1. Abstract
The civil unrest in Sudan has
been going on for 18 years and has the record for being the longest ongoing
civil war in the world. As a result, it has claimed the lives of over 2 million
people and left 4 million displaced from their homes. In response, the United
States Government has been making attempts to put an end to this war that has
caused starvation, the taking of slaves and human rights abuses. Legislation
called the Sudan Peace Act was
introduced in the both the House and Senate which "if enacted, would effectively
de-list from the New York Stock Exchange companies doing business with the Sudanese
regime."1This would close the U.S. capital markets to those
companies doing business with the Sudanese regime as part of an effort to influence
the situation in Sudan. This bitter war pits the Arab, Muslim north against
the African, Christian south and as the war ensues, so do the human right abuses.
Sudan has been under US Sanctions since 1997, but there has been increased pressure
on the foreign oil companies doing business with the government of Sudan because
the revenues from the oil are supporting the Khartoum regime's war effort. This
case study will examine the abuses caused by the conflict, the history of oil
and conflict in the country, in addition to looking at the present day economic
implications for the foreign oil companies who are participating in the oil
exploration and extraction in Sudan.
2. Description
The government of Sudan, which seized power in the
1989 coup, are Islamic extremists that back the practice of a contemporary form
of slavery. The Arabized Baggara are tribes in western Sudan that are armed
tribal militias by the Khartoum regime that serve as "a cost-reduced counterinsurgency
war against the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), which is identified
with the Dinka tribe of southern Sudan." 2 The Nuer and Dinka tribes of the
south have been opposing tribes since 1991 when the SPLM/A split, and the Khartoum
regime has used this division to its advantage by arming factions of these tribes.
It is the tactic of the tribal militia to avoid military targets and direct
attacks against the SPLM/A. Their reasoning is to not risk themselves in warfare,
but rather to raid civilian villages that are not prepared to retaliate. In
this way, their war effort is to capture the women and children, along with
acquiring any relief supplies. These abductees are oftentimes physically and
sexually abused, taken from their families, and denied their ethnic heritage
and religion. "Those who force these changes on their captives often are convinced
that they are doing a favor for the captives; they regard the Dinka culture
as inferior and believe that the abductees are fortunate to have been incorporated
into a superior culture." 3 They raid civilian villages, abducting
women and children, which are then sold as domestic slaves, wives or concubines.
The muraheleen, or tribal militia, consider the abductees as war booty and "their
'war' effort is directed exclusively towards civilians, which is a gross violation
of international humanitarian law."4
The situation in Sudan is one of the worst catastrophic genocide
as schools and hospitals in the south continue to be bombed. Christians in the
south not only face enslavement, but forced conversion to Islam, leaving more
than 4 million displaced. Human rights continue to be violated as the government
loots relief food and supplies, denying them to needy civilians.
In an effort to persuade the Sudan government to work towards peace,
the US
government put into effect President Clinton's 1997 Executive Order that imposes
comprehensive economic sanctions on Sudan. Further efforts are being made to
prevent those foreign oil companies doing business in Sudan from raising capital
on US markets and potentially de-listing them from the New York Stock Exchange.
The companies affected by this act are Canada's Talisman Energy, China's National
Petroleum Corporation and Petronas, all of which are partners in the development
of oil fields in Sudan. China's oil firms are state-owned and have already lost
$2 billion, and more negative publicity about their involvement with the Sudanese
regime may lead to increased loss. This situation is one of politics and economics
in that China wants to be a member of the WTO, and their involvement with this
situation has led some to lobby against their gaining membership. They also
sold off part of their firm to private shareholders, and therefore risk these
investors divesting. For those privately invested, the link between politics
and economics is just as evident. The US stance against the situation in Sudan
may lead them to ban access to US capital markets in an attempt to persuade
Sudan's partners to take a stand against the Khartoum regime. Even if this does
not come to pass, these companies are still faced with political pressure for
their involvement in Sudan and risk economic loss because many religious and
humanitarian organizations have pursued divestment campaigns. Their aim is to
make aware shareholders and mutual fund managers of what their money is supporting,
and encourage them to sell their shares. It has been remarked that there is
an " 'oil-inspired softness on Sudan' caused by Talisman Energy, CNPC and Western
oil companies seeking to engage in future projects in Sudan." 5 Whether or not the pressure on
the oil companies works, remains to be seen.
The historical situation in Sudan has been marked by the hostility
among a culturally diverse population. The two main groups in opposition to
one another are the Arab-Muslims of the north and the African-Christians of
the south, in which each group continues to fight to preserve the lives of its
people and their identity. For starters they have a conflicting value system,
as the southerners' fight for Africanism makes no room for the northerners'
attempt to assimilate the southern Christians. The sense of nationalism felt
by the southern Sudanese is built on their indigenous religions, and the common
historical experience of Arab slave raids. It is this shared African identity
that causes them to fight against conversion. On the flip side, the northern
Sudanese have their own nationalism through Arabism. This culture permeates
every aspect of one's life, and the sharing of these beliefs is central to its
existence. The widespread practice can be seen through its values, practice
of Islamic law, and use of the Arabic language. The northerners draw from their
history and are direct descendants from Arab culture, and feel the need to identify
solely with the other Muslims in an attempt to preserve their culture, and remain
exclusive from the south. With the Khartoum regime in place, the south continues
to oppose the propagation of Islam and any forced assimilation through military
retaliation, and so the war ensues. (See Causal Diagram)
3. Duration:
Year
|
Event
|
1955
|
Beginning of first civil
war.
|
1956
|
Independence - end of British-Egyptian
condominium rule.
|
1958
|
General Abboud's military
coup
|
1969
|
Jaafar Nimeiri becomes president
after "May Revolution."
|
1972
|
Addis Ababa Agreement,
with autonomy for the South, ends 17-year civil war.
|
1974
|
Chevron begins oil exploration.
|
1975
|
Sudan is called the potential
"breadbasket of the Arab world."
|
1981
|
Chevron discovers oil in
commercial quantities.
|
1983
|
Nimeiri divides the south
from one autonomous state into three states, putting the oil areas as
a part of northern Sudan. In April, the civil war is re-ignited and
by September, Nimeiri imposes "Sharia" laws used by his regime
to terrorize and humiliate, including the use of indefinite detention,
public floggings and amputations.
|
1990
|
Chevron quits and relinquishes
all concessions due to the conflict; Gulf War breaks out - Khartoum
backs Iraq.
|
1992
|
Government begins mass
relocation of civilians.
|
1993
|
Sudan fails to pay
World Bank for loans; US State Department adds Sudan to
list of terrorist states.
|
1997
|
Clinton issues executive
order imposing
economic sanctions on Sudan; Khartoum regimes adopts "Islamic"
constitution.
|
1999
|
Pipeline completed linking
Heglig
oilfield with Red Sea; Sudan government bans all relief flights to civilians
surrounding oilfields; First shipment of 600,000 barrels of oil leaves
Port Sudan.
|
Present day
|
Conflict continues...
|
4. Location:
Continent: Africa
Region: Middle East
Country: Sudan
5. Actors:
Sudan and SPLA
These eighteen years of war have been characterized by
numerous accounts of gross human rights violations. ''The civilian population
living in oil fields and surrounding areas has been deliberately targeted for
massive human rights abuses -- forced displacement, aerial bombardments,
strafing villages from helicopter gunships, unlawful killings, torture including
rape and abduction.''6 These abuses are
carried out by a number of police forces including the Sudan People's Armed
Forces, the Popular Defense Forces (PDF), the Public Order Police (POP) and
other internal security forces. The civilians do not have the ability to rise
against the government in a peaceful manner. Attacks have been through
landmines, bombs and raids, which have harmed not only innocent civilians, but
also foreign relief workers. Government forces have been found responsible for
numerous abuses including:
-
Extrajudicial killings and disappearances (See
story)
-
Regular torture, beatings, harassment, arbitrary arrests and detainment
of suspected opponents of the Government with impunity. (See
story)
-
-
-
Harassment and detainment of persons based on religion (See
story)
-
Maintaining harsh prison conditions, including prolonged detention (See
story)
-
Severe restriction of freedom of assembly, association, religion and movement.
(See
story)
-
Female genital mutilation (See
story)
-
Child labor, including forced
(See story)
-
-
Burning and looting of villages (See
story)
To see a list of over 40
articles (and hyperlink to full text) documenting actual cases of all these
different abuses of the Sudanese people between 1997-99, click
here.
The judiciary is not an impartial system granting justice, but instead is
largely influenced by the Government. Oftentimes those accused of crimes against
the Government do not receive fair and public trials, and are even sometimes
denial counsel. "Human rights monitors report that the Government continued
to harass, detain, and torture members of the legal profession whom it viewed
as political opponents." 7
Here are some general statistics about Sudan and the conflict:
-
Estimated population is 27.5 million
-
2 million killed - mostly in the south
-
Over 4 million internally displaced
-
Approximately 372,900 Sudanese are refugees in neighboring countries
-
Approximately 150,000 refugees are in camps; the rest are scattered
through the country.
-
The southern non-Muslim population totals approximately 6 million
-
Approximately 3,000 Uganda children were forced to become soldiers or
sex slaves for an opposition group backed by the Sudan Government called
the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
-
600,000 people are at immediate risk of starvation, and at least $60
million is needed.
-
In January 2001, the Sudanese President extended the state of emergency
for one more year.
-
Prices rose threefold in December 2000 compared to the same period in 1999.
-
Sudanese planes bombed civilian sites at least 132 times in 2000 compared
to 65 known aerial bombings in 1999 (at least 259 times during the past four
years).
-
The government announced that the new oil revenue, 20% of its 2000
revenue, would be used for defense. Defense spending in dollars increased 96%
from 1998 to 2000.
Given the danger posed to humanitarian aid workers and reporters, there is
limited data available on the actual situation in Sudan. "Aid workers are
convinced that many bombings this year remain unreported and uncounted because
they occurred in remote villages in southern Sudan, an area the size of Texas.
Therefore, confirmed reports of 132 bombings this year probably understate the
true number of air attacks against non-military targets."8
width=389 align=left border=4>These statistics collectively
represent many of the personal accounts of human rights abuses that have occurred
throughout this war. One situation in particular involved a 22 year-old Sudanese
student named Stephen Amin, who captured on video the aerial bombing of a primary
school in the Nuba Mountains. In this attack, 14 people died, including 13 children
and a teacher, 17 were injured and 5 could not be found. This was not the first
instance that he actually witnessed and survived an attack. In the midst of
teaching one of his classes, a student of his died from a warplane attack that
the Khartoum regime deployed. "The bombing of Kauda is only a minor example
among the many inhuman actions carried out by the Sudan Government army. We
believe that the root cause of the Sudan civil war is the lack of human rights."
9 This situation
is evidence of the violation of human rights and disregard for the innocent
bystanders in the war. Another similar situation was a bombing of an Episcopal
Church Cathedral in southern Sudan. It was a known center of religious life,
education and health care. "When such a centre is consistently targeted it is
hard to avoid the conclusion that the intentions to harm and terrorise the civilian
population."10 The Government is intolerant
of other religions outside of Islam and therefore, non-Muslims are facing a
great deal of persecution, including the destruction of their places of worship.
Due to the control the Government has, one's right to religious freedom has
been taken away. The innocent civilians do not even have a forum to peacefully
protest. About 38 women whose children had been forcibly conscripted into the
Government's armed forces went to peacefully protest and submit a petition at
the UN Development Program building. The country representative declined meeting
with them, but instead called the National Islamic Front security services that
beat the women with batons. "The injuries inflicted were very severe indeed.
One woman was knocked unconscious and had her arm so badly beaten that it later
had to be amputated. Four other women were still hospitalised four weeks after
the beatings." 11 Most were stripped to almost
nakedness, arrested and sentenced to both flogging and imprisonment. Access
to legal counsel was denied, and when the head of the Lawyers for Democracy
association called a press conference, the Government closed the lawyers union
and denied them access. In another situation, women's vehement protests of innocence
resulted in being threatened with the death sentence and public beheading or
stoning. 12
All of these real situations seem to be explaining the same thing. That is
that the civilians in Sudan do not have a voice. The abuses are in all different
forms and don't discriminate based on age, gender, or level of involvement in
the conflict. The abuses are extreme and no mercy has been shown. The aid of
the international arena is all that is left to end this conflict, and ultimately
the violation of human rights. Since the Sudanese Government has admitted to
using its oil revenues to finance the war, the foreign oil companies doing business
there should accept an element of responsibility. ''Respect for human rights
should be the central issue for any company which is involved in a war-torn
environment such as southern Sudan -- the silence of powerful oil companies
in the face of injustice and human rights violations is not neutral.'' 13 Without the oil
companies' involvement, Sudan wouldn't have anyone to do business with because
the oil is only as valuable as it can be sold. The sale of oil is financing
the war in that the government is using the profits to purchase arms. "On
the day of the export shipment of the first 600,000 barrels of oil, an import
shipment of 20 Polish T-55 tanks arrived in Port Sudan."14 It has also been reported that Sudan has received
increased military assistance in the form of weapon supplies, technical assistance
and funding from numerous countries such as China, Bulgaria, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia
and Uganda. It has been noted more than once that shipments arriving into Port
Sudan are often labeled as machinery for the oil pipeline, but are found later
to be weapons.
"I believe a company that is doing business in a
country under a repressive regime must not provide financing or other resources
for the perpetuation of wrongdoing or atrocities. As long-term investors,
we believe a company that is cavalier about its moral and social responsibility
presents an unacceptable investment risk. The expanding divestment campaign
against Talisman Energy for alleged complicity in the horrors in Sudan is
just one indication of that risk.''14b
-Alan G. Hevesi, shareholder in Talisman Energy and Comptroller of the
City of New York Pension Funds
Sudan's estimated population of 27.5 million is a multiethnic mix, and the
ethnic and religious aspect to the conflict is one that can not be ignored.
The dominant groups are made up of Arabs, Africans, Muslims and non-Muslims,
and has an even smaller breakdown between 19 major ethnic groups and 597 subgroups,
not to mention the 115 different indigenous languages. The SPLA, which is the
principal armed and organized militia, has pursued a "divide and destroy"
policy by using the various factions in southern Sudan to viciously attack one
another, perpetuating the ongoing civil unrest. Sudan has been labeled a terrorist
state since it has supported Arab-organized attacks against U.S. targets, and
is often compared to China because of their denial of religious freedom. However,
it should also be noted that although there have been gross numbers of Christian
casualties, there has also been Muslim casualties. Northern Sudan is made up
of approximately 16 million Muslims, while the southern ethnic groups, largely
Christians and followers of traditional indigenous religions, total about 6
million. In their struggle to be free from the dominant north, the climate of
intolerance continues as the government maintains an anti-Christian policy by
destroying Christian structures, harassing believers and charging apostasy by
Muslims as a capital crime. Since the Government is controlled by the Muslim
majority, there is also discrimination against ethnic minorities in education
and employment, especially in Arabic-speaking areas.
6. Type of Environmental Problem: Human rights
violation (possible land pollution from oil spills
but no record of these occurrences on public record).
7. Type of Habitat: Tropical
8. Act and Harm Sites: Sudan and Sudan
Background of Oil and Conflict
War first broke out in 1955 (See
Timeline) between northern and southern Sudan, and by 1969 Jaafar Nimeiri
became President. In his first year in power he nationalized all banks and sequestered
large companies, and with a failed communist coup d'etat, he kicked out Soviet
advisors. This first civil war ended in 1972 with the Abbis Ababa Agreement,
which gave a resolution to northern and southern Sudan to maintain peaceful
co-existence. The country remained united, with the northerners maintaining
control, but allowing for self-rule in the south. However, the discovery of
oil in the late 1970's in southern Sudan changed all this. "A US firm, Chevron,
which had been drilling since 1975, confirmed in July 1979 that a test well,
sunk to a depth of 9,000 feet, was flowing at the rate of 500 barrels a day."
15 In 1978, President Nimeiry decided
to embark on an oil exploration project, and only a few years later, oil was
found in commercial quantities. In an effort to control the oil in the south,
President Nimeiry broke the agreement by dissolving the southern government
using military force and imposing Islamic law. As a result, groups mobilized,
arming themselves for another civil war that broke out in 1983, with the Khartoum
government going to extreme measures to control the oilfields. "Since the Khartoum
government does want to protect the oil, it has been ruthless in doing so. People
living near the oil have been forced to leave, and the government has kept up
the war so as to protect the oilfields." 16
In order to extract and export the oil, a 1,600 kilometer pipeline was built
to transport the oil from the Unity State in the south of Sudan to Port Sudan on
the Red Sea. Its cost was $1 billion and it was completed in May 1999. Up until
this point, Sudan was an importer of oil products but has since become an
exporter of petrol. "The refinery began operating in February (2000), and, along
with an older 10,000bpd refinery at El-Obeid in central Sudan, was now meeting
all the needs of the country, which used to import about 1.5 million tones a
year of products." 17
Oil Facts:
-
Before the pipeline, imports of oil products were $300 million/year for
Sudan, and shortages of oil plagued 30 million people.
-
Petrol exports are expected to reach about half a million tonnes a year
(the pipeline has a capacity of 700,000 tonnes a year).
-
Exploration is in its early stages, with only 15 - 20 percent of
prospective areas covered.
-
Official figures state that the Unity oilfield has up to 800 million
barrels of reserves. Sudan is said to have more than 2 billion barrels of oil
reserves in various parts of the country.
-
Pipeline capacity is 250,000 barrels a day that could be increased to
450,000 barrels a day if more pumping stations were added.
-
Initial annual income for Sudan from operating the pipeline is estimated
to be $250 million.
These facts on the oil exploration and extraction demonstrate the invaluable
resource that the Khartoum regime has found, as the first statistic gives a
glimpse at what the costs were to the country prior to finding oil in their
backyard. All of these facts point to the obvious fact that this resource could
finance this regime and its interests for years to come. Many areas are yet
to be explored, and the amount of oil already found has been enough for Sudan
to be completely self-sufficient in terms of oil resources and financing its
other "needs." This resource gives the Sudan Government great power
and control to dominant the south through the violation of their human rights.
However, the greatest power comes in their ability to sell and profit from the
oil, as the oil is only as valuable as it can be sold, and this will only continue
if the foreign companies invested in the Sudanese oilfields keep their business
agreements with the Khartoum regime.
Although many parts of Sudan are being explored for oil,
there exist two main business organizations, composed of both private and government-owned
companies, that are extracting oil in the Western Upper Nile Region. The Khartoum
regime, in conjunction with these companies, allocates different blocks of territory
to these business organizations, or consortiums. The first is The Great Nile
Petroleum and Oil Corporation (GNPOC) which is the main consortium that
operates in the two main oil producing areas, Unity-Block 1 and Heglig-Block
2. GNPOC is composed of four companies (See Table 1),
and the main partner who has a 40% stake is China National Petroleum Corporation,
which is owned by the People's Republic of China.
-
CNPC - controlled by the government of China, but
partly owned, under the name of PetroChina, by private investors around the
world.
-
Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Berhad) - owned by the
Malaysian government
-
Talisman Energy - private Canadian company
-
Sudapet - owned by the government of
Sudan
Table 1
Another business organization partnered with the Sudanese government for oil
extraction is the Block 5A Concession. In February 1997, the International
Petroleum Corporation signed an agreement with the Khartoum regime to operate
in a different concession area. This makes up the second main consortium which
operates in an area called the Block 5A concession. While IPC leads the consortium
with a 40% stake, its other partners include Petronas, OMV GmbH and Sudapet
(See Table 2).
-
International Petroleum Corporation (IPC) - owned by
Lundin Oil AB, a private Swedish Company
-
Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Berhad) - owned by the
Malaysian government
-
OMV GmbH - an Austrian company
-
Sudapet - owned by the government of
Sudan
Table 2
Although these are the major companies involved, others include Agip
(Italy), Gulf Petroleum Company (Qatar and Sudan), Mobil, National Iranian Gas
Company, Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands), TotalFina (France and Belgium) and
Trafigura Beheer B.V. (the Netherlands). As one can see, the effort put forth to
extract oil from Sudan has been a global one, with numerous countries involved
in an attempt to tap into this valuable resource. Companies that were involved
in the pipeline construction were from Canada, UK, and Germany, but the main
part was aided by China. Pressure has been put on all companies due to the
extreme violation of human rights that is going on in the midst of these
oilfields. In order to construct the pipeline, the local population has been
driven out and displaced from their homes, and since its construction, there
have been three attempts to bomb the pipeline.
-
Third largest independent oil company in the world.
-
Market capitalization is CAN$5.1 billion.
-
20 percent of its shares trade in the U.S.
-
Invested over $250 million in the development of the oil fields and
pipeline.
-
By 2001, 60% of the company's production and operating income will come
from Indonesia and Sudan.
-
Even with record 3rd quarter results in 1999, Talisman's share price
dropped about 12% at the beginning of November as a result of divestment
campaigns.
-
Largest oil company in China.
-
Its subsidiary, PetroChina, was listed on the NYSE in April 2000.
-
CPNC offered between $5-$7 billion of common stock to US investors.
-
Sudanese operations of CNPC have already caused several large
institutional investors, including US pension fund giants CalPERS and
TIAA-CREF, to rule out the possibility of buying shares .
-
China is a principal trading partner and sometimes ally of Sudan at the UN
Security Council.
-
China has been a major supplier of arms to the Khartoum government since
1989.
-
China has huge capital expenditures in Sudan - worth some $15
billion.
-
Malaysia has bilateral trade arrangements and individual business deals
with Sudan.
-
Since 1990 has pursued oil exploration, development and production outside
Malaysia resulting in 2 billion barrels in international reserves.
-
Owns 30% in the pipeline consortium.
-
Although not exposed to the stock market, Petronas has started selling
$750 million to
$1 billion of bonds on the global market.
9. Type of Conflict: Civil War
10. Level of Conflict: High
11. Fatality Level of Dispute (military and civilian fatalities):
2,000,000
12. Environment-Conflict Link and Dynamics
The environment-conflict link exists because civilians
live in the midst of the oilfields in southern Sudan where there is exploration
and extraction, and it is northern Sudan that wants the oil. Pressure in the
form of financial repercussions is being put on the foreign oil companies who
seem "intent on taking stakes in fields that can only be developed if the Sudanese
army first succeeds in keeping the rebels at bay by displacing civilians in
the area with brutal, scorched-earth tactics."18 The struggle
here is one of profits versus morality, and the United States can be the driving
force in persuading oil companies to stop doing business with the Khartoum regime.
"Since 1997, the U.S. has banned trade, loans or aid to Sudan because of the
government's support of terrorism and its poor human rights record."19 In February
2000, the US Treasury Department broadened these economic sanctions to include
Sudapet, Sudan's state-owned oil enterprise, and the Greater Nile Petroleum
Operating Company (GNPOC), and anyone found doing business with either entity
would be fined and possibly face imprisonment. However, the Treasury Department
immediately granted exceptions to China National Petroleum Corporation, Petronas
and Talisman, which collectively make up 95% of GNPOC. This exception was a
frustration to those activists against having any connection with the Sudanese
regime, even indirectly through the US capital markets. Therefore many are urging
Congress to approve the Sudan Peace Act, which having already received approval
from the House, was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in
January 2001. Part of this legislation looks to de-list companies doing business
with Sudan from the New York Stock Exchange. However, there is disagreement
about this component of the bill because the US government has never prevented
firms from raising capital on the US markets because of their involvement elsewhere,
or as some view the tactic, as a means to pursue US foreign policy goals. Supporters
of the legislation argue that allowing these oil companies to continue without
consequence "would be akin to allowing a Nazi-affiliated company to raise money
on Wall Street while its government was sending millions of Jews to death camps...the
poor people in southern Sudan are being told their value is not as important
as open markets and the free flow of capital." 20 While the
US Government debates whether the capital and bonds markets should be closed
to these firms, religious and human-rights groups have been raising awareness
and pursuing a divestment campaign against the oil companies by writing letters
to mutual fund managers, bank executives and state treasurers. Despite efforts
to block the sale, China National Petroleum was listed on the NYSE in early
2000, but divestment campaigns did affect its Initial Public Offering.
The Canadian government has investigated Talisman, but at this point
it has refrained from imposing sanctions. The nation-wide divestment campaigns
have been successful in that some fund managers have sold their shares,
resulting in a falling share price. "Despite record third quarter results in
1999, Talisman's share price dropped some 12% at the beginning of November when
Canada's Foreign Minister announced an inquiry into the human rights aspect of
the Sudan project." 21 Although Talisman's managers believe that the stock
price will bounce back and that the accusations of their involvement with human
rights violations are unfounded, Fosters Resources, another Canadian company,
has backed out of its participation is a new oil exploration agreement with the
Khartoum regime. "The company said 'a retraction from interested parties,'
influenced by certain media coverage that painted its project as 'a plot to fuel
a civil war,' caused it to default on its production sharing deal with the
Sudanese government." 22
The Clinton Administration was reluctant to close US markets to these companies
because they felt "that tampering with capital markets could backfire. Companies
can take business to dozens of other stock exchanges, from London's and Tokyo's
to Hong Kong's. And foreign governments could retaliate, banning US firms from
their markets." 23 Although the
debate over the Sudan Peace Act becoming law continues into the Bush Administration,
religious and humanitarian organizations continue to campaign against investment
in these oil companies.
"What prevents us from fighting while we
possess the oil that supports us in this battle even if it lasts for a century?"24
-Says a Sudanese cabinet minister
The casual diagram above shows the vicious cycle of the situation in Sudan.
There exist many different dynamics that contribute to the ongoing conflict.
The first component is the military action taken not only by the government,
by also by different factions and tribal militias. These armed groups have played
a role in the conflict in various manners, some to back the government's pursuit
of oil, others to raid civilian villages and loot supplies. The government's
military capacity is being fueled by the profits from the oil business in southern
Sudan. As the above quote clearly articulates, having control of the oil resources
is all that the Khartoum regime needs to keep their militias armed and their
interests protected. The other aspects contributing to the war are the conflicting
ethnic and religious groups. As the diagram illustrates, this is primarily the
Muslims versus the Christians, who for years have had a long history of fighting
over sovereignty and control.
13. Level of Strategic Interest: Regional
14. Outcome of Dispute: In-Progress
15. Related ICE Cases
16. Relevant Websites
17. Picture Credits
Sudan Flag and Sudan Map courtesy of Sudan.net, http://www.sudan.net/
Pipeline Map courtesy of South Sudanese Friends International, http://southsudanfriends.org/
18. Works Cited
1. "Publications of the Casey Institute of the Center
for Security Policy No. 00-C 87." The Center for Security Policy. Financial
Times. "US Legislators want markets to sway Sudan." 2 November 2000.
www.security-policy.org/papers/20000/00-P87at.html. Last Accessed 28 January
2001.
2. "HRW Background Paper on Slavery and Slavery
Redemption in the Sudan." Human Rights Watch. March 1999.
www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/sudan1.htm. Last accessed 28 February
2001.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. "Publications of the Casey Institute of the Center for
Security Policy No. 99-R 143." The Center for Security Policy. 10 December 1999.
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