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Updates from Past Speakers
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Francis Bok
On February 8, 2003 Francis
Bok visited UWGB, he spoke about his experience and the on-going
struggle against slavery in Africa. Below is an e-mail which Mr. Bok
sent to our campus to share some recent news.
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Thursday, January 13, 2005 3:15 PM
Subject: Peace in Sudan?
On Sunday, a peace treaty was signed in Nairobi ending the fighting between the National
Islamic Front government of Sudan and the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
This is a major development for my people.
The peace was signed while I was flying to San Francisco to speak at a high school. I just
returned from California, and I want to share with you my feelings about the news.
For two decades, my people have been struggling to be free. The government in the north,
dominated by Arabs and Muslims, tried to impose Islamic law on all of us. And it tried to
make African Muslims give up their African identity. When we resisted jihad and Arab domination,
the government sent armed forces to make us submit. In one of the government's raids in 1986,
I was abducted into slavery.
Sunday's agreement means we have hope for a real peace. Southern Sudanese will be free to have
their own local government. We will get a share of the money from oil that's being drilled in
the south. In three years there will be elections for a new government. And in six years there
will be a vote in the south to decide if we want to become our own independent country.
This peace treaty would not have happened without you. On behalf of my people, I want to thank all
of the supporters of the American Anti-Slavery Group. I believe, and my people believe, that you have
pushed the United States government to pressure the Sudanese regime to make peace with the people of
southern Sudan.
Many of you have been with us for years. You have given your energy and your talents to our struggle.
You helped us achieve this great moment. We so appreciate everything you have done. You have spoken
out to get your leaders to stop slavery and genocide across Sudan - in the South and in Darfur.
People are happy and celebrating - but we are still worried. The government in the North has signed
peace treaties and changed its mind before (like the 1972 peace treaty signed in Addis Ababa). Also,
thousands of my people are still held in slavery in the North. Unlike me, they were not able to
escape. And the government is still raiding the African Muslims of Darfur, in Western Sudan, killing
1,000 people a day.
So my message to you is please don't abandon us now. If there is not pressure on the Sudanese
government, they will slip back again. And there still thousands of children in slavery who are
waiting for us to help free them. They are still serving their masters. We have to get them released
now, to get them reunited with their relatives.
And we have to demand the Government of General Omar al-Bashir stop the killing in Darfur. Now is
the time for peace and for freedom - but only if we act. Please visit www.SudanActivism.com and
encourage all of your friends to visit as well. And please consider making a donation to support
our work.
I am going to keep speaking out. I will not rest until I see the full victory for my people - and
for the 27 million people who are in bondage around the world. We are on the journey to where we want
to go, to a big victory where we can live in freedom. Please help us get the rest of the way.
In freedom,
Francis Bok
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