All,
Regional stuff... working on country-specific letters (including Gambia's.)
Due to time pressures, we'll need a back-up so that we could make ALL
monthly meetings to drive home our seriousness/commitment to ADNA's ideals.
ADNA meets the FIRST/SECOND TUESDAY every month. Time 9:00am to 1pm. It
requires taking half a day off work. Place: 100 Maryland Ave NE (Right
across the Supreme Court -behind the US Capitol.) Next meeting Tuesday
1/9/00. Appealling to all DC area people. Drop me a line if you need
pointers.
Saul.
>
>
>
> >From: [log in to unmask]
> >Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: ACTION: - Sign On Letter - West Africa
> >Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 16:45:44 -0500
> >
> >ADNA Action: 001221
> >Message from: Friends of Liberia and US Committee for Refugees
> >For contact information see also:
> >http://www.africapolicy.org
> >
> >Dear ADNA members,
> >
> >Following find an urgent sign-on letter and note the deadline of close
> >of business tomorrow Dec 22 for your replies. Apologies for the
> >short notice so close to the holidays, but please do what you can.
> >Note the instructions to reply to Eleanor Bedford by e-amil at
> >[log in to unmask] or by phone listed below.
> >
> >Do not reply to ADNA or APIC.
> >
> >Regards,
> >Vicki Ferguson
> >ADNA Communications Facilitator
> >
> >
> >Date sent: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 00:45:34 -0500
> >From: Kevin George <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: URGENT - Sign On Letter - West Africa
> >
> >The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) and Friends of Liberia
> >invite ADNA members and other organizations to sign-on to the
> >attached letter to Secretary of State Albright and National Security
> >Advisor Sandy Berger. We developed this letter in consultation with
> >several organizations to encourage the Clinton Administration in its
> >final weeks to take steps to undermine the RUF and Liberia's
> >President Charles Taylor, the parties we view as primarily
> >responsible for perpetuating the conflict in Sierra Leone and
> >exporting it to neighboring countries. We believe that the Clinton
> >Administration can implement some of these suggestions before its
> >term is over, and at least start the process on others. We view this
> >letter as also setting the tone for engagement by the incoming Bush
> >Administration into the growing problems facing West Africa.
> >
> >Organizations interested in signing-on to this letter should contact
> >Eleanor Bedford of USCR at [log in to unmask] (or by
> >telephone at 202-347-3507) providing her with the organization's
> >name and the name/title of the representative to be listed.
> >
> >The deadline for signing-on is Friday, Dec. 22 at 5:00 p.m.. We
> >would like to deliver this letter to Secretary Albright and Mr. Berger
> >on Dec. 22.
> >
> >Thank you for your support!
> >
> >
> >Kevin George
> >Friends of Liberia
> >202-251-1497
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > December 22, 2000
> >
> >The Honorable Madeleine K Albright Samuel R. Berger
> >Secretary of State Assistant to the
>President
> >United States Department of State for National Security
> >Affairs 2201 C Street, N.W. 1600 Pennsylvania
> >Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 Washington,
> >D.C.
> >20520
> >
> >Dear Secretary Albright and Mr. Berger:
> >
> >The undersigned organizations encourage the United States
> >government to take the following actions to help undermine the
> >parties primarily responsible for perpetuating the conflict in Sierra
> >Leone and exporting it to neighboring countries.
> >
> >* Declare the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) a terrorist
> >organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996, which would
> >provide legal consequences under U.S. law to those members or
> >representatives of the RUF and its financial supporters.
> >
> >* Expand the jurisdiction of the United Nations Special Court for
> >Sierra Leone so that it is clear that the Court may prosecute and
> >enforce its judgment on persons outside Sierra Leone who are
> >providing direct support to the RUF or otherwise significantly
> >interfering with the process of peace in Sierra Leone.
> >
> >* Supplement existing travel restrictions on Liberian government
> >officials with sanctions on the export of diamonds and timber from
> >Liberia and the freezing of assets in the United States belonging to
> >the government of Liberia or its officials involved in activities
> >contrary to peace in Sierra Leone. Ultimately diamonds should not
> >be imported into the United States from West Africa unless the
> >country exporting the diamonds is a signatory to an international
> >global diamond certification system, or a participant in an
> >international arrangement that establishes a system of controls on
> >the export of and import of rough diamonds.
> >
> >The RUF is clearly using terror as a means to achieve the control
> >over Sierra Leoneans that it cannot achieve through political means.
> >Rape, amputation and murder have become synonymous with this
> >organization. The RUF's complete disregard for signed peace
> >accords and attacks upon United Nations peacekeepers have
> >destroyed its credibility as a party to peace. The negotiated cease-
> >fire in Sierra Leone has been exploited by the RUF to strengthen its
> >attacks into Guinea. It is time that the RUF joins groups like the
> >Khmer Rouge on the list of organizations designated under U.S. law
> >as foreign terrorist organizations.
> >
> >The State Department points to "clear" evidence that President
> >Charles Taylor of Liberia continues to support the RUF through the
> >transfer of arms, military personnel and resources. Mr. Taylor's
> >claims to the contrary do not ring true. The recent U.N. Security
> >Council mission to West Africa also cites a "clear sense of
> >exasperation from leading presidents of the Economic Community of
> >West African States (ECOWAS) with the role Liberia (is) playing in
> >the regional crisis." Mr. Taylor's rapid mobilization of military units
> >and his vast exploitation of Liberia's timber resources to support
> >them create additional concern that Sierra Leone's problems will be
> >exported through Liberia to Guinea.
> >
> >The challenges of peace in West Africa are complicated, but
> >surmountable. A negotiated peace will never stand, however, if the
> >United States and the international community do not use all
> >available means to isolate the RUF and Mr. Taylor politically and
> >economically.
> >
> >We urge you to carry out our recommendations in these closing
> >days of President Clinton's Administration and to pave the way for
> >engagement by the next Administration into the growing problems of
> >West Africa.
> >
> >
> >
> > Sincerely
> >yours,
> >
> >
> > Signatures of Representative
> > Names of Organizations
> >
> >***
> >
> >This message from the Friends of Liberia and US Committee for
> >Refugees is distributed through the Advocacy Network for Africa
> >(ADNA).
> >Vicki Lynn Ferguson
> >Advocacy Network for Africa
> >Communications Facilitator
> >c/o Africa Policy Information Center
> >110 Maryland Ave, NE #509
> >Washington, DC 20002
> >Ph: 202-546-7961
> >Fax: 202-546-1545
> >E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> >Web: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna
>
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