[statecom-discuss] FWD: Africa Taskforce statement

[David Rolde]

This is a statement on Sudan that was adopted last month by the  
Africa Taskforce of the GPUS Peace Action Committee.  This statement  
is an updated version of the GRP Statement. - David

>
> "We reject the racist mischaracterization of the situation in  
> Darfur as "genocide" being perpetrated by “Arabs.”  Only the  
> government of the United States has labeled the conflict in Darfur  
> as "genocide".  Governments of other countries - as well as  
> international bodies such as the UN, African Union and Arab League  
> - have not.  The false allegations against Sudan by U.S. leaders  
> such as George Bush and Colin Powell are the same as their false  
> allegations of WMD's in Iraq 4 years ago: an incitement and pretext  
> for US aggression.
>
> In reality, the conflict in Darfur is complex involving several  
> warring armed factions.  The conflict is not racial. Almost  
> everyone in Darfur is Black African Arabic-speaking and Muslim.
>
> The US military and economic intervention over the past 15 years,  
> the agenda of pre-division of the natural resources of the region  
> by western corporations, the lucrative arms trade profiting from  
> the expansion of the conflict, as well as the strategic interests  
> of certain groups and countries have all worked to impoverish and  
> destabilize Sudan, and largely caused the humanitarian crisis of  
> civil war and famine in the Darfur region.  The suffering is  
> caused, perpetuated and intensified by the same groups that now are  
> using the humanitarian crises of the people of Darfur as a pretext  
> to call for more intervention.
>
> We oppose the imposition of sanctions on the Sudanese government,  
> particularly since U.S. sanctions since 1997 have selectively aided  
> rebel groups who have exacerbated Sudan’s civil war. We oppose  
> campaigns to divest from Sudan.
>
> We oppose any military intervention in Sudan by Washington or any  
> other foreign power. We note that African Union troops have been  
> used as proxies for U.S. military operations in several countries  
> in Africa, most recently for the US-Ethiopian invasion of Somalia.  
> We note with alarm that mercenaries from US-based private military  
> contractors as well as US military personnel have already been  
> attached to the African Union force in Darfur for several years.
>
> We recall the unprovoked U.S. missile strike in 1998 that destroyed  
> the al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Sudan. We call for Washington  
> to pay reparations for this brutal act which rendered Sudan unable  
> to produce needed human and veterinary pharmaceuticals. In 1967  
> Martin Luther King noted that the United States is the "greatest  
> purveyor of violence in the world today." Given that this fact  
> about the USA has remained true, we condemn the U.S. government  
> declaring Sudan a "terrorist" nation.
>
> In the short term, unconditional food aid and medical aid are  
> needed and should be sent to the Darfur region. In the long term,  
> we will work for an end to aggressive interventions in Sudan and  
> throughout Africa as such policies have lead to chronic war and  
> poverty on the continent. African nations should have their debts  
> forgiven, and they should be free to reject International Monetary  
> Fund structural adjustment policies which benefit multi-national  
> corporations to the detriment of local populations.
>
> In 1999 Jimmy Carter said in regards to the Southern civil war:  
> “The people in Sudan want to resolve the conflict. The biggest  
> obstacle is U.S. government policy. The U.S. is committed to  
> overthrowing the government in Khartoum. Any sort of peace effort  
> is aborted, basically by policies of the United States... Instead  
> of working for peace in Sudan, the U.S. government has basically  
> promoted a continuation of the war." The same is true regarding the  
> more recent conflict in Darfur.  We call for Washington to stop  
> obstructing the Darfur peace negotiations.
>
> The United States should normalize relations with Sudan.   
> Washington's hypocritical and false accusations against Sudan  
> should be dropped. All sanctions against Sudan should be removed."
>
>