DATE=3/16/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-42871
TITLE=SUDAN/ SLAVERY CONTROVERSY
BYLINE=BARBARA SCHOETZAU
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A LONG SIMMERING CONTROVERSY HAS ERUPTED INTO PUBLIC
DEBATE BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND -- UNICEF --
SOME HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS, AND SOME CHARITIES OVER THE ISSUE OF
BUYING FREEDOM FOR SLAVES IN SUDAN. VOA CORRESPONDENT BARBARA
SCHOETZAU REPORTS FROM NEW YORK.
TEXT: THE DEBATE CENTERS ON THE POLICY OF A ZURICH,
SWITZERLAND-BASED CHARITABLE GROUP, CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY
INTERNATIONAL, WHICH HAS REDEEMED ALMOST SIX THOUSAND ENSLAVED
WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN SUDAN SINCE 1995.
THE GROUP PAYS ABOUT 50 DOLLARS EACH TO BUY BACK WOMEN AND
CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN TAKEN AS WAR BOOTY BY MILITIAS SUPPORTING
THE ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT IN SUDAN'S CIVIL WAR. MOST OF THOSE
CAPTURED ARE BLACK CHRISTIANS FROM THE SOUTH OF SUDAN.
UNICEF SPOKESPERSON PETER CROWLEY (CROH LEE) CALLS THE EFFORT TO
PURCHASE FREEDOM FOR INDIVIDUAL SLAVES WELL-INTENTIONED. BUT HE
SAYS THESE EFFORTS WILL NOT END THE ENSLAVEMENT OF HUMAN BEINGS.
/// CROWLEY ACT ///
WE COULD NOT SUPPORT PAYING FOR THE RELEASE OF SLAVES
OURSELVES BECAUSE FIRST OF ALL, AT THE LEVEL OF
PRINCIPLE, WE SIMPLY DO NOT BELIEVE THAT HUMAN LIFE IS
SOMETHING THAT CAN BE BOUGHT AND SOLD. AND SECONDLY,
PAYING FOR THE RELEASE OF INDIVIDUAL SLAVES DOES NOT
REALLY GET TO THE HEART OF THE ISSUE.
// END ACT ///
UNICEF OFFICIALS SAY RETRIEVING THE ENSLAVED WOMEN AND CHILDREN
FAILS TO ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING CAUSE OF THE SLAVE-TAKING --
SUDAN'S 16-YEAR OLD CIVIL WAR.
CHARLES JACOBS IS PRESIDENT OF THE "AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY GROUP",
A BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ORGANIZATION THAT HELPS RAISE MONEY TO
SUPPORT CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY INTERNATIONAL'S EFFORTS IN SUDAN. HE
AGREES THE REDEMPTION PROGRAM IS NOT A LONG-TERM SOLUTION TO THE
SLAVERY ISSUE, BUT BELIEVES IT IS BETTER THAN TAKING NO ACTION AT
ALL.
/// JACOBS ACT ///
WE NEVER SAID IT IS A SOLUTION TO SLAVERY. HOWEVER, IT
IS A SOLUTION FOR INDIVIDUALS AND IT IS VERY HARD TO
LOOK AT THESE PEOPLE AND NOT SAVE THEIR LIVES FOR 50 OR
100 DOLLARS. THE NOTION THAT ONE SHOULD WAIT AND NOT
SAVE THEM UNTIL THE END OF THE WAR STRIKES ME AS MORALLY
OBTUSE.
/// END ACT ///
UNICEF'S PETER CROWLEY SAYS HE CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT MOTIVATES
GROUPS TO BUY BACK THE SLAVES. BUT HE SAYS IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO
WEAKEN THE PRINCIPLE THAT HUMAN BEINGS CANNOT BE BOUGHT AND SOLD.
/// CROWLEY ACT ///
AT THE HUMAN LEVEL, IT IS PERFECTLY EASY TO UNDERSTAND
WHY THEY MIGHT FEEL THAT THAT'S THE BEST WAY. BUT THIS
IS A VERY COMPLEX ISSUE AND, APART FROM ANYTHING ELSE,
THE PRACTICE IS OPEN TO ABUSE BY THE INTERMEDIARIES
THAT CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY AND OTHERS HAVE TO RELY ON.
SOME COMMENTATORS HAVE ALSO SUGGESTED THAT IT MAY
ENCOURAGE FURTHER RAIDING OR CREATE A GREATER MARKET IN
HUMAN BEINGS.
/// END ACT //
THE SUGGESTION THAT THE REDEMPTIONS MAY ACTUALLY BE ENCOURAGING
MILITIAS TO RAID SOUTHERN VILLAGES AND CAPTURE PEOPLE IS A
PARTICULARLY SENSITIVE ONE. CHARLES JACOBS SAYS THE FACTS DO NOT
SUPPORT THAT ARGUMENT. FIRST, HE SAYS, THE MILITIAS ONLY ATTACK
WHEN AND WHERE THE GOVERNMENT DIRECTS THEM. SECONDLY, THE TRIBES
WERE BUYING BACK THEIR PEOPLE BEFORE CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY BECAME
INVOLVED AND MR. JACOBS SAYS THEY WOULD NOT DO SO IF THEY
THOUGHT THE PRACTICE ENCOURAGED MORE ATTACKS.
A MORE LEGITIMATE CONCERN, CHARLES JACOBS SAYS, IS THE FEAR THAT
REDEEMED SLAVES MAY BE RECAPTURED.
//// JACOBS ACT ////
IN A CONVERSATION WITH UNICEF OFFICIALS, THEY TOLD US
THAT WHAT WE WERE DOING WAS PLACING CHILDREN IN HARM'S
WAY. WELL, THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. THIS SHOWS THAT THEY DO
NOT UNDERSTAND HOW BRUTAL DAILY LIFE IS AS A SLAVE. THEY
ARE IN HARM'S WAY. THE ACTUAL FACT IS THAT NOT ONE OF
THE PEOPLE WE HAVE REDEEMED HAS BEEN RETAKEN. WE KNOW
THAT BECAUSE WE WORK WITH PEOPLE WHO REDEEM THEM. BUT
THERE IS A POINT THERE AND THAT IS THAT THEY COULD BE
RETAKEN. BUT EVERY TIME THESE PEOPLE ARE FREED, THEY SAY
THEY WOULD RATHER DIE THAN GO BACK, SO LET THEM DECIDE.
//// END ACT ////
THE DEBATE OVER REDEEMING THE SLAVES IN SUDAN INTENSIFIED AFTER
CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY ASKED THE UNITED NATIONS TO CREATE A PROGRAM
TO LOCATE THE SLAVES AND A UNICEF OFFICIAL RESPONDED BY CALLING
THE SLAVE REDEMPTION PROGRAM "INTOLERABLE."
THE COMMENT ENRAGED SOME ADVOCATES OF THE REDEMPTION PROGRAM WHO
RESPONDED WITH A FLURRY OF PRESS RELEASES AND NEWSPAPER OPINION
PIECES. UNICEF SPOKEPERSON PETER CROWELY SAYS A PUBLIC DEBATE
WITH CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY AND OTHER GROUPS INVOLVED WILL NOT HELP
THE ENSLAVED WOMEN AND CHILDREN. INSTEAD, HE SAYS, IT WILL
COMPLICATE UNICEF'S BEHIND-THE-SCENES EFFORTS TO WORK WITH THE
SUDANESE GOVERNMENT TO FIND A WAY TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE. (SIGNED)
NEB/NY/BJS/LSF/WFR
16-Mar-99 4:42 PM EST (2142 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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