March 22, 2013
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani
Emir of Qatar
Embassy of the State of Qatar
2555 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani,
We, the undersigned international NGOs and genocide scholars, are writing to protest Qatar’s hosting of the upcoming donors’ conference to be held in Doha on April 7 – 8, 2013. We object to any form of financial support by Qatar for Sudan since such support places your country, as well as all international donors, squarely in the role of helping to fund 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 Blue Nile states.
Among the issues of greatest concern is the fact that unlawful attacks against civilians continue in Darfur, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, 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.
This letter has been formulated with extensive input from Diaspora Darfuri communities who remain closely in touch with their families in Darfur, as well as with civil society groups and NGOs who have been following the Darfur crisis for more than a decade. Input from these sources indicates that:
– Previous Darfur donors’ conferences collected billions of dollars, but there are no signs on the ground today of how those billions of dollars were spent. Instead, the money, after falling in the hands of the central government, is used against the people of Darfur to fund aerial bombardments and militia attacks.
– Any money now collected in the name of Darfur for seemingly positive purposes (such as water, education, infrastructure) is at risk of serving as an elaborate scheme to divert money to fund the ongoing wars in Darfur, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile. Darfuris will see very little of that money, if any.
– Qatar’s influence should be used to reach Darfuris in the Diaspora, the main rebel factions, and the Internally Displaced Persons inside Darfur and refugees in Chad to reach a consensus of how to meet the demands of Darfuri people in providing security, protection, accountability, and a just and lasting peace.
In closing, 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, and any related financial support, will help to fund more atrocities against civilians. Please cancel the conference and withhold any financial assistance that will help support genocide.
Sincerely,
Act for Sudan
Martina Knee, Co-Founder
USA
Ahmed Adam
Visiting Scholar at Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights
New York, NY, USA
Aegis Trust
Dr. Mukesh Kapila, Special Representative
London, UK
Africa Action UK
Paul Muortat, Chairman
London, UK
African Freedom Coalition
Al Sutton, Founder
New York, NY, USA
African Soul, American Heart
Debra Dawson, President
Fargo, ND, USA
Armenian Assembly of America
Bryan Ardouny, Executive 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
Beja Congress, Greater Washington D.C. Chapter
Ibrahim T. Ahmed, Representative
Fairfax, VA, USA
Blue Nile Association of North America
Omer A. Omer, Board Member
Mulberry, FLA, USA
Bnei Darfur
Adam Basher, CEO
Tel Aviv, Israel
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
Church Alliance for a New Sudan, The Institute on Religion and Democracy
Faith J. H. McDonnell, Director
Washington, DC, USA
Collectif Urgence Darfour
Jacky Mamou, President
Paris, France
Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action
Roz Duman, Founder/Director
Denver, CO, USA
Combat Genocide Association
Uriel Levy, Director
Tel Aviv, Israel
Community Empowerment for Progress Organization
Edmund Yakani, CEPO Program Director
Juba, South Sudan
Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur
Timothy Oslovich, Chairperson
Vernon, CT, USA
Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy
Daowd Salih, Board President
Falls Church, VA, USA
Darfur and Beyond
Cory Williams, Co-Founder
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Darfur Community Organization
Bakheit A. Shata, Founder/Executive Director
Omaha, NE, 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 International School
Jacob Berry, Founder
Tel Aviv, Israel
Darfur Leaders Network (DLN)
Motasim Adam, Director
Washington, DC, USA
Darfur People’s Association of New York
Ahmat Nour, President
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Darfur Solidarity USA
Mohammed Ahmed Eisa, Executive Director
Cambridge, MA, USA
Darfur Union, UK & Ireland
Hussain Begira, Chairperson
London, United Kingdom
Darfurian Association of Greater Houston
Suliman Awadalla, Executive Director
Houston, TX, USA
Dear Sudan, Love Marin
Gerri Miller, Founder and Coordinator
Tiburon, CA, USA
Dr. Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe
Visiting Professor, Universidade de Fortaleza, Author of Biafra Revisited (Dakar and Reading: African Renaissance, 2006) and Readings from Reading: Essays on African Politics, Genocide, Literature (Dakar and Reading: African Renaissance, 2011)
Fortaleza, Brazil
Essex County Coalition for Darfur
Gloria Crist, Co-Founder
Montclair, NJ, USA
Mia Farrow
Actor
CT, USA
Helen Fein
Board Chair, Institute for the Study of Genocide
New York, NY, 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
Georgia Coalition to Prevent Genocide
Melanie Nelkin, Chair
Atlanta, GA, USA
Harry Potter Alliance
Andrew Slack, Executive Director
Somerville, MA, USA
Human Rights & Advocacy Network for Democracy (HAND)
Abdalmageed S. Haroun, Chairperson
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust
Baroness Caroline Cox, Independent Peer, House of Lords, UK Parliament and CEO
United Kingdom
Humanity is Us
Kimberly Hollingsworth, Founder
New York, NY, USA
Idaho Darfur Coalition
A. J. Fay, Co-Founder
Boise, ID, USA
International Genocide Scholars Association
Bonnie Mircovich, Administrator
Long Beach, CA, USA
Investors Against Genocide
Eric Cohen, Chairperson
Boston, MA, USA
Italians for Darfur
Antonella Napoli, President
Rome, Italy
Jews Against Genocide
Eileen Weiss, Co-founder
New York, NY, USA
Joining Our Voices
Jack Slater Armstrong, Founder/Director
Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Kentuckiana Interfaith Taskforce On Darfur (KITOD)
Phil Nippert, Chairperson
Louisville, KY, USA
Koinonia Nuba Community Organization
Yassir Kuti, Assistant Coordinator
Nairobi, Kenya
Kurdistan Without Genocide
Ali 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
Dr. Deborah Mayersen
Research Fellow, University of Wollongong
Wollongong, Australia
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 Mountain Peace Coalition
Robert Cooper, Principal
Dallas, TX, USA
Nuba Now
Claire Budd, Co-Founder
London, UK
Nubia Project
Nuraddin Abdelmannan, President
Silver Spring, MD, USA
Operation Broken Silence
Mark C. Hackett, CEO, Executive Director
Memphis, TN, USA
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition
David Rosenberg, Coordinator
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Eric Reeves
Sudan Researcher, Author of Compromising with Evil: An Archival History of Greater Sudan, 2007 – 2012 (eBook, 2012)
Northampton, MA, USA
Hawa Abdallah Mohammed Salih
U.S. Department of State 2012 International Women of Courage Award Winner
Flemington, NJ, 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
Society for Threatened People
Sharon Silber, US Representative
New York, NY, USA
South Sudan Human Rights Defenders Network
Savior Woodcan, Secretary
Juba, South Sudan
Southern Sudan Project
William Deng
Richmond, VA, USA
Stop Genocide Now
Gabriel Stauring, Director and Founder
Redondo Beach, CA, USA
Sudan Advocacy Action Forum
Dr. Eleanor Wright, Moderator
Birmingham, AL, USA
Temple Ahavat Achim Darfur Social Action Committee
Professsor Lakshmi Sirois, Chair
Gloucester, MA, USA
Dr. Samuel Totten
Professor Emeritus, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Author of An Oral and Documentary History of the Darfur Genocide (Praeger Security International, 2010)
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
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:
John F. Kerry, Secretary of State, United States of America
Subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.