September 5, 2006

The World Council of Churches (WCC) today expressed its continued concern and distress at the ongoing atrocities taking place in the Darfur region of the Sudan.

In a minute recorded for member churches on the issue of Sudan, the WCC central committee, meeting in Geneva from 30 August to 6 September, requested the WCC to call on the government of Sudan to comply with the United Nations Resolution 1706, as well as the comprehensive peace agreement signed in May 2006, as a way of fulfilling its responsibility to protect the people of Sudan.

Central committee requested the general secretariat of the WCC, in consultation with the churches in Sudan, to consider the viability of arranging a high level delegation of church representatives and members of the Islamic community to visit and meet with government officials in Sudan, as well as representatives of the Darfur region, "to emphasize the importance of this compliance and to offer any help that might be needed in the peaceful resolution of this conflict."

The WCC has a long history of peace work in the country.

The WCC's executive committee articulated its concern in a statement on Sudan in May 2006. It expressed its hope for the peace agreement and acknowledged its support for the UN Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 to "establish a peacekeeping force in the region." This resolution invites the government of Sudan to consent to humanitarian access and the deployment of UN forces to aid in the peaceful resolution of the longstanding tragedy.

The initial response to the resolution from the government of the Sudan has been resistant. Nonetheless, the WCC urged the government of Sudan to give its consent, to fulfil its obligations as set out in the comprehensive peace agreement, and to "bring an end to this terrible suffering."

Central committee lamented "that atrocities have continued since the signing of that peace agreement" and requested WCC staff to study if the use of the term "genocide" with regard to the crisis in Darfur is appropriate in light of the internationally agreed conventions on this issue.

Full text of the "Minute on Sudan" is available on the WCC website: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/central-committee/geneva-2006/reports-and-documents.html.

World Council of Churches