September 7, 2013

SUDANESE BISHOP AND GENOCIDE SURVIVOR ASKS PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR “PROMPT ACTION TO SAVE THOSE STILL ALIVE”

Filed under Press Releases

Second in series of letters from Sudanese highlights need for new approach to Sudan

WASHINGTON, DC – September 6, 2013 – Today, the Right Reverend Andudu Adam Elnail, Bishop of Kadugli Diocese in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, sent an open letter to President Obama asking for “prompt action to save those still alive” in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile and Darfur, areas of Sudan that have been under attack by the government for years. As the world’s attention is focused on Syria, Bishop Andudu’s letter is a powerful reminder to President Obama that the people of Sudan continue to be plagued by government-sponsored crimes against humanity. This letter is the second in a series of letters to President Obama from Sudanese genocide survivors coordinated by Act for Sudan.

“As a victim and survivor of genocide, I would like to remind your respected office that great effort is needed to end the deaths and displacement and restore peace to our community, which has suffered for so many years,” wrote Bishop Andudu. “Please address the humanitarian crisis in the Nuba Mountains and use your position as leader of the free world, not only to bring attention to our situation, but to cause prompt action to save those still alive.” (FULL TEXT OF LETTER BELOW)

“Our people feel as though the world has forgotten them. We wonder why you have not acted to end our people’s suffering or that of the people of Darfur, who are still suffering and whose plight is getting worse,” Andudu wrote.

Bishop Andudu came to the United States in 2011 for medical treatment and, while here, the government began attacks on the people of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.  The capital city of Kadugli was targeted and his office, the church, school buildings, and equipment were all destroyed or confiscated.  Bishop Andudu was targeted by the government for assassination and has since been granted asylum by the United States.  He has testified before committees of Congress and has briefed United Nations commissions during the past two years.

In his letter, Andudu wrote of the ongoing attacks on his people. “We continue to be bombed from the air daily. Bombs land on farms and schools, churches and mosques, clinics and markets. Innocent civilians, women and children, are killed carrying on their daily lives. Those who survive live in constant fear, and for two years they have lived in caves in the mountains. The Famine Early Warning System for food security in the Nuba Mountains has reached Level 4: starvation is killing a lot of my people in Kao Nyaro and Warni; they suffer greatly. If the political situation is not addressed and aid is not delivered to the people immediately, the catastrophe will grow until it is too late.”

In 2007, Mr. Obama said that genocide is “a stain on our souls” and promised, “As a president of the United States I don’t intend to abandon people or turn a blind eye to slaughter.” Yet, according to Act for Sudan, seven months into his second term, President Obama continues to oversee a disastrous approach to the ongoing genocide in Sudan. This approach has failed to prevent the tragic loss of countless lives and the mass displacement and starvation of countless more innocent people. According to the national alliance, President Obama should immediately instruct the National Security Council and Ambassador Donald Booth, newly appointed Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, to develop a new pro-democracy and civilian protection-oriented policy on Sudan. The alliance maintains that unless President Obama acts now to protect innocent civilians from their genocidal government, he will ultimately be remembered for his stained legacy on genocide.

Andudu’s letter will be followed by additional letters from Sudanese individuals in the weeks and months to come, and all letters will be amplified via social media by Act for Sudan. Details on the campaign are posted at Act for Sudan.

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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.

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Letter to President Obama from Bishop Andudu:

Dear Mr. President,

I am Bishop Adam Andudu Elnail, Bishop of the Diocese of Kadugli, Episcopal Church of the Sudan. I hope you remember my earlier letters to you in March this year and August 2011.

For over two decades the civil war tore apart my home region of Nuba Mountains, where I have suffered much personal loss of family, friends, and neighbors. This war against the black people of Sudan, many of whom are Muslim, extended to Blue Nile, Darfur and eastern Sudan. Our whole country was and continues to be ravaged by this campaign of genocide, subjugation, and the enslavement of black people.

The suffering of the people of Nuba Mountains started again on June 6, 2011. The Government of Sudan (GoS) and its militias in Kadugli town hit my house with heavy guns, and all valuable things were taken or destroyed. They proceeded to burn the Diocesan offices and Diocesan Guest House in the same hour. From that moment the church leaders and others scattered as displaced or refugees in more than five countries. It pains me to remember many of the young men in my town who were killed in cold blood in the same week.

There are many reports of the continual human rights abuses, mass killings, deaths of children and elderly people, rape and starvation, of the type you heard when you traveled to Chad as United States senator to encourage the people of Darfur. The evidence is strong and clear enough for the ICC to have issued arrest warrants for the sitting president of Sudan, Omer Al Bashir for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. You spoke boldly against these atrocities as a senator and during your campaign for president, but President Bashir continues this terrorism today against our people without fear of consequence.

I will never forget the night of June 20, 2012, when at 12:00 midnight my village was awakened by the sound and echoes of the rockets sent from Kadugli by the GoS troops. We thought the mountain was falling on us. People, animals, and birds all got confused – screaming and running in all directions. We went down to fox holes. Some people had to run to caves in the mountains.

On December 23, 2012, and throughout the days of Christmas, the GoS intensified bombardment. Church leaders and their congregations found places other than the churches to worship and celebrate Christmas because the church buildings became too dangerous.

We continue to be bombed from the air daily. Bombs land on farms and schools, churches and mosques, clinics and markets. Innocent civilians, women and children, are killed carrying on their daily lives. Those who survive live in constant fear, and for two years they have lived in caves in the mountains. The Famine Early Warning System for food security in the Nuba Mountains has reached Level 4: starvation is killing a lot of my people in Kao Nyaro and Warni; they suffer greatly. If the political situation is not addressed and aid is not delivered to the people immediately, the catastrophe will grow until it is too late.

Our people feel as though the world has forgotten them. We wonder why you have not acted to end our people’s suffering or that of the people of Darfur, who are still suffering and whose plight is getting worse.
As a victim and survivor of genocide, I would like to remind your respected office that great effort is needed to end the deaths and displacement and restore peace to our community, which has suffered for so many years. Please address the humanitarian crisis in the Nuba Mountains and use your position as leader of the free world, not only to bring attention to our situation, but to cause prompt action to save those still alive.

We remember your promises to the people of Sudan suffering these genocides and are trying not to lose hope. We need to witness your leadership and the acts required by the international community to save our people and our country. Then, we will know that you, too, remember your promises.

With prayer and hope,
Most respectfully,

Right Reverend Andudu Adam Elnail
Bishop of the Diocese of Kadugli
Episcopal Church of the Sudan

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