U.S. Task Force on South Sudan
www.freesouthsudanmediacenter.com
January 10, 2011
Dear Representative:
The “U.S. Task Force on South Sudan” asks you to support the people of South Sudan’s referendum for independence. On Sunday, January 9, 2011, the people of South Sudan began a referendum process expressing their desire for freedom and separation from the northern regime in Khartoum – a regime which is on the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism and whose leader Omar Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court as responsible for the ongoing Genocide in Darfur.
This referendum is a historical development for both East Africa and the Middle East, a change that can bring peace and security to the region. This week is a critical moment for the universal value of freedom that we in the United States, like the people of South Sudan, hold dear. Your support for the new nation of South Sudan will strengthen this drive towards freedom.
The people of South Sudan, a proud people who have been subjected to genocide, slavery, dispersion and oppression for half a century, will be asserting their natural right to self-determination and thus will begin building their own national homeland under international law. But the vote for separation and the subsequent steps will be taking place under hostile pressure applied by the Jihadi regime of Omar Bashir in Khartoum, and his regional allies such as the regimes of Iran and Syria and the terrorist organizations Hezbollah and Hamas; furthermore al Qaeda and its affiliates in Africa including AQIM in North Africa, Somalia’s al-Shabaab, as well as the other radical factions throughout the area will be waging strikes against the young nation and against international help provided to its civil society
The hostile Terror and radical forces are attempting to undermine the viability and the survival of the young state. The emerging state of South Sudan will need the immediate support and recognition by liberal democracies around the world, by their African neighbors, and especially by the United States.
Therefore, we urge you to issue an immediate statement of support for South Sudan’s independence and call on the government of the United States to recognize and assist the new independent state once the vote is counted. The people of South Sudan will be heartened and encouraged to hear voices from lawmakers and officials from the United States backing their choice for freedom. If you issue your statement of support within hours after the official results are released in Juba, the capital of the nascent state, you can help this young nation facing so many challenges.
We also urge you, along with your colleagues, to introduce a resolution calling for U.S. and international recognition of the South Sudanese state.
We also wish to inform you that Americans of South Sudanese descent are now casting their votes at several polling locations across the country in this referendum. Your presence at these sites, if you are able to visit them, would be very welcome.
Signed:
The US Task Force for South Sudan
Non-Governmental Signatories:
Dennis Bennett, Servant’s Heart Relief
Faith McDonnell, Director, Religious Liberty Programs and Church Alliance for a New Sudan, The Institute on Religion and Democracy
Frank J. Gaffney Jr., President, Center for Security Policy
Dr Walid Phares, Professor of Global Strategies
Tom Harb, Middle East American Coalition
Sudanese Non-Governmental Signatories:
Jimmy Mulla, Voices for Sudan
Simon Deng, Sudan Freedom Walk
Ibrahim Tahir, Beja Congress (East Sudan)
Mohamed Yahya, Darfur Massalit Community
Khalid Gerais, Rescue Nubia
Jaafar Kangam, Nuba Mountains
Middle East Non-Governmental Organization Signatories:
Sami Khoury, President of the World Maronite Union
Magdi Khalil, Chairman of Coptic International Solidarity
Attorney John Hajjar, US Director for the World Council of the Cedars Revolution
Ali al Yami, Director of the Saudi Human Rights Council
Dr Katrin Michael, Iraqi Writer
Manda Zand, Iranian Democratic Women
More signatories have been invited and will be added later