On January 9, 2011, Southern Sudan will vote on whether to secede from the North. This vote was promised as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005, which ended a brutal civil war between North and South Sudan that claimed some two million lives. The key border town of Abyei is also supposed to hold its own referenda on January 9th on whether to remain part of North Sudan or join the South.  The northern Government of Sudan in Khartoum has obstructed preparations for the vote and sent signals that a vote for independence may not be accepted.  Southerners have warned of violence if a credible vote does not take place on time.  As the two referenda approach, reports of inflammatory, racist rhetoric against Southerners in the North - the type that has preceded other outbreaks of genocidal violence - are growing.

For more information on this volatile situation, as well as what the NAACP would like to see the US government do to diffuse the potential genocide -- please review the attached 1-page Issue Brief and share it with your friends.  We will be certain to update you as the referenda draws closer.

Sincerely,

Hilary O. Shelton
Director, NAACP Washington Bureau &
     Senior VP for Advocacy and Policy
(202) 463-2940