Sudanese exile group endorses oil-for-food proposal

March 15, 2009 (LONDON) – The Sudanese Group for Transparency and Good Governance held a press conference in London to discuss establishing a UN-controlled fund of Sudanese oil revenues, saying the measure could fill the gap in the relief effort in Darfur after the expulsion of the international humanitarian organizations, and guarantee to South Sudan its full share of oil revenues in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Haroun Abdulhameed Haroun, the chairperson of the organization, said “peace can not materialize unless the oil revenue is directed to satisfy the needs, desires and welfare of the Sudanese people.” He proposed that oil revenues be used to address the major problems of Darfur refugees rather than financing a regime that he described as criminally violent, corrupt and irresponsible.

The press conference, held at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel last Thursday, follows the endorsement of just such a scheme from Khalil Ibrahim, a major Darfur rebel leader, who told Sudan Tribune this month that Khartoum should be banned from selling and directly collecting oil revenue. Instead, he proposed, the oil revenue would be place in UN escrow account which would funnel part of the money to aid organizations to cover a food programme for the displaced and the refugees affected by Darfur crisis.

According to the proposal of the Sudanese Group for Transparency and Good Governance, the fund would also compensate victims of war and dam construction, as well as to rehabilitate the war-affected areas and “to save the unity of Sudan.”

Representatives of Sudanese political parties, armed rebel movements and civil society attended the conference, including Darfur Union, Union of IDPs & Refugees of Darfur Region, Darfur Lawyers Group, a representative of SPLM, a representative of National Intelligence and Security Services and another government representative, who walked out before the end of the conference.

Organizers claimed that the UN-controlled fund is necessary because “all Darfur is now transformed into a displaced area… The living situation in the camps is miserable as the government is impeding humanitarian aid and expelling the working organizations in this field.”

They also cited lack of compensation for war victims, saying this deficit “is proved by allocating only $30 million for compensation according to the deformed Abuja Peace Agreement. This sum of money merely equals the sum paid in compensation of two victims of the Lockerbie incident in Scotland/UK.”

“The Sudanese government does not respect or fulfill its promises to pay the small sum of allocated (in the budget) for the development and reconstruction in accordance to the unfair and partial peace agreements in Darfur, East and Kurdofan. This is made worse by the deprivation of fair compensation to victims of newly constructed dams in northern Sudan,” complained the group.

In addition to the oil-for-relief programme, the Sudanese exiles propose establishing a special anti-corruption tribunal. Mohamed Ibrahim Abdulwahab, the organization’s general secretary, discussed the need to uphold transparency, accountability and rule of the law. “The issuance of the arrest warrant for the sitting Head of State Omer Albashir will play a positive role in stopping genocide and war crimes internationally, today and tomorrow. A special tribunal to fight corruption will add a pioneering role to combat international corruption now and in the future,” the organization stated.

“Fighting corruption in Sudan, especially in oil revenue will not only lead to the eradication of poverty, but would also halt environmental deterioration. The inappropriate technology currently used in oil production constitutes an environmental hazard that necessitates mutual efforts for environmental preservation as a human, moral and national responsibility in the age of globalization,” said the proposal.

There are about 2.5 million internally displaced persons in Darfur. The UN continues to operate its programmes in Darfur, but some of its implementing partners are among the evicted agencies. According to the United Nations, 4.7 million people receive aid in Darfur.

Northern Sudan is an exporter of food, but little domestically produced food reaches the people of Darfur who have fled from their farmlands. Instead, aid agencies import grains from abroad.

(ST)