusa.org/countries/sudan/index.do.

--Karen Lykins
This information posted 02 February 2005