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Sudan: Oil and War
Sudan: Oil and War
Date distributed (ymd): 991009
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: East Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+
+security/peace+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains an urgent action bulletin from the
Canadian Inter-Church Coalition on Africa, calling for protest
against investments by Talisman, a Canadian company, in oil in
Sudan. It also contains excerpts from a recent update on the
conflict in Sudan from the UN's Integrated Regional
Information Network (IRIN)
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
URGENT ACTION BULLETIN
UAB 1999/#3, September 20, 1999
Inter-Church Coalition on Africa,
129 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada M4V 1N5
Tel: 416-927-1124; Fax:416-927-7554
e-mail: iccaf@web.net;
Web: http://www.web.net/~iccaf
Sudan, Oil, Crimes Against Humanity...and Canada
Dear friends,
Despite repeated appeals by Canadian churches and their
Sudanese church partners, and many Canadian NGOs, the
Government of Canada has failed to take action against
Talisman Energy Inc., a Canadian company that has invested $1
billion to help the National Islamic Front Government of Sudan
to develop Sudan's oil reserves. Why is Canadian involvement
in Sudan's oil development program an issue? Talisman's
investment in Sudan will effectively help the Sudanese
government, an illegal regime that came to power in a military
coup, wage a war that relentlessly, systematically and
terrifyingly effectively targets civilians.
Following is a list of reasons why the Talisman-Sudanese
regime business partnership is a catastrophic liability for
the Sudanese people and a compelling indictment of the
Government of Canada for its failure, if not refusal, to rein
in Talisman.
- Talisman's legal business partner, the NIF regime, is one
of the world's worst violators of human rights. International
human rights agencies and the UN Commission on Human Rights
have accumulated volumes of carefully gathered evidence
charging the Sudanese regime with acts of genocide, ethnic
cleansing, and other crimes against humanity. Atrocities
include engineered famine (by causing massive population
displacements and banning international humanitarian food
aid), aerial bombardment of civilian population centres, a
scorched earth policy in the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan,
the systematic rape of women as a weapon of war, and the
encouragement of slavery.
- More than two million people, 90 percent of them innocent
civilians, have died in Sudan's civil war since the latest
phase began in 1983. Another 4.5 million have been displaced.
Last year 2.6 million were brought to the brink of starvation
largely because of the scorched earth policies of the Sudanese
regime, and especially because the regime banned humanitarian
relief agencies from reaching war-affected populations at a
critical time. The numbers of war-related dead and displaced
are staggering. And yet, Talisman chooses to continue as a
partner in business with a regime that bears the bulk of
responsibility for this chronicle of human misery and
devastation.
- Moreover, the ownership of the oil reserves that Talisman
is helping to develop is disputed. The oil fields lie in
southern Sudan but are controlled by the central government in
the north. The Sudanese regime's refusal to give the south a
say in the development of the fields was one of the original
causes of Sudan's 16 year civil war. By investing in Sudan
under these circumstances, Talisman is exploiting the conflict
-- perhaps the worst in the world today -- for financial gain.
- There are credible reports that the Sudanese regime has
forcibly and violently removed populations from the oil
producing regions, including concessions owned by Talisman, to
make the oil fields secure for foreign companies. Such action
would violate the provisions of Protocol II of the Geneva
Convention, and constitutes a war crime under international
law. The significance of such a violation can hardly be
overstated.
- Oil will give the regime an enormous military advantage
over regional populations fighting for a say in the
development of their own natural resources and their right of
self-determination. After decades of exploitation and abuse
from successive northern governments, southern Sudanese in
particular wish to decide for themselves, through a democratic
process, whether they want to remain in a united Sudan or form
an independent country. The Sudanese regime is determined,
through violent means, to deny them this choice.
- Oil revenues can be used to buy new weapons to increase the
regime's comparative advantage on the battlefield. It
desperately needs these funds; the war is costing it in excess
of $1 million a day. Several months ago Hassan al-Turabi, the
most influential member of the NIF government, declared
publicly that oil revenues made possible by Talisman and other
foreign companies would be used to build factories for
missiles and tanks.
- Talisman and other foreign oil companies working in Sudan
will provide the regime with free oil. This will save the
regime $400 million a year in oil imports, thus freeing up
additional resources for the war effort. The oil kept for
domestic use can be refined into fuel for military use in
Sudanese refineries, including for planes that regularly bomb
civilian population centres. There are reports that oil from
Talisman's wells has already been processed for military
purposes.
- Oil is a major disincentive to the NIF government to
negotiate in good faith in the ongoing regional peace process
managed by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
(IGAD). The IGAD talks are based on a Declaration of
Principles which addresses the two key issues in the conflict,
the right of self-determination and a secular constitution.
Oil revenues will bolster the Sudanese regime's confidence to
try to either win the war outright, which would have
catastrophic consequences for civilians, or force an unjust
peace on the south.
The oil is now flowing! As of August 1999, oil from southern
Sudan began flowing through a 1600 km pipeline to the
international export market. Much of the oil comes from wells
drilled by Talisman, which also financed construction of the
pipeline. Already the regime has bought 50 tanks from Poland
and there are reports of additional new weapons purchases.
Predictions that oil development would result in an
intensification of the war now seem to be coming true.
Talisman doesn't seem to care
Talisman seems driven only by the promise of huge profits.
Canadian churches and NGOs have on several occasions engaged
Talisman in dialogue about the potentially harmful impact of
its investments in Sudan. Talisman has not only demonstrated
a lack of cooperation, it has been dismissive and has
displayed a shocking disregard for the overwhelming body of
reports citing atrocities in Sudan. It has called the
allegations of human rights abuses made by the UN Commission
on Human Rights and reputable human rights agencies "lurid and
exaggerated." It defends its presence in Sudan by declaring
itself to be a benevolent purveyor of Western values, and says
it is providing for the economic development of all of Sudan.
But these self-serving claims ignore Talisman's role in the
oil-driven devastation that is so concentrated in the south.
Now that the pipeline is built and the oil flowing, there is
even less incentive for Talisman to heed its critics. Clearly,
Talisman has placed profits before people in the most cynical
of ways, with terribly destructive implications for tens of
thousands of Sudanese women and children, who make up 90
percent of the casualties of the war in Sudan. The oil now
flowing through the pipeline, financed by a Canadian firm, is
tainted with the blood of innocent Sudanese.
Whither the Canadian government?
All the Canadian government has done about Talisman is to warn
the company about the dangers its personnel may face by
working in a war zone. It says it does not have the
legislative tools to restrict Talisman's ability to operate in
Sudan and hold it accountable for any role it plays in the
direct or indirect violation of human rights and international
law. This is not true. Research has shown that Canada does
have the legal means to take action against Talisman. What is
lacking is political will.
Canada is providing valuable support for a regional peace
process for Sudan, which should be recognized. However, such
support should not be accepted as a reason for inaction on
Talisman. Oil development is a disincentive for the regime to
talk peace at the IGAD table. It threatens to negate the
usefulness of any support for the peace process. Clearly,
Canada should adopt a dual policy of supporting peace
initiatives while at the same time taking decisive steps to
restrict Talisman's ability to further strengthen the Sudanese
regime.
The weight of evidence suggests that Talisman is effectively
complicit in crimes against humanity in Sudan, and presents
the Government of Canada, and all shareholders in Talisman,
with a clear moral imperative: act now to prevent Talisman
from aggravating an already too costly civil war.
What You Can Do
Write a politely worded but firm letter to Lloyd Axworthy,
Minister of Foreign Affairs:
- Urge the Minister to utilize all available international
mechanisms, and all domestic tools at Canada's disposal, to
prevent Talisman from making it possible for the Sudanese
government to intensify the civil war in Sudan and further
violate the rights of Sudanese civilians. Urge the Minister
not to wait for other countries to take action but to be
pro-active and assertive in this regard.
- Emphasize that Canadians will not allow their government to
stand idly by while a Canadian company so callously disregards
international human rights norms and standards and the lives
of innocent Sudanese.
- Urge the Minister to stop using the excuse of a lack of
legal manouerverability and to muster the political will
needed for Canada to take firm action against Talisman.
- Urge the Minister to complement Canada's support of the
peace process for Sudan with action against Talisman;
otherwise (you can point out), Canada's support to the peace
process may be negated.
Write to: Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lester
B. Pearson Bldg., 125 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G2;
FAX: 613-996-3443
Send a copy of your letter to ICCAF (your letter can be
mailed, faxed or e-mailed to gkenny@web.net). Thank you for
your attention.
ICCAF's Mission Statement
The Inter-Church Coalition on Africa (ICCAF) is a Canadian
ecumenical forum rooted in the biblical prophetic tradition
that calls for justice and peace for all people. It carries
out specific and specialized work related to Africa that is of
common concern to its member churches and their African
partners. ICCAF's work includes research, analysis, advocacy,
networking and education.
To subscribe to InfoSERV E-Mail service, receive a list of
publications or learn more about us, please contact us at
HREF="mailto:iccaf@web.net">iccaf@web.net.
SUDAN: IRIN News Briefs, 6 October 1999 (Excerpts)
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the
UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For
further information, free subscriptions, or to change your
keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive
or re-post this item, please retain this credit and
disclaimer.]
[Feedback: irin@ocha.unon.org UN IRIN-CEA Tel: +254 2 622123
Fax: +254 2 622129 ]
Egypt-Libya agree new steps in peace initiative
Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and Libya's special
representative for Africa, former foreign minister Ali Tureiki
they had agreed on steps to implement a joint peace initiative
for peace in Sudan. Reuters said they told reporters after a
meeting in Cairo at the weekend contacts were underway to
prepare for dialogue and both sides in the Sudanese conflict
should abstain from anything likely to obstruct the peace
initiative and from hostile media campaigns against each
other.
Moussa said a suitable atmosphere should prevail before a
preparatory meeting in advance of an inter-Sudanese
reconciliation conference could take place. That meeting was
to have opened in Cairo last month but the SPLM refused to
agree, saying it preferred to have mediation by the East
African regional grouping, the Inter-Governmental Authority on
Development (IGAD), news agencies reported. Moussa said there
was no time to waste in the effort to achieve peace in Sudan,
whether through the Libyan-Egyptian initiative or the parallel
IGAD process, and that he had contacted Kenya - currently
president of IGAD - in order to coordinate the two sets of
talks.
SPLM awaiting next round of IGAD talks
While an IGAD conference on regional capacity-building for
conflict prevention began in Nairobi on Monday, the last
Sudanese peace talks under the IGAD process broke down in July
without a breakthrough. Sudan People's Liberation Movement
(SPLM) spokesman Samson Kwaje told IRIN on Tuesday that he
soon hoped to meet Daniel Mboya, Kenya's special envoy to the
IGAD peace talks on Sudan - recently returned to Nairobi after
discussions in Khartoum - to hear when the next round might
take place. ...
SPLM asks Mbeki's advice on "double apartheid"
Meanwhile, SPLM leader John Garang said at the weekend, after
talks in Johannesburg with South African President Thabo
Mbeki, that if the Khartoum government and opposition groups
did not reach an agreement soon, the country would collapse
totally. "We are now living in a double apartheid era, based
on race and religion. Our struggle is for liberation, basic
human rights and equality for women," the South African Press
Agency (SAPA) quoted him as saying.
Sources close to Mbeki said that, while South Africa had not
taken any concrete steps in the peace process and it was
primarily a Sudanese responsibility to resolve the country's
problems, it was supporting efforts to "promote peace
resolutions", SAPA reported. Sudan was expected to feature
prominently on South Africa's foreign policy agenda once the
conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo was resolved, the
report added.
NDA to seek common framework for political dialogue
Garang also said in South Africa on Saturday that the Sudanese
opposition, under the umbrella National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) which groups northern opposition parties and the SPLM
based in the south, would meet in either Uganda or Egypt this
month to come up with a common framework for any future
negotiations with the government, news organisations reported.
"We will be looking at our overall political strategy for our
country. We will be putting together a policy for any
negotiations with Khartoum. We will also review our military
strategies," AP news agency quoted him as saying. Meanwhile,
Reuters news agency on Monday reported key NDA member and Umma
Party leader Sadeq al-Mahdi as having said - after talks with
senior Egyptian officials in Cairo on Saturday - that the
prospect for reconciliation talks had suffered an undisclosed
setback.
Crackdown on rebels after oil pipeline attack
Prosecutor-General Abdel Nasr Wonan has formally asked Egypt
to extradite NDA military chief Abdel Aziz Khalid - in
addition to spokesman Abdel Rahman Said, whose extradition
Sudan had previously requested - on terrorism charges related
to the 19 September rebel bombing of Sudan's new oil pipeline
near Atbara, responsibility for which was claimed by the NDA,
the official SUNA news agency reported on Tuesday. Security
forces were also reported to have searched the Sudanese homes
of resident and exiled opposition Umma Party leaders in
connection with the pipeline blast, including that of party
leader and former prime minister al-Mahdi.
Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail also asked the
international community during his address to the UN General
Assembly last week to take punitive action against SPLM leader
John Garang, similar to the sanctions against UNITA rebel
leader Jonas Savimbi in Angola, in order to pressure him into
"meaningful participation" in the peace process. He said Sudan
was committed to a comprehensive ceasefire in all parts of
southern Sudan "for humanitarian reasons and to prepare the
atmosphere for peace talks", and hoped other parties would
respond so that "the process of separation of the forces and
monitoring of the ceasefire could begin", Sudanese national
radio reported.
President promises "special consideration" for south
Meanwhile, President Omar el-Bashir told the National Assembly
that the proceeds of oil exports would go towards building the
country's infrastructure, "with special consideration for
southern states and other war-affected areas", according to an
address broadcast on national television on Monday. He said
government policy would focus on electricity, irrigation,
roads, capacity-building, scientific research and social
programmes, with special attention to be devoted to the south
and other war-affected areas.
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). APIC's primary
objective is to widen the policy debate in the United States
around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa, by
concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant
information and analysis usable by a wide range of groups and
individuals.
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