Oil linked to Sudan abuses

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An interesting document dispached by <groenend@antenna.nl>
Greetings
Paolo (anb-bia, brussels)
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Thursday, 15 March, 2001, 09:56 GMT

Oil linked to Sudan abuses

Civil war continues in the oil-producing area

The British charity Christian Aid has called on foreign oil companies 
involved in Sudan to pull out because of what it calls the government's 
systematic policy of depopulating oil-rich areas.
A strong signal needs to be sent to the government of Sudan, and the 
companies have major leverage
Mark Curtis Christian Aid In a report published on Thursday, it says 
Sudan's oil exports, which began nearly two years ago, have fuelled the 
civil war which has already claimed two million lives.
The report says Sudanese Government troops, and militias allied to them, 
have killed or terrorised tens of thousands of civilians into leaving their 
homes to make way for foreign oil companies to explore and extract the new 
reserves.
Christian Aid's policy director, Mark Curtis, told the BBC that the 
companies needed to use their influence to send a strong signal to the 
Sudanese Government.
The country's oil revenues have grown to an estimated $400m a year, he added.

Sudan began exporting oil in 1999

Sudan began exporting oil in 1999, and relief workers say that since then 
it has fuelled Africa's longest-running civil war.
The government had doubled its military budget since oil came on stream, 
the charity said, showing there was a direct correlation between oil 
revenue and the ability to wage war.
It also says infrastructure designed for the oil industry is being used by 
government forces fighting in the area.
Mr Curtis said oil companies from Malaysia, China, Canada and Sweden 
operated in Sudan.
And he accused oil giants BP, Shell and ExxonMobil of indirect involvement 
through their investment in two subsidiaries of China's state oil company, 
PetroChina and Sinopec.
However, the multinationals maintain that their funds are ring-fenced and 
can not be used for investment in Sudan.

Testimony

Christian Aid says the report is based on the testimony of people who fled 
the oil-rich areas.
It quotes displaced civilians as saying their villages were attacked by air 
before government troops burned down their homes and killed those unable to 
flee.
It says that in one area where prospecting has just begun, 48 villages have 
been burned and 55,000 people displaced over the past 12 months.
UN officials and diplomats in Sudan say it is extremely hard to verify the 
contents of the report because of the difficulty of visiting the area.
There has been no comment so far from the Sudanese authorities.

(Dispached by <groenend@antenna.nl>)

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