April 11, 2003

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.

Anglican Communion News Service