In and Out of Sudan

Sudan is a miserable country, divided by religion and ethnicity. The Christian and animist south wants to secede from the Moslem north, and the north, in part because of the resources found in the south, is waging a brutal war to keep the country together under Moslem domination. International organizations estimate that nearly 2 million southern Sudanese have been killed, and countless others maimed, raped and sold into slavery.

Sudan is a miserable country, divided by religion and ethnicity. The Christian and animist south wants to secede from the Moslem north, and the north, in part because of the resources found in the south, is waging a brutal war to keep the country together under Moslem domination. International organizations estimate that nearly 2 million southern Sudanese have been killed, and countless others maimed, raped and sold into slavery. Into this mess stepped Chinese, Malaysian and Canadian oil companies, creating a joint venture for oil exploration in the south with revenues going to the government in Khartoum. The government used its financial windfall to purchase more arms to use against the south, with weapons supplied in some measure by China – which pays for the oil it extracts and gets it back through weapons sales.

The Canadian government’s own investigation showed that the oil consortium, including Canada’s Talisman Energy, provided resources that aggravated the war, but declined to put sanctions on the venture. The U.S. administration did apply sanctions, whereupon several large American pension funds divested themselves of Talisman Energy holdings.

In September 2000, the JINSA Board passed a resolution condemning the Canadian government’s decision, applauding the U.S. and the private companies that objected to the venture, and urging Congress and the Administration to continue to work toward an end to the brutal war. JINSA also expressed serious concerns about the role of China. In October 2002, Talisman of Canada withdrew from Sudan.

Talisman’s CEO acknowledged that it was forced out by Canadian and other human rights and church groups, but said participation in the venture had also provided humanitarian aid in the south and worked to moderate the government in the north. He pointed to water purification projects, hospitals and schools funded by Talisman. Critics responded that the situation couldn’t be worse in southern Sudan and Talisman’s departure was a victory for human rights.

We shall see. Talisman sold its interest to the national oil company of India. We have no axe to grind with India, a democracy that stands clearly with the United States in the war against terrorists and the states that harbor and support them. Our question is for the American/Canadian coalition that drove Talisman out. Now that the third player in the consortium is not a Western/European company, and since western human rights and church groups have exactly zero clout with the Indian national oil company, how do the people of the Sudan benefit? We hope the people of southern Sudan will not be forgotten simply because the convenient and visible Western target of disapproval is gone.