Traprock Peace Center homepage
TO: The attention of co-sponsor Mayor Claire Higgins
RE: An Open Letter about the June 21, 2006 event:
Witnessing Darfur: A Benefit for the People of Darfur
Sunday, 18 June 2006
Dear Friends,
We are writing to express our concern over the upcoming June 21 event:
WITNESSING DARFUR, to be held at Smith College, for which many local
and national religious, cultural or political organizations are co-sponsors (see
bottom). Like you we deeply believe in the need to alleviate the
people of Darfur’s suffering, however, we strongly feel that the
position being taken, which many local organizations have supported,
namely that the Islamic government of Sudan is committing genocide
against the “African” people of Darfur, does not accurately reflect or
fully address the complexities and realities of the situation.
We strongly believe that the situation in Darfur should be placed in a
wider context and the role of the United States and other external
actors MUST be acknowledged and dealt with honestly if there is to be
peace and stability in Darfur, Sudan or indeed an improvement of basic
conditions. We encourage people to think carefully and examine the
history of humanitarian aid organizations before making any financial
contributions: it is well documented that certain organizations
working in Sudan have been involved in very dubious activities
counterproductive to expressed or publicized humanitarian aims.
We respectfully ask that people actively seek out and examine
different points of view. We emphasize that we are not trying to
malign or attack either any sponsor of this event, the producers of
the film(s) to be shown, or speaker Dr. Eric Reeves of Smith College;
rather we are calling for an open dialogue now and in the future. If
the U.S. wants to end the violence in Darfur and elsewhere its first
step should be to stop participating in it. We believe that our first
step as US citizens and residents should be to speak openly and
honestly and to hold the US government accountable. We find it
increasingly difficult to do so within the United States: can we
expect that it will be done in a far away, oil-rich country like
Sudan? (Petroleum is one of Darfur’s several coveted resources.)
We respectfully encourage all those who wish to allocate funds for aid
in Darfur to do so, but to donate only after careful examination of ALL
the facts. We respectfully ask the Community Foundation of Western
Massachusetts to HOLD all Sudan Aid Funds received, to date, or
subsequently, for the same reasons. We call on co-sponsor Mayor Clare
Higgins and the town of Northampton to hold a public hearing,
immediately, where the entire spectrum of issues can be openly and
publicly aired. Given the gravity of the situation and people’s desire
to alleviate the very real suffering in Darfur, we ask the sponsors of
this event, and people concerned about the Darfur situation, to press
for this hearing to occur immediately.
We urge you to read the SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION we have provided
below; this is by no means an exhaustive or comprehensive sampling of
relevant issues. We also ask that you circulate this letter widely,
forward to your organizations’ mailing list, to all interested
parties, and the press.
With sincerity and best wishes,
Deborah Chandler, graphic designer and activist, Northampton, MA
deborahchandler@comcast.net
Dimitri Oram, writer & researcher, Northampton, MA
dadima23@yahoo.com
Doug Wight, writer & activist, Northampton MA
wellness15@yahoo.com
Keith Harmon Snow, genocide & human rights investigator, Williamsburg, MA.
ksnow_srintl@yahoo.com – www.allthingspass.com
{Contractual experience in the human rights arena includes: [a]
Consultant on Genocide, United Nations: Ethiopia, 2005; [b] Genocide
Investigator, Genocide Watch
Ethiopia, 2004; [c] Genocide Investigator, Survivor’s Rights
International < www.survivorsrightsinternational.org >: Sudan and
Ethiopia, 2004; [d] work at the International Criminal Tribunal on
Rwanda (2001). Also independent human rights researcher in the Dem.
Rep. of Congo, 2004-2006; ten years experience in 17 countries in
Africa.
***************************************************************
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Undisclosed information about the current geopolitical realities
regarding the Darfur conflict include the facts that the U.S. was
funding and supporting forces in Southern Sudan (Sudan People’s
Liberation Army & Movement: SPLA/M) throughout the 1990s and beyond.
We believe the US is still supporting rebel forces in Darfur thus
actively contributing to the conflict. We are aware these are strong
charges but there is plenty of documented evidence for the former
charge and a good deal of circumstantial evidence for the latter. A
quick sampling reveals:
• “The Clinton administration has launched a covert campaign to
destabilize the government of Sudan which it considers a key supporter
of international terrorism and instability in the Middle East. More
than $20 million of military equipment, including radios, uniforms and
tents will be shipped to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Uganda in the next few
weeks. Although the equipment is earmarked for the armed forces of
those countries, much of it will be passed on to the Sudan People’s
Liberation Army (SPLA), which is preparing an offensive against the
government in Khartoum.” (James Adams “Americans Move to Destabilize
Sudanese Regime,” Sunday Times, Nov. 17, 1996);
• “U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had a surprise meeting
in Kampala [Uganda] Wednesday with Sudanese opposition leaders
including SPLA rebel chief John Garang in what was seen as a move
further pressuring Khartoum’s Islamic fundamentalist leaders. Albright
told reporters that Washington sought to show top-level support for
efforts to secure political change in Sudan, where Garang’s Sudanese
People’s Liberation Army in the Christian and animist South has fought
troops of the Moslem North since 1983.” (Dec. 10, 1997, Deutsch Presse
Agenteur);
• “Welcome to the 1980s. Long live Ronald Reagan. Remember the
scenario—a rebel group being trained and armed by the CIA to topple a
sovereign government, cross-border incursions from secluded camps, and
the whole destabilization exercise backed by international sanctions
and a massive propaganda campaign. It sounds like Nicaragua or Angola
circa 1984. In fact it’s Sudan 1998.” (Jonathan Steele, “Stop this war
now; The US could remove the threat of starvation for thousands of
Sudanese May 1, 1998 The Guardian);
• “[T]o the peril of regional stability, the Clinton Administration
has used northern Uganda as a military training ground for southern
Sudanese rebels fighting the Muslim government of Khartoum…The
people in Sudan want to resolve the conflict. The biggest obstacle is
US government policy said former president Carter in an interview last
week in Mozambique “The US is committed to overthrowing the government
in Khartoum. Any sort of peace effort is aborted, basically by
policies of the United States” Kurt Schillinger “Carter, Others say
Clinton has faltered on Africa” Dec. 8, 1999 Boston Globe).
A confirmed and egregious violation of international law was the U.S.
bombing of Sudan’s sole pharmaceutical plant in 1998 with all the
misery and death that followed. With a background like that isn’t it
possible that the U.S. is still covertly intervening in Sudan
especially Darfur? Is it mere coincidence that the rebels in Darfur
launched their first major attacks the month that USAID set up its
mission in Darfur?
• “Under the Bush administration, the work of USAID has become
increasingly politicized. But over Sudan, in particular, two of its
most senior officials have long held strong personal views. Both
Natsios, a former vice-president of the Christian charity World
Vision, and [Roger] Winter have long been hostile to the Sudanese
government.” (U.S. ‘hyping’ Darfur Genocide Fears by Peter Beaumont,
03 October 2004, The Observer)
https://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,14658,1318643,00.html
The U.N., the European Union, Medecins Sans Frontieres, aid groups,
U.N. officials and human rights groups have all questioned the
genocide claims.
While no one doubts there is horrendous death and suffering in Darfur
use of the word genocide has been used to put all blame on the
government, exonerate the rebels and prevent peace. Indeed, as Emily
Wax writes “that label only seems to have strengthened Sudan’s rebels;
they believe they don’t need to negotiate with the government and
think they will have U.S. support when they commit attacks. Peace
talks have broken down seven times, partly because the rebel groups
have walked out of negotiations.” (Washington Post, “5 Truths About
Darfur,” April 21, 2006)
The African Union “peacekeeping” mission in Darfur includes U.S.
military personnel; training and logistical support by the U.S.
military has also been provided. (See: Department of Defense, “U.S.
Transports Rwanda Forces to Sudan”:
Rwandan Defense Forces sent to Darfur are themselves responsible for
crimes against humanity and acts of genocide in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, and these troops are highly linked to the U.S.
military (Rwanda New Times, 15 May 2006). The U.S. military’s European
Command (EUCOM) is also partnered with Uganda, and working with
Ugandan troops, and Uganda’s role in Sudanese affairs mirrors its role
in Congo: clandestine guerrilla activities, massacres, rapes,
extortion, gun-running and plundering of natural resources. These have
all been widely documented by numerous international human rights
bodies.
The African Union mission also included supporting operations by
private military contractor Dyncorp: Dyncorp was caught running a sex
slave ring in Bosnia, was sued for illegally spraying toxic herbicides
in Ecuador, believed to have smuggled drugs from Colombia and is
generally accused of brutal behavior wherever it goes. Pacific
Architects and Engineers (PAE) is also on the AU job. According to
Corpwatch: PAE “has a history of being accused of overcharging.” Also,
PAE “already provides[d] staff for a so-called Civilian Protection
Monitoring Team (CPMT) which monitors human rights in Sudan under the
State Department contract. The CPMT office is run by Brigadier General
Frank Toney (retired), who was previously commander of Special Forces
for the United States Army and organized covert missions into Iraq and
Kuwait in the first Gulf War.”
Could these mercenary groups be involved in helping the rebel groups?
It is also uncomfortable that a State Department official connected to
Sudan issues who wished to remain anonymous said: “We are not allowed
to fund a political party or agenda under United States law, so by
using private contractors, we can get around those provisions. Think
of this as somewhere between a covert program run by the CIA and an
overt program run by the United States Agency for International
Development. It is a way to avoid oversight by Congress.” (CorpWatch
Oct. 21, 2004)
It’s also true that a number of humanitarian groups are far from
impartial. Several of them were and probably still are smuggling
weapons into Sudan and working toward regime change. Norwegian
People’s Aid (NPA) was caught red-handed and its role in supplying
arms to the SPLA was the subject of a 1999 Norwegian television
documentary, entitled ‘Weapons Smuggling in Sudan’. “CSI [Christian
Solidarity International], along with the U.S.-based groups Voice of
the Martyrs and Samaritan’s Purse (run by Franklin Graham, the son of
Billy Graham), are among a handful of Christian groups that have taken
sides in the dispute. They work exclusively in southern Sudan—and
provide not only humanitarian aid but also political and sometimes
logistical support for the southern rebels…Even during the peace
talks, they’ve lobbied the U.S. government to provide military aid and
weaponry to the SPLM…According to Human Rights Watch, the SPLM, like
Khartoum, has committed numerous human-rights violations.” (Fighting a
Peace Plan: Some Christian aid groups are supporting the rebels, by E.
Benjamin Skinner, August 18, 2003 NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL.)
…
We do not excuse violence, murder, or sexual atrocities committed by
any side, but we question the predominant version of events in
Darfur—which we believe is grossly disinformational and
one-sided—presented by the mass media and by both Right- and Left-wing
political factions in the United States. We want to know where money
marked for “Sudan Aid” is going, and we do not so quickly accept some
of the answers that are being given. We are greatly disturbed by the
fact that the ultra-Right Wing organization Center for Security
Policy, a strong proponent of multi-billion dollar programs in
National Missile Defense and a tool of the military industrial complex
is advocating divestment from the same firms Eric Reeves has and is
targeting. [1]
We note that the organization Save the Children is closely tied to
USAID, its board of trustees includes one retired Rear Admiral, and
almost all the others (15) are connected to the mainstream US media
(ABC, CBS, Hollywood). More concerning, Save the Children is funded in
part by Exxon-Mobil (according to an Exxon-Mobil corporate report) to
build a road through neighboring Chad—a country with a heavy U.S.
military involvement—to the Darfur region: we are concerned that this
may be for strategic and military purposes cloaked under the banner of
humanitarian aid and poverty alleviation.
The role of USAID official Roger Winter with the U.S. Committee for
Refugees includes organizing support for the Rwanda Patriotic Front
invasion of Rwanda in 1990; the U.S. Committee for Refugees remains a
highly unusual political organization with a specious agenda.
The director/advisers of the International Rescue Committee include
Henry Kissinger.
[1] See: https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/index.jsp?section=papers&code=01-F_68;
please also examine the CSP’s take on the antiwar movement
https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/index.jsp?topic=peacemvmt§ion=featured.
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Witnessing Darfur: A Benefit for the People of Darfur is sponsored by:
Congregation B’nai Israel Darfur Action Group
Co-sponsors include: Al-Baqin Mosque · American Friends Service
Committee, Western Mass. · Amnesty International USA/Group 76 · Beit
Ahavah · Catholic Social Justice Committee of Greater Northampton ·
Edwards Church · Episcopal Peace Fellowship of Grace Church, Amherst ·
Hampshire Interfaith Council · Jewish Family Services of Western Mass.
· Mayor Clare Higgins · National Association of Social Workers,
Pioneer Valley Chapter · Northampton Committee to Stop the War in Iraq
· Northampton Friends Meeting · Physicians for Social Responsibility,
Pioneer Valley · Progressive Christian Voice Task Force, The First
Churches · Safe Passage · Smith College · Unitarian Society of
Northampton and Florence · The Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church,
Northampton · Western Mass. Darfur Coalition
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