wfn.org | [WCC NEWS] WCC urges Sudan government on violence in Darfur

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches 7 Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 19/05/2004 - pr-04-07

 WCC urges Sudan government to end hostilities and human rights violations in
Darfur

 Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary,
 commented today on the situation in Sudan's Darfur region:

 "We have urged the president of Sudan to work for an immediate end to
 hostilities and to take steps to resolve the conflict through a negotiated
 settlement so that much needed humanitarian relief is able to reach those
 in desperate need of such assistance.

 "We also urged the president to take steps to put an end to human rights
 violations in the region and to ensure that those guilty of committing
 acts of violence and human rights abuses are brought to justice."

 The WCC appeal to the president of the Republic of Sudan,
 Lieutenant-General Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, was made in a letter sent
 on 7 May, 2004.

 The 14-month-old conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan has been
 described as "one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis" by the United
 Nations World Food Programme executive director James Morris. As a result
 of the escalation of fighting between government forces and rebel groups,
 "over 700,000 Sudanese were internally displaced and another 110,000 were
 forced to cross the border into neighbouring Chad," Kobia explained.

 Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, a global alliance of
 churches and related agencies of which the WCC is founding member, on 15
 March, 2004 issued an emergency appeal for about US$ 800,000 to assist
 some 30,000 victims of the conflict in the Southern and Western Darfur
 regions. Members of ACT International are supporting the ACT appeal
 financially.

 The history of the WCC's involvement in Sudan goes back to 1971 when the
 Council together with the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) was
 instrumental in brokering the Addis Ababa Peace Accord. Kobia himself was
 the ecumenical movement's special envoy to Sudan, and took a special
 interest in pursuing peace and reconciliation there. "Sudan continues to
 remain close to my heart," Kobia said.

 The WCC has since closely monitored developments in the conflict between
 North and South Sudan and efforts made to achieve a just and lasting
 peace. The WCC and its member churches, including those in Sudan, were
 greatly encouraged by the progress made by the government and the Sudan
 People's Liberation Movement, under the auspices of the Intergovernmental
 Authority for Development (IGAD), to bring an end to Sudan's 20 years of
 civil war.

 Based on that history, and in keeping with the Machakos Protocol, the WCC
 general secretary also emphasized the urgent need for Sudan's government
 and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement to undertake work on the
 drafting of a new constitution based on respect for human rights, justice
 and equality.

 "We are willing to consider and help in promoting any proposal or
 suggestion that Sudan's government may have to contribute to an early end
 to the conflict so that peace can prevail," Kobia stressed.

 Information on WCC work in Sudan is available on our website:

 Minute on Sudan (Executive Committee meeting 17-20 February 2004)
 http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/2004exco-minute1.html 

 1998 WCC Assembly in Zimbabwe: Policy Reference Committee II Report /
 Appendix I: Sudan
 http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/assembly/or-8c-e.html 

 1998 WCC Assembly in Zimbabwe: WCC Urged to Intervene for the Suffering in
 Sudan	 http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/assembly/pr-suda.html 

For more information contact:
	 Media Relations Office: tel: (+41 22) 791 64 21 /  61 53
	 e-mail:media@wcc-coe.org - http://www.wcc-coe.org 

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more
than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly,
which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.