wfn.org | ACNS3402 Presiding bishop raises question of human rights in

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3402     |     USA     |	  11 APRIL 2003

Presiding bishop raises question of human rights in Sudan

[ENS] Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold wrote to Ambassador John
Negroponte, United States representative at the United Nations, expressing
his "deep concern about the situation in Sudan."
The UN Human Rights Commission, meeting in Geneva through April 25, is
considering a resolution that would reclassify Sudan's human rights status,
an action that would revoke the mandate for the presence of a UN Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights. "The presence of the Rapporteur and his human
rights monitoring functions are among the elements helping to keep the Sudan
peace process on track," according to Jere Skipper, international policy
analyst at the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations in
Washington, DC.

Bishop Griswold quoted Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who has said that
"there is perhaps no greater tragedy on the face of the earth than in
Sudan." The conflict has claimed the lives of over two million and left
hundreds of thousands displaced, "often without food and exposed to
unremitting bombardments" by the central government in Khartoum against the
rebels in the south, Bishop Griswold pointed out. "It has long begged for
resolution and clearly nothing less than the full diplomatic energy of many
nations, with strong leadership from the United States can create sufficient
urgency around the peace process."

Human rights violations are "an ongoing and significant problem in Sudan and
the need for credible human rights monitoring has not diminished," the
Presiding Bishop wrote. "The passage of a UN resolution that determines that
Sudan is no longer a country with 'special problems' will undermine the
fragile peace process and the credibility of the UN Commission on Human
Rights." He argued that the failure to continue the mandate of the Special
Rapporteur "will jeopardise the peace talks as they enter a critical round
of negotiations." He urged the ambassador to maintain Sudan's current human
rights classification and renew the mandate. (The letter was also sent to
Colin Powell, national security adviser Condoleeze Rice and the French
ambassador since observers think that the French vote could be pivotal.)

The Conference of Catholic Bishops in Sudan also called for renewal of the
mandate, arguing that the presence of a UN envoy is necessary because
"military action of armed groups supported by the Khartoum regime continued
to violate the lives and safety of villages in the oil-rich areas in the
recent months." The bishops sought help among the African governments
attending the commission meeting. "The primary victims of violence so far
are civilians, who in the thousands have fled the violence," the bishops
said in a statement distributed by the Catholic Information Service for
Africa.

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