Download the PDF of this letter here.
TO: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
CC: Mr Andrew Gilmour, Mr Ugo Solinas, MR Edmond Mulet, Mr Hervé Ladsous, Mr Adama Dieng,
Ms Valerie Amos, H. E. Ms Navanethem Pillay, Ms Louise Arbour, Ms Kyung-wha Kang, Mr Scott
Campbell, Mr Craig G Mokhiber, Mr Daniel Ravindran, Mr Frej Fenniche, Ms Doris SchmitzMeiners,
Ms Kate Gilmore, Ms Flavia Pansieri, Mr Simon Adams, Dorian Lacombe
RE: Chemical weapons in Darfur
11 October 2016
Dear Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Prince Zeid,
In 2013, the international community rightly expressed its outrage at the use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians. In its recent report, Amnesty International1 has documented evidence strongly suggesting the repeated use of chemical weapons against civilians, including very young children, in Jebel Marra. Their report indicates that chemical weapons have been used by Sudanese government forces more than 30 times since January 2016 against civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The alleged use of chemical weapons by Sudan directly contravenes the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997 to which Sudan is a party. We, the undersigned, as representatives of domestic and international civil society, non-governmental organisations, and the Sudanese
diaspora, call on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to open a formal investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons and other illicit munitions against civilians in Sudan by their own government and to work in concert with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to push for access to verify these findings which can then be responded to via UN channels. Failure to treat these attacks with the same seriousness as those in Syria would be an inappropriate and inconsistent application of UN standards.
For several years, some of the signatories of this letter have been aware of the alleged use ofchemical weapons and other illicit ordnance by Sudanese government forces against civilians. Our attempts to bring these potential breaches of international law to the attention of the relevant authorities were left ignored and uninvestigated. With Amnesty International’s detailed account, now is the moment for the international community to finally shine a light on the Sudanese government’s illegal conduct in Darfur, rather than allowing impunity to continue.
If you would like to respond, please do so to Olivia Warham at Waging Peace.
Yours sincerely,
Act for Sudan, USA
African Freedom Coalition, Al Sutton, MD and President, USA
African Soul, American Heart, Debra Dawson, President, UK
Alustadh Mahmoud Mohamed Taha Cultural Center, Asma Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, Sudan
Arab Coalition for Sudan, Wadah Tabir, Coordinator, Egypt
Article 1, Maddy Crowther, Head of Comms, Research & Asylum, UK
Beja Congress (Corrective), Zeinab Kabbashi Eisa, President, UK
Blue Nile Association for Peace and Development, Omer Abdelsawi Omer, Board Member, USA
Brooklyn Coalition for Darfur & Marginalized Sudan, Laura Limuli, Coordinator, USA
Campaign Against Criminalising Communities, Hagir Sulieman (Bint Al-Sultan), Founder, UK
Carl Wilkens Fellowship, Beth McDaniel, Adviser, USA
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Dr Khataza Gondwe, Team Leader for Africa and Middle East, UK
Collectif Urgence Darfour, Dr Jacky Mamou, President, France
DAAM (Sudanese Diaspora Network Supporting the Pro-Democracy Opposition), Ali Abdelatif,
Founder, UK
Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, Daowd Salih, Co-Founder and Board President,
USA
Darfur Action Group, Cornell University, John H Weiss, Prof of History, USA
Darfur Action Group of South Sudan, Richard Sribnick, MD President, USA
Darfur Alert Coalition, Ali Dinar, Representative, USA
Darfur and Beyond, Cory Williams, Co-Founder, USA
Darfur Interfaith Network, Martha Boshnick, Co-chair, USA
Darfur Peace and Development, Ibrahim Musa, Founder, USA
Darfur People’s Association of New York, Motasim Adam, Co-founder & Secretary General, USA
Darfur Renaissance Association, Dawelbeit Musa, Representative, USA
Darfur Self-Reliance Organization, Mohamed Suleiman, President, USA
Dear Sudan, Love Marin, Gerri Miller, Coordinator, USA
Darfur TV, Jacob Berry, Uganda
Darfur Union in the UK, Elsadig A Elnor, Chairman, UK
Darfur Women Action Group, Niemat Ahmadi, President, USA
DVORR (Darfur Victims Organisation for Rehabilitation And Relief), Ishag Mekki, Chairperson, UK
Enough Project, Brian Adeba, Associate Director of Policy, USA
Face Past for Future Foundation, Abdelrahman Gasim, President, USA
Freedom House, USA
Fur Community, Mohammed Abaker, Chairman, UK
Fur Solidarity US, Eltahir Abbo, Member of Board of Directors, USA
Give Back Project, Waleed Abdallah, Founder, UK
Genocide No More – Save Darfur, Marv Steinberg, Coordinator, USA
Georgia Coalition to Prevent Genocide, Melanie Nelkin, Chair, USA
Green Kordofan, Raga Gibreel, Founder, UK
Group Against Torture in Sudan, Siddiq Abdelhadi, Member, USA
HART, Corinna Loges, CEO, UK
HUDO Centre, Bushra Gamar Hussein, CEO, Uganda
Humanity Is Us, Kimberly Hollingsworth, President and Founder, USA
Hurriyat Sudan, Elhag ali Warrag Sidahmed Warrag, Editor in Chief, Egypt
International Justice Project, Monica Feltz, Executive Director, USA
Investors against Genocide, Eric Cohen, Co-founder and Chairperson, USA
Jewish Federation of Greater Austin, Beth McDaniel, Chair of Genocide Awareness and
Prevention, USA
Jewish World Watch, Mike Brand, Director of Advocacy and Programs, USA
Jews against Genocide, Sharon Silber, Co-Director, USA
Justice & Equality Movement UK, Abdulhafiz M Mohammad, Chairman, UK
Joining Our Voices, Slater Armstrong, Founder/Director, USA
Kush Liberation Movement, Mohamed Dawoud, USA
MagkaSama Project, France
Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur, William Rosenfeld, Director, USA
National Sudanese Women Alliance in Diaspora, Suhair Sharif, Founder, UK
National Umma Party, Mohammed Elansari, Leader, UK
Never Again Coalition, Diane Koosed and Lauren Fortgang, Co-chairs, USA
Nuba Mountain Human Rights Monitors Organization, Alfadel Saeed Sanhory, Director, Sudan
Nuba Mountains Advocacy Group, Gogadi Amoga, Chair, USA
Nuba Mountains Civil society Organizations Global Network, Boluis Kuku, Chair, USA
Nuba Mountains Peoples Foundation, Elrayah Hammad Kakki, CEO, UK
Nuba Mountains Solidarity Abroad, Zaki Samwiil, UK
Nuba Mountains Welfare Association, Kalu Koko, Chairperson, UK
Nuba Peace Initiative, Adam Ismail Aleheimir, Chairman of Board, USA
Nubia Project, Nuraddin Abdulmannan, USA
NY Coalition for Sudan, Eileen Weiss, Co-Founder, USA
Our Humanity in the Balance, Terry Nickelson, Executive Director, UK
Peace Action Maine and Fur Cultural Revival, Elwaleed Alshafie, Member, USA
People4Sudan, Mukesh Kapila, Former Head of the UN in Sudan, Switzerland
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition, David Rosenberg, Coordinator, USA
Simon Wiesenthal Center, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, USA
Skills for Nuba Mountains (SNM), Lazim Suleiman El Basha, Executive Director, Sudan
St Paul’s Episcopal Church, The Rev Lowell E Grisham, Rector, USA
Stop Genocide Now, Katie-Jay Scott, Managing Director, USA
Sudan Liberation Army–Minni Minnawi in Sweden, Abdulkarim Hamid, Chairperson, Sweden
Sudan Unlimited, Esther Sprague, Founder and Director, USA
Sudanese Congress Party, Hamza Faroug A Alabbas, General Secretary (Abroad Office), UK
Sudanese Darfuri Association in Leicester, Mohamed Ishaq Ahmed, Founder, UK
Sudanese Human rights Organisation, Mohamed Amari, UK
Sudanese Marginalized Forum, Magid Kabashi, Chair, USA
SUDO (UK), UK
The Canadian Friends of Sudan, Justin Laku, Co-Founder, Canada
The Nubian Language Society (NLS), Nubantood Khalil, Cultural Activist, Sudan
UK and Sudanese Rights Group (Huqooq), Najlaa Ahmed, Sudanese Human Rights Lawyer, Sudan
Unite for Darfur Organisation, Bahar Arabie, CEO, USA
Waging Peace, Olivia Warham, Director, UK
Western Sudan Aid Relief in the USA, Seddik Abdeljabbar, Chairman, USA
Zaghawa Cultural Center, Tamte Hano Moura, General Secretary, Sudan
Zaghawa Tribe UK, Ibrahim Hashim, General Secretary, UK
Individual Activists
Abdelmonim Adam, Sudanese Refugee & Activist, Egypt
Abdulaziz Harran, Activist, Sudan
Ahmed Elkheir, Activist
Ahmed Ibrahim Haroun, Sudanese Refugee & Activist, Egypt
Aicha Elbasri, Former Spokesperson for the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur
UNAMID, Morocco
Ali Yahya Abakar, Sudanese Activist, Egypt
Alnur Babker, Activist
Daoud Hari, Sudanese Activist, USA
Dowlbait Alradi, Translator, France
Dr Ahmed Idrees, Political Activist & Trades Unionist, UK
Dr Marcia Sachs Littell, Professor Emeritus, Founding Director, Master of Arts Program in
Holocaust & Genocide Studies, Stockton University, USA
Dr Samuel Totten, Professor Emeritus, University of Arkansas, USA
Dr Zakria Mohamed Ali, Activist
Elbagir Osman, Visual Artist and Activist, Canada
Elhadi Idriss Yahya, Lecturer, Kampala International University, Uganda
Elnour Elrashid, Activist, USA
Ezeddin Dawelbit, Sudanese Community, USA
Fatima Gazali, Sudanese Journalist, USA
Gaafer Ali, Sudanese Community Activist, UK
Gafar Alsabaki Ibrahim, Activist
Habib Ibrahim, Sudanese Activist, USA
Hassan Adam Abdullah Eshag, Activist
Ismael Adam Abdalla, Refugee from Darfur, Egypt
Isobel Crowther, Activist on Sudan, UK
Mohammed-Al Ali, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, USA
Motaz Bargo, Activist on Sudan, UK
Mustafa Babiker Activist
Hawa Abdalla Salih, Human Rights and Women’s Rights Activist, USA
Hussein Omar, Activist, USA
Ibrahim Ali Alarbi, Activist, Sudan
Mohammadain Ishag, Journalist and Human rights Activist, UK
Mustafa Siry Suliman, Sudanese Journalist, UK
Omer Mohamed, Activist, USA
Ramah Ahmed, Activist, UK
Rasheed Ali, Human Rights Activist, USA
Rebecca Tinsley, Author – When the Stars fall to Earth, UK
Reem Abbas, Activist
Salah Bakhet, Activist, USA
Siddieq Adam, Activist
Suleiman Mohammed, Sudanese Humanitarian Activist, Egypt
Suleiman Sandal Haggar, Advocate, Norway
Tijani Timma, Activist, Sudan
Yagoub Bahar, Clinical Laboratory Scientist, USA
Zeinab Blandia, Activist, USA
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