UN and AU Intervention Urged to Allow Humanitarian Access
LWI Council Press Release No. 17/2011 | GENEVA, 14 June 2011 (LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has strongly condemned the use of violence and ethnic cleansing, reportedly being utilized by Sudanese government forces against civilian populations. The Lutheran communion urges the international community to intervene in the crisis.
In a public statement issued today by its governing body, the Council, the LWF urges the international community, and in particular the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU), “to use all possible measures to stop hostilities, protect civilians, and allow humanitarian access to all parts of Sudan, and in particular South Kordofan.”
Before voting to adopt the public statement at its ongoing meeting in Geneva, LWF Council participants heard reports that a major humanitarian catastrophe is in the making in the disputed South Kordofan region of Sudan just weeks before the scheduled 9 July independence for South Sudan.
“An estimated 300,000 people are besieged, cut off from relief aid and unable to escape fighting. Most of the population of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan State, have had to flee,” according to reports cited by the Council’s Program Committee for International Affairs and Human Rights.
Eye-witness accounts from church sources indicate the Sudanese government forces were going house-to-house, pulling out suspected opposition sympathizers and in some instances killing them on the spot. There were reports that civilians who had sought refuge at the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) “have been dragged from the mission and executed in front of UN staff,” the committee stated in its report presented by the chairperson, Bishop Dr Zephania Kameeta, Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia.
“These reports all point to a new chapter of ethnic cleansing being carried out by the government of Sudan,” the LWF committee told the Council meeting. The atrocities are taking place in an area just north of the South Sudan border, where many of the people support the South, the committee added.
The Council commended the long-standing service and witness of the LWF to the people of the Sudan, and expressed gratitude for the LWF’s partnership with the Sudan Ecumenical Forum and the Sudan Council of Churches, urging a re-doubling of these efforts.
Expressing its ongoing prayers and solidarity for the people and churches of Sudan who are working for peace and justice, the Council requested LWF President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan and General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge to send a pastoral letter to the churches in Sudan, offering concern and solidarity.
The Council is meeting under the theme, “Discerning Our Common Journey,” from 9-14 June in Geneva. (446 words)
Statement on New Atrocities in Sudan
See Also
Council 2011 News | Photos | Documents
See also:
- Humanitarian Disaster Looming in Sudan
- LWF Prayers and Solidarity for Churches in Sudan
- Local NGO to Replace Ecumenical Consortium in Sudan
- LWF Unwavering Partner in South Sudan
- LWF General Secretary Calls for Prayer and Assistance on Sudan Referendum
- LWF Can Contribute to New South Sudan
- LWF Calls for Urgent International Support to Sudan’s Peace Process
- LWF Congratulates Southern Sudan ahead of Independence
- Great Hope for South Sudan
- DWS South Sudan
