My letter to the editor was recently published in the New York Times. The letter is below as well as a link to the January 2 article which prompted my letter.

Published: January 11, 2010
To the Editor:

Re “After Years of Mass Killings, Fragile Calm Holds in Darfur” (front page, Jan. 2):

Contrary to the impression given in your article, it is not the rebels but Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Sudan’s president, who is the real catalyst for seven years of government-sponsored terror in Darfur, resulting in 300,000 deaths and the displacement of about three million more.

This same man, who has been indicted on war crime charges, and his National Congress Party were responsible for the deaths of two million in southern Sudan during two decades of civil war as they sought to protect their hold on oil resources.

The “fragile calm” your article depicts in Darfur exists only because Mr. Bashir has largely finished his work there. He is now focused on other priorities, most important of which is rigging the coming elections to maintain his grip on power. Before an election farce legitimizes his reign, the Obama administration should impose strict consequences on his brutal regime. Otherwise, southern Sudan may descend into another war, and three million Darfuris suffering in camps may never be able to go home.

Susan Morgan
Wellesley, Mass., Jan.
3, 2010

The writer is co-founder of Investors Against Genocide and executive director of Pax Communications.

Here is a link to the original article.

CITIES NATIONWIDE – December 15, 2009 – Today over 50 organizations representing Sudan advocates and Sudanese expatriates from around the country, together with actress Mia Farrow and Sudan expert Eric Reeves, sent an open letter to President Obama calling on him to impose immediate consequences on the Government of Sudan for public violations of human rights in advance of the elections and for the eroding situation on the ground.

The letter recommends that President Obama 1) Lead the United States and the broader international community in applying the pressures necessary to ensure that the conditions for credible elections mandated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) are enacted and implemented without further delay, 2) Act immediately to secure multilateral asset freezes and travel bans on National Congress Party (NCP) leaders, multilateral support of the International Criminal Court cases against key Sudanese officials, multilateral enforcement of the UN Security Council arms embargo; and denial of multilateral debt relief, 3) Direct Special Envoy Gration, the State Department and USAID to conduct and make public an assessment of the current status of humanitarian services and 4) Direct Special Envoy Gration to promptly brief the appropriate House and Senate committees on the contents of the classified documents that are part of the Administration’s Sudan policy.

According to the letter, the Administration’s Sudan policy review promised a balanced approach of both incentives and pressures. “The policy will lack credibility if no consequences are imposed now, particularly after the very public violations of human rights on December 7 and 14 and the eroding situation on the ground. There is no need to wait further to impose consequences on Sudan for these clear and critical violations. These actions by the Government of Sudan illustrate the importance of the United States acting with a fierce urgency to deliver the promised consequences. Merely condemning the NCP’s action is not a sufficient consequence,” the letter states.

On Sunday, the NCP and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and south agreed to the terms of a controversial referendum on southern independence on Sunday. However, according to Mohamed Suleiman, a Darfuri and a spokesman for the group, the NCP has a consistent track record of breaking its agreements. “The fact that the government violently quelled a peaceful demonstration the day after announcing this agreement demonstrates that it will not honor the reform of Sudanese laws necessary for credible elections, including freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, and freedom of speech,” he said.

The letter cites Obama’s recent address in Oslo where he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. “Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable. Sanctions must exact a real price. Intransigence must be met with increased pressure — and such pressure exists only when the world stands together as one,” President Obama said in his speech there.

FULL TEXT OF DECEMBER 15 LETTER

December 15, 2009
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama,

As members of the nationwide anti-genocide movement, our organizations represent many Americans around the country watching the escalating crisis in Sudan with increasing concern and outrage. You provided a brief spark of optimism with the release of the long-awaited Sudan policy on October 19, 2009. Since then, however, we have become increasingly concerned about the lack of transparency and implementation of the policy, while conditions on the ground in Sudan have become even more alarming.

We have four primary areas of concern:

1) 2010 Elections. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 (CPA) mandates the reform of Sudanese laws necessary for credible elections, including freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, and freedom of speech. In its all too customary disregard for signed agreements, Sudan’s National Congress Party (NCP) has obstructed passage of these reforms.

We ask that you lead the United States and the broader international community in applying the pressures necessary to ensure that the CPA-mandated conditions for credible elections are enacted and implemented without further delay. These pressures should include clear and public messages that the United States will under no circumstances fund, assist or support elections that lack credibility. To date there has been too much focus on the mechanics of elections, with little emphasis placed on the fundamental reforms contained in the CPA that would allow for a fair election and the eventual transformation of Sudanese society.

2) Disincentives for NCP leaders. Since announcement of the United States’ new Sudan policy, the situation in Sudan has deteriorated. Despite the promises and assurances of the NCP to your Special Envoy, Major General Gration, and others, the NCP continues to brutally violate Sudanese citizens’ most fundamental human rights. On December 14, Sudanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse about 200 opposition protesters on Monday who tried to rally near Sudan’s parliament to demand democratic reforms before presidential and parliamentary polls. According to Reuters, riot police with batons and shields lined the streets near parliament before the planned rally, a Reuters witness said. Early reports say dozens of protesters were arrested during the protest. This recent news follows the government’s repression on December 7, 2009 when Government of Sudan officials arrested hundreds of people – including several SPLM and northern opposition leaders – participating in a peaceful rally calling for electoral reforms. Amnesty International received reports that some of those arrested were tortured in detention. Some of those detained are still reported as missing. The NCP’s arrest of opposition leaders and protesters is a blatant violation of commitments it made in the CPA, as are the continued problems and delays in demarcating borders; in Darfur, it continues to restrict and disrupt UNAMID operations. Further, there are disturbing signs that the NCP has a hand in the increased militia violence that has claimed more than 2,000 lives in South Sudan this year alone.

The policy review promised a balanced approach of both incentives and pressures. The policy will lack credibility if no consequences are imposed now, particularly after the very public violations of human rights on December 7 and 14 and the eroding situation on the ground. There is no need to wait further to impose consequences on Sudan for these clear and critical violations. These actions by the Government of Sudan illustrate the importance of the United States acting with a fierce urgency to deliver the promised consequences. Merely condemning the NCP’s action is not a sufficient consequence. As you stated in your Nobel Prize acceptance speech:

“…[I]n dealing with those nations that break rules and laws,…we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to actually change behavior — for if we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something. Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable. Sanctions must exact a real price. Intransigence must be met with increased pressure — and such pressure exists only when the world stands together as one…The same principle applies to those who violate international laws by brutalizing their own people. When there is genocide in Darfur,…there must be consequences…the closer we stand together, the less likely we will be faced with the choice between armed intervention and complicity in oppression.”

The world will not “stand together as one” without your personal engagement and leadership and that of the Secretary of State. Such engagement and leadership are also indispensable to securing:

- Multilateral asset freezes and travel bans on individual NCP leaders as provided for in UN Security Council Resolution 1591. Likely candidates for such sanction include: Nafi Ali Nafi (Presidential assistant and NCP Deputy chief), Bakri Hasan Salih (Presidential Adviser for security),Gutbi Almahdi (High ranking NCP official), Ahmed Ibrahim Eltahir (Parliament Speaker), and Altaib Mustafa (President al-Bashir’s uncle and owner of AlIntibaha, a newspaper publishing hate against Pagan Amum and Yasir Arman, two arrested SPLM leaders);

- Multilateral support of the International Criminal Court case against key Sudanese officials with respect to both existing indictments and further expansion of cases;

- Multilateral enforcement of the UN Security Council arms embargo, first set out in UN Security Council resolution 1556 (2004) and strengthened in resolution 1591 (2005); and

- Denial of the multilateral debt relief sought by the NCP.

3) Humanitarian Aid in Darfur. In addition to the obstruction of UNAMID mentioned above and broader concerns over security, humanitarian access continues to be a major problem in Darfur. General Gration has made conflicting statements regarding the status of humanitarian aid in Darfur. Darfuris, the United Nations, Physicians for Human Rights and others have reported that humanitarian organizations are working with severely limited access in Darfur and, since the expulsion of aid workers in March 2009, the fragile network of medical and psycho-social services for victims of gender-based violence has collapsed. In a recent exacerbation of the crisis, the withdrawal of the International Red Cross after the kidnapping of two of its workers has left parts of Jebel Marra and Jebel Si (not served by the UN) without aid.

Please direct General Gration to work in consultation with the State Department and USAID to conduct and make public an assessment of the current status of, and future outlook for, the provision of all services in each area of Northern Sudan, the specific steps being taken to ensure their restoration, and the benchmarks he is using to measure progress.

4) The U.S. Sudan Policy. Regardless of the words used to describe the classified components of the Sudan policy, Congress should know its contents and have a clear understanding of the benchmarks by which progress or the lack thereof will be measured and the incentives and pressures that will be deployed as the parties meet or fail to meet these benchmarks.

We ask that Special Envoy Gration promptly brief the appropriate House and Senate committees on the contents of these classified documents. In addition, Senators and Representatives should receive the National Security Council working papers and other relevant documents without delay.

In anticipation of your prompt action on these matters, we remain very truly yours,

Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan
Joan Hecht CEO
Jacksonville, Florida

American Friends Service Committee
Stephen McNeil, Assistant Regional Director for Peacebuilding
San Francisco, California

American Jewish Committee
Eliseo Neuman, Director, The Africa Institute
New York, New York

Americans Against the Darfur Genocide
Nikki Serapio, Director
San Francisco, California

ChampionDarfur.com
Corey Dragge, Founder
Las Vegas, Nevada

Congregation Emanu-El
Rabbi Sydney Mintz
San Francisco, CA

Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM)
Alexander Levering Kern, Executive Director
Boston, Massachusetts

Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy
Mohamed Yahya, Founder and Executive Director
Washington, D.C

Darfur Human Rights Organization of the USA
Abdelgabar Adam, President
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Darfur Reconciliation and Development Organization
Adeeb Yousif, Founder & Chairperson
Zalingei, West Darfur and San Francisco, California

Darfur Rehabilitation Project
Yahya Osman, President
Newark, New Jersey

Darfur Self Reliance Education
Mohamed Suleiman, President
Alameda, California

Darfur and Beyond
Cory Williams, Founder
Phoenix, Arizona

Darfur Community Organization
Bakheit A Shata, Founder/Executive Director
Omaha, Nebraska

Darfur People’s Association of New York
Bushara Dosa, President
Church Ave Brooklyn, New York

Dear Sudan, Love Marin
Gerri Miller, Founder and Coordinator
Tiburon, California

Elizabeth Hankins
Author of “I Learned a New Word Today…Genocide”
Houston, Texas

Enough Project at the Center for American Progress
John Norris, Executive Director
Washington, D.C.

Eric Reeves
Author of “A Long Day’s Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide”

Essex County Coalition for Darfur
Gloria Crist, Co-Founder
Montclair, New Jersey

Fur Cultural Revival
Mansour Ahmed, President
Portland, Maine

Genocide No More - Save Darfur
Marv Steinberg, Coordinator
Redding, California

Hudson Institute
Nina Shea, Director, Center for Religious Freedom
Washington, DC 20005

Idaho Darfur Coalition
A.J. Fay, Co-Founder
Boise, Idaho

Investors Against Genocide
Susan Morgan, Co-founder
Boston, Massachusetts

Jacob Blaustein for the Advancement of Human Rights
Felice Gaer, Director
New York, New York

Jewish Community Relations Council of
San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin,
Sonoma, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties
Rabbi Doug Kahn, Executive Director
San Francisco, California

Jewish World Watch
Tzivia Schwartz-Getzug, Executive Director
Los Angeles, California

Kentuckiana Interfaith Taskforce On Darfur
Bob Brousseau, chair
Louisville, Kentucky

Keokuk for Darfur
Julia Hays, Founder/Director
Keokuk, Iowa

Living Ubuntu/Orange County for Darfur
Barbara English, Executive Director
Newport Beach, California

Long Island Darfur Action Group
Nancy Walsh, Coordinator
Long Island, New York

The Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan National Network
Julie Hines Mabus, President
Washington, D.C.

Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur
Eric Cohen, Chairperson
Boston, Massachusetts

Mia Farrow
Sudan Advocate, Actor

Michigan Darfur Coalition
Dr. Tim Page, General Coordinator
Birmingham, Michigan

New York City Coalition for Darfur
Sharon Silber, Co-founder
New York, New York

Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns,
Archdiocese of San Francisco
George Wesolek, Director
San Francisco, California

San Antonio Interfaith Darfur Coalition
Susan Smylie, Coordinator of Advocacy
San Antonio, Texas

San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition
Martina Knee, Member, Executive Committee
San Francisco, California

Save Darfur: Central PA
Lee Ann De Reus, Co-founder
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania

Save Darfur Washington State
Deborah Jones, President
Seattle, Washington

South Sudan Women’s Empowerment Network
Lilian Riziq, President & CEO
Phoenix, Arizona

Southern Sudanese Community Center of San Diego
Chuol P.Tut, Executive Director
San Diego, California

STAND at University of California, Davis
Jessica Verhein, President
Davis, California

Stop Genocide Now
Gabriel Stauring, Director
Los Angeles, California

Sudan Advocacy Action Forum
Bill Andress, Director
Lexington, SC, USA

Sudan for All
Emad Bukhari, Founder
Phoenix, Arizona

Sudan Unlimited
Esther Sprague, Founder,
San Francisco, California

Temple Beth Elohim
Michael Gilman, Trustee and Past President
Wellesley, Massachusetts

Texans Against Genocide
Laura McCarthy and Susan Smylie, Co-Founders
Dallas and San Antonio, Texas

The Institute on Religion and Democracy
Faith McDonnell, Director, Church Alliance for a New Sudan
Washington, DC

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Rob Keithan, Director, Washington Office for Advocacy
Washington, DC

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Charlie Clements, President and CEO
Cambridge, Mass.

Use Your Voice to Save Darfur Rhode Island
Sandra Hammel, Director
Providence, Rhode Island

Voices for Sudan
Gafar O. Kangam, Public Relations Representative
Washington, DC

World Relief Organization
Elgasim Salih, President
Philadelphia PA

cc: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

- Encourages investors who wish to avoid supporting genocide to consider new investment alternative

Boston, MA – November 12, 2009 - Investors Against Genocide commends iShares for its announcement today that it will develop an iShares Genocide-Free Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). The company plans to rely on a reputable third-party index provider to identify companies around the world that they believe are strongly connected to genocide to screen out of an established, broad-based international benchmark.

“We consider this announcement by iShares an important step forward in the effort to advance the practice of genocide-free investing,” said Eric Cohen, Chairperson of Investors Against Genocide. “While most US mutual fund companies have declined to take any action, iShares has listened to the marketplace and has taken a significant step forward by announcing plans to develop the first international genocide-free fund for retail investors.”

A 2007 study by KRC Research demonstrated that Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to being financially connected to genocide. In the study, 71% of respondents said companies should take extreme cases of human rights abuses, such as genocide, into account rather than base investment decisions solely on economic criteria. In that same study, 77% said they would switch to a different investment company if they learned that those managing their funds had significant investments in firms that were active in Sudan.

“For the many millions of American families who do not want their hard-earned savings to be invested in companies that help support genocide, the introduction of this new fund by iShares will make it easier to find genocide-free investment alternatives, said Cohen. “We hope experience with this new fund will further encourage development of genocide-free alternatives for all fund types in the future,” said Cohen.

For the last three years, Investors Against Genocide (IAG), a Boston-based non-profit organization, has led a campaign dedicated to convincing mutual fund and other investment firms to change their investing strategy so as to avoid complicity in genocide. Although federal law prevents most US companies from operating in Sudan, most large mutual fund companies are major investors in one or more of the Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian oil companies involved in Sudan that have been helping to fund the genocide in Darfur. As a result, ordinary investors, through their mutual funds, family savings, and pension plans entrusted to these financial institutions, have been inadvertently investing in genocide.

According to Cohen, IAG has been in contact with iShares for over two years. “We’re pleased that iShares, having studied the information provided by IAG, and having listened to the marketplace, determined that developing this new genocide-free fund and providing its customers with a clear choice would help address investors’ concerns about this issue,” he said.

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Investors Against Genocide is a non-profit organization dedicated to convincing mutual fund and other investment firms to change their investing strategy so as to avoid complicity in genocide. The organization works with individuals, companies, organizations, financial institutions, the press, and government agencies to build awareness and to create financial, public relations, and regulatory pressure for investment firms to change. The ultimate goals are that the Government of Sudan ends its deadly genocide in Darfur and that investment firms avoid investing in genocide. For more information, visit www.investorsagainstgenocide.org.

Citing the 3 million Darfuris suffering in camps, group says Agwai “misses the big picture” in declaring end to crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Enough Project at the Center for American Progress released the following statement today concerning the remarks of departing UNAMID commander Martin Luther Agwai who declared, “As of today, I would not say there is a war going on in Darfur.”

Enough Project Executive Director John Norris noted, “The outgoing commander is correct that there has been a lull in fighting in Darfur, but he entirely misses the big picture in doing so. What he and others conveniently fail to mention: the three million Darfuris stuck in refugee and displaced camps unable to return to their homes because of insecurity and violence. Instead of offering self-congratulatory remarks, the entire international community should be appalled that after more than six years they have failed to create the conditions on the ground that would allow displaced people to return home by disarming the janjaweed, holding perpetrators of earlier war crimes accountable, securing a viable peace deal, and putting a credible peacekeeping force in place.”
Enough project co-Founder John Prendergast added, “The Obama administration is not leading a new peace process for Darfur; it is more energetically supporting a failed one. The United States must urgently lead a group of concerned nations—including Egypt and China—to offer sustained, high-level support for peace talks that focus on developing a draft peace proposal that addresses the core issues of the conflict and empowers the head mediator to reach a political settlement.” As U.N. General Downplays Crisis, Enough and Sudan Now Stress Urgency for Obama Administration

This week the coalition of anti-genocide advocacy organizations announced the launch of a bold new campaign called Sudan Now: Keep the Promise. The campaign challenges President Barack Obama and top U.S. administration officials to live up to their campaign and political promises by taking strong and immediate action to help end the international crisis in Sudan and bring a lasting peace to the people of that country. Members of the coalition include Humanity United, the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, Stop Genocide Now, and Investors Against Genocide.

As part of the campaign’s launch, a series of print and online advertisements are appearing in national publications this week. The advertisements feature statements made by President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Secretary Clinton, which focused on applying “real pressure” to, and ensuring “strong consequences” for, the government of Sudan. In sharp contrast, the U.S. administration’s current approach, according to Sudan Now members, seems to favor incentives and concessions over strong, comprehensive action.

For additional information:

VISIT the Enough Project’s blog, Enough Said, for updates on this issue.
FOLLOW the Enough Project on Twitter, http://twitter.com/enoughproject.