wfn.org | Canadian church leaders call for Sudan oil moratorium

[wfn@wfn.org]

Canadian church leaders call for Sudan oil moratorium

Solange De Santis
Staff Writer, Anglican Journal
(This story will appear in the May issue of the Anglican Journal)

A group of Canadian church leaders, including Anglican representative Alice
Jean (A.J.) Finlay, called for an end to the conflict in Sudan and a
moratorium on oil development there, after a week-long trip in April to the
war-ravaged southern area of the African nation.

"It (oil exploration) is a major issue for the World Council of Churches
and for the church representatives from the Sudan who are involved there,"
Mrs. Finlay told an Ottawa news conference on April 10, one day after the
group's return to Canada. Mrs. Finlay is a member of the World Council of
Churches central committee.

Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. conducts oil drilling in the Sudan,
among other areas in the world. Church and social-justice advocates have
repeatedly called upon Talisman to pull out of the Sudan, saying that oil
revenues are fuelling the aggressive tactics of the National Islamic Front
government.

The ecumenical group also called upon the Canadian government to "take
high-level diplomatic and practical initiatives" to bring about "a speedy
end to a vicious and brutal civil war." It said that the current civil war,
which began in 1983, has killed two million people and displaced more than
four million in Africa's largest country.

"The systematic bombings, attacks on civilian targets, forced displacement
of civilian populations, mass starvation and other acts of terrorism that
have been well documented by human rights agencies require urgent action by
the international community," the group said in its statement.    	

The group was denied permission by the Sudanese government to visit the
capital of Khartoum, but was invited by the Sudan and New Sudan Councils of
Churches to travel to the south and visit refugee camps and communities
affected by the conflict. Sudan's government is waging war against rebels
in the south who follow Christian or animist religions. Animism is the
belief that plants, inanimate objects and natural phenomena have living
souls.

"We listened to accounts of slaughter and burnings from people who had fled
for their lives days earlier. Some displaced persons told us, "They (the
government) want our land without us. Sudanese church leaders ... described
the tactics of the Khartoum government as 'genocidal,'" said the statement.

Mrs. Finlay said that in one village, a group of about 30 people,
representing four villages, told of random attacks from helicopters, foot
soldiers and tanks. "When we asked how many were dead, the chiefs began to
name them and as they did this, they would pick up little sticks or nuts
from the ground nearby, name the individual and set them down on the
ground. It was almost a sacramental moment," she said.

The group included Mrs. Finlay, Rev. Arthur Van Seters, former moderator of
the Presbyterian Church in Canada; Janet Somerville, general secretary of
the Canadian Council of Churches, Rev. William Phipps, former moderator of
the United Church of Canada and Bishop Donald Theriault, representing the
Catholic Conference of Bishops.

The group first traveled to Nairobi before going to the Sudan. In northern
Kenya, after briefings from Canadian diplomats and several church and other
organizations, the group went to northern Kenya and visited a major
humanitarian relief program run by the United Nations and Operation
Lifeline Sudan.

Links:

Sudan cathedral razed in government attack; Pension investments questioned
March 2001 Anglican Journal news story
<http://www.anglicanjournal.com/127/03/world03.html>

Archbishop of Sudan visits Canada
October 2000 Anglican Journal news story
<http://www.anglicanjournal.com/126/08/world07.html>

PWRDF responds to critique of the Inter-Church Coalition on Africa (ICCAF)
in Sudan
July 2000 Primate's World Relief and Development Fund press release
<http://www.anglican.ca/news/online/news.html?newsItem=2000-07-11_ss.news>

Commit to peace, Carey says
June 2000 Anglican Journal news story
<http://www.anglicanjournal.com/126/06/world07.html>

Shareholder action demands independent verification of Talisman's ethical
and human rights conduct
April 2000 Anglican News Service press release
<http://www.anglican.ca/news/ans/ans.html?ansItem=2000-04-07_a.ans>

Failure to sanction Talisman criticized; Primate's Fund to recommend
strategy on shares
April 2000 Anglican Journal news story
<http://www.anglicanjournal.com/126/04/world03.html>

Canadians turn attention to Sudan's civil war; Slave redemptions raise
questions
January 2000 Anglican Journal news story
<http://www.anglicanjournal.com/126/01/world05.html>

Churches pressure Canadian oil company
November 1999 Anglican Journal news story
<http://www.anglicanjournal.com/125/09/world03.html>

'Redemption programs' are no solution to slavery in Sudan, Anglican agency
says
September 1999 Anglican News Service press release
<http://www.anglican.ca/news/ans/ans.html?ansItem=1999-09-07_a.ans>

'Stop the killing in Sudan'; Churches call for action on 'genocide'
April 1999 Anglican Journal news story
<http://www.anglicanjournal.com/125/04/world04.html>

Leanne Larmondin
Web Manager
Anglican Church of Canada

http://www.anglican.ca
600 Jarvis St.
Toronto ON  L5E 2G1
(416) 924 9199 ext. 307
ll@anglican.ca