Honorable Michael R. Pompeo
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Mr.
Secretary,
We, the
undersigned 85 Sudanese, friends of the Sudanese people, and long time
observers of the Sudan regime, write to warn you regarding U.S. engagement in
Sudan. The leaders of Sudan have outlasted and outsmarted several U.S.
Administrations because they and their counterparts in the Muslim Brotherhood
are committed to a long-term vision. They succeed at advancing their
agenda because they can count on the U.S. and the international community to
focus on short-term gains at the expense of long-term transformational
objectives that yield real and sustainable international peace and security.
The U.S.
government seems to believe it has found a reliable source of intelligence in
the Sudan regime. The Sudan regime knows what the U.S. wants and it is
willing to temporarily and partially cooperate to gain access to financial
markets. Once Sudan has what it wants, what will be the incentive for it
to continue to cooperate with the United States? The Sudan regime is
loyal to no one as evidenced by its opportunistic relationships with Russia,
China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Egypt, and a variety of terrorist
groups in Libya, in Mali, Hamas, the LRA, al-Shabab and al-Qaeda, and others in
the region. If the U.S. removes Sudan from the list of states that sponsor
terrorism, a designation that accurately defines the regime, the financial
fortunes of the regime (not the people of Sudan) will improve and the U.S. will
have empowered a regime guilty of supporting terrorism, committing genocide and
destroying the lives of millions of people, including American citizens.
For an
Administration that is committed to keeping terrorists out of the United
States, it is difficult to fathom why the State Department would issue a visa
to Mohammed Atta al-Moula, the recent former head of Sudan’s National
Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), the arm of the Sudan regime that
carries out the crimes of the regime and controls the country through violent
oppression. Atta is now the Chargé d’Affaires for the Sudan Embassy in Washington,
DC. While U.S. agencies may think they will have more direct access to
the intelligence they seek, the U.S. is also giving a leader of worldwide
intelligence networks, including terrorist networks, direct access to the
United States of America. Atta is a serious national security threat.
As the Head
of NISS from 2009-2018 and the Deputy Head of NISS from 2002-2009, Atta is
responsible for a long list of crimes committed by NISS. A partial list
of those crimes includes the following:
NISS is the
mechanism used by Bashir to control the country through fear. NISS ghost
houses are infamous for torture. Those arrested by NISS for protesting
the crimes of the regime, including the mismanagement of the economy and sham
elections that re-elect Bashir year after year, are first severely beaten, then
taken to detention and beaten again, sometimes for an entire day.
Prisoners are kept in solitary confinement, given small rations, and some are
not allowed to sleep for days, while others are raped and abused. Many
are referred to as slaves. One victim of NISS shared, “The security in
Khartoum tortured us badly,” says Abdel Rachide, tears rolling down his face.
“They put us in ice, in cold water, and they beat us very badly in Khartoum. I
can’t tell you all the torture they did to me,” he says.[1]
NISS controls
terrorist organizations based in Sudan, and it opposes the detention of clerics
who espouse terrorist ideology in the mosques and in the markets.
NISS prevents
religious freedom. It harasses, arrests, and falsely accuses moderate
Muslims and Christian leaders. On behalf of the state, NISS seizes and
destroys property of Christian organizations and does not allow new structures
to be built. Atta directly managed this process as he assigned the NISS
officer, Mohammed Abdalla, to head the Christian department within the Ministry
of Religious Affairs and Endowment.
NISS controls
arms dealers in Sudan and it provides support to armed opposition in the
region, including Central African Republic and South Sudan.
NISS
controlled the Janjaweed and it now controls the Rapid Support Forces (RSF),
which are guilty of attacking and burning villages and crops, killing unarmed
citizens, throwing babies into roaring fires, raping men, women and children,
contaminating water wells, looting cattle, markets and other property.
These crimes have harmed millions of people and are daily events in the Jebel
Marra region of Darfur.
While the
SPLM-N provides some protection for the people in the Nuba Mountains and Blue
Nile, NISS operates in government-controlled areas and arbitrarily arrests,
rapes and terrorizes Sudanese citizens.
In Eastern
Sudan, large numbers of NISS controlled Rapid Support Forces are in place to
supposedly “stop” human trafficking, yet it has been widely reported that RSF
forces are deeply involved in the trafficking themselves. RSF forces are
profiting from this trafficking and have been accused of torturing migrants and
extorting them for money.
A special
project of NISS has been to facilitate the seizure by foreigners of land owned
by Sudanese who have been violently displaced by NISS forces, making
repatriation nearly impossible for people too afraid to return to their homes.
NISS
arbitrarily arrests, beats and kills university students who may speak out
about the crimes of the regime or who come from marginalized areas of Sudan
such as Darfur. For example, in 2011 when Atta led NISS, four students
were drowned by NISS in a ditch.
NISS owns
gold mines and controls others, requiring payment by Sudanese citizens for
“protection.”
According to
the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, Atta’s involvement in these serious
crimes would make him ineligible for a U.S. visa. Under Atta’s direction,
NISS has committed severe violations of religious freedom, endorsed and
supported terrorist activity, commissioned acts of torture and extrajudicial
killings, recruited child soldiers, and committed genocide.
Atta and his
counterparts in the Sudan regime are as charming as they are ruthless.
They are experts at appearing to be the victim of the U.S., as though the
actions of the U.S. forced them to torture, deprive and kill Sudanese
citizens. The regime is an expert at creating a problem, solving it (at
least partially) and then demanding credit from the international community,
which repeatedly falls for this deadly game. The regime is an expert at
controlling the United Nations by constantly threatening expulsion if it
doesn’t play by the regime’s rules. The regime is an expert at
manipulating the international community by helping it fight battles in Yemen
or by curbing immigration to Europe. The regime can count on the
international community to avoid looking too closely at its methods because it
knows the international community is tired, distracted and does not want to
deal with the crimes of the regime. The regime is confident that it will
be excused because it has already gotten and continues to get away with
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains
and in Blue Nile. The African Union is willing to look the other way, and
the international community refuses to arrest criminals wanted by the
International Criminal Court.
While the
world may be willing to forget the crimes of the regime, we will not, and the
U.S. government must not. We do not forget because the people of Sudan
and South Sudan who have been hunted and killed or forcibly displaced by the
Sudan regime deserve to be remembered and they deserve justice. We do not
forget because if we allow genocide, mass atrocities and war crimes to go
unpunished it puts all of us at risk. Impunity puts the world in grave
danger and we are seeing that play out before our eyes around the world.
“Winning” the war on terror at the expense of justice is a short-term if not illusive
victory. Real security is achieved through accountability.
Stability is a byproduct of freedom and equal citizenship. There are no
short cuts or substitutes.
Make no
mistake, the Sudan regime is determined to survive. It will sell-out
anyone and everyone, it will make short-term concessions, it will say what you
want to hear, but fundamentally it has not and it will not change. The
Sudan regime and its security and intelligence arm in Sudan and Washington are
dangerous. Don’t be fooled.
Sincerely,
Act for
Sudan, Eric Cohen, Co-Founder, USA
Abdel Monim
El Jak, Researcher
African
Freedom Coalition, Al Sutton M.D., President, New York, NY
African
United Democratic Party (AUDP), Sibusiso Bbusibheki Dlamini, Secretary General,
Swaziland
Ahmed H. Adam,
Research Associate, School of Law, SOAS University of London, UK
Akulia
Foundation, Lita Muki, Chairperson, Juba, Jubek, South Sudan
American-MidEast
Coalition for Democracy, Tom Harb, Co-Chair, Nashville, TN
Blue Nile
Community Association, Philip Nima, Community Organizer, Salt Lake City, Utah
Brooklyn
Coalition for Darfur & Marginalized Sudan, Laura Limuli, Coordinator,
Brooklyn, NY
Catalyst
Schools Projects, Ngor Kur Mayol, Unity State, South Sudan
Coalition of
Advocates for South Sudan, Peter Magai Bul, Chicago, IL
Collectif
Urgence Darfour, Dr. Jacky Mamou, President, Paris, France
Concerned
Citizens for Change, Gene Binder, Member Steering Committee, Bronx, NY
DAAM-UK
(Pro-Democracy Activists Abroad), Ali Abdelatif M. Hussein, Co-ordinator,
London, UK
Damanga
Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, Daowd Salih, Co-Founder & Board
President, Peapack, NJ
Darfur Action
Group of South Carolina, Richard Sribnick, MD, President, Columbia, SC
Darfur
Community Association, Mohammed Esmail, General Secretary, Cape Town, Western
Cape, South Africa
Darfur
Community Org, Bakheit Shata, Executive Director, Omaha, NE
Darfur Human
Rights Organization of the USA, Abdelgabar Adam, Founder and President,
Philadelphia, PA
Darfur
Interfaith Network, Martha Boshnick, Co-Chair, Washington, DC
Darfur
People’s Association of New York, Motasim Adam, Secretary General, Brooklyn, NY
David Alton,
Professor the Lord Alton, Independent Crossbench Peer, London, UK
Doctors to
the World, Nuba Mountains, Sudan, C. Louis Perrinjaquet, MD, MPH, ,
Breckenridge, CO
Dr. Deborah
Mayersen, Research Fellow, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW
Australia
Dr. Samuel
Totten, Presidential Scholar, Chapman University, Orange, CA
Elhag Ali
Warrag Sidahmed Warrag, Editor in Chief, Hurriyat
Ellen J.
Kennedy, Ph.D., Executive Director, World Without Genocide, St. Paul, MN
Eric Metaxas,
Author, nationally syndicated radio host, cultural commentator, New York, NY
Eric Reeves,
Senior Fellow, Harvard University’s François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health
and Human Rights, Northampton, MA
Face Past for
Future Foundation (FP4F), Abdelrahman Gasim, Chairperson, Kampala, Uganda
Genocide No
More – Save Darfur, Marv Steinberg, Coordinator, Redding, CA
Golda Abbe,
London
Group Against
Torture in Sudan (GATS), Dr. Mohamed Elgadi, Secretary, Amherst, MA
Hamid E. Ali,
PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy and Administration, The
American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt
Henry C.
Theriault, Ph.D., President, International Association of Genocide Scholars,
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Worcester State University,
Worcester, MA
HERO (Human
Rights Education and Relief Organization), Jason Jones, President, Kapolei,
Hawaii
Hon. David
Kilgour, J.D., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Human Rights
and Development Organization (HUDO Centre), Bushra Gamar Hussein, Executive
Director, Kampala, Uganda
In Altum
Productions, Jordan Allott, Founder, Washington, DC
Independent
Movement, Adil Taha, External Relations, Fairfax, VA
Institute on
Religion and Democracy, Faith J.H. McDonnell, Director, International Religious
Liberty Program & Church Alliance for a New Sudan, Washington, DC
Investors
Against Genocide, Susan Morgan, Co-founder, San Francisco, CA
Jan Theisen,
Arvada, CO
Jews Against
Genocide, USA, Sharon Silber, Co-Founder, New York, NY
Joining Our
Voices, Slater Armstrong, Founder/Director, Baton Rouge, LA
Kentuckiana
Taskforce Against Genocide, Robert Brousseau, Founder and Co-Chair, Louisville,
KY
Magdi
Elgzouli, Human Rights Activist, Sweden
Massachusetts
Coalition to Save Darfur, William Rosenfeld, Director, Boston, MA
Mia Farrow,
Actress and Humanitarian
Middle East
Christians Coalition (MECHRIC), John Hajjar, Executive Board, Quincy, MA
Mohamed Y.
Khalifa, Instructor, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Mohaned
Elnour, Human Rights Lawyer and Director, Justice Center for Advocacy and Legal
Consultation (JCALC)
Mustafa
Sharif, PhD., College Station, TX
Najlaa Ahmed,
Human Rights Advocate, Columbia University, London
Never Again
Coalition, Lauren Fortgang, Policy Director, Portland, OR
New York
Coalition for Sudan, Eileen Weiss, Co-Director, New York, NY
Nuba
Christian Family Mission, James Flournoy, Director, Englewood, CO
Nubia
Project, Nuraddin Abdulmannan, President and Fakiri Gawish Taha, Co-Founder,
Washington, DC
Omer G.
Ismail, Sudan Policy Advisor, Washington, DC
Rabbi Azriel,
On behalf Darfuri and Sudanese at large
Rev. Dr.
Austin Watson, Retired, United Methodist Church, Hendersonville, NC
Rev. John
Calhoun, Director, Center For Pastoral Leadership, Point Loma Nazarene
University, San Diego, CA
Rona Wronker,
Evergreen, CO
Safwan,
Attorney, S.P.L.M., Alexandria, VA
San Francisco
Bay Area Darfur Coalition, Mohamed Suleiman, President, San Francisco, CA
Save The
Persecuted Christians Coalition, Washington, DC
Seifeldin
Kudi, Human Rights Defender, Boston, MA
Skills for
Nuba Mountains, Lazim Suleiman Elbasha, Founder and Director, Kauda, South
Kordofan/Nuba Mountains Sudan
Society for
Threatened Peoples – Germany, Ulrich Delius, Director, Göttingen, Germany
South Sudan
Victims and Survivors Organization, Amute Francis Lobalu, Executive Director,
Juba, South Sudan
St. James
Social Justice and Peace Committee, Joyce Rothermel, Chair, Wilkinsburg, PA
Sudan Relief
and Rehabilitation Agency, Ishraga Ahmed Khamis, Blue Nile, Sudan
Sudan Rowan,
Inc., Ngor Kur Mayol, President, Atlanta, GA
Sudan
Unlimited, Esther Sprague, Founder and Director, San Francisco, CA
Sudanese
Community Church, The Episcopal Church in Colorado, The Rev. Oja B. Gafour,
PhD., Vicar, Denver, CO
Sudanese
Community of Kentucky Inc, Abdulrahim Adam, President, Louisville, KY
The Rev.
Heidi McGinness, International Human Rights Activist and Peacemaker, Denver, CO
The Reverend
Ronald D. Culmer, , St. Clare’s Episcopal Church, Pleasanton, CA
The Right
Reverend Alan Scarfe, Bishop, The Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, Des Moines, IA
The Rt.
Reverend Julian Dobbs, Bishop, Convocation of Anglicans in North America,
McLean, VA
The Rt.
Reverend William L. Murdoch, Bishop, The Anglican Diocese in New England,
Amesbury
Unite for
Darfur Organization, Bahar Arabie, CEO, Gaithersburg, MD
Victoria D.
Sanford, PhD, Director, Lehman Center for Human Rights & Peace Studies,
Bronx, NY
Waging Peace,
Maddy Crowther, Co-Executive Director, London, UK
Western Sudan
Aid Relief in the U.S.A. Inc, Seddik Abdel Jabbar, President and CEO, Dallas,
TX
[1] “Tales of slavery and torture for Darfuri refugees in Chad who have
nowhere to go,” Laura Angela Bagnetto, August 10, 2018
0 comments:
إرسال تعليق