SOUTHERN SUDAN VOICE FOR FREEDOM1319
18 St. N.W. WASHINGTON,
DC 20038 |
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President Husni Mubarak C/o Ambassador M. Nabil Fahmi, Embassy of Arab Republic of Egypt, 3521 International Court, N.W. Washington, DC 20008 Tel: (202) 895-5400 Fax: (202) 224-5131 Dear Mr. Ambassador, Warm greetings, and imploring the Lords blessings upon you and the great people of the Nile Valley, for peace and prosperity and progress for its people from the Great lakes of Victoria in East Africa and lake Tana at the heights of Ethiopia to the vast Delta at the Mediterranean sea. The whole world has evolved from a primitive stone age to great wonders and unimaginable scientific discoveries of the 20th/21st century. We have witnessed humans landing on the moon, traveling the skies with supersonic speed; the Information Technology, computerization and robotics replacing human labor with unprecedented efficiency and speed; and messages being delivered around the globe in seconds. Just to mention the least. In another development, the world community made strides to come closer together for the common good and evoked laws through the UN, an international forum crafted to prevent wars and protect freedoms and cherish equalities, and to live in peaceful co-existance with each other. They promulgated laws covering human rights, religious freedom, freedom of association and of speech, to protect the child, the women and promoted good governance, transparency, the freedom of trade, and infusing a world Government and Globalization and a WTO. Further laws, covenants and conventions have been crafted to regulate the peaceful interaction between peoples of the World; just to mention a few. The rule of law, freedom, peace and Human Rights became the supreme aim of humankind. Where do people of the Nile valley stand amidst such immense progress. What has the respective governments of the countries of the Nile Valley done for the progress, peace and prosperity of its citizens? Egypt as the second country of every Sudanese, maintains continuous interaction and communication and this allowed us to witness the gigantic progress and developments in Egypt in all fields of socio-economic development. The great High Dam, expansions of the Suez Canal, agricultural and industrial schemes extending the Sinai peninsula are signs of progress for the prosperity of the our fellow citizens in your great nation. All these and more were realizable because of peace and stability in Egypt. This has not been the case with us in the Sudan. Your nearest next door Nile Valley neighbor. Since the so called independence of the Sudan in January 1956 a continuous war has ravaged our country, and there is no sign of peace to be expected soon to allow the Sudan to catch up with a minimum development for its people. Especially in the Southern part of the country, where I come from, which is the main war zone, there is total destruction of its people and institutions to support any progress. For over four decades people of the South experienced torture, disappearances, barbaric imposition of Shar’a penal code; denial of political freedoms, press censorship, arbitrary detentions, extra judicial killings, slavery and abductions of innocent women and children into slavery, subjecting them to heinous inhuman treatment, free labor to their captors, gang raping of our women and girls and more. All these is happening despite Amnesty International, Sudanese Organization Against Torture, World Organization Against Torture [Germany], Sudan Human Rights Group and others yet the contribution and increase of these totalitarian practices continues. Including the deliberate bombing of innocent civilians and humanitarian relief efforts and centers, Including the engineered starvation as a weapon of war; scorched-earth civilian clearance and unending list of other war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mr. President, despite all these sufferings, with over 2.5 million Southerners dead, over 4.5 million displaced and over a million dispersed around the world as refugees, a fact you are certainly fully aware of; we were appalled and distressed at your recent statement to Agency France Presse of July 26, 2003 that “Granting Southern Sudan independence from Khartoum would ‘tear the region to shreds’ and would be dangerous for both sides. Mr. President, the IGAD peace process of which you are fully aware, guarantees that after six years the South Sudanese and other marginalized areas, would be allowed to vote in a referendum for self-determination. Giving two choices, unity or cessation. You are also aware Mr. President that this is a God given right of any citizen of the world, And is also supported by United Nations conventions and declaration on human rights, . Hence, in the same equation, that you are defending the choice for Palestinians to have a nation of their own you have the obligation to see the same justice applied in Sudan. In a country where Palestinians and Jews have been living together since time immemorial, since biblical times, for thousands of years. Such a process would bring a lasting and just peace in the Nile Valley, and only then would development and progress for the prosperity of the civil population of the Nile Valley be guaranteed. People would then cooperate as good neighbors. We are aware of your concerns of the Nile Waters. It is a fact that 90 percent, greater flow of waters into Egypt comes from the Blue Nile and not the white Nile. Most importantly, the waters of the rivers of the world are covered by international conventions to guarantee usage of the waters to all nations along which it flows. Consequently we expect you to support the IGAD peace process, including its most important element of the right for the African Sudanese to self-determination; without which there will never be peace in the Nile Valley. Only a peace that would be realized through the exercise of self-determination would be acceptable to all African Sudanese Please accept the considerations of our highest esteem. Sincerely, Ritti H. Baya, Vice President/Press Secretary SOUTH SUDAN VOICE FOR FREEDOM Contact info: Email: hbritti2000@yahoo.com Email: jbmulla@aol.com c.c. IGAD negotiation Teams IGAD member countries Dr. John Garang, SPLM/A C-in-C. |