January 21, 2013

Rights Groups And Genocide Scholars Ask Germany To Cancel Sudan Investment Conference

Filed under Press Releases

Take Action!

Tweet this:

International outcry re #Germany’s #Sudan investment conference. NGOs and #genocide scholars request cancellation http://bit.ly/140p6je


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,

[Download PDF Here]

Conference will “help to fund more atrocities against civilians,” say groups

January 21, 2013 – As Germany prepares for a conference in Berlin on January 29 to promote investments in Sudan, human rights organizations, genocide scholars and Sudan advocates around the world sent an open letter to the German government asking that the conference be cancelled. The letter states, “Efforts to promote investments in Sudan are premature and put the international community at risk of funding a government that continues to perpetrate massive human rights violations against its own people.”

The letter was signed by 68 international organizations, 14 genocide scholars and other notable human rights advocates. Among those signing were genocide experts Eric Reeves and Sam Totten, and Hawa Abdallah Mohammed Salih, U.S. Department of State 2012 International Women of Courage Award Winner. The letter was coordinated by Act for Sudan, a bipartisan, interfaith alliance of American and Sudanese grassroots advocacy groups.

The letter warns that holding the conference would place “Germany squarely in the role of generating financial support for the genocidal Sudanese regime. ” It states, “The National Congress Party (NCP) regime in Sudan, led by a president indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, is causing the death, starvation, displacement, and destruction of livelihood of Sudanese civilians in Darfur, Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan and the Blue Nile state.”

“Without real, on-the-ground progress in Sudan, Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Darfur, Sudan’s history of genocidal violence makes it extremely likely that this conference, hosted by Germany, will help to fund more atrocities against civilians. Please cancel the conference to avoid raising funds that will help support genocide,” the letter concludes.

###

Act for Sudan is an alliance of American citizen activists and Sudanese U.S. residents who advocate for an end to genocide and mass atrocities in Sudan. Act for Sudan is dedicated to advocacy that is directly informed by the situation on the ground and by Sudanese people who urgently seek protection, justice, and peace. For more information please visit www.actforsudan.org.

CONTACT: Susan Morgan, 617 797 0451, susan@paxcommunications.org
Elizabeth Blackney, 541 390 1913, eliz@medializzy.com

FULL TEXT OF LETTER

January 21, 2013

Minister Guido Westerwelle


German Foreign Minister
Federal Foreign Office
Auswärtiges Amt 
D-11013 Berlin

Dear Minister Westerwelle,

We, the undersigned international NGOs and genocide scholars, are writing to protest Germany’s plans to host an international conference to promote investment in Sudan on January 29, 2013 in Berlin. We ask that you cancel this conference that places Germany squarely in the role of generating financial support for the genocidal Sudanese regime.

As you know, genocide continues in Sudan. The National Congress Party (NCP) regime in Sudan, led by a president indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, is causing the death, starvation, displacement, and destruction of livelihood of Sudanese civilians in Darfur, Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan and the Blue Nile state.

Among the issues of greatest concern are the fact that unlawful attacks against civilians continue in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, Darfur, and the East even as the Government of Sudan continues to restrict movement and access for international humanitarian aid organizations operating throughout Sudan. Further key issues with South Sudan remain unresolved, including final definition and demarcation of the north-south border and the final status of the Abyei area. People across Sudan who protest the current regime are denied basic rights and face attack, arrest and torture.

Efforts to promote investments in Sudan are premature and put the international community at risk of funding a government that continues to perpetrate massive human rights violations against its own people. Such investments should not occur prior to a cessation of attacks on civilians, the granting of unhindered humanitarian access across Sudan, and a clear demonstration of progress on all remaining issues, including an inclusive constitutional review process followed by free and fair elections.

Without real, on-the-ground progress in Sudan, Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Darfur, Sudan’s history of genocidal violence makes it extremely likely that this conference, hosted by Germany, will help to fund more atrocities against civilians.  Please cancel the conference to avoid raising funds that will help support genocide.

Act for Sudan

Martina Knee, Co-Founder
USA

Africa Action Group
Paul Muortat, Director
London, UK

African Soul, American Heart

Debra Dawson, President
Fargo, ND, USA

Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan
Joan Hecht, Founder and President
Jacksonville, FL, USA

Allied CSOs and Solidarity Groups for the Peoples of Sudan
Mohamed Yassin, Coordinator
Selvazzano Dentro Padua, Italy

Americans Against the Darfur Genocide

Nikki Serapio, Director
Washington, DC, USA

Armenian National Committee of America

Aram Hamparian, Executive Director
Washington, DC, USA

Arry Organization for Human Rights and Development

Osman Naway Habila, General Director
Kansas City, MO, USA

Peter Balakian

Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of the Humanities, Colgate University
Hamilton, NY, USA

Beja Congress, Greater Washington D.C. Chapter
Ibrahim T. Ahmed, Representative
Fairfax, VA, USA

Beja Organization for Human Rights and Development
Ibrahim T. Ahmed, Co-founder and Executive Director
Fairfax, VA, USA

Brooklyn Coalition for Darfur & Marginalized Sudan

Laura Limuli, Coordinator
Brooklyn, NY, USA

Center for Human Rights and Genocide Studies, University of North Dakota

Gregory S. Gordon, Director
Grand Forks, ND, USA

“Change the world. It just takes cents” TM
Sara Caine Kornfeld, Founder/Educator
Denver, CO, USA

Christian Solidarity International – USA
Rev. Heidi McGinness, Director of Outreach
Denver, CO, USA

Church Alliance for a New Sudan, The Institute on Religion and Democracy
Faith J. H. McDonnell, Director
Washington, DC, USA

Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy
Mohamed Yahya, Executive Director
Falls Church, VA, USA

Darfur Action Group of SC
Richard Sribnick, Chairman
Columbia, SC, USA

Darfur and Beyond

Cory Williams, Co-Founder
Phoenix, AZ, USA

Darfur Culture

Mohammadain Ishag, President
Antwerpen, Belgium

Darfur Human Rights Organization of the USA
Abdelgabar Adam, Founder and President
Philadelphia, PA, USA

Darfur Interfaith Network
Richard Young, Co-Chair
Washington, DC, USA

Darfur People’s Association of New York
Ahmat Nour, President
Brooklyn, NY, USA

Darfur Women Action Group

Niemat Ahmadi, President
Washington, DC, USA

Darfurian Association of Greater Houston

Suliman Awadalla, Executive Director
Houston, TX, USA

Dear Sudan, Love Marin
Gerri Miller, Founder and Coordinator
Tiburon, CA, USA

Helen Fein
Board Chair, Institute for the Study of Genocide
New York, NY, USA

Fur Solidarity USA
Adam Mohamed Ahmed Yahya, President
Sioux Falls, SD, USA

Genocide No More
Marv Steinberg, Coordinator
Redding, CA, USA

Genocide Watch, George Mason University
Dr. Gregory Stanton, President
Arlington, VA, USA

GeNoticed
Elizabeth Blackney, Co-Founder, Author and Anti-genocide advocate
Virginia Beach, VA, USA

GIRIFNA
Dalia Haj-Omar, Advocacy Team member
France

John Hagan

Professor, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University
Evanston, IL, USA

Maureen S. Hiebert
Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Senior Fellow, Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Humanity is Us

Kimberly Hollingsworth, Founder
New York, NY, USA

Idaho Darfur Coalition
A. J. Fay, Co-Founder
Boise, ID, USA

IKV Pax Christi
Nico Plooijer, Program Manager
Netherlands

Investors Against Genocide
Eric Cohen, Chairperson
Boston, MA, USA

Jerusalem Center for Genocide Prevention
Elihu D Richter, Founder
Jerusalem, Israel

Jews Against Genocide

Sharon Silber, Co-founder
New York, NY, USA

Joining Our Voices
Jack Slater Armstrong, Founder/Director
Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Adam Jones
Associate Professor, Political Science, University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Kentuckiana Interfaith Taskforce On Darfur (KITOD)
Phil Nippert, Chairperson
Louisville, KY, USA

Koinonian Nuba

Juma Idriss Kuku, Coordinator
Juba, South Sudan

Gilbert D. Kulick
United States Foreign Service Officer, Retired
New York, NY, USA

Kurdistan Without Genocide
A, Mahmud, Director
Arbil, Iraq

Lane County Darfur Coalition
Roz Slovic, Coordinator
Eugene, OR, USA

Lifeline for Development and Humanitarian Aid

Hussein Idriss Momed, President
Niamey, Niger

Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur

William Rosenfeld, Director
Boston, MA, USA

Never Again Coalition
Diane Koosed, Co-Chair
Portland, OR, USA

New York Coalition for Sudan
Neiki Ullah, Director of Communications and Advocacy
New York, NY, USA

New York Darfur Vigil Group

Helga Moor, Coordinator
New York, NY, USA

Nuba Mountains International Association USA

Magid Kabashi, Secretary for Information
Ashburn, VA, USA

One Million Bones
Naomi Natale, Director and Founder
Albuquerque, NM, USA

Operation Broken Silence
Mark C. Hackett, CEO, Executive Director
Memphis, TN, USA

Our Humanity in the Balance

Terry Nickelson
Asheville, NC, USA
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition
David Rosenberg, Coordinator
Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Eric Reeves

Sudan Researcher
Northampton, MA, USA

Hawa Abdallah Mohammed Salih
U.S. Department of State 2012 International Women of Courage Award Winner
Flemington, NJ, USA

Same Difference Interfaith Alliance

Eileen Weiss, Managing Director
New York, NY, USA

San Antonio Coalition Against Genocide

Susan Smylie, Coordinator of Advocacy
San Antonio, TX, USA

San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition
Mohamed Suleiman, President
San Francisco, CA, USA

Shine a Ray of Hope

Carmen Paolercio, Coordinator
New Rochelle, NY, USA

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Rev. Lowell Grisham, Rector
Fayetteville, AK, USA

Roger W. Smith

Professor, Department of Government, College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, VA, USA

Ervin Staub

Professor Emeritus, Founding Director of the Psychology of Peace, Violence Program, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Author of Overcoming Evil: Genocide, Violent Conflict and Terrorism
Amherst, MA, USA

Stop Genocide Now
 >Gabriel Stauring, Director and Founder
Redondo Beach, CA, USA

Sudan Advocacy Action Forum


Dr. Eleanor Wright, Moderator
Birmingham, AL, USA

Sudan Center for Conflict Resolution and Development

Adeeb Yousif, General Manager
Kampala, Uganda

Sudan Unlimited
Esther Sprague, Director
San Francisco, CA, USA

Sudanese Activist/Vienna

Ahmed Noorin, Coordinator
Vienna, Austria

Sudanese American Public Affairs Association
Amir Libis, Ph.d, Executive Board Member
Alexandria, VA, USA

THE INSTITUTE on Religion and Public Policy

Joseph K Grieboski, Founder and Chairman of the Board
Alexandria, VA, USA

Dr. Samuel Totten
Professor Emeritus, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Author of Genocide by Attrition: Nuba Mountains, Sudan (Transaction, 2012)
Fayetteville, AR, USA

Unite For Darfur

Bahar Arabie, CEO, Author of Darfur, Road to Genocide
Rockville, MD, USA

United Sudanese and South Sudanese Community Association (USASSCA)

Henry Lejukole, Chairman
Des Moines, IA, USA

Use Your Voice to Stop Genocide RI

Sandra Hammel, Director
Portsmouth, RI, USA

Nikolaos Uzunoglu

Professor, National Technical University of Athens
Athens, Greece

Voices for Sudan
Jimmy Mulla, Founder and President
Washington, DC, USA

Waging Peace
Olivia Warham, Director
London, United Kingdom

John H. Weiss
Director and Associate Professor of History Cornell University
Ithaca, NY, USA

CC:
H.E. Ms. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
Ambassador Dr. Peter Wittig, Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN