Hello Dear Friends,
As most of you are aware, I, along with Sandy Cioffi, Sean Porter, Cliff Worsham and Joel Bisina, was detained by the Nigerian State Security Services for close to 7 days during our recent trip to finish filming for "Sweet Crude." We have been back on US soil for close to 4 weeks now and have found that prison has a way of furthering your resolve about an issue you were already passionate about. One of the steps that seemed important for healing was to make sure that our detention resulted in some good. Therefore, once home, we spent about a week and half resting and beginning the steps to integrate the experience and then decided that we needed to use the moment of attention to continue to raise awareness and push for action in the Niger Delta.
We spent nearly 2 weeks in DC and New York meeting with the 14 lawmakers who signed the letter calling for our release. In addition to thanking them for their courage and commitment, we educated them about the issues and advocated for action on the part of the US Government to push for some form of international intervention. I'm thrilled to report that the meetings were successful and hopeful. Although we are still in talks about what is the right action to take, we have the commitment of several lawmakers to take some action.
In addition to this advocacy, we have planned an event here at home to continue to raise awareness and engage people in action. Momentum has been created and we are nearing a tipping point. I want to personally invite each of you to join us on Monday, May 19th at Kane Hall for a panel discussion about our detention, the human rights issues in the Niger Delta and the rising systematic suppression of journalism in Nigeria. The evening will begin with an introduction and welcome by the crew, including Joel who will be here from Nigeria followed by a rich panel discussion. I hope to see each of you there.
Event information is attached and below. Please pass this on to others, send it to any list serves you are a part of and invite folks in your life to join you at the event. Help us fill the house!
My best to you all. Thank you for caring about this issue.
Tammi
Lives and Truth at Stake in the Niger Delta
A Sweet Crude Forum
The deeper story and larger issues behind the Sweet Crude film crew detention in Nigeria.
Monday, May 19,
7:00 pm, Kane Hall 130, University of Washington
If atrocities are being committed and cameras aren’t there to witness them, will anyone
ever know to send help? Face down this question and others with the Sweet Crude crew
and a panel of international journalists, activists and human rights experts at an
interactive forum Monday evening, May 19
After five decades of devastation from oil extraction, the people of the Niger Delta are
desperately impoverished and they’ve had enough. Environmental activism, peaceful
protest and stakeholder dialogues have failed to bring about change. As a result, a new
brand of militancy has emerged. The Nigerian government has responded by militarizing
the region.
Agitate.
The Niger Delta is a powder keg on the brink. Increasingly, journalists attempting to
document the truth of the situation have been targeted by the Nigerian government. On
April 12,
Sweet Crude filmmaker Sandy Cioffi, producer Tammi Sims, cameramen
Advocate.
Sean Porter and Cliff Worsham, and their colleague Joel Bisina were seized and illegally
detained for a week. The government is now posturing to restrict access to the Delta, a
move that will effectively ban journalists from the region.
In 2007, 86 journalists were killed—up 244% in five years. 887 were arrested, 1511
physically attacked or threatened, 67 kidnapped. How can we expect a peaceful
resolution in the Niger Delta, or anywhere else in the world, if cameras aren’t allowed to
show what’s happening? Given its strong diplomatic ties to Nigeria, why isn’t the U.S.
government speaking out against this content suppression and other human rights
violations? How can we protect journalists and filmmakers who brave volatile
environments to tell the critical stories of our time?
Panelists
Katrina Anderson – International Human Rights Attorney
Joel Bisina – Nigerian-American Founding Director, Niger Delta Professionals for Development
Sandy Cioffi – Filmmaker, Sweet Crude
Sowore Omoyele – Nigerian journalist, Sahara Reporters
Tom Rhodes – Africa Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists
Moderated by Marcie Sillman, Sr. Reporter KUOW
Tickets $10 / $5 students at
Doors open at 6:30 pm. More info at
www.brownpapertickets.com/event/35133 or at the door.www.sweetcrudemovie.com.
This event is supported by Amnesty International Puget Sound; Committee to Protect
Journalists; Seattle Arts & Lectures; Silverstein Thomas Rice and Associates; UW Center
for Global Studies; UW Law, Societies and Justice Program; UW Program on the
Environment; UW School of Law; UW Simpson Center for the Humanities.