Note: The following text is an exact quote:
===
===
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_940.html
Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520
This information is current as of today, Thu Apr 21 2005 00:03:19 GMT-0700.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
April 19, 2005
This Travel Warning is being issued to inform American citizens that although an American officer is now posted at the U.S. Embassy in Bangui, the Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens against travel to the Central African Republic (CAR). This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Central African Republic issued October 29, 2004.
In March 2003, rebel forces that had been operating in the countryside outside Bangui took over the capital and seized power from the government of the CAR. The leader of the rebel group declared himself the President of CAR and remains in power. Although the country held peaceful elections in March 2005, the situation remains fluid and U.S. citizens who remain in the CAR despite this Travel Warning are urged to exercise caution at public gatherings. Furthermore, there continue to be reports of armed robberies along roads outside of the capital.
In November 2002, the U.S. Embassy in Bangui suspended operations. In early 2005, limited American staff returned to the Embassy, although dependent minors of American Embassy staff have not been allowed to return. Because there is currently no consular officer posted in Bangui, the Embassy can provide only limited emergency services to U.S. citizens.
U.S. citizens in the CAR are strongly advised to register their presence in the country by using the State Department’s travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov. Americans without Internet access, who are already in the CAR, may register directly with the U.S. Embassy in Bangui. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy to contact them in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy in the CAR is located at Avenue David Dacko, B.P. 924, Bangui; tel. (236) 61-02-00; fax (236) 61-44-94. For additional information on safety and security in the CAR, contact the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon at telephone (237) 223-4014, (237) 223-0512, or 223-0581; fax (237) 223-0753. Americans may also obtain updated information from the American Embassy in N'djamena, Chad at telephone (235) 51-70-09, 51-92-33 or 51-90-52; fax (235) 51-56-54.
U.S. citizens should also consult the Department of State's most recent Consular Information Sheet for Central African Republic, and the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, which are located on the Department's Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov. Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org
===
===
Note: The following text is an exact quote
---
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05040102.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
CATTLE CAMP ARABS PROMISE TO FREE SLAVES AS MORE THAN 300 SUDANESE SLAVES ARE LIBERATED
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (ANS) -- 336 Black Sudanese slaves were liberated between 23 March and 14 April through the mediation of the Arab-Dinka Peace Committees at Warawar and Manger Ater, Southern Sudan.
According to Christian Solidarity International (CSI), the freed slaves were registered at three checkpoints (Bac & Rumrol, Aweil East County, and Mayen Adhal, Aweil North County) before proceeding to their homes and families.
A press release from CSI received by ASSIST News Service (ANS) says registration was undertaken jointly by local representatives of CSI, the Episcopal Church of Sudan, the Church of Christ, the Government of Sudan's Committee for the Eradication of Women and Children (CEAWC) and the SPLM's Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SRRC).
Preliminary analysis of interviews with 51 of the female slaves over the age of 11 indicate the following pattern of abuse:
37% subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM).
71% raped.
51% forcibly converted to Islam from Christianity or a tribal faith.
98% subjected to racial insults.
100% physically abused.
100% forced to work without pay.
CSI gave returning slaves grain rations and survival kits, including a cooking pot, mosquito net, plastic sheeting, a water container, a sickle and fishing hooks.
"At a US government-funded Arab-Dinka peace conference in Nyamlell, Southern Sudan on April 7-9, Arab cattle camp leaders pledged to free their remaining Dinka slaves. A conference resolution called on CSI to assist newly formed Arab-Dinka committees to locate and liberate slaves from Arab cattle camps," the release says.
Conference host, Chief Dut Majak Majak of Nyamlell, thanked CSI for promoting peace between Arabs and Dinkas for the past ten years. He also observed that all Dinkas attending the conference had relatives who had been freed from enslavement by CSI.
Dr. John Eibner pledged CSI's continuing support for Arab-Dinka efforts to abolish slavery in Sudan. He also warned that unless the enslavement of Black Africans is rapidly eradicated in Darfur and other parts of Northern Sudan a comprehensive and lasting peace for the war torn country will remain elusive.
In September 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush identified the eradication of slavery as a paramount goal of his administration's Sudan peace initiative.
Conservative estimates place the number of Black Sudanese slaves in the tens of thousands. The Report of the UN's Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, dated January 25, 2005, confirmed that the armed forces of the Government of Sudan and allied militias are committing "crimes against humanity" in Darfur, including slavery and the sexual abuse of women.
At the beginning of February, the Sudanese government suspended the repatriation of freed slaves to Southern Sudan in response to criticism from UNICEF. Southern Sudanese community leaders have called for its immediate resumption.
Direct inquiries to:
Christian Solidarity International Headquarters
Switzerland
Tel: +41 44 982 3333
Fax: +41 44 982 3334
Email: csi-int@csi-int.ch
www.iAbolish.com
Contact: Liora Kasten, 617-426-8161
** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Garden Grove, CA. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in Sept., 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.