April 9, 2010
By Matthew Davies

As Sudan heads to the polls this weekend to hold its first democratic elections in 24 years, Episcopalians in the U.S. have been ramping up advocacy and raising awareness of the issues that confront Africa's largest and most war-torn nation amid fears that it could plunge back into civil war.

Richard Parkins and Russ Randle, two leading Episcopal Church advocates for Sudan, have continued to pursue the U.S. Congress and Obama administration pressing them to make the African country's peace agreement a priority and to ensure that fair elections are conducted.

"There has been a ratcheting up of interest in Sudan because people are making dire predictions about the election aftermath," Parkins, director of the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, told ENS in a telephone interview. "It's not addressing new issues but putting a spotlight on the fragility of the peace agreement."

Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in January 2005 by the two warring parties – the Government of Sudan in the north and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the south – bringing an end to a 20-year civil war that claimed more than 2 million lives and displaced about 7 million people.

Among the major terms of the agreement are the equitable distribution of oil revenues, drawing of fair borders, and the development of democratic governance throughout the country. But the northern government's failure to live into these terms and a recent increase in violence have threatened to undermine the election, with major boycotts feared.

The peace agreement also set the date of 2011 for a special referendum in which southerners can vote whether to secede from the north or remain a unified country.

When voters head to the polls April 11-13, they will be choosing their next president and members of the 450-seat National Assembly. In the south, voters also will elect a president of the southern Sudan government and members of its 171-seat assembly. Salva Kiir Mayardit has served as the president of the Government of Southern Sudan since August 2005.

"Many Sudanese will have to walk for hours to cast their votes in an extraordinarily complex set of elections," according to a recent update from AFRECS. "International concerns center around voter registration lists, ballots, vote tabulations, the access of international observers to the polls, and the peace and security of the country during these days and following."

Parkins said that although the infrastructure is "pretty bad, international organizations are working to ensure there is a fair count. They are going to do everything they can to get a fair count in the south, but they are more concerned about achieving that in the north."

Sudan's President Omar Hasan al-Bashir, a Sunni Muslim, is seeking re-election. In March 2009, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Darfur region of western Sudan, where government-backed militia continue to attack civilians and raid refugee camps. Experts say the warrant is unlikely to be executed.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and most other opposition parties recently withdrew their two presidential candidates, including Mayardit from the election, "reportedly not wishing to legitimize a flawed process – a move that heightens concerns about the country in the coming days," according to AFRECS, which will hold its annual conference this June, titled "Crisis in Sudan."

In its latest efforts to raise awareness and pressure the U.S. government, AFRECS held an advocacy day on March 25 during which its board members contacted their representatives and emphasized the urgency for them to take action and make Sudan peace a priority. "All told, 15 congressional offices were contacted," Parkins said.

Responding to a question about why he felt the need to engage so aggressively on Sudan issues at this time, Parkins said: "Haiti caught everyone unexpectedly because they haven't had an earthquake in centuries. In Sudan, we know that a political earthquake is going to occur, so shame on us if we don't sound the alarm in time to do something about it."

Randle and Parkins have been working with Democratic Representative Jim Moran of Virginia to press for greater transparency in how the oil revenue in Sudan is accounted for. "There are reports from non-governmental organizations that the northern government is cheating the south out of huge sums of money," said Randle, noting that the southern government is 98% dependent on oil revenue.

Parkins said that early indications suggest that the south will vote overwhelmingly in 2011 to secede from the north.

"There is concern that the south be better prepared to deal with the consequences of becoming an independent state, to ensure that it is treated equitably and has the resources to deal with becoming a separate south Sudan," he said.

Another major term of the peace agreement was the execution of a fair census, which was conducted in April 2008 when Parkins and bishops from the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America were visiting Juba, South Sudan's capital. Despite insisting that they were not Sudanese nationals, Parkins and his Lutheran colleagues were still counted by census officials.

"The census has been a source of contention between the north and the south because of serious logistical problems," said Randle. "The parties seem to have reached some kind of agreement about how the numbers will be handled, but it is far from perfect. I don't think anyone in the south would regard it as fair."

The Episcopal Church's long-standing support for Sudan is manifested through its partnerships and companion diocese relationships, programs supported by Episcopal Relief & Development, and advocacy work of the Office of Government Relations.

"Advocacy by Episcopalians and other Americans was instrumental in pressing for the U.S. government involvement that led to the signing of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005," said Alexander Baumgarten, director of government relations for the Episcopal Church. "As Sudan faces a series of critical moments in the next year that could further undermine the peace process – first the national elections next week and then the southern referendum next year on whether to secede from the north – Episcopalians are urging renewing urgency from the U.S. government in addressing the situation."

Baumgarten said the peace agreement's call for national elections in 2010 stemmed from a vision for democratic transformation in Sudan, "a hope that now seems more elusive than ever, as most experts believe the flawed processes of the vote will further impede the lagging peace process." He said that the Obama administration must work urgently to press for two distinct sets of negotiations between north and south: one to resolve remaining peace agreement issues, and another to begin discussion of Sudan's future following the 2011 referendum.

"If the south appears to be moving toward secession in 2011, as most experts believe, it is absolutely critical for the United States to put significant pressure on both north and south to find clear common ground on a variety of measures to prevent a return to war post-2011," he added.

Baumgarten said his office will closely monitor next week's elections and then communicate to Episcopalians about the U.S.-government-focused advocacy that will be needed between now and next January's referendum.

Last July, the Episcopal Church's General Convention passed two resolutions in support of a lasting peace in Sudan.

Randle, a General Convention deputy for the Diocese of Virginia, was the proposer of Resolution D007 that urged each diocese in the Episcopal Church "to consider … entry into a companion diocese relationship or other covenant-based link relationship with a diocese in the Episcopal Church of Sudan … as a means … to further the cause of peace in Sudan."

Current companion relationships include Albany (New York) with the Province of Sudan, Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) with Kajo Keji, Chicago with Renk, Indianapolis with Bor, Missouri with Lui, Southwestern Virginia with the Province of Sudan, and Virginia with the Province of Sudan.

The newest companion relationship, between the dioceses of Rhode Island and Ezo, was consummated in November 2009.

Other areas of major concern in Sudan include escalating tribal conflict and increased violence inflicted by the Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel organization whose soldiers are prolonging a two-decades-long terrorist campaign gruesomely marked by widespread massacres and child abductions.

The Ezo diocese, which has experienced the brunt of the recent LRA violence, is located in an area of southern Sudan that has been in ongoing conflict with the Islamic government in Khartoum since 1983.

During a recent visit to Rhode Island, Bishop John Zawo of Ezo, who lives in a refugee camp, spoke of his people's ability to "focus on God in the midst of misery and chaos."

Janette O'Neill, senior director of Africa programs for Episcopal Relief & Development, said the agency has assisted the Episcopal Church of Sudan in defining its most urgent priorities through a strategic planning process.

"This process has resulted in sustainable development work including constructing primary schools and clinics; running training programs to improve women's skills; and implementing agricultural and income generating programs to improve food supply and create economic opportunities," O'Neill told ENS.

The agency's planning process for 2010 programs will begin post-election, O'Neill said. "The needs in Sudan are overwhelming. The church is essential in helping communities meet their own needs, which in turn, gives families and communities a stake in their futures. This is one of the many ways people can help support a more peaceful and stable Sudan."

The Episcopal Church of Sudan – with its four million members, the vast majority of whom are based in the south – is considered one of the largest non-governmental organizations in southern Sudan and is strategically placed to serve its people in the face of such great adversity.

"The backbone of civil society, the Episcopal Church is looked to, after the Government of Southern Sudan, to provide social services in addition to their spiritual leadership," Jennifer Ernst, coordinator of partnerships for the Episcopal Church of Sudan, told ENS.

Through the companion relationships, dioceses in the U.S.-based Episcopal Church have supported critical social services including schools, clinics, water wells and church construction, she said. "The partner dioceses mutually commit themselves to prayer and to seek greater knowledge of one another and to create opportunities to build relationships at all levels within the dioceses. Most importantly, they have stood in solidarity with our Sudanese brothers and sisters who have faithfully endured great hardship."

Episcopal News Service
Matthew Davies is editor and international correspondent of the Episcopal News Service.