Meeting on the subject ofSudan

Meeting on the subject o
f SudanOffice of Donald Payne, Assemblyman, N.J., who was
represented by Algene Sajevy, 13 February, 2012
Our group: William Deng, , Andrew Eiva,
Gouma Mahamat, Fakiri Jawish Taha, Ahmed Jedda, Al
Sutton.
Our group presented the following topics:
1.Humanitarian aid:
! There is no question as to the severity of the humanitarian
crisis (see Susan Rice quote in our letter to Congressmen.) To
that end, we have been organizing delivery of medical supplies to
Juba. We now face the blockade by al-Bashir of delivering this
aid. We are hopeful that our people on the ground will implement
transport of the medicines to the appropriate refugee camps. Lisa
Grande, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, said,
““We have been packed since November. All we need is access to
the area. Security clearance has constrained our response”.
! We will continue to urge the Administration to clear the way
for humanitarian access.
2.Response to the Sudan crisis by our Administration:
! Our letter of January 24, 2012 to the Congressmen who
wrote President Obama on November 21, 2011 remains
unanswered, as does their letter. We are concerned with the
apparent lack of support of this Administration. We quote
President Obama’s remarks on the Libyan crisis: “To brush aside
America's responsibility as a leader and – more profoundly – our
responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such
circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are. Some
nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other
countries. The United States of America is different. And as
president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass
graves before taking action." How does the crisis in the Sudan
not meet that standard?
! We intend to follow up our letter, and seek remedial action.
3.The matter of slavery:
It has been proved that slavery has been a part of the
terrorism perpetrated agains the indigenous African Blacks in the
Sudan. One study has estimated 200,000 as the number of
slaves taken since 1983. Although the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement of 2005 (CPA) finally forbade slavery, it did not deal
with the remaining men, women and children that remained in
slavery, estimated as 40,000. Groups, such as Christian Solidarity
International (CSI) are making efforts to free some of these
slaves.
We are closely following the work of the CSI.
4. The participation of Afro-Americans in the plight of the
marginalized Sudanese:
For a number of reasons, the Afro-American community has
not expressed alarm that the Arabization efforts in Sudan are
directly attacking the identity of Black Africans, destroying their
villages, culture, languages, and way of life. One would think this
to be a serious concern to African-Americans and to all people.
We are seeking to create an awareness through the
leadership of educators and scholars. An upcoming symposium
by Molefi Asante in Philadelphia will address this issue.
! Ms.Sajevy was attentive, and assured us that she would
help us implement a meeting with the Congressional Black
Caucus, to the extent that she was able