The Oxford Declaration on Demands for Investigations, Prevention, Prosecution and Reparations for the Crimes of Slavery and Genocide and other Crimes committed Against the Humanity of the Peoples of Aweil and Twic of Northern Bahr El Ghazal, Sudan
WE, the members, communities and organisations of the peoples of Aweil and Twic of Northern Bahr El Ghazal, South Sudan, some of whose members originally met in Oxford, United Kingdom, on 6th July 2003 from where a series of meetings and consultations were set in motion amongst the members, communities and organisations of Aweil and Twic inside and outside Sudan in order to review and deliberate upon the current IGAD peace process;
Further to the findings of our deliberations we hereby call upon the negotiators, participants and observers of the IGAD Peace Process, the IGAD Member States, the Friends of IGAD, the African Heads of States and Governments, the African Union, the Heads of States and Governments throughout the world, the United Nations and all principled peoples and organisations of good will whether they be in Sudan, Africa or throughout the world to consider with the utmost urgency and seriousness these just and legitimate demands so stated herein this Declaration (The Oxford Declaration) for fair and appropriate investigations, prevention, prosecution and reparations for the crimes of Slavery and Genocide and other crimes which have been or are being committed against the humanity of the peoples of Aweil and Twic of Northern Bahr El Ghazal and others in the war afflicted Sudan.
Further to these deliberations and this Declaration, we therefore:
" CONDEMN and note with profound dismay and alarm the Government of Sudan's intransigence and failure to negotiate in good faith for the attainment of a just and peaceful settlement of the Sudanese crisis, and insist with impunity to justify and continue with its policies of slavery and genocide;
" CONDEMN and profoundly ALARMED at the continuous manipulations of the then OAU and now AU, United Nations and other regional and international political, legal and institutional instruments as well as horrendous failures to vigorously, proactively and adequately concern themselves with noting and addressing the tragic crimes of slavery and genocide which are being so glaringly committed against the humanity of the peoples of Aweil, Twic and others in Sudan; and, STATE for regional and international public record and for the purposes of initiating further reflections, debates and action regionally and internationally, that, it should be known to all concerned that such continuous manipulations of and horrendous failures on the part of the AU, UN and others effectively amount to making them collectively and
indeed individually to varying degrees actual partners in the crimes of slavery and genocide which are being committed against the peoples of Aweil Twic and others in Sudan;
" CALL UPON the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to demand, insist and negotiate more vigorously and vociferously about the unavoidable need to resolve the human tragedy of slavery and genocide in Sudan as part of the ongoing negotiations in a manner consistent with the requirements of natural justice, the internationally known standards and the legitimate expectations of the enslaved, victimised and oppressed communities for justice and reparations;
" CONFIRM our qualified approval and support for the Machakos Protocols of 20th July 02 and the several addenda following it, and in particular the right to self-determination for the people of South Sudan, and most certainly in due course for the peoples of the Nuba Mountains, Ingessana Hills, Beja, Darfur and all the other marginalized areas of Sudan;
" NOTE with profound alarm and dismay that the infamous and heinous crimes of
slavery and genocide being committed against the peoples of Northern Bahr El
Ghazal have been deliberately and wilfully ignored and omitted from the IGAD
negotiations;
" NOTE that such an omission would in and of itself constitute a colossal injustice and a crime against the humanity of the victims of such infamous and heinous crimes of slavery and genocide along with their historical and continuing consequences so long as the IGAD process fails to give the concerns arising from such criminal acts their due prominence and just considerations as part of any final peaceful settlement to the Sudanese crisis with acceptable legally binding guarantees;
" KNOWING that successive regimes in Khartoum have pursued and executed policies which deliberately target and eliminate the strong men of Aweil and Twic and remove their children and women from their homes and transport them to Northern Sudan and elsewhere as slaves, does amount to nothing less than slavery and genocide as defined by international law;
" KNOWING that such verifiable acts of enslavement and genocide have caused great suffering to these communities, plundered their human and material resources, destroyed their social fabrics and caused massive displacements of their populations where many of them live in sub-human conditions in northern Sudan and elsewhere;
" CONSCIOUS of the fact that such crimes of slavery and genocide are well noted and documented by the UN Commission for Human Rights, independent international human rights organisations, international and local NGOs along with academics from Sudan and elsewhere;
" RECALLING the historical and continuing failures of the regional and international political and legal systems to sufficiently respond and rise up to the challenges of adequately addressing the human calamities of slavery and genocide that are being committed against the peoples of Aweil, Twic and other parts of Sudan;
" COMMITTED to and MOTIVATED by the deep belief and knowledge that the humanity of the peoples of Aweil and Twic have never been and certainly will never be in anyway whatsoever lesser or inferior than that of other victimised or non-victimised peoples whenever and wherever they may be in the world; and,
" ENCOURAGED by the latest developments in the regional and international political and legal instruments and systems such as the proposals for a 'Peace and Security Council' within the African Union, and in particular the International Court of Justice; besides our legitimate rights to self-defence and self-determination as defined in international law …
To these and other legitimate and just ends WE hereby:
" DEMAND that full and comprehensive investigations be conducted, delivery of satisfactory justice and due reparations are to be made in a manner commensurate with the scales of the historical and continuing destruction in terms of human, material or potential developments resulting from the failed internal or external policies and actions of enslavement and genocide being committed against the peoples of Aweil and Twic;
" DEMAND that the continuing enslavement of the people of Aweil and Twic of Northern Bahr El Ghazal should be fully and unambiguously resolved as part of
the final settlement and constitutional arrangements in Sudan with clear commitment to establishing well-resourced mechanisms that are open and transparent for the purpose of investigating, processing and publishing all cases, findings, prosecutions and reparations as prescribed herewith and in accordance with international standards and laws;
" DEMAND that these concerns and claims for justice and reparations are to be considered within the frameworks of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, UN Slavery Convention, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crimes of Genocide, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and all other relevant instruments as well as the useful Declarations such as those of the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerances and the Johannesburg Declaration of the Conference on Arab-led Slavery of Africans in addition to this Declaration;
" CONFIRM that the appropriate responses to these legitimate and just demands in a manner consistent with universal and international standards in such matters would generate positive results for sustainable peace and development in Sudan;
" DEMAND the establishment of an independent "Slavery Commission" that reports to the highest legislative structures and with wide powers by which to investigate, prosecute and recommend reparations for the proven victims of slavery and genocide in addition to the legal powers and mandate by which to act nationally, regionally and internationally;
" DEMAND the establishment of well resourced independent research and study institutions that shall conduct research and studies as well as publish on such matters, along with the assured state support to the association of freed slaves, a national anti-slavery movement or other civil society institutions that shall genuinely promote peace, resettlement and reconciliation within and between the various communities;
" CONFIRM that any failure or prevarications from meeting with these legitimate demands shall ensure the desired notion of "sustainable peace" to certainly become an unrealistic dream in Sudan and potentially its neighbouring regions as a whole;
" REMIND the negotiators, participants, observers and all concerned inside and outside Sudan that the people of Aweil and Twic shall never cooperate with any "process" or "outcomes" that do not consciously, willingly and proactively respect their humanity, legitimate concerns and just demands;
" CONFIRM that this generation and future generations or any individual, family or organisation thereof shall continue to fully support such legitimate and just demands until they are fully and satisfactorily obtained at the earliest possible opportunity;
" RESOLVE that this and future generations or any individual, family or organisation thereof shall reserve the right to prosecute all or any of those who may have directly or indirectly participated in or contributed to the infliction of slavery, genocide and other crimes committed against the humanity of the peoples of Aweil and Twic;
" RESOLVE that this and future generations or any individual, family or organisation thereof shall reserve the right to prosecute all or any of those who may have directly or indirectly impeded the attainment of such fair claims for justice and reparations, including those who may currently be engaged in the IGAD peace process as leaders, negotiators, observers or otherwise as being complicit partners in such crimes due to their proven failure to address such legitimate demands;
" REASSURE all negotiators, participants or observers that this and future generations shall see to it that such crimes will be known to the world as a whole now and for all times to come with a view of ensuring their non-repetition along with the catastrophic failures of the national, regional and international political and legal systems to intervene in the manner they ought to have done in accordance with internationally accepted and established standards of natural justice and friendly relations;
" DETERMINED and STRONGLY RESOLVED that no physical or intellectual and tangible or intangible resources in the areas of Aweil and Twic can ever be subject to any discussions - let alone utilisation or development of any scale whatsoever – by whoever else from now onwards or at any time in the future whether inside or outside Sudan without the full participation and consent of the Aweil and Twic communities;
" DETERMINED, RESOLVED and hereby GIVE NOTICE - in view of the historical and continuing patterns of behaviour - that, whatever the eventual outcomes of state formation shall never be final without the full participation, endorsement and consent of the peoples of Aweil and Twic in an open, transparent, representative, legitimate and accountable manner in order to ensure the eventual total and complete eradication of all factors that caused such crimes against their collective humanity;
" REMIND and REASSURE all concerned that the natural political, cultural and
organisational instincts and preferences of the peoples of Aweil and Twic, as in other parts of South Sudan, are consistent with the enduring values of liberty, civility, open and participatory democracy, human rights, justice and the rule of law; and, never with such policies or politics that are based upon or inspired by the narrow projections or considerations of ethnocentrism, religious fanaticism, ideological dogmatism or any form of extremism;
" BRING to the attention of the peoples of the world that despite the appearance which for now continues to disguise the true abilities and humanity of the victimised communities, it is CERTAIN that the creative dynamism and innovative energies of the Sudanese victimised communities shall never be defined or determined by a people who have misperceived, misrepresented and indeed outright confused concepts of themselves. The peoples of Aweil, Twic and others shall successfully and self-determinedly set and live by their own standards in whatever field of human endeavour or pursuits;
" CALL UPON the peoples and organisations of Aweil and Twic, South Sudan, Sudan, Africa and all other peoples and organisations throughout the world to adopt or adapt as well as unite, mobilise and organise behind this Declaration and ensure the realisation of its objective demands fully and satisfactorily at the earliest opportunity;
" CALL UPON the peoples of Sudan, Africa and the world to honestly and courageously face up to the ugly realities, root causes, specific characteristics and tragic consequences of Arab-led slavery and genocide in Africa which predated and evidently outlasted the horrendous crimes of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade - as failure to do so shall continue to substantially hinder the prospects of sustainable peace and development in Sudan, its neighbouring regions, Africa and other parts of our increasingly inter-related worlds.
WE the UNDERSIGNED, for and on behalf of the members, communities and organisations of the peoples of Aweil and Twic of Northern Bahr El Ghazal, South Sudan, do on this Day of July 29th, 2003, hereby append our Signatures and Commit Ourselves to this Declaration and strongly Recommend it to all concerned for speedy consideration and action.
For Aweil Community:
Mrs Aluat Anei, Leader, Aweil Community, UK; Dr Omer Yak Tong, Mrs Aluk Ring, Mrs Martha John, Mr Garang Yel, Mr Macam Macam, Mr Ateny Wek Ateny, Mr Aldo Ajou Deng, Abuoc Bol, For Twic Community: Mr Mayom Kuoc Malek; Leader, Twic Community, UK; Mr Abel Chol; Mr Beek Awan Deng; Mr Duang Ajing Arop; Mr Chol Victor Bol; Mr Nicola Nyuol Bol; Mr Deng Ajak; Mr Bona Malwal.
For further enquiries, please e-mail: aweilandtwic@yahoo.co.uk
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