Sudan Freedom Walk – Part Two

In my last newsletter I told you about my friend Simon Deng, who was enslaved for three years as a young child in Sudan. Simon, who has been calling attention to the tragedy of Sudan for many years, recently completed his second Sudan Freedom Walk. Simon left New York on September 15 and ended the walk with a rally in Washington on October 7, 2010. This time, I want to tell you a little more about the rallies that took place in Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

The 2010 Sudan Freedom Walk shed light on the upcoming referendum on secession in South Sudan, January 9, 2011. It also highlighted the outrage of the continuing genocide against the people of Darfur, as well as the marginalization and violation of the human rights of the Nuba, the Beja, the Nubians in the far north, and people throughout Sudan. Our friend Dr. Abdelgabar Adam, the leader of the Darfur Human Rights Organization, USA, walked with Simon as a wonderful symbol of the reconciliation that has taken place between people groups that were once pitted against each other by Khartoum.

Simon and Dr. Adam worry that the National Congress Party (NCP) Islamist regime in Khartoum has never been held responsible for its continual violations of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). It has also never been called to task for its perpetration of genocide in Darfur. (The famous “Janjaweed” who commit genocidal attacks in the region are a proxy of the NCP.) The Sudan Freedom Walk called for a strengthened U.S. Sudan policy that ensures a free and fair referendum on secession from Sudan for the people of South Sudan – the agreed-upon conclusion of the CPA that is set to take place on January 9, 2011. It also called for an immediate ceasefire in Darfur.

Among the speakers at the September 25 Sudan Freedom Walk Rally in Philadelphia was American speed skater and Olympic medalist Joey Cheek. Cheek, now a student at Princeton, is the co-founder and president of Team Darfur, an international coalition of athletes committed to raising awareness about and bringing an end to the genocide in Darfur.

At the October 7 Washington, DC rally at the U.S. Capitol, one of the guest speakers/performers was Sudanese rap artist Emmanuel Jal. Jal was one of the Lost Boys who became a child soldier. He was rescued by Emma McCune, a British aid worker who had married one of the senior SPLA commanders, Riek Machar (now the Vice President of South Sudan). Jal’s story is told in the book War Child (now also a movie). But Jal tells his story and the story of Sudan most poignantly and passionately through his songs. This is what he did at the Sudan Freedom Walk Rally.

As I said when I spoke at the rally in Philadelphia and the one in Washington, now it is time to urge our government to stop appeasing Khartoum and to hold them to the binding agreement that they made when they signed the CPA. We must also insist that they uphold the human rights of Sudan’s other marginalized people – the Nubians in northern Sudan, the people of the boundary areas of Abyei, Blue Nile, and Nuba Mountains, the Darfurians, and the eastern Beja people. They will all face additional oppression and vulnerability at the time of the South Sudan’s referendum and beyond.

Some may be surprised to know that there is already a U.S. law with a mandate for ensuring that the Khartoum regime experiences repercussions for its violations and failures to implement the CPA. According to U.S. Public Law 107-245, the Sudan Peace Act, signed by President Bush on October 21, 2002, if the President “determines…that the Government of Sudan is not in compliance with the terms of a permanent peace agreement” he shall consult with the Congress and implement certain measures (sticks, as it were) to improve Khartoum’s responses.

And in November, Senators Kerry, Brownback, Feingold, and Wicker are introducing a new piece of legislation, “The Sudan Peace and Stability Act.” To make this legislation have more power and effectiveness you may consider contacting your own senators and asking them to become co-sponsors. Overwhelming co-sponsorship will attract media attention and send a signal to the NCP regime even before the bill is passed by Congress.

And please, pray for Sudan. This is first and foremost a spiritual battle. Apart from all that we can do, all that we are morally obligated to do, only God can bring peace, justice, and religious freedom to Sudan.