African Activist Archive

Contents: White House Pressed on Nigeria Policy • South Africa Learns Apartheid Truths • Rev. Chikane: The Struggle for Economic Justice • RAN Coordinator Builds Support • RAN 1997 • Wyatt Tee Walker To Lead Delegation To Africa • Newsletter with a Dear Friend cover letter. The cover letter says we have recently learned that the Nigerian government has charged Nobel Peace Laureate Wole Soyinka and 11 others with treason in connection with a series of bombings of army installations in Nigeria. The newsletter reports that American Committee on Africa President Wyatt Tee Walker led a delegation of religious leaders to the White House to underscore the urgent need for a change in U.S. policy towards the military dictatorship in Nigeria; Meeting with National Security Council Adviser Samuel Berger and Susan Rice, Senior National Security Council Director for African Affairs, delegation members stressed their growing concern about the brutality of the Nigerian military regime as it blocked all efforts to restore democracy. The newsletter says it is time for the U.S. to take the leadership in imposing economic sanctions in support of democracy; and that because the U.S. buys nearly half of Nigeria's annual oil exports, generating billions of dollars for the Abacha dictatorship, such action could have significant impact. The newsletter reports the delegation presented Berger with the Declaration of Conscience on Nigeria. The newsletter reports that continuing their mission to seek the imposition of effective economic sanctions on Nigeria, delegation members also met with senior officials of the Mobil Oil Company, which currently produces 500,000 barrels of oil a day in Nigeria. The newsletter discusses Reverend Joan Campbell, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches; Bishop Felton May; Jennifer Davis; Rev. Tyrone Pitts; Africa Fund Human Rights Coordinator Michael Fleshman; Mangedwa Nyathi of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit; and Dr. Michael Battle, Associate Vice President of Virginia State University. The newsletter reports the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has the task of uncovering human rights violations committed during the apartheid era. The newsletter includes excerpts from a speech delivered by Reverend Frank Chikane at the 12th Annual Meeting of the Africa Faith and Justice Network. The newsletter reports RAN Coordinator Paul Harris spoke at several venues this winter as he continues working to broaden the U.S. base of support for African democracy and development. The newsletter reports ACOA President Wyatt Tee Walker plans to lead a delegation of religious leaders from the United States to the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) Assembly in Ethiopia in October 5-13, 1997. The mailing discusses Kofi Annan, and Rev. Paul D. Harris.

African Activist Archive

Religious Action Network News

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