|
Letter of humanitarian assistance is Sudan
|
04:58 AM Dec, 08 2015 سودانيز اون لاين مبارك عبدالرحمن احمد-كاودة مكتبتى رابط مختصر December 7, 2015H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-MoonSecretary General of the United NationsNew York, NY 10017President Barack ObamaThe White House1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NWWashington, DC 20500RE: Unhindered Assistance from Multiple Locations for the Two Areas and throughout SudanYour Excellency and Mr. President,In light of the impasse at the 10th round of peace talks in Addis Ababa between the governmentof Sudan and the SPLM-N, we believe it is critical to recognize that it is a violation ofinternational law to block humanitarian aid to innocent civilians living in conflict zones.Therefore, no party to the conflict should prevent the international community from providinghumanitarian aid to the people affected by conflict in the Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan andthe Blue Nile states, commonly referred to as the Two Areas, of Sudan, or any other area withinSudan. According to multiple UN General Assembly Resolutions, UNOCHA, and the ICRC,humanitarian actions are founded on four guiding principles: humanity, neutrality,impartiality and independence. These principles provide the foundation to establishing andmaintaining access to affected people in a complex emergency such as armed conflict. Ifhumanitarian assistance relief actions do not follow these principles then the entire operation putsthe victims of conflict at risk and humanitarian assistance can become a weapon in furtherance ofarmed conflict.Since June 2011, the Government of Sudan has persisted in an aerial campaign to bomb thepeople and villages of the Two Areas, with attacks consistently having no military objective.Recent reports indicate the government is preparing for renewed fighting in the Two Areas withthe delivery of new military equipment and reinforcements and the announcement by the DefenseMinister to Parliament that the Two Areas “will be liberated through a massive militaryoperation.” Aerial bombardment has terrorized the civilian population, killed, maimed andinjured thousands, displaced over a million people, and intentionally destroyed crops, the primaryfood source for the civilian population. At the same time, the Government of Sudan haseffectively refused to allow humanitarian assistance into the Two Areas, often putting forwardconditions that make providing humanitarian assistance impossible.Article 7 of the Rome Statute, the founding legal statute of the International Criminal Court(ICC), sets forth crimes against humanity as including inhumane acts of intentionally causinggreat suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health. Further, otherinternational criminal tribunals have rendered convictions based on similar principles. In itsjudgment in Kristic, the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) foundthat the blocking of aid convoys was part of the “creation of a humanitarian crisis,” which,combined with crimes of terror and forcible transfers, incurred individual responsibility forinhumane acts and persecution as crimes against humanity. The International Committee of the1 Red Cross has also interpreted the Geneva Conventions and their protocols to prohibit states fromunwarranted refusal of humanitarian access and assistance in conflict zones.Specific to Sudan, UN Security Council Resolution 2046 strongly urges the parties to complywith international humanitarian law and the guiding principles of emergency humanitarianassistance for safe, unhindered and immediate access of the United Nations and otherhumanitarian personnel to deliver equipment and supplies and to assist conflict-affected civilianpopulations. The African Union Peace and Security Council has repeatedly urged the parties torespect human rights and International Humanitarian Law and to allow humanitarian assistance toreach those in need.During the peace talks in Addis Ababa, the government of Sudan indicated that it would allowcross line humanitarian assistance to be provided from government-controlled areas, meaning thatthe government would be involved or would be perceived to be involved in the delivery ofhumanitarian assistance to the same people it is violently targeting, a clear violation of theprinciples of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence the people of the Two Areashave a right to enjoy. For obvious reasons, the people of the Two Areas do not trust thegovernment of Sudan, and many parts of the population may well refuse to acceptassistance that emanates from government-controlled areas. This will make assistancecoming solely from government controlled areas ineffective and will undermine the veryresult that the international community is hoping to create.We urge the United States, the United Nations, and other interested parties to stop the ongoingcrimes against humanity in the Two Areas and throughout Sudan by upholding internationalhumanitarian law that ensures the unhindered delivery of assistance from multiple locations bythe international community so that the people of Sudan can receive the life giving assistance thatthey so sorely need.Sincerely,Blue Nile Association for Peace and Development USACommission for Protection of Civilians and Human Rights - Blue Nile, SudanFunj Youth Development Association ( FYDA) - Blue Nile, SudanSudan’s Peace and Development Centre - Blue Nile, SudanNational Human Rights Monitors Organization - South Kordofan/ Nuba Mountains, SudanNuba Christian Family MissionNuba Mountains Advocacy Group USANuba Mountains Center for Strategic Planning and Dialogue - LondonNuba Mountains Civil Society Organization Alliance - SudanNuba Mountains Civil Society Organization Union - USA and UKNuba Mountains International Association - AustraliaNuba Mountains International Association - CanadaNuba Mountains International Association - EgyptNuba Mountains International Association - USANuba Mountains People's Foundation - UKNuba Mountains People's Media AbroadNuba Mountains Solidarity Abroad (NMSA) - UK and Ireland2 Nuba Mountains Union of Associations and Organizations - AfricaNuba Moutains International Association - LebanonNuba Now - UKNuba Vision Coalition, Inc.Civil Society Initiative - Signatory to Sudan Call AllianceSudanese Solidarity Committee - KhartoumACAVIE (Asociación) - SpainArab Organizations Coalition for Sudan ( ACS) - Cairo, EgyptAssociation du RIF pour développement - FranceCollectif Urgence Darfour – Paris, FranceDarfur Association in UgandaDarfur Relief and Documentation Centre - GenevaDarfur Solidarity Group - South AfricaDarfur Union in the UK and N. IrelandEast and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project - UgandaHuman Rights Organization and Development (HUDO) - UgandaInternational Refugee Rights Initiative - UgandaJerusalem Center for Genocide PreventionPAX for Peace – The NetherlandsPeople4Sudan - GenevaSociety for Threatened Peoples - GermanySudan Democracy First Group (SDFG) - UgandaWaging Peace - LondonAct for SudanHumanity UnitedUnited to End GenocideAfrican Freedom CoalitionAfrican Soul, American HeartAmerican Friends of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan (AFRECS)Beja Organization for Human Rights and DevelopmentBrooklyn Coalition for Darfur and Marginalized SudanCarl Wilkens FellowshipCatalyst Schools ProjectsChristian Solidarity International - USAColorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and ActionColorado Episcopal FoundationDarfur Action Group of South CarolinaDarfur and BeyondDarfur Interfaith NetworkDarfur Peoples' Association of New YorkDarfur Women Action Group3 Dear Sudan Love MarinGenocide No More - Save DarfurGenocide WatchGeorgia Coalition to Prevent GenocideHuman Rights and Advocacy Network for Democracy (HAND)Idaho Darfur CoalitionInternational Justice ProjectInvestors Against GenocideJews Against GenocideJoining Our VoicesLong Island Darfur Action GroupMassachusetts Coalition to Save DarfurMercy Beyond BordersNever Again CoalitionNew York Coalition for SudanNorthwest Bronx for ChangeNubia ProjectOperation Broken SilenceOur Humanity in the BalancePittsburgh Darfur Emergency CoalitionProject Expedite JusticeSan Francisco Bay Area Darfur CoalitionSociety for Threatened PeoplesStop Genocide NowSudan Advocacy Action ForumSudan Human Rights NetworkSudan UnlimitedSudanese Marginalized Forum-USAThe African Services Coalition of South CarolinaThe Elsa-Gopa TrustThe Institute on Religion and DemocracyUnite for Darfur Org.United Sudanese and South Sudanese Communities AssociationUse Your Voice to Stop Genocide RIVoices for SudanAbderhaman Mohamed GasimExternal Relations SecretaryDarfur Bar Association, SudanAhmed H. Adam, A Visiting FellowInstitute for African Development (IAD), Cornell University4 Albaqir A Mukhtar (PhD), DirectorAl Khatim Adlan Center for Enlightenment and Human Development (KACE)Khartoum, SudanAndrew Natsios, Executive ProfessorFormer U.S. Special Envoy to SudanGeorge H.W. Bush School of Government and Public ServiceTexas AandM UniversityBaroness (Caroline) CoxHouse of Lords and CEO, HARTDr. Amin Mekki MedaniHuman Rights LawyerFormer Special Representative for the United Nations for Gaza, Bosnia and LebanonDr. Gregory StantonFounding President, Genocide WatchResearch Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention, George Mason UniversityDr. Pascale Hatcher, Associate ProfessorFaculty of International RelationsRitsumeikan University, JapanDr. Samuel Totten, Professor EmeritusUniversity of Arkansas, FayettevilleEllen J. Kennedy, Ph.D., Executive DirectorWorld Without Genocide, William Mitchell College of LawEric ReevesSudan ResearcherGill LuskJournalist specializing in the SudansLondon, UKHamid E. Ali, PhDAssociate Professor of Public PolicyThe American University in CairoHelen Fein, Board ChairInstitute for the Study of Genocide5 Henry C. Theriault, Professor and Chair of PhilosophyWorchester State UniversityCo-Editor, Genocide Studies InternationalJohn Weiss, Associate Professor of HistoryCornell UniversityCaceres-Neuffer Genocide Action GroupKhalid Kodi, Adjunct ProfessorBoston College and Brown UniversityLord Alton of LiverpoolMember of the All Party British Parliamentary Group on SudanProfessor of Citzenship, Liverpool John Moores UniversityMukesh Kapila CBEFormer Head of the UN in SudanProfessor of Global Health and Humanitarian AffairsUniversity of ManchesterThe Reverend Ronald D. CulmerSt. Clare's Episcopal ChurchVictoria Sanford, PhDProfessor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, Lehman CollegeDirector, Center for Human Rights and Peace StudiesDoctoral Faculty, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkWendy JamesEmeritus Professor of Social AnthropologyOxford University6
|
|
|
|
|
|