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Resolution A263
SUDAN
This resolution was carried.
moved by: The Rt. Rev. Peter R. Coffin from the Diocese of Ottawa
seconded by: Ms. Dorothy Davies-Flindall from the Diocese of Ontario
Note: The mover and the seconder must be members of the General Synod and be present in the House when the resolution is before the synod for debate.
BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS GENERAL SYNOD:
- Urge the Government of Canada to vigorously condemn the scorched-earth policy of the Sudanese government aimed at driving civilians out of the oil concession areas to protect companies working there and facilitate military operations; to stop bombing civilian villages, schools and hospitals; to stop its vicious use of slavery, kidnapping, mutilation, child soldiery and famine as a tool of war.
- Urge the Government of Canada to publicly recognize the failure of the "constructive engagement" policy embraced by the government in the wake of the Harker Report, and to pressure the Sudanese government to take the peace talks seriously by:
- Engaging in a constructive and pro-active way in the Inter Governmental Agencies for Development (IGAD) Peace Process.
- Allowing the Humanitarian Aid Workers to circulate in the South and do their work of bringing solace to the suffering of people.
- Urge the Government of Canada:
- To recognize and act upon the fact that oil development in Sudan, to which the Canadian Oil Company Talisman Energy Inc. is greatly contributing, has increased the military capacity of the Sudanese government to wage war against its people.
- To promote a ban on oil development in Sudan until such time as peace exists.
- To strengthen existing legal instruments such as the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA), and enforce them with respect to Talisman Energy Inc. or any other Canadian company involved in Sudan's oil industry.
- To consider market sanctions on Talisman as long as their activities in Sudan continue to contribute to the conflict in that country.
- Request the Primate to communicate to our partners in the Sudan (the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, the Sudan Council of Churches, and the New Sudan Council of Churches) our ongoing compassion and solidarity with the people of Sudan in their suffering.
- Request the Primate to ask the Canadian Anglicans to write to their MPs and submit petitions on Sudan raising these issues.
EXPLANATORY NOTE/BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Sudan has been wracked by civil war for more than 43 years. Despite an ongoing peace process, violations of humanitarian and human rights law occur with extraordinary frequency and unconscionable brutality. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, United Nations Security Council, UNICEF, and Doctors Without Borders among others have amply documented the level of unrelenting abuse and misery inflicted on the Sudanese population by the NIF government. The UN Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan describes the situation as "a systematic policy of bombing civilians."
Sudan's observers assert that oil exploitation and the revenue brought by it, has enhanced the government's capacity to wage war against the Southern Sudanese population. A report in early 2000 by the Canadian government envoy, John Harker concluded that Talisman's partnership with the Sudanese government "adds more suffering" to the people of a country already plagued by civil war. The Harker Report states that, "government troops cleared the area around the town of Bentiu (epicenter of the oil region) using helicopter gun ships and aerial cluster bombardment by high-altitude Antonov planes".
According to the United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network, 14 bombs were dropped on a Panlit missionary school in the region in late November, almost 700 children at the school fled into the bush in panic. The Anglican cathedral in the Sudanese city of Lui was destroyed in a government aerial attack on December 29, 2000. More than 7,000 people have fled fighting near Southern Sudan's oil fields in the past 14 months, bringing the total to 36,500, a UN official stated.
The situation in Sudan has deteriorated to such a level that MPs in the House of Commons are questioning the Canadian government policies in Sudan. A Canadian churches mission traveled to Sudan in March and April. Representatives of the Anglican, Roman Catholic, Christian Reformed, Presbyterian and United Church visited our partners in the Khartoum and in the South and witnessed the devastating effects of the war.
(Previous NEC and GS Motions: National Executive Council (NEC) Act #1111/93 of November 1993, the General Synod Act #55 of June 1995, and the General Synod Act #40 of June 1998.)
Source: PWRDF Committee, Eco-Justice Sub-Committee, Partners in Mission Committee
(name of committee, diocese, etc.)
Submitted by: PWRDF Committee