Open Letter to the US Envoye to Sudan
H.E. Ambassador Princeton Lyman
US Special Envoy for Sudan
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Ambassador Lyman,
Please allow us to express our gratitude to the US Government and your Office on your keen interest and efforts to end the humanitarian crisis and violence in the conflict-ridden regions of Sudan. Also commendable are the US efforts to defuse the growing tension between Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan. The success of the recent round of political negotiations concluded by the two countries in Addis Ababa in March 2012 is the best reward for the US engaged facilitation efforts that maintained equal distance from the positions of the conflicting parties.
The undersigned Sudanese nationals and US citizens with a long track-record on Sudan-focused advocacy, fully support the noble stands of the US government and its efforts to promote peace and protect fundamental freedoms and liberties in Sudan and elsewhere in the world. Our work experience of many years with the Sudanese people from different walks of life has shown that millions of them, especially among the victims of grave human rights violations in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, the Blue Nile State and Abyei, dearly uphold the high moral values of justice, tolerance and peaceful coexistence with their compatriots irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds or cultural or religious beliefs. Our experience has also shown that while the victims of the atrocious government-sponsored acts in Sudan’s peripheries are cherishing peace and security, they are yearning for justice and the respect of their rights in dignity and equality.
Dear Ambassador Lyman,
As pro-democracy and peace activists, we must express our great disappointment with a number of public media pronouncements that were attributed to your office recently. These statements purport to proffer the most feasible policy lines to end Sudan’s man-made humanitarian tragedies in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile State. The latest in this series of statements is attributed to Ambassador Dane Smith and reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on March 13, 2012. In that statement Ambassador Smith was quoted saying that “The U.S. government’s fear is that an armed rebellion by the [Alliance of Sudanese Revolutionary Forces] would “polarize the Arabs against everyone else, so they can say, ‘Arabs are under attack. Islam is under attack.’” Such statement is utterly baseless, ill-informed, perilous and misleading. The current political dynamic in Sudan cannot be illustrated in these simplistic terms. In reality, it is the wish of millions of Sudanese citizens from all ethnic and regional backgrounds to see an end to the war-mongering government of Marshal Al-Bashir and to live in a democratically vibrant country in peace with itself and its neighbors. It is also noteworthy that among the insurgents there are large numbers of political dissidents from all regions of Sudan while in the ranks of the Government of Sudan (GoS) there are hundreds of people from the war-affected zones. Claiming a potential religious dimension of the ongoing conflict is far from the reality. The overwhelming majority of the Sudanese people, including most if not all the insurgent leaders in Darfur, the Blue Nile State and the Nuba Mountains are followers of the same school of Sunni Islam.
In short, the statement attributed to Ambassador Smith is outrageous and deserves the strongest condemnation and disdain. Such statement reinforces the status quo and suggests that millions of the victims of the heinous atrocities committed in Sudan are to surrender to their oppressor. The statement condemns such victims to live in misery and humiliation while denying them fundamental justice and rights. It amounts to condoning the commission of grave breaches of international law and all canons upon which the US values, traditions and institutions were built. This statement compromises the US position as a respected partner and could be interpreted as carte blanche to Marshal Al-Bashir, an indicted international war criminal, to peruse his genocidal and oppressive policies in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile State.
We understand the urge that drives the US to abasing the GoS as the latter holds important cards which allow it to continue attempts to sabotage the US policy and threaten its vital interests in the region. We are also inclined to believe that the recent public pronouncements by your Office vis a vis the absence of viable peace prospect in Sudan is due to the frustration with the position of some insurgent leaders that purport to champion the cause of the beleaguered people of Sudan’s peripheries. Yet what is at stake in this respect should not be a successful trading off with the GoS or the attitude of individuals, but rather it is the suffering of millions of victims and the need to end the reign of an oppressor and serial violator of international humanitarian law. However, such statements are counterproductive and would encourage the GoS to further obstruct efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in the country. Our experience reveals that compromise will be celebrated by the GoS as a diplomatic victory and that its views and position prevailed over and above those of its enemies. It will reinforce the GoS’s perception that resistance and intransigence pays off and that the best strategy is to continue assuming obdurate postures. We are also afraid that such statements would encourage the GoS to continue to suppress dissident voices and to intensify its military operations in areas that witness internal armed conflicts such as Darfur, Nuba Mountains, the Blue Nile State and Abyei.
Dear Ambassador Lyman,
We sincerely encourage you to continue assuming the position of the US government in support of a just and lasting negotiated settlement of the political crisis in Sudan. Media pronouncements that do not serve the cause of justice, liberties and freedoms in Sudan deeply offend the victims and encourage the GoS and its allies.
While thanking you once again for your endeavors, please accept, Dear Ambassador Lyman, the assurance of our highest respect and consideration.
Sincerely
Signed:
1. Abdelbagi Jibril, Geneva, (Switzerland)
2. Abdeljabar Adam, Philadelphia, (USA)
3. Abdelmonim El-Gak, Juba, (South Sudan)
4. Abdelmonim Suleiman, Cairo, (Egypt.)
5. Adil Abdelaziz Hamid, North Carolina, (USA)
6. Ahmat Nour, New York, (USA)
7. Al-Haj Warrag, Kampala, (Uganda)
8. Ali Agab Nour, London, (UK)
9. Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Pennsylvania (USA)
10. Ameera A. Abbo, Calgary, Alberta, (Canada)
11. Badawi Musa, Florida, (USA)
12. Bahar Arabie, Washington DC, (USA)
13. El Khidir Daloum, London, (UK)
14. Elrayah Hammad Kakki, Manchester, (UK)
15. Gamal Abdelrahman Adam, Calgary, (Canada)
16. Hafiz Mohamed Ismail, Khartoum, (Sudan)
17. Hamdan Goumaa, Jackson Ct, Marina, California, (USA)
18. Hamid Eltgani Ali, Cairo, (Egypt)
19. Hashim Awarta, Juba, (South Sudan)
20. Ibrahim Hamid, Pennsylvania, (USA)
21. Ibrahim Yagoub, Winnipeg, Manitoba, (Canada)
22. Ismail D. Kardoly, Virginia, (USA)
23. Ismail Marmar, Virginia, (USA)
24. Kamal El Sadig, Amsterdam, (Netherland)
25. Mahgoub El-Tigani, Tennessee, (USA)
26. Magdi El Naim, Khartoum, (Sudan)
27. Mastora Bakhat, Indian, (USA)
28. Mohamed Abdalla El Doma, Khartoum, (Sudan)
29. Mohamed Galal Hashim, Khartoum, (Sudan)
30. Mohamed Suleiman, California, (USA)
31. Motasim Adam, New York, (USA)
32. Mustafa Abdelkarim Basi, Riyadh, (Saudi Arabia)
33. Mustafa Musa, Calgary, Alberta, (Canada)
34. Mustafa Siry Suliman, Manchester, (UK)
35. Niemat Ahmadai, Virginia, (USA)
36. Omer Ismail, Washington DC, (USA)
37. Omer M. Shurkian, Leeds, (UK)
38. Rashid Saeed Yagoub, Paris, (France)
39. Shamsaddin A. Dawalbait, Khartoum, (Sudan)