URGENT APPEAL FOR ACTION ON SUDAN
SUMMARY & COMMENT: Given the increasing level of violence in Sudan, and the
fear of more killings unless something is done, KAIROS is issuing this
appeal for Canadian officials to act. Please consider sending a letter to
your Member of Parliament, with copies to Prime Minister Paul Martin.
(CANADIAN SPECIFIC APPEAL)
URGENT APPEAL FOR ACTION ON SUDAN
Given the increasing level of violence in Sudan, and the fear of more
killings unless something is done, KAIROS is issuing this appeal for
Canadian officials to act. Please consider sending a letter to your Member
of Parliament, with copies to Prime Minister Paul Martin.
Background
According to most credible reports, over 1000 people are being killed a
week in Sudan by an armed militia that is supported by aircraft of the
Sudanese National Forces. Reports of systematic rape of girls and women by
the Janjaweed militia have also emerged in recent months. Human rights
groups are warning of "another Rwanda".
In response to this crisis, KAIROS is asking the Canadian government to
take specific steps to stop the humanitarian crisis from escalating, and to
apply pressure on the Sudanese government to cease its support for
indiscriminate attacks on civilians by immediately disbanding the militias.
The Canadian government has not acted beyond some "behind the scenes" work
at the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. In mid-May, however, Senator
Mobina Jaffer will be travelling to Khartoum for meetings with the Sudanese
authorities.
What you can do
KAIROS is urging the Canadian government to denounce unequivocally the
human rights violations in Sudan and aggressively pressure the government
of Sudan for peace.
Please send the following letter (augmented if possible with a personal
message of concern) to your Member of Parliament and copy Paul Martin,
Prime Minister of Canada. (please 'cc' chesla@africafiles.org )
Ideally, messages should be signed and faxed to individual MPs, although
you can email or mail them if necessary. E-mails and addresses of MPs can
be found at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/SenatorsMembers_house.asp?Language=EParl=37&Se
s=3&Sect=hoccur.
General address for all MPs:
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1A 0A6
Letters should be sent as soon as possible.
Further information
Background to the latest crisis can be found on KAIROS' website:
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/humanrights/peaceSudan0404.asp
General background can be found in KAIROS' Sudan "e-kit" and in the Sudan
section of KAIROS letters and statements, including the latest letter to
Prime Minister Martin.
Sample Letter:
MP's Name
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Dear ____________,
I am extremely alarmed by the worsening human rights and humanitarian
crisis in Sudan. More than 2 million people have perished and over 4
million have been forced from their homes since 1983 in one of the longest
and most violent conflicts in the world, and Canada has done little to
mitigate the crisis.
I urge the Government of Canada to take leadership in assuring a
comprehensive peace process between the Government of Sudan and its
opposition, including the armed groups in Darfur, and insist that the
Government of Sudan bring the killing to a halt. While we appreciate the
work of Senator Mobina Jaffer, Canada's envoy to the peace talks in
Naivasha, Kenya, we strongly urge Canada to do much more.
Canada should immediately insist that the Sudanese government:
A) Halt the repeated human rights violations and breaches of international
humanitarian law committed by the Sudanese military and its proxy militia
forces; B) Stop the systematic and indiscriminate aerial bombardments and
ground attacks by Sudanese forces on unarmed civilians; C) Cease the
attacks by its proxy forces against civilians including killing, rape,
pillage, arson, and torture, intent on dispersing the population and
ethnically cleansing entire regions of the country; D) Disband the
ethnically-charged Janjaweed militia in Darfur; E) Allow immediate access
to all zones of conflict by humanitarian organizations and international
human rights monitors, and; F) Release all political prisoners.
It has been ten years since the genocide in Rwanda and many Canadians are
still tormented by the international community's lack of concern and
response to the early warnings of mass killings. When Lt. General Romeo
Dallaire, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission there, called
for reinforcements to stop the slaughter, the international community stood
by and washed its hands. Humanity cannot afford to repeat those mistakes in
Sudan.
If Canada and its partners act now we can prevent the tragedy in Sudan from
getting worse.
I look forward to your response on this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
(Source: AFRICAFILES www.africafiles.org)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON PEACE AND CONFLICT IN SUDAN
Samuel Aru Bol - "What Is the Solution to the Southern Problem?", Peace
File No. 11, The Sudan Foundation, 1997
http://www.sufo.demon.co.uk/pax011.htm
Centre for Strategic and International Studies
Perhaps the United States' premier foreign policy think-tank, the CSIS has published a review of US-Sudan policy. Whilst good in parts it still leaves a lot to be desired in accuracy and attitude.
http://www.csis.org/
Dr. J. Stephen Morrison & Dr. Francis Deng, "Forging a New Dialogue on Sudan: Statement of Task" "US Policy to End Sudan's War: Report of the CSIS Task Force on US-Sudan Policy"
http://www.csis.org/africa/sudansot.html
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
Use "Individual Country Entries" to locate material on Sudan.
http://www.child-soldiers.org
http://www.child-soldiers.org/report2001/country_entries.html#
Council for International People's Friendship
"[E]stablished in Khartoum in 1990... it aimed to enable the people of Sudan to play an effective role in enriching the process of popular diplomacy which aims at fostering international co-operation and peace".
http://www.sudanembkenya.or.ke/worldfriend.htm
Dr. M. A. Fazal - "A Federal Solution to the Conflict in Sudan"
Dr. Fazal, Principal Lecturer in Law at Nottingham Trent University (England), and author of such books as 'Judicial Control of Administrative Action in India and Pakistan and Bangladesh: A Comparative Study' and 'A Federal Constitution for the United Kingdom', makes a constructive proposal for a constitutional mechanism that would assist in the resolution of the Sudanese conflict.
http://www.angelfire.com/ok/mafazal/index.html
http://www.angelfire.com/ok/mafazal/sudan.html