November 12, 2016
H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
Chairperson, African Union Commission
P.O. Box 3243, Roosevelt Street
W21K19 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ambassador (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim
The Executive Secretary
IGAD Secretariat Avenue Georges Clemenceau
P.O. Box 2653
Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti
RE: Genocide in South Sudan
H.E. Dr. Zuma and Ambassador Maalim,
We, the undersigned 101 South Sudanese, human rights organizations, scholars and friends of South Sudan, write to express our grave concern regarding the deteriorating crisis in South Sudan. The actions of the actors in the South Sudanese conflict have produced an outcome that has raised the possibility of genocide as shown by the recent increase in ethnically-targeted attacks in the country. Polarized communities are also increasingly using various social media platforms to spew hate speech. This rhetoric is inciting violence and animosity in a period when bridge-building is desperately needed. All indications point to the fact that the threat of genocide will only increase in the days ahead.
IGAD and the African Union are in charge of addressing the crisis in South Sudan, therefore, we write to warn you that the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate and to urge you to take immediate action to avert a looming catastrophe in South Sudan. Peace in South Sudan and stability in the region are entirely dependent on the respect for the rule of law and the coexistence of communities in mutually complementary terms. The competency and legacy of your organizations and more importantly, the life or death of innocent South Sudanese will be determined by the actions you choose to take. Do not let another genocide happen on your watch. Please act now.
Sincerely,
Coalition of Advocates for South Sudan, Kwaje Lasu, MPH, RCP, Chairman of the Board, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
Al Khatim Adlan Center for Enlightenment & Human Development (KACE), Albaqir A Mukhtar (PhD), Director, Khartoum, Sudan
Azande Global Community Association (AGCA) USA, Edward Mitri Rudwan, Chairman
Balanda Community Association (BCA), Mr. David Pons Bandasi, Chairman, USA
Blue Nile Association for Peace and Development, Omer Abdelsawi Omer, Mulberry, FL, USA
Darfur People’s Association of New York, Mohamed Ebead, President, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre, Abdelbagi Jibril, Vice President, Cairo, Egypt
Empowerment Through Education (ETE) Foundation, Micklina Kenyi, Executive Director, Boulder, CO, USA
Face Past for Future Foundation (FP4F), Abdelrahman Gasim, Chairman, Kampala, Uganda
Friends of Sudan / South Sudan, Justin Laku, SR, Founding & Executive Director, University of Ottawa, Canada
Global Partnership for Peace in South Sudan, Theresa Samuel-Boko, Secretary, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Harambi Foundation, Adil Abdel Aati, CEO, Warsaw, Mazowsze, Poland
Jonglei Peace Initiative (North America), Dr. Isaac K. Gang, Co-Founder and Executive Secretary, Belton, TX, USA
Learning Victory, Inc., Ariik Nyok MPA, Founder and Executive Director, Queens County, Long Island City, NY, USA
New Sudan Generation, Silvestro Akara Bakhiet, Founder / President, San Francisco, CA, USA
Nubia Project, Nuraddin Abdulmannan, President, Washington, DC, USA
NyaEden Foundation, Nyamal Tutdeal, Executive Director, Kuoth Wiel, Director, Los Angeles, CA and Philadelphia, PA, USA
People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), Hakim Dario, PhD, London, UK
Sisters Hope for South Sudan, Hanna Andrew K. Dijok, Executive Director, Washington, DC, USA
South Sudan International Advocacy for Human Rights (SSIAHR), Peter Gatkuoth Wadar Kuel, Executive Director, Kent, WA, USA
South Sudan Reborn Inc., Pa’gan Amum Okiech, Spokesperson, Denver, CO, USA
South Sudan Women United
South Sudanese Women Christian Mission for Peace
The Center for Democracy and Peace, Sabri Elshareef, Director, New Jersey, NJ, USA
The Nile Institute for Peace and Development (NIPD), William Pay Tuoy-Giel, M.Ed., Founder and Executive Director, Phoenix, AZ, USA
The Regional Centre for Training and Development of Civil Society (RCDCS), Dr. A.M. Girshab, Director General, Khartoum, Sudan
United Sudanese and South Sudanese Communities Association (USASSCA), Henry Y. Lejukole, PhD, Chairman, Des Moines, IA, USA
Western Equatoria Community Association (WECA), Moses Dangba, Executive Director, USA
Ahmed H. Adam, Visiting Fellow, Institute for African Development (IAD), Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
Hamid E. Ali, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy and Administration, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt
David Alton, Lord Alton of Liverpool, Independent Crossbench Member of the House of Lords, Professor of Citzenship, Liverpool John Moores University, London, UK
Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro, Former Governor, Western Equatoria State, South Sudan
Sharon Carver, 1st United Presbyterian Church of Crafton Heights, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Jan Colijn, Dean Emeritus, Stockton University, Galloway, NJ, USA
The Baroness Cox, The UK Parliament, Westminster, London, UK
Asha Khalil Elkarib, Dr. CS Activist and Researcher, Khartoum, Sudan
Karen Henderson, Volunteer to Sudan and South Sudan, Waverly, OH, USA
Robert K. Hitchcock, PhD, Kalahari Peoples Fund, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Ellen J. Kennedy, Ph.D., Executive Director, World Without Genocide at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, St. Paul, MN, USA
Khalid Kodi, Adjunct Professor, Boston College, Brown University, Boston, MA, USA
Dr. Deborah Mayersen, Historian, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Victoria Sanford, PhD, Professor & Chair, Department of Anthropology, Lehman College, Director, Center for Human Rights & Peace Studies, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
K.M. Greg Sarkissian, President, International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (Division of Zoryan Institute), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, Founding President, Genocide Watch, Research Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA
Henry C. Theriault, Ph.D., Founding Co-Editor, Genocide Studies International, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Worchester State University, Worcester, MA, USA
Rebecca Tinsley, Journalist and Author, London, UK
Dr. Samuel Totten, Professor Emeritus, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Author of Genocide by Attrition: Nuba Mountains, Sudan, Fayetteville, AK, USA
Ernesto Verdeja, Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Genocide, New York, NY, USA
Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, Dr. Marsha Raticoff Grossman Associate Professor of Holocaust Studies, Director, Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program, Stockton University, Galloway, NJ, USA
John H. Weiss, Professor of History, Founder/Director, Caceres-Neuffer Genocide Action Group, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Act for Sudan, Eric Cohen, Co-Founder, San Francisco, CA, USA
African Freedom Coalition, Al Sutton M.D., President, New York, NY, USA
African Soul, American Heart, Debra Dawson, President, Fargo, ND, USA
American Friends of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan (AFRECS), Richard Parkins, Executive Director, Alexandria, VA, USA
Brooklyn Coalition for Darfur & Marginalized Sudan, Laura Limuli, Coordinator, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Christian Solidarity International-USA, The Rev. Heidi McGinness, Director of Outreach, Denver, CO, USA
Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action, Tim Kubick, Ph.D., Chair, Denver, CO, USA
Colorado Episcopal Foundation, Anita Sanborn, President, Denver, CO, USA
Comité Soudan, Diagne Chanel, Présidente, Paris, France
Concerned Citizens for Change, Gene Binder, Steering Committee Member, Bronx, NY, USA
Darfur Action Group of South Carolina, Richard Sribnick, MD, President, Columbia, SC, USA
Darfur and Beyond, Cory Williams, Co-Founder, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Darfur Interfaith Network, Martha Boshnick and Richard Young, Co-Chairs, Washington, DC, USA
Dear Sudan Love Marin, Gerri Miller, Founder and Coordinator, Tiburon, CA, USA
Doctors to the World, Honduras/ Nepal/Nuba Mountains – The Sudan, C. Louis “PJ” Perrinjaquet, MD, MPH, Medical Director, Breckenridge, CO, USA
Empower One, Mike Congrove, Executive Director, Dallas, TX, USA
Enough Project, Brian Adeba, Associate Director of Policy, Washington, DC, USA
Genocide No More – Save Darfur, Marv Steinberg, Coordinator, Redding, CA, USA
Humanity United, David Abramowitz, Managing Director, Washington, DC, USA
Idaho Darfur Coalition, Marilyn Griep, Co-Founder, Boise, ID, USA
Institute for Sustainable Peace, Randall Butler, CEO, Houston, TX, USA
International Growth Centre, Richard Newfarmer, Country Director, South Sudan, Washington, DC, USA
Jewish World Watch, Mike Brand, Director of Advocacy & Programs, Encino, CA, USA
Jews Against Genocide, USA, Sharon Silber, Co-Director, New York, NY, USA
Joining Our Voices, Slater Armstrong, Founder/Director, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Kentuckiana Taskforce Against Genocide, Robert Brousseau, Founder, Louisville, KY, USA
Long Island Darfur Action Group, Nancy Walsh, Coordinator, Farmingdale, NY, USA
Never Again Coalition, Diane Koosed and Loren Fortgang, Co-Chairs, Portland, OR, USA
New York Coalition for Sudan, Eileen Weiss, Co-Founder, New York, NY, USA
Nuba Mountain Peace Coalition, Bob Cooper, Dallas, TX, USA
OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology, Gladys Tiffany, Executive Director, Fayetteville, AK, USA
People4Sudan, Valerie Delacretaz, Global Coordinator, Geneva, Switzerland
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition, David L. Rosenberg, Coordinator, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Pittsburgh Presbytery (PCUSA) International Partnership Ministry Team, The Rev. David B. Carver, Moderator, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, Cody U. Watson, Jr., Associate Director, Birmingham, AL, USA
Redstone Presbytery Mission Committee, Rev. Sylvia Carlson, Chair, Greensburg, PA, USA
San Diego Lost Boys of Sudan, Karen Richards, President, Carlsbad, CA, USA
San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, Mohamed Suleiman, President, San Francisco, CA, USA
Society for Threatened Peoples, Mr. Ulrich Delius, Africa Desk, Göttingen, Germany
South Sudan Mission Task Group, Paul A. Lucia, Facilitator, Reading, PA, USA
St. Clare’s Episcopal Church, The Reverend Ronald D. Culmer, Pleasanton, CA, USA
STAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities, Savannah Wooten, Student Director, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Stop Genocide Now, Katie Jay Scott, Managing Director, Redondo, CA, USA
Sudan Advocacy Action Forum, Eleanor Wright, PhD, Moderator, Birmingham, AL, USA
Sudan Evangelical Alliance Partners, Dr. Donnie Brake, President, United States/Kenya/South Sudan
Sudan Sunrise, Tom Prichard, Executive Director, Reston, VA, USA
Sudan Unlimited, Esther Sprague, Founder and Director, San Francisco, CA, USA
The Elsa-Gopa Trust, Nell Okie, Director, Madison, CT, USA
The MagkaSama Project, Max Dana, Founder, Paris, France
The Radler Foundation and East African Ministries, BJ Goergen, Executive Director, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Water is Basic, Stephen R. Roese, President, Dallas, TX, USA