Letter to John Kerry, Secretary of the Department of State - Set Strong Rewards For Helping to Bring Girls Home & Take Aim At Any Who Aid These Barbaric & Gutless Kidnappers

Letter

Dear Secretary Kerry,

I write to urge that you consider taking three additional steps that may help expedite the rescue and recovery of the 276 missing girls in Nigeria that were abducted by Boko Haram, a violent and brutal extremist group that is officially considered a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. Department of State. While I commend the efforts of the U.S. Department of State in collaboration with law enforcement, the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign governments to bring this horrific crisis to a resolution, the gravity of this situation calls for additional measures and incentives that may lead to the recovery of these missing girls. I am concerned that the Nigerian government continues to be unable to adequately deal with the threat posed by Boko Haram, and the U.S. must pursue all available options at its disposal. To that effect, I would encourage the U.S. Department of State to consider the following three actions:

1) Set up a reward for information that leads to the location and recovery of the 276 missing girls abducted by Boko Haram

Through the Rewards for Justice Program, established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism, the Secretary of State may offer rewards for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of anyone who plans, commits, or attempts international terrorist acts against U.S. persons or property, that prevents such acts from occurring in the first place, that leads to the location of a key terrorist leader, or that disrupts terrorism financing. In June 2013, the State Department added Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram's official leader, to the Rewards for Justice Program and offered up to $7 million for information leading to his location. Earlier this week, the Nigerian police offered a $300,000 reward for information leading to the rescue of the missing school girls militants.

The reward is a huge amount in Nigeria's most poverty-stricken region, where unemployment is high and the economy has been destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgency. The U.S. committing additional resources would send an important signal and perhaps expedite a recovery.

2) Provide refugee status for any individual that provides critical information and collaboration that helps facilitate the recovery of these girls.

As you are aware, the U.S. has a standard in law for giving visas for those who help law enforcement in a U.S. investigation. For an individual to receive a visa as a result of collaborating with law enforcement, the individual must: 1) possess reliable information regarding an important aspect of a crime of pending commission of a crime; 2) be willing to share this information with law enforcement officials, and 3) has or will be placed in danger for providing that information. I believe that granting refugee status to any individual who collaborates with the U.S. and the Nigerian government by providing critical information that leads to the recovery of these girls should merit consideration for a refugee visa. Given the reach of the violence perpetrated by Boko Haram in Nigeria, there is no question that cooperation with law enforcement on this case would put an individual's life under threat. The judgment of whether an individual meets the aforementioned criteria should be made by Consular officials at the U.S. Department of State. However, I urge you as the Secretary of State to consider this measure as a means to facilitate further cooperation on this case.

3) Place any individual who is discovered to be partaking in a transaction to buy these girls, or harming them in any way, in the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment Database and the consular lookout system.

In a statement on Monday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the group planned to sell the girls "in the market," calling them slaves. Boko Haram has made very clear it is their intention to sell these girls to willing buyers and in some instances it has been reported that some of these girls may have already been sold into slavery in the neighboring countries of Chad and Cameroon. As you know, on November 11, 2013, the U.S. State Department designated Boko Haram as an official foreign terrorist organization. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) as part of its efforts to counter terrorism financing has added various Boko Haram leaders to its Specially Designated Nationals List. I encourage you to add any individual who partakes in a transaction to buy any of these missing girls from Boko Haram, or participate in harming them in any way, to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDES) database and the State Department's consular lookout system. By buying a young girl from Boko Haram, this individual would be contributing resources to this terrorist organization, which goes directly against various federal agencies counterterrorism efforts. This measure would help discourage the sale of these innocent young girls.

These kidnappings in Nigeria are barbaric and I am appreciative of your efforts to help recover these missing girls. I urge you to consider the measures I have outlined in this letter, which will encourage information sharing and send a message to the international community that this inhuman and violent behavior, aimed at stopping young girls from educating themselves, will not be tolerated. Thank you for your attention to this matter and your work in bringing this matter to a swift resolution. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff.

Sincerely,

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