wfn.org | Presbyterian Ruun says United Nations has abandoned the

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Sudanese church leader in New York to address Darfur crisis

Ruun says United Nations has abandoned the innocent

by Jennifer Butler
Presbyterian United Nations Office
and Jerry L. Van Marter

NEW YORK * The Rev. Haruun Ruun, the executive secretary of the New 
Sudanese Council of Churches (NSCC) who has sharply criticized the United 
Nations for being slow to respond to the crisis in the Darfur region of his 
country, will address an international group of religious leaders here 
Wednesday.
	 Ruun's Sept. 22 address at the Church Center for the United 
Nations, is entitled "Crisis in the Sudan: From Peace Accords in the South 
to Conflict in Darfur." In addition to his address, he will also attend a 
series of public forums on Thursday at the Interchurch Center, hosted by 
Church World Service and Religions for Peace-USA.
	 "Great hopes were raised when UN Secretary General Kofi Annan came 
to Sudan [in June 2004]," Ruun said in preparation for his visit.  "People 
felt that finally their suffering had been heard. There was all this 
excitement and then nothing. What happened to the UN? The killings and 
rapes are still happening in Darfur."
	 Since government-backed miliatias launched their murderous assault 
in Darfur earlier this year, more than 500,000 Sudanese have been killed 
and an additional one million have fled their homes. The Bush 
Administration has labeled the siege on Darfur "genocide."
	 "The Sudanese government will continue to commit genocide unless 
there is international pressure, Ruun said.  "The UN Security Council must 
impose sanctions on the government's oil revenue, freeze the assets of 
Sudanese government leaders and restrict their travel...[and] empower the 
African Union to act."
	 A U.S. citizen and Presbyterian minister, Ruun has led the NSCC's 
response to the longstanding humanitarian crisis in the Sudan for ten 
years. For more than 30 years the Muslim government in the northern capital 
of Khartoum has waged war against the primarily Christian and Animist 
southern Sudan.
	 Ruun said that the UN must show leadership and convince all 
parties concerned that "everyone will have a share once there is peace, 
that no one's interests are going to be neglected. Everyone will benefit 
from peace."