US Leaders Write Albright About Cri

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Subject: Re: US Leaders Write Albright About Crisis in Nigeria's Oil Fields

africafund@xxxxxxx wrote:
> 
> The Africa Fund
> 50 Broad Street Suite 711
> New York NY 10004 USA
> (212) 785-1024  FAX 785-1078
> Email: Africafund@xxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> October 18, 1999
> 
> Contact: Michael Fleshman (212)785-1024
> 
> U.S. Human and Civil Rights Leaders Urge Albright to
> Visit Troubled Oil Fields During Nigeria Trip
> 
> American civil and human rights activists, religious leaders,
> environmentalists and tradeunionists, including NAACP Chair Julian
> Bond,  Congressional Black Caucus leaders Donald Payne and Maxine
> Waters,  Sierra Club head Carl Pope, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
> President William Lucy and Africa Fund Chair Dr. Tilden LeMelle today
> released a letter to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright describing
> continuing unrest in Nigeria's economically vital Niger Delta oil fields
> as "the single greatest threat to Nigeria's fragile transition to
> democracy," and urging her to meet with all parties to the crisis during
> her visit to that oil-rich west African nation.
> 
> The U.S. leaders are members of the Leadership Commission on the
> Nigerian Transition, established earlier this year by The Africa Fund to
> monitor Nigeria's progress towards democracy after 15 years of brutal
> and corrupt military rule. The signatories called on Albright to visit
> the
> area and speak out against the escalating political violence that has
> taken hundreds of lives over the past year.  Albright was asked to "put
> the full weight of the United States behind a process of peaceful and
> inclusive dialogue" to end the decade-long confrontation between the
> impoverished oil producing communities and the major oil companies in
> the region, including, Shell, Chevron, Mobil, Texaco and Agip.
> 
> "For over 40 years the oil companies and successive Nigerian military
> dictatorships have taken billions of dollars worth of oil annually from
> the Niger Delta and returned nothing to the local communities except
> poverty, pollution and repression," said Africa Fund Executive Director
> Jennifer Davis. "The United States is both a major producer of oil in
> Nigeria and the largest consumer. We expect Secretary Albright to put
> American economic and political influence behind a peaceful resolution
> of the crisis during her visit."
> 
>                               --30--
> 
> Letter Begins:
> 
> 
>           Madeleine Albright
>           Secretary of State
>           U.S. Department of State
>           Washington DC 20520
>           October 18, 1999
>           Dear Secretary Albright,
> 
> As members of the Leadership Commission on the Nigerian Transition we
> have followed with growing concern the crisis in the Niger Delta oil
> fields. While the Obasanjo government has made significant strides in
> protecting human rights and attacking corruption it has failed to open a
> dialogue with leaders of the oil producing communities over
> environmental, human rights  and economic issues and has allowed the
> confrontation between the companies, government security forces and the
> communities to escalate.
> 
> We believe that the deteriorating situation constitutes the single
> greatest threat to Nigeria's fragile transition to democracy. The Niger
> Delta is vital to Nigeria's economic survival -- producing virtually all
> of Nigeria's export earnings and fully 80 percent of government revenue.
> It is also a region of great economic importance to the United States,
> both as a major source of U.S. oil imports and a site of billions of
> dollars in U.S private investments. All of these interests are
> threatened by a conflict that has become steadily more violent and
> intractable.
> 
> We therefore urge you to speak out publicly against the use of force by
> any party to the Niger Delta conflict during your upcoming visit to
> Nigeria. We ask that you go to the Delta and meet with leaders of the
> affected communities, the major American and European oil companies and
> senior members of the Obasanjo government to put the full weight of the
> United States behind a process of peaceful and inclusive dialogue. We
> are confident that dialogue between all of the stakeholders in the
> region can produce solutions that satisfy the legitimate demands of the
> people for economic, social and environmental justice,  respect the
> democratic authority of the Nigerian government and establish effective
> guidelines for environmental protection and corporate social
> responsibility by the  oil companies.
> 
> The urgency of  the crisis has been underscored in recent weeks by the
> extra-judicial execution of young activists by Federal police in the
> Bayelsa State capital of Yenagoa, a pitched battle between troops and
> heavily armed opponents of the oil companies that took 17 lives, and the
> arrest of a journalist who published a leaked government contingency
> plan to crush community opposition to oil production through the
> systematic suppression of human and civil rights.
> 
> Time is running out for a peaceful resolution to the Niger Delta crisis.
> We hope that you will use your time in Nigeria to raise up America's
> support for peace with justice.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Julian Bond
> Chair, NAACP
> 
> Jennifer Davis
> Executive Director, The Africa Fund
> 
> David N. Dinkin
> Former Mayor,  New York City
> 
> Patricia Ford
> Vice President, Service Employees International Union
> 
> Judge Nathaniel Jones
> U.S. Court of Appeals
> 
> Dr. Tilden LeMelle
> Chair, The Africa fund
> 
> William Lucy
> President, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
> 
> Gay McDougall
> Director, International Human Rights Law Group
> 
> Rep. Donald Payne
> U.S. Congress
> 
> Carl Pope
> Executive President, The Sierra Club
> 
> Bernice Powell-Jackson
> Executive Director, Commission on Racial justice
> United church of Christ
> 
> Rabbi David Saperstein
> Director, Religious Action
> Center of Reform Judaism
> 
> Rev. Dr. Bennett Smith
> Past President, Progressive National
> Baptist Convention
> 
> Rep. Maxine Waters
> U.S. Congress