UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Actor George Clooney and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel called on the the U.N. Security Council to take swift and strong action to end violence in Sudan's Darfur region.
Clooney made a heartfelt appeal to the Council Thursday, describing the massacres as "the first genocide of the 21st century."
"In the time that we are here today, more women and children will die violently in the Darfur region than in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine or Lebanon," he said.
Wiesel reiterated Clooney's concerns, saying "in Darfur, in Sudan, those in power abuse it in order to starve, maim and kill people, innocent men, innocent women, innocent children."
Clooney also addressed the likelihood of African Union peacekeeping troops withdrawing from the embattled region at the end of September. Sudan has refused to welcome a Security Council-mandated force, which would take over the African Union's work pending Sudan's consent.
"After Sept. 30, you won't need the United Nations. You'll simply need men with shovels and bleached, white linen and headstones," he said.
Wiesel urged the Security Council to act with or without backing from the Sudanese government.
"Do not wait for Sudan's invitation or consent. If they give it, good. If not, go in anyway," he said. "The criminals, tormentors and attackers don't wait. Stop them."
Both Clooney and Wiesel emphasized the power of the United Nations to affect change.
"You are the United Nations," said Clooney. "This genocide will be on your watch. How you deal with it will be your legacy, your Rwanda, your Cambodia, your Auschwitz."
