Persecuted Christians struggle for peace in Sudan
"Blessed are the peacemakers," begins Matthew 5:9, "for they shall be called the children of God." The Christian community in war-torn Sudan has clearly taken that piece of Scripture to heart.
The Church has two missions in Sudan, says John Lewis of KAIROS Canada, an ecumenical organization dedicated to social justice initiatives. The delivery of food and water to the people of Darfur is one of its top priorities. The other is to promote the reconciliation of Sudan's diverse communities which have been in conflict for years.
"The churches [in Sudan] have been working very aggressively at bringing communities together," says Lewis, coordinator for the group's international human rights program.
But the humanitarian work of the church in Sudan, a Muslim-majority country, is being hampered by the country's government, a brutal regime ruled by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Sudanese forces in the Darfur region of Sudan.
"Our partners are under tremendous pressure all the time," says Lewis, "because they are churches in Sudan, which is not easy." While KAIROS does not have its own organization on the ground in Sudan, it works closely with the Sudan Council of Churches. The council includes Catholic, Pentecostal, Episcopal, Presbyterian Evangelical and Coptic Orthodox churches.
The Church's humanitarian efforts are generally well received by Sudan's Muslim population, Lewis reports. But because they are Christians and engaged in humanitarian work to relieve the suffering inflicted upon the persecuted black African population of Darfur, "the churches have been aggressively pressured by the government of Khartoum." For example, the Arab-dominated Bashir regime has threatened to close church offices and confiscate church property in the capital city.
During his second trip to Darfur to visit local humanitarian partners, Lewis himself was blacklisted by the Sudanese government. While travelling with the representatives of two other non-governmental organizations in 2007, he ran into trouble at the regional border. His travel companions were granted access to Darfur, but Sudanese officials revoked his travel visa, denying him entry. Lewis says that the government's decision to bar him from Darfur "probably had to do with KAIROS' relationship with the Sudan Council of Churches."
Yet Sudanese officials need not fear the council, which has called upon "all religious communities to pray earnestly for the nation, the president and the citizens of Sudan at this time." The Council's message of reconciliation—not vengeance—ought to assuage the fears of the president and other members of the regime facing prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC). In fact, the council has not endorsed the ICC's proceedings against Bashir.
When the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president in early March, the Sudan Council of Churches expressed serious concern that the people of Sudan would be made to suffer for the court's bold move. Never before had a leader of a country been indicted for war crimes while still in office. And the fears of the council were soon realized when the Bashir regime responded to the warrant by expelling 13 international humanitarian organizations from Sudan, accusing them of gathering evidence for the ICC.
While acknowledging the importance of seeking justice for the victims of war crimes, the council has declared that "societies in transition like Sudan need other instruments and other models in order to supplement one form of justice." Taking a page from South Africa's post-apartheid healing process—the Truth and Reconciliation Commission—the council calls for "holistic justice." Such an approach would involve "accountability, truth recovery, reconciliation, institution reform and reparations."
Some in Sudan's Christian community recommend shelving the charges against the Sudanese president.
Given the atrocities allegedly committed by Bashir's forces during the ongoing fighting in Darfur, would suspending the ICC warrant be the right thing to do? "I've been trying to work this out myself," replies Lewis. "I don't really have the answer to that question."
KAIROS Canada is concerned that the ICC warrant jeopardizes not only the prospect of peace in Darfur, but also threatens the Comprehensive Peace Agreement—negotiated in 2005 to stop the killing in North and South Sudan. While acknowledging that President Bashir must eventually be held accountable for his actions, Lewis suggests that "justice needs to be delayed in the interest of peace."
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