Sudan
Help address child abductions
The University of Minnesota Law School Amnesty International Student Chapter has taken up the cause of a fellow classmate and they invite you to join the movement. Gabriel Kou Solomon, a Sudanese expatriate and graduate student at the University, received word that on October 3 his two nieces were abducted from a family home in Southern Sudan. Gunmen from the Murle tribe fatally shot their great-grandmother, grievously wounded their grandmother, and took the girls to raise as future spouses for their own children.
In response to the personal tragedy of our classmate, a team of students, professors, and professionals have taken on the problem of child abductions in Southern Sudan. The website for the campaign is www.save-yar.org. Their approach has been multi-faceted, attacking this problem on several levels — researching the history and systemic causes of this problem, drafting responses which would get at the root of these abductions, contacting influential actors around the world to help negotiate for the peaceful release of the girls, and mobilizing public support so officials cannot ignore these pleas. The students have been consulting with Amnesty International world headquarters in London and Jo O'Flannagan, the Sudan Campaigner, has agreed to raise Yar's case and the broader issue of child abduction in a letter to the government of South Sudan.
Believing that peaceful negotiations are possible, the campaign is focusing its attention on the Government of Southern Sudan Mission to the United States. President Salva Kiir has the ability to pressure and instruct state and local officials who have been reluctant to take action, and therefore the letter-writing efforts are directed at requesting he make it a priority to do so. The President will be in Washington DC this week so now is the time for urgent action. A delegation from the University of Minnesota will be traveling to DC at the end of this week and it seems promising that they will be able to set up a meeting with the President to discuss efforts and tactics to end this pattern of child abductions.
Below you will find a few steps that you are asked to take this week as well as several resources for more information on this campaign. Anyone with questions or an interest in helping out further with these efforts should feel free to contact Amanda, from the UMN Amnesty chapter at lyon0061@umn.edu or by telephone at 612-296-7354.
We ask that you take the following steps this week
- Sign our online petition at www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-yar
- Print out the postcards available at postcards. If you print front and back, it's just cut, sign and send. We're hoping this is an easy way to gather support and increase participation in the letter-writing campaign. Feel free to write your own letter or a handwritten copy of the card of course!
- Submit an electronic letter to the Government of South Sudan Mission in DC. A "copy and paste" message is included below.
- Call the mission in DC: 202-293-7940
- Please pass on our plea to others, and ask them to do the same.
Sample message
Your Excellency, President Salva Kiir:
I have learned of the abduction of two very young girls, Yar and Ajak Achiek Mading, from Liliir village in Jonglei state on October 3. We are very concerned about the serious problem of child abduction in Jonglei. Taking action to save these children will demonstrate to the world that the new nation of South Sudan protects its most vulnerable citizens and so deserves the world’s support.
I respectfully urge you and Jonglei officials, specifically Brig. Gen. Philip Thon Leek, to promptly use your influence to negotiate with the Murle in Pibor for the peaceful and voluntary release of Yar and Ajak and any other abducted children.
Media coverage of the campaign
Stay tuned to MPR early this week for Toni Randolph's report.
|
