Author: ACAS

Feb 28, 2008

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Action Alert: Call for Debt Cancelation

Africa Action
February 28, 2008

Dear Friend,

Leap Into Action TODAY and TOMORROW – February 28th and 29th — to support the Jubilee Act!

Africa Action joins Jubilee USA to encourage you to use your “extra” day this Leap Year to call your member of Congress and urge them to support the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation (HR 2634/S2166). You can reach the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

The Jubilee Act promise to unshackle a lot of poor countries from the chocking york of debt and create opportunities for development and poverty eradication.

Africa is ground zero in the debt crisis – the continent’s over $200 billion debt burden is the single biggest obstacle to development. Most of this debt is illegitimate, having been incurred by despotic and unrepresentative regimes. African countries spend almost $14 billion annually on debt service, diverting resources from HIV/AIDS programs, education and other important needs. This makes the Jubilee Act the most important piece of legislation in the past seven years for the continent’s fights against poverty and disease.

Globally, everyday over $100 million flows out of impoverished countries in the form of debt payments, rendering millions of people destitute. Debt cancellation provides a ray of hope to affected communities.

Since the days of Jubilee 2000, we have seen 23 countries receive near 100% cancellation of their debts to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. In countries like Zambia and Tanzania, debt relief has produced great results – eliminating fees that had blocked access to primary education and rural health clinics for the poorest, helping millions of children return to school and providing access to basic medical care.

Yet, despite the remarkable track record of debt cancellation, more than 40 poor countries, such as Haiti and Lesotho, are still waiting to see their debts canceled.
The Jubilee Act (HR 2634 / S 2166) builds on past debt cancellation successes, by calling for expanded debt cancellation to all countries that need it to reach the UN Millennium Development Goals to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015.

We are asking you to Leap Into Action TODAY! Call your Representative and Senators and ask them to support the Jubilee Act

The Jubilee Act is one of the most widely supported anti-poverty bills in Congress, but it can only pass with our support. We have a historic opportunity to address the debt crisis in impoverished countries around the world and LEAP forward in the fight against poverty.

PLEASE CALL TODAY – Click here for phone number and call script
To learn more about Africa Action’s Campaign to Cancel Africa’s Debt please visit http://africaaction.org/campaign_new/debt.php.

Please, also visit www.jubileeusa.org/measureup to learn more about the Jubilee Act and its progress through Congress and to order postcards to send to your Representative and Senator.

Sincerely,
Staff @ Africa Action

Feb 14, 2008

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Tanzania: A haven of peace

By Goran Hyden
February 14, 2008

Originally published in the Gainesville Sun

President Bush is on his way to Africa this week. One of his destinations is Tanzania. He will be the first American president to ever visit the country.

Unlike its northern neighbor Kenya, Tanzania is relatively little known in the U.S. although it is the location of Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the African continent, Serengeti, the richest endowed wildlife reserve in the world, and – for all Valentine lovers – the exquisite Tanzanite gemstone.

There are reasons why no U.S. president has visited Tanzania and why the country remains little known to Americans. For a long time, Tanzania was devoted to building a socialist state – an experiment that collapsed in the 1980s leaving the country to rebuild its economy along market economy lines.

There was no love lost between the United States and Tanzania during those socialist years, although, paradoxically, according to a study of foreign aid to Tanzania, Republican presidents – Nixon, Ford and Reagan – gave more money for its development than their Democratic counterparts Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter did.

Today socialism is history in Tanzania. President Bush will visit a country that is an African economic success story. Its growth rate in recent years has averaged over 6 percent. Its mineral and natural gas resources are drawing in foreign investors. Its large tracts of unused land are being developed for agriculture and cattle ranching. Its beautiful beaches on the islands of Zanzibar as well as the mainland are attracting increasing numbers of tourists.

Some of these developments may be met with mixed feelings by ordinary Tanzanians but there is little doubt that Tanzania is now on the move.

Rapid changes like those taking place in Tanzania now have caused social and political upheavals in other African countries. No one can rule those out even in Tanzania. Yet, it has a record of political stability that none of its neighbors, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo or Mozambique can match. It is a true haven of peace in Africa living up to the name of its largest city. Dar es Salaam means exactly that.

Governments in Africa have been difficult to hold accountable. Despite corruption and misrule they have stayed on, a shortcoming that afflicts these countries as they try to democratize. President Bush will come to Tanzania just a few days after it struck a political first in Africa.

Its Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa, was forced to resign after parliamentarians in his own party revealed his involvement in a scandal involving misappropriation of government funds. President Jakaya Kikwete immediately dissolved the cabinet and has just appointed a fresh one with a new Prime Minister, Peter Mizengo Pinda.

This change of government is all the more remarkable as Lowassa was a very close ally of the president. Kikwete’s decision to let him go is an indication that he is ready to tackle the issue of corruption that has eluded so many of his fellow African heads of state. It raises eyebrows among investors and foreign donors alike. It augurs well for Tanzania.

The country’s political stability is not a coincidence. Ever since independence, the ruling party – Chama cha Mapinduzi (Revolutionary Party) – has been careful in choosing presidents who come from small and insignificant ethnic groups rather than from the larger and more prosperous ones. This has spared the country from the tensions that have afflicted Kenya and Uganda where the largest ethnic group has tried to rule the country and ignored the interest of other groups.

Tanzania was for a long time the darling of European donors. Ever since its socialist days, China has also been an important investor and donor.

In the past two years, Tanzania has gone out of its way to lure Americans to take an interest in the country. President Kikwete has visited the U.S. three times and not only attended the odd meeting at the United Nations as his predecessors did. Kikwete has been as interested in Washington as in New York.

President Bush will get a warm welcome in Dar es Salaam when he arrives this week. He will see for himself an African country that is a genuine haven of peace; one that has turned its economy around and is now a showcase of what other African countries should aim for.

Goran Hyden is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida. He can be reached at ghyden@polisci.ufl.edu

Jan 05, 2008

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ACAS Press Statement on the Crisis in Kenya

Association of Concerned Africa Scholars
January 5, 2008

The Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (ACAS), an organization of United States-based academics and activists, today rejected superficial and misleading popular and media portrayals of the post-electoral violence in Kenya as “tribal.”

We are equally concerned about the role of the U.S. government — far from a neutral player — both before and after the elections.

More than 300 people have been killed in the crisis related to the legitimacy of the December elections.

ACAS calls for the U.S. and other Western governments to honor initiatives and mediation by the African Union as well as by Kenyans themselves.

ACAS calls for a speedy, independent re-examination of the electoral results or another election for President.

ACAS condemns and calls for an end to:
• the widespread violence by the principal Kenyan political actors

• restrictions on the right to assemble and demonstrate peacefully and non-violently

• recently declared restrictions on press freedoms

Brief Background:

The Current Crisis represents the dominant class’s attempt to secure power and maintain social and political control over the majority who are denouncing the electoral process. The ability of Kenyan politicians to exploit cleavages between the haves and have-nots contributes to the violence and marginalizes the majority from the political process.

The U.S. contribution to the crisis. Seeing it as a key ally in the “war on terror,” the Bush Administration has built a close military relationship with the Kibaki government; The U.S. has played a central role in building up Kenya’s weaponry and internal security apparatus, now being deployed in the crisis. Current U.S.-Kenyan relations are a product of 24 years of U.S. support to the Daniel arap Moi dictatorship that jailed, exiled or disappeared those opposed to the regime. The legacy of these politics remains institutionalized within the political process itself and creates huge barriers to democratic freedom and political participation. Overall, the current turmoil in Kenya is the clear result of colonial rule, external intervention, and detrimental foreign aid policies.

For more information on ACAS, see https://concernedafricascholars.org

ACAS has three prominent Kenya experts that available for comment or to provide contextualization to the media:

Kenya Experts:
•Frank Holmquist, Political Scientist, Hampshire College, 413-256-0726 (home), 413-335-5620 (cell), 413-559-5377 (office)

•Edwin S. Segal, Anthropologist, University of Louisville, 502-836-9598.

•Ann Seidman, co-director of the Boston University School of Law Program on Legislative Drafting for Democratic Social Change. 617-361-6786.

ACAS Board of Directors:
Ousseina Alidou, Merle Bowen, Horace Campbell, Imani Countess, Asma Abdel Halim, Frank Holmquist, Gerald Horne, Al Kagan, Sidney Lemelle, William Martin, Bill Minter, James Mittelman, Prexy Nesbitt, Joel Samoff, Elizabeth Schmidt, Ann Seidman, Meredith Turshen, Daniel Volman, Immanuel Wallerstein, David Wiley, Noah Zerbe, and Jennifer Davis.

Nov 20, 2007

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No Easy Victories party

nullBook Party for No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists over a Half Century, 1950-2000.

When: Saturday, October 20, 2007 from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm., during the 50th anniversary meeting of African Studies Association

Where: McGee’s Pub, 240 West 55th Street (between Broadway and 8th Avenue, 3 blocks north on Broadway from Sheraton Towers)

What: Drinks, light snacks, and informal conversation

Sponsored by: Africa World Press, Solidarity Research and Writing LLC, Association of Concerned Africa Scholars, and AfricaFocus Bulletin

Who: Editors, writers, and activists featured in No Easy Victories. Activists and friends living in or visiting New York or attending the African Studies Association annual meeting.

Jul 29, 2005

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Eritrea Reportedly Expels USAID

Text of report in English by Eritrean opposition, Awate.com website, 29 July, 2005:

The Eritrean government has ordered USAID to leave the country. An official statement has yet to be made by the government, but the decision has already been communicated to the US ambassador and the USAID director in Eritrea. USAID, or US Agency for International Development, is the United States government’s arm for international development and humanitarian aid. The Agency has been present in Eritrea since 1992, and was the main channel for providing food as well as development assistance to the Eritrean people.

In the past few days, government media in Eritrea has been waging a propaganda campaign against international aid providers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) dubbing them agents of new colonialism. Under the title ‘Relief Aid, the Other Face of Neocolonialism’, the government media has broadcast and published a series of Western aid-bashing editorials.

On 11 May 2005, the government issued a proclamation, which introduced new restrictions on the activities of NGOs. These include the requirement for depositing 2m US dollars (for international NGOs) and 1m US dollars (for local NGOs) in Eritrean banks; prohibiting the channeling, through NGOs, of funds from United Nations or bilateral organizations (practically disallowing working relationships with NGO), and introducing new levies (taxes) on NGOs.

USAID, like all other bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, channels some of its development and humanitarian assistance through NGOs. The bulk of USAID food assistance is provided through the World Food Programme (WFP) and NGOs; whereas the coordination of the distribution is managed by the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC.) In addition to humanitarian food and non-food assistance, USAID’s support to Eritrea covers such areas as Health and HIV/AIDS services, economic growth & reducing food insecurity, and creating jobs through small and medium business development in rural areas.

The US government is the largest donor of food aid to Eritrea.

Source: Awate.com website in English 29 Jul 05
BBC Mon AF1 AFEau 30/07/2005 06:39 GMT, http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Jan 14, 2005

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Action Alert : Ngugi and Njeeri Wa Thiongo Wa Ngugi

Association of Concerned African Scholars
January 14, 2005

Dear Friends,

As you may already know, world renowned Kenyan playwright, novelist and social critic Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and his wife Njeeri Wa Ngugi were brutally attacked on August 11, 2003 in an apartment in Nairobi, Kenya. Ngugi was severely beaten and burned with cigarettes, and his wife, Njeeri, was raped in the ordeal.

Subsequently, several people were arrested in conjunction with the attack, and it is becoming increasingly clear that this was a politically motivated assault on a leading international intellectual and his wife. It was the first time that Ngugi had returned to his home country after 22 years of political exile.

We are writing to ask you to take a few minutes of your time to send a letter to the addresses appended below to encourage the Kenyan courts and government to take this attack seriously, and to prosecute not only the direct attackers, but all those involved in the attack. This is not only an issue of paramount importance for political liberties and the rights of intellectuals. It is also a critical test case for overcoming a culture of silence and impunity surrounding violence against women in Kenya (and, in many ways, the world at large).

We have included a letter, both in the body of this mail and as an attachment, that exemplifies the spirit of the pressure that we believe it is necessary to put on the Kenyan government to insure that these attacks are treated in the most appropriate and deliberate matter. We fear that without this pressure, the political forces behind this attack may go unpunished, and the issue of rape glossed over. A letter of any length, either in your own words or borrowing from the language of the one included here, would make an immense difference. Please send your letters to as many of the appended addresses as you wish and also forward our call to others who might want to join our efforts. If the Kenyan government in compelled to see the overall importance of this trial, we will win an overwhelming victory in our struggle against violence against women and for the rights of public intellectuals. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Gabriele Schwab

On behalf of The Ngugi and Njeeri Solidarity Committee
Board Members:

Gabriele Schwab, Chair
Chancellor’s Professor of English and Comparative Literature
University of California-Irvine

E. Ann Kaplan,
Professor of English and Comparative Literature and
Director of the Humanities Center at SUNY Stony-Brook

Simon J. Ortiz,
Poet and Writer,
Professor of Native American Studies and Creative Writing,
University of Toronto

Manuel Schwab,
Writer

Gayatri Spivak,
Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities
Director, Center for Comparative Literature and Society,
Columbia University

Please forward additional copies of the letters you send to ngugisolidarity@gmail.com for our records.

Please write to one or more of the following contacts:

1. Kiraitu Murungi
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
State Law Office, Harambee Avenue
P O Box 40112,
Nairobi
Tel: +254 20 227461
Minister’s email: minister-justice@skyweb.co.ke

Permanent Secretary: Dorothy Angote
PS Justice & Constitutional Affairs
Please use fax: 254 20 316317
psjustice@africaonline.co.ke

2. Attorney General
State Law Office
P O Box 40112-00100, Nairobi
Tel: 254 20 227411
no email address.
Please use fax: 254 20 315105

3. First Lady Lucy Kibaki
State House
P O Box 40530-00100, Nairobi
Tel: +254 20 227436
oafla@statehousekenya.co.ke

4. John Githongo
State House
P O Box 40530-00100, Nairobi
Tel: +254 20 227436
contact@statehousekenya.co.ke

5. Office of President
State House
P O Box 30510-00200, Nairobi
Tel: +254 20 227411
pps@statehousekenya.co.ke

6. Hon. Ayang Nyong’o, Minister
Ministry of Planning & National Development
Treasury Building
P O Box 30007-00100, Nairobi
Tel: +254 20 252299
mopnd@treasury.go.ke

7. Phillip Murgor
Director of Public Prosecution
State Law Office
P O Box 40112-00100, Nairobi
Tel: 254 20 227411
no email address at DPP but personal through his law firm: murgor@nbi.ispkenya.com

Please forward a copy of all letters you send to the following addresses as well:

1. Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya
Amboseli Road off Gitanga Rd.
P.O. Box 46324 Nairobi, Kenya
info@fida.co.ke

Jane Onyango, Executive Director:
jonyango@fida.co.ke

Hellen Kwamboka
hellen@fida.co.ke

2. The Ngugi and Njeeri Solidarity Committee
ngugisolidarity@gmail.com

3. Kenya Human Rights Commission
P.O. Box 41079-00100
Nairobi, Kenya
admin@khrc.or.ke

Thank You
The Ngugi and Njeeri Solidarity Committee.

* * *

[Sample Letter]

January 14, 2005
To Whom It May Concern:

We are writing to appeal to the Kenyan government to react appropriately and with all deliberate speed to the brutal attack on Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Njeeri Wa Ngugi and the rape of Njeeri. We write to stress the urgency of an appropriate response that will hold accountable not only the direct attackers, but all those responsible for what we see as a politically motivated attack by enemies of what Professor Ngugi Wa Thiong’o stands for in Kenya, Africa and the world.

The world community continues to watch this case closely, first and foremost because we are shocked by the brutality of this attack and rape, but also because of the grave implications impunity for the perpetrators would have. International organizations, including women’s groups, civil liberties organizations, and organizations of writers and intellectuals are but a few of the members of the international community deeply invested in how the present administration will respond to this attack.

It is critical for the Kenyan government to rebuff this grave attack against an internationally celebrated public intellectual whose commitment to his country and the empowerment of ordinary people has been unwavering. If this attack on the occasion of his first return to his home country, after 22 years in forced exile, is not condemned, and all those responsible pursued for their crimes, a chilling blow to intellectual liberty will have been dealt. Such blows have impact the world over. This one, in particular, would send a sad message regarding Kenya’s capacity to overcome its political past. This government must respond firmly to demonstrate a commitment to the political future of the country.

It is equally critical to demonstrate a willingness on the government’s part to respond to the full gravity of the rape of Njeeri Wa Ngugi. The culture of silence around violence against women in Kenya fosters repeated and widespread abuses against the human rights of women. A full length Amnesty International report on violence against women in Kenya (March 8, 2002) cites several national and international instruments that hold governments responsible for failures to prosecute with “due diligence” any violence against women. We want to express our unconditional solidarity with Njeeri Wa Ngugi in her ongoing struggle to stand publicly against the epidemic of violence against women. We believe that the government of Kenya has both the opportunity and the responsibility to meet the challenge of supporting her. This challenge consists in bringing all those responsible for this attack on Njeeri Wa Ngugi and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o to justice. But steps must also be taken to end the conditions that foster this culture of silence. Systems must be put in place, as in other countries, for women to anonymously identify their attackers. Every form of sexual violence against women must be treated as a crime of the gravest consequence. The victims cannot be left to fight alone. To that end, we hope that this administration will not set the precedent of allowing Njeeri Wa Ngugi to stand alone.

At a time like this, when we are seeing political violence erode so many countries in Europe, North America, Africa, and indeed on every continent, it is doubly important for people in positions of power to stand against the impunity of perpetrators. We hope that with your actions, you will set an example for Kenya and the world.

Nov 01, 2004

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Action Alert: The Story of Aster Yohannes and the Struggle for Democracy in Eritrea

Nunu Kidane, Berkeley, CA
November 2004

We will not forget … we will keep fighting for those who cannot be heard.

In 2000 a young Eritrean woman named Aster Yohannes arrived in Phoenix, AZ with a dream of completing her college education so she could return home to her husband and four young children. She was the recipient of a UN-funded scholarship for college bound individuals in her homeland Eritrea. In September of 2001, Aster’s husband, the former Minister Petros Solomon was arrested, along with 10 other high-ranking members of the government for demanding democratic reform. When the Government of Eritrea refused to allow Aster to bring her children to the US, she felt she had to return to Eritrea.

On December 11, 2003, as her children waited in the Asmara airport to greet their mother whom they had not seen in almost four years, Eritrean security took Aster away as she stepped off the plane. She has not been seen since. When Aster disappeared she was recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, defined as someone who has been detained for the peaceful expression of his/her views.

Aster and her husband are not the only political prisoners in Eritrea. Through this effort, we also hope to publicize the repressive and undemocratic government of Eritrea which has not ratified the Constitution and refused to open up democratic space for its citizens. Friends of Aster (FOA) is made up of Aster’s American and Eritrean friends who believe in the fundamentals of human rights of all people. We came together to inform the public of the human rights abuses in Eritrea. Through grassroots advocacy, working with human rights organizations and supportive congressional members we campaign for Aster’s safety and release.

For more information, visit the Friends of Aster web site.

WHAT WE’RE ASKING OF YOU:

* Contact your congressional representative. Ask them to sign the “dear colleague” letter supporting this campaign. We have already gained the signatures of 20 members of The House of Representatives and hope to get many more. For more information, contact FOA through our web address.

* Join the Friends of Aster campaign. You can contact us through our web address, make a financial donation, or purchase a special bracelet. All contributions go directly towards gaining the release of Aster and the other political prisoners in Eritrea.

* Spread the word. It is through personal convictions that we individually inspire ourselves and others to take action towards positive change. Please lend us your voice and spread the word about Aster Yohannes, her husband Petros Solomon, and the many political prisoners in Eritrea who cannot be heard.

May 11, 2001

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Open letter to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia

Association of Concerned Africa Scholars
May 11, 2001

In response to the accelerating repression against students and scholars in Ethiopia, ACAS on May 11th wrote to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, urging him to release all detainees and restore conditions ensuring freedom of speech and academic freedom. While some detainees have been released, others have not. We urge our members to write as well to:

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi: Fax: 251-1-55-2020
US Secretary of State Colin Powell: Fax: (202) 261-8577, Email: Secretary@state.gov

Print addresses are on our letter below. The African Studies Association (USA) also issued a letter to Prime Minister Meles on 25 June 2001.

Background: Human Rights Watch has issued an alert with a briefing (May 10, 2001); see also the appeal from the Families and Friends of Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr. Berhanu Nega (May 14, 2001), as well as an online petition and short biographies of Professor Mesfin and Dr. Berhanu. Further efforts are being organized by the Ethiopian University Support Site, and the Addis Ababa University Alumni Network.

* * *

May 11, 2001

His Excellency Meles Zenawi
P.O.Box 1031
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Via Fax: 2511-55-20-20

Dear Prime Minister Meles,

On behalf of the Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (ACAS), a national organization of progressive scholars actively engaged with Africa, we write to urge that you take immediate steps to release detained students and scholars, and allow university communities to return to their work unhindered by state repression.

ACAS and its members have a long history of respect and support for Ethiopian struggles for freedom; indeed Ethiopia has often been a source of inspiration for Americans. We are thus particularly disturbed by what can only be seen as a determined campaign to suppress free speech and academic freedom. Whatever the events and persons involved in the April disturbances in Addis Ababa, the subsequent attack on Addis Ababa University and other institutions of higher education shocked our members and many in the international academic community. The reports of subsequent summary arrests and the detention of thousands of students and scholars–without charges or trial–is of especially grave concern. The even more recent arrest of Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, the founding member of Ethiopian Human Rights Council, and Dr. Berhanu Nega, a prominent economist at Addis Ababa University, signals we fear an unrelenting campaign to eliminate all dissent, well beyond even the repression of those who work within the fields of higher education.

We thus urge you to use your office to ensure the immediate release of all detained students, scholars, and related persons–or if evidence exists, their charge in public court. The continuation of sweeping arrests and detention without charges, the closure of universities and colleges, and the imposition of loyalty oaths as a condition of study and scholarship, gravely threatens Ethiopia’s proud intellectual heritage, its continuation, and progressive relations between Ethiopia and the United States. We hope continuing repression can be reversed, and return Ethiopia to us as a signal beacon of the struggle for freedom for both Africa and America.

Sincerely,

Merle Bowen, Co-Chair
William G. Martin, Co-Chair

cc:

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC 20520
Fax: (202) 261-8577

Ambassador Berhane Gebre-Christos
Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States
Embassy of Ethiopia
3506 International Drive, NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax (202) 686-9551

Feb 05, 2001

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Open Letter to President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania

Association of Concerned Africa Scholars
February 5, 2001

President Benjamin William Mkapa,
United Republic of Tanzania
The State House
PO Box 9120
Dar Es Salaam
Tanzania
FAX 22-211-3425

Dear President Mkapa,

The Association of Concerned Africa Scholars writes today to condemn the killings of activists on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba in late January and the ongoing suppression of peaceful citizens exercising their democratic rights. We support the call of our colleagues in the Legal Aid Committee of the Faculty of Law of the University of Dar Es Salaam (28 January 2001) for an end to police violence and repression.

As a national association of scholars in the United States, many of whom have had a long association with and respect for the United Republic of Tanzania, we are deeply concerned by these violations of fundamental human rights and the killings on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba on Saturday 27 January 2001. We were equally appalled by the reports of arrests, harassment, torture, injury and incarceration of the leaders of political organizations exercising their rights to peaceful assembly on these islands and in Dar Es Salaam. We condemn these actions unequivocally and call for your government to immediately put a stop to such measures and to investigate the abuses of the police and other security forces.

We note that the Legal Aid Committee, which has been providing human rights training for members of the police force since 1997, expresses particular concern at the behavior of the police force and we call on the government to ensure that the commanders of this force are held accountable for the actions of their subordinates.

Mr. President, we look forward to hearing from you the actions that your government is taking to put a stop to these violations of human rights and we will be following these events closely in this country and working to make others aware of the reports from your country.

Sincerely,
William Martin
Co-Chair, Association of Concerned Africa Scholars
Fernand Braudel Center
Binghamton University
PO Box 6000
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
wgmartin@prairienet.org
http://acas.prairienet.org

cc.
Ambassador Charles R. Stith
United States Embassy
P.O. Box 9123
Dar es Salaam
Tel [255] (22) 2666010/1/2/3/4/5
Fax 2666701
Email: usembassy-dar2@cats-net.com

His Excellency Mustafa Salim Nyang’anyi
Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania
2139 R St. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA.
Tel: (202) 884-1080 & (202) 939-6125
Fax: (202) 797-7408
e-mail: balozi@tanzaniaembassy-us.org

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, 20520
Fax: 202-261-8577
e-mail: secretary@state.gov