Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Tens of Thousands
still in Slavery today
CATTLE CAMP
ARABS PROMISE TO FREE SLAVES
AS MORE THAN
300 SUDANESE SLAVES ARE LIBERATED
By Michael
Ireland
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (ANS) -- 336
Black Sudanese slaves were liberated between 23 March and 14 April
through the mediation of the Arab-Dinka Peace Committees at Warawar and
Manger Ater, Southern Sudan.
According to Christian Solidarity International (CSI), the freed slaves
were registered at three checkpoints (Bac & Rumrol, Aweil East
County, and Mayen Adhal, Aweil North County) before proceeding to their
homes and families.
A press release from CSI received by ASSIST News Service (ANS) says
registration was undertaken jointly by local representatives of CSI,
the Episcopal Church of Sudan, the Church of Christ, the Government of
Sudan's Committee for the Eradication of Women and Children (CEAWC) and
the SPLM's Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SRRC).
Preliminary analysis of interviews with 51 of the female slaves over
the age of 11 indicate the following pattern of abuse:
- 37%
subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM).
- 71%
raped.
- 51%
forcibly converted to Islam from Christianity or a tribal faith.
- 98%
subjected to racial insults.
- 100%
physically abused.
- 100%
forced to work without pay.
CSI gave
returning slaves grain rations and survival kits, including a cooking
pot, mosquito net, plastic sheeting, a water container, a sickle and
fishing hooks.
"At a US government-funded Arab-Dinka peace conference in Nyamlell,
Southern Sudan on April 7-9, Arab cattle camp leaders pledged to free
their remaining Dinka slaves. A conference resolution called on CSI to
assist newly formed Arab-Dinka committees to locate and liberate slaves
from Arab cattle camps," the release says.
Conference host, Chief Dut Majak Majak of Nyamlell, thanked CSI for
promoting peace between Arabs and Dinkas for the past ten years. He
also observed that all Dinkas attending the conference had relatives
who had been freed from enslavement by CSI.
Dr. John Eibner pledged CSI's continuing support for Arab-Dinka efforts
to abolish slavery in Sudan. He also warned that unless the enslavement
of Black Africans is rapidly eradicated in Darfur and other parts of
Northern Sudan a comprehensive and lasting peace for the war torn
country will remain elusive.
In September 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush identified the
eradication of slavery as a paramount goal of his administration's
Sudan peace initiative.
Conservative estimates place the number of Black Sudanese slaves in the
tens of thousands. The Report of the UN's Commission of Inquiry on
Darfur, dated January 25, 2005, confirmed that the armed forces of the
Government of Sudan and allied militias are committing "crimes against
humanity" in Darfur, including slavery and the sexual abuse of women.
At the beginning of February, the Sudanese government suspended the
repatriation of freed slaves to Southern Sudan in response to criticism
from UNICEF. Southern Sudanese community leaders have called for its
immediate resumption.
Direct
inquiries to:
Christian
Solidarity International Headquarters
Switzerland
Tel:
+41 44 982 3333
Fax:
+41 44 982 3334
Email:
csi-int@csi-int.ch
www.iAbolish.com
Contact:
Liora Kasten, 617-426-8161
| ** Michael Ireland is an
international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a
London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News
Service of Garden Grove, CA. Michael immigrated to the United States in
1982 and became a US citizen in Sept., 1995. He is married with two
children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a
British Christian radio station. |
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