July 22, 2004

Brethren,

Special greetings!


This mail is an official report on the status of our petition against European Airlines for their continuous abuse and maltreatment of the African passengers.


It must be noted at the outset that this report could have been made public before now, but was delayed to allow the European Union to finish its own investigation. It was yesterday, July 21, 2004, that the final response was received from the European Union (details below).


It must also be noted that while the signing of the petition continued to this day, the petition was mailed on May 8, 2002, when 1,230 signed the petition. To date, we have 1,739 signatures. Kindly visit any of these web sites for an update and the details of the petition:
http://www.liberateafrica.org/petitionairlines.html or
http://www.umez.com/petitionairlines.html


Here are the recipients of the petition:


United Nations (UN), Organization of African Unity (OAU), Organization of American States (OAS), International Civil, Aviation Organization (ICAO), Federal Aviation Administration, (FAA), and the European Union (EU), Lufthansa, Alitalia, British Airways, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, and Swissair, Kweisi Mfume, President NAACP; Rev. Jessie Jackson, Rainbow/Push Coalition; Kofi Annan, Secretary General, UN; Randal Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica; Ambassador Andrew Young; Colin Powell, Secretary of State, US Government, All African Governments: The Governments of Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote D'ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Saharawi Arab Dem
ocratic Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.


The petitioners would like to thank those organizations that responded to our petition. Below are their responses, posted in PDF format. If you are unable to open them, simply download Adobe Acrobat Reader, free from the Internet:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html


1. National Association for the Advancement of the Colored People (NAACP) responded. See http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/NAACP.pdf


2. United States Federal Aviation responded. See
http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/USFederalAviation.pdf


3. European Union responded. First, a letter of acknowledgement, see this:
http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/Europal.pdf . Then a letter that it was doing some investigation, see this:
http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/Eurpa2.pdf and then its conclusion, as reflected in these two letters received yesterday, July 21, 2004:
http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/Europa3a.pdf and
http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/Europa3b.pdf , page 2,
http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/Europa3c.jpg


4. United Nations Commission on Human Rights responded. See
http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/UNOHighComforhumanRts.pdf and
http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/UNO1b.pdf


5. Organization of American States (OAS) responded. See
http://www.umez.com/PetitionResponses/OAS.pdf


Although the overall responses from these organizations tend to leave a lot to be desired, we must not give up the necessary fight for equal treatment. The struggle for equal treatment of Africans in comparison with other nationalities
must continue. We have not been defeated. In fact, no one is really defeated until he/she gives up a fight. Accordingly, we must continue to find ways and means, collectively and individually, to stop the abuse and maltreatment of the African passengers by the European airlines.


It must be noted that none of the European airlines, indicted in the petition, responded. Accordingly, we are appealing to all African lawyers in Europe and North America to consider seriously a class action law suit against European
airlines for abusing and maltreating African passengers because the abuse and the maltreatments, expressed in the petition, still go on to this very day. Our position is quite simple and very clear: Africans are human beings, and must be treated as human beings by these European airlines.


We also express our big disappointment with all African leaders and their organization, OAU (now, African Union). It was a big disappointment that NONE of the African leaders responded to this petition despite the obvious fact that
all of them fly these airlines frequently and therefore are quite aware of the abuse and the maltreatments underscored in the petition. Only three African Consulate Generals in the US called to express their gratitude for the petition.
[Brethren, inferiority complex has done a lot of damage to Africa, a subject of its own. For details, see http://www.umez.com/educatedtofeelinferior.html ]


Once again, our special thanks to those who signed the petition, and to those organizations that responded to the petition!


On behalf of the petitioners, I remain your brother, in the dire struggle to liberate Africa from the bondage of double-standard.


Professor Bedford Nwabueze Umez
FOR: LAM, Liberating the African Mind, http://www.LiberateAfrica.org
Phones: 281-425-6368 or 832-731-7061