We are excited to tell you that on Tuesday one of the slaves you helped to set free will testify before Congress! Christian Solidarity International (CSI) has been working tirelessly to free the slaves in Northern Sudan who were captured during the brutal civil war. One of these freed slaves, Ker Deng, was horribly abused by his master, but thanks to your support, is overcoming his injuries and is now telling the world his story. Ker was taken into bondage at a young age and was forced to convert to Islam by his master. His job was to tend to the goats and pick hibiscus leaves for tea. He slept with the goats at night, and was regularly beaten by his master. One day, as punishment for letting a goat escape, Ker’s master hung him upside-down from a tree, rubbed chili peppers in his eyes, and built a fire in front of him so the smoke wafted into Ker’s face. For hours, Ker screamed in pain. When he was finally cut down, his eyes were so badly damaged, he slowly went blind. After his liberation, Ker traveled to the United States with our field physician, Dr. Luka, to see if his sight could be restored. At the Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia, Ker received a cornea transplant. The doctors hope that this transplant will allow Ker to experience partial recovery of sight! Even though weeks must pass before the final result of the operation will be known, Ker is making good progress. He is learning English and has started piano lessons at Lighthouse Music School. Ker has been invited to testify before the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights about his experiences in slavery in Sudan. Despite the official end of the North-South war in Sudan, thousands of people remain enslaved in the north – including Ker’s mother. This issue has received scant coverage in the American media. We hope that Ker’s testimony will help to change that. We will covering Ker’s testimony on our Twitter feed, and post pictures and video from the testimony on our Facebook page. You can also read more of Ker’s story here. CSI’s work to free, feed and heal the captives will continue until all the slaves, including Ker’s mother, are free. Please help us complete this task by making a donation today here and telling your friends and your pastor about Ker's historic testimony Please pray for CSI’s work, and that God will bless Ker physically and spiritually! Press Conference 10/4 at 11:30 am This morning CSI held a press conference with Representative Chris Smith, Ellen Ratner, The Surgical Team from the Wilis Eye Institute in Philadelphia, Dr. John Eibner and Ker Aleu. Here are some of the highlights from this mornings event. Rep. Chris Smith "Unfortunately, we hear very little about Sudanese Slavery today" Ellen Ratner "Here I am, a Jew, working with Christian Solidarity International! I changed from journalist to activist on a trip to South Sudan with CSI." Ker "My mother always said she hoped we would return someday." "my mother is still in slavery. All I need is help to get her out." Rep. Smith "This is a wonderful humanitarian action and it highlights the continuing problem. We have done far too little to help. Rep. Smith. "The lifesaving work of CSI often goes unrecognized. I thank CSI publicly for their work." Freed Teenage Slave Testifies before Congress Ker Aleu Deng, a blind former slave liberated by Christian Solidarity International (CSI) and its partners, testified today before Congress on the persistence of slavery in Sudan. Addressing the members of the House Subcommittee for Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, Ker said, "From a time I can't remember until very recently, I slept with cattle and goats. ... Like them, I was property. But the animals weren't beaten every day. I was." Ker was frequently tortured and eventually blinded by his master. Ker, now a teenager, was released from slavery last year, but his mother, a victim of extreme violence, remained behind. Ker begged the American people and government to find a way to free his mother and the other Southern Sudanese who remain in captivity in the north. "You are powerful men and women," he said. "Please, find some way to help." In addition to Ker's testimony, the subcommittee was presented with a video recording of the late Dr. John Garang, who subsequently became First Vice President of Sudan, and president of the autonomous region of South Sudan, calling for an international campaign and a domestic Sudanese conference for the eradication of slavery in Sudan. Testimony was also presented by Ellen Ratner of Talk Radio News, who has participated in the documentation of freed Sudanese slaves, and who has enabled Ker to have eye surgery in the United States. She stated, "Every time I look into young Ker's damaged, unresponsive eyes, I sense the unspeakable suffering endured by him, and his mother, and countless thousands of others still being held." According to a leading member of the Sudanese Government's now-defunct Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and Children, James Agueir Alic, approximately 35,000 Southern Sudanese remain enslaved in the North. Last week, 412 men, women and children were liberated from slavery in north Sudan, and repatriated to their homeland, South Sudan. CSI, which facilitated their liberation, was present to document their experiences, and provide them with food and other supplies. The liberated slaves were either captured by Sudanese government militias, or were the offspring of captured female slaves. The overwhelming majority of them were subjected to horrific abuses, including regular beatings, rape, genital mutilation, death threats, forced labor, racial insults and forced conversion to Islam. Subcommittee Chairman Congressman Chris Smith called on the U.S. government to vigorously combat slavery in Sudan – an internationally recognized crime against humanity. He also declared, "Christian Solidarity International's lifesaving work in slave redemption often goes unrecognized. I would like to publicly thank CSI for their work." The CEO of CSI-USA, Dr. John Eibner, calls on the U.S. government to make the eradication of slavery in Sudan a policy priority. He furthermore warns that, "Slavery in Sudan is a symptom of an underlying racism and religious bigotry that, if not addressed, could lead to an unraveling of North-South peace and bring yet more violence and death to that troubled region."
WASHINGTON — A former Sudanese slave blinded by a cruel master pleaded for help Tuesday in throwing the spotlight on the plight of others like him, and to find his missing mother. Ker Aleu Deng was a victim of the 22-year civil war between Sudan's northern and southern regions that ended in 2005 after claiming two million lives and displacing four million people. Taken during the war to the Muslim north from his home in the Christian and animist south by government-backed Arab militias after his father died, Deng was forced to look after goats and pick hibiscus tea leaves for his owner, who he said beat him regularly. His mother was made into the master's sex slave. The former master, known as Zakaria Salih, "would take out all his anger on us," Deng told reporters at the US Congress after being brought to the United States for restorative eyesight surgery. "I was treated worse than the animals I slept with. Like them, I was property," he later told lawmakers at a House Foreign Affairs Committee panel hearing on US policy toward Sudan. "But the animals weren't beaten every day. I was. Every single day, with a horsewhip... The animals were fed every day. But I wasn't." Salih blinded Deng when he was about 12 years old by hanging the boy upside down from a tree, rubbing chili pepper in his eyes and lighting a fire nearby. The doctors said it was the #####alent of throwing acid in his eyes, and his corneas were left white and opaque. Deng, who was fed horse feed and tied to the goats he kept at night in order to keep him from fleeing, said his mother remains enslaved and he has no means to find out where she is. Now about 18 years old, the soft-spoken boy pleaded for help to end such atrocities. "I want to see my mother again, in freedom, along with all the others being held in slavery in Sudan," he said, dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and black tie. "You are powerful men and women. Please, find some way to help." A neighboring imam took Deng in after he was blinded and the boy worked there for about two or three years. Christian Solidarity International, a Zurich-based charity, brought Deng to the United States in August to get surgery in hopes of restoring his eyesight. But one eye was found to be so badly damaged that there is no hope for repair. After receiving a donor cornea at Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Deng can now distinguish some shapes and movements though it is likely he will always have limited vision and need a white cane. He is also learning English, Braille and how to play the piano. Representative Chris Smith, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, expressed outrage that slavery remained a reality in Sudan, which recently saw South Sudan split from the north to form the world's newest nation. "All of us need to do more in terms of exposing this horrific behavior on the part of enslavers and combat it. And frankly, we have done too little," he said. According to the State Department's 2011 Trafficking in Persons report, hundreds of children were abducted last year alone during conflicts and cattle raids between rival tribes, and some were later forced into animal herding or domestic servitude. "Sudan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking," it added. The State Department says "thousands" of women and children from Deng's Dinka tribe were abducted and enslaved like him by members of rival tribes during the civil war. _____________________________________________________________________ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/...7f0ef718cc8c43a2.781
10-05-2011, 06:19 AM
عبدالمجيد صالح عبدالمجيد صالح
تاريخ التسجيل: 11-27-2007
مجموع المشاركات: 2904
Tuesday, October 04, 2011 Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights
Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ)
A Comprehensive Assessment of U.S. Policy Toward Sudan
You are respectfully requested to attend the following open hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights to be held in Room 2200 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
Date Tuesday, October 04, 2011 Time 2:00 PM Location Room 2200 of the Rayburn House Office Building witnesses Panel I The Honorable Princeton Lyman Special Envoy for Sudan U.S. Department of State
Panel II Mr. Ker Aleu Deng Emancipated slave from the Republic of South Sudan
Gérard Prunier, Ph.D. Nonresident Senior Fellow Michael S. Ansari Africa Center Atlantic Council
Mr. John Prendergast Co-founder The Enough Project
Quote: The State Department says "thousands" of women and children from Deng's Dinka tribe were abducted and enslaved like him by members of rival tribes during the civil war.
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10-06-2011, 05:33 AM
عبدالمجيد صالح عبدالمجيد صالح
تاريخ التسجيل: 11-27-2007
مجموع المشاركات: 2904
الرسائل والمقالات و الآراء المنشورة في المنتدى بأسماء أصحابها أو بأسماء مستعارة لا تمثل بالضرورة الرأي الرسمي لصاحب الموقع أو سودانيز اون لاين بل تمثل وجهة نظر كاتبها
لا يمكنك نقل أو اقتباس اى مواد أعلامية من هذا الموقع الا بعد الحصول على اذن من الادارة
عبدالمجيد صالح
محمد جلال عبدالله
عماد حسين
حيدر حسن ميرغني
عمار عبدالله عبدالرحمن
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست