The writers, who include Vaclav Havel and Nadine Gordimer, said the two crises should be on the agenda of next weekend’s EU-Africa summit in Portugal.
In an open letter, signed by several authors which include Vaclav Havel,, Guenter Grass, Ben Okri and John M Coetzee, said leaders of the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon, Portugal were shying away from “two of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.”
“What can we say of this political cowardice? We expect our leaders to lead, and lead with moral courage,” they said in the letter to be published Tuesday in newspapers across Europe and Africa.
“When they fail to do so hey leave all of us morally impoverished.”
Copies of the letter have been sent to every leader attending he summit, which is the first to be held since 2000, said non-governmental organisation, Crisis Action, which publicised the letter in advance.
The writers argue that it is impossible to usher in a new era of co-operation between the two continents when strife in the western Sudanese region and repression in Zimbabwe are ignored.
“Why should we listen to the mighty when the mighty are deaf to the cries of the afflicted?” the letter adds. “Millions of Africans and Europeans would expect Zimbabwe and Darfur to be at the very top of the agenda.
“I is not too late.”
One of the signatories, the Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian author, Wole Soyinka, said independently” “The EU-Africa summit presents an opportunity to address the biggest issues affecting our people.
“However our leaders – by putting their own desire to avoid a confrontation ahead of the suffering of millions – are squandering this opportunity and doing us all a disservice.”
Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will no attend the summit if Zimbabwe\s Robert Mugabe is there because of the president’s appalling human rights record.
Former international development secretary, Valerie Amos, now a member of Britain’s upper House of Lords, will attend instead.
Brown’s stance has not been oher EU countries follow suit. Hosts Portugal are keen for the row over Zimbabwe not to overshadow the talks.
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, has vowed she will not stay silent on the situation in Zimbabwe.
Other authors to have signed the letter include, Roddy Doyle, Tom Stoppard, Jose Gil, Colm Toibin, Mia Couto, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Gillian Slovo, and John Maxwell.
Post published in: News