1997 Sudan map (by Petroconsultants s.a) showing southern Sudan oil concessions and blocks offered in North Dafur and elsewhere.
Legend to 1997 map above
USAID Map of Sudan and southern oil concessions , without other blocks 8-15:
http://grassrootspeace.org/traprock_blog/2006/06/19/open-letter-on-witnessing-darfur-a-benefit-for-the-people-of-darfur/Open Letter on Witnessing Darfur - A Benefit for the People of Darfur
Traprock Peace Center homepage
TO: The attention of co-sponsor Mayor Claire Higgins
RE: An Open Letter about the June 21, 2006 event:
Witnessing Darfur: A Benefit for the People of Darfur
Sunday, 18 June 2006
Dear Friends,
We are writing to express our concern over the upcoming June 21 event:
WITNESSING DARFUR, to be held at Smith College, for which many local
and national religious, cultural or political organizations are co-sponsors (see
bottom). Like you we deeply believe in the need to alleviate the
people of Darfur’s suffering, however, we strongly feel that the
position being taken, which many local organizations have supported,
namely that the Islamic government of Sudan is committing genocide
against the “African” people of Darfur, does not accurately reflect or
fully address the complexities and realities of the situation.
We strongly believe that the situation in Darfur should be placed in a
wider context and the role of the United States and other external
actors MUST be acknowledged and dealt with honestly if there is to be
peace and stability in Darfur, Sudan or indeed an improvement of basic
conditions. We encourage people to think carefully and examine the
history of humanitarian aid organizations before making any financial
contributions: it is well documented that certain organizations
working in Sudan have been involved in very dubious activities
counterproductive to expressed or publicized humanitarian aims.
We respectfully ask that people actively seek out and examine
different points of view. We emphasize that we are not trying to
malign or attack either any sponsor of this event, the producers of
the film(s) to be shown, or speaker Dr. Eric Reeves of Smith College;
rather we are calling for an open dialogue now and in the future. If
the U.S. wants to end the violence in Darfur and elsewhere its first
step should be to stop participating in it. We believe that our first
step as US citizens and residents should be to speak openly and
honestly and to hold the US government accountable. We find it
increasingly difficult to do so within the United States: can we
expect that it will be done in a far away, oil-rich country like
Sudan? (Petroleum is one of Darfur’s several coveted resources.)
We respectfully encourage all those who wish to allocate funds for aid
in Darfur to do so, but to donate only after careful examination of ALL
the facts. We respectfully ask the Community Foundation of Western
Massachusetts to HOLD all Sudan Aid Funds received, to date, or
subsequently, for the same reasons. We call on co-sponsor Mayor Clare
Higgins and the town of Northampton to hold a public hearing,
immediately, where the entire spectrum of issues can be openly and
publicly aired. Given the gravity of the situation and people’s desire
to alleviate the very real suffering in Darfur, we ask the sponsors of
this event, and people concerned about the Darfur situation, to press
for this hearing to occur immediately.
We urge you to read the SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION we have provided
below; this is by no means an exhaustive or comprehensive sampling of
relevant issues. We also ask that you circulate this letter widely,
forward to your organizations’ mailing list, to all interested
parties, and the press.