|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 
Should Your CPP Contributions Finance Sudan's Civil War?
|
 |
 |
 |
Chief James Kong Yar sits cross-legged on the ground. Delicately, he begins to place twigs on the earth in front of him. Each time he quietly utters a person's name, and does so with a reverence that the Canadian church leaders present find deeply moving. By the time the chief is finished many twigs have accumulated. A translator explains that each represents a member of the chief's village - a child, a mother, an elderly man, and so on - all of whom were brutally killed by government soldiers. They were attacked because Chief Yar's people live on oil-rich land that the government will do anything to get. |
||
 |
 |
 |
Contents
 |
|
| Paramount chief from the Nuer tribe describing to the delegation how he and many of his people were violently displaced from their homes in the Western Upper Nile oilfields just days before by Sudanese government troops. (Photo by Hugh McCullum) |
The exploitation of oil, aided by foreign companies, is a major cause of Sudan's immensely destructive civil war, now in its 18th year. Efforts to achieve peace are being thwarted by the government's use of oil revenues to build munitions factories to enhance its war-making capacity. What are its targets in the war? Not only armed opposition groups, but civilians, like Chief Yar's people, which the government believes are in the way of oil production.
A Canadian company, Talisman Energy of Calgary, is the leading international oil company in partnership with the Sudanese regime. A succession of authoritative reports by Amnesty International (1999), Christian Aid (2000), a Canadian government-sponsored assessment mission (2000), Canadian church leaders (2001) and, most recently, the KAIROS-sponsored Gagnon/Ryle report (PDF-2001), have found conclusively that Talisman is deeply complicit in human rights abuses and violations of international law in Sudan.
According to these reports, indigenous peoples living on the oil exploration sites (also called "concessions"), including Talisman's, are being violently displaced in the tens of thousands. Those who survive the aerial bombing, helicopter gunship attacks and ground raids often end up dying from starvation and illness as they trek long distances in search of food and safety. Airstrips on Talisman's concessions are used by the Sudanese military to launch air attacks on civilian settlements in the oil concession areas.
To date, and despite the documented evidence, Talisman has refused to acknowledge any oil-related population displacement or its complicity in this tragedy. The company portrays itself as a model corporate citizen. Yet the Taskforce on the Churches and Corporate Responsibility (TCCR) contends that Talisman's 2000 corporate social responsibility report "obscured" the company's role in the civil war. Talisman has become a "mercenary commercial organization," according to the Gagnon/Ryle report (PDF-2001). The profits Talisman is generating for the Sudanese regime is "blood money," according to Rev. Bill Phipps, former moderator of the United Church of Canada, who visited Sudan's oil region in April 2001.
Church partners in Sudan want Talisman out of their country immediately and all oil development suspended until a just and lasting peace has been achieved.
The Government of Canada, which portrays itself as a champion of
human rights at home and abroad, has refused to take any action
against Talisman, arguing that it does not possess the necessary
legislative tools. Then why not create new ones? Canadian churches
have been asking this question for nearly two years. To date, Ottawa
has done nothing.
Even more appallingly, the Canadian government is actually profiting
from Talisman's complicity in human misery. Besides corporate tax
from the company, the Canadian government, through the Canada Pension
Plan (CPP), holds about $53.7 million worth of Talisman shares.
 |
Taking Action |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| Talisman Oil Refinery in Sudan |
|
 |
As a Canadian, do you want your CPP premiums invested in a company that has been linked to massive human injustice and suffering in Sudan? KAIROS asks you to write a letter to your member of Parliament (MP) expressing your concern about this situation. If possible meet with your MP over the holiday break and convey your concerns in person. You may wish to make the following points in your letter:
| 1. | Numerous reports, including the recent Gagnon/Ryle report, have found conclusively that Talisman Energy is complicit in massive human rights violations in Sudan, |
| 2. | Talisman has denied any responsibility for forced human displacement or attacks on civilians and is behaving like a mercenary company unconcerned about the human misery to which its operations are contributing |
| 3. | Talisman's attempt to portray itself as a model corporate citizen is a deceit designed to obscure its real role in Sudan's civil war |
You may want to make the following requests:
| 1. | That Canada reconsider its Canada Pension Plan investment in Talisman and develop ethical standards to screen future investments in extractive and other companies. |
| 2. | That the Canadian government implement existing measures or develop new ones to prevent Canadian companies such as Talisman from profiting from civil conflict in another country. |
Top
of page