USCIRF Statement on Escalating Tensions in Sudan and South Sudan

Statement on Escalating Tensions in Sudan and South Sudan from Leonard Leo, Chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Omar al-Bashir photo: english.alarabiya.net

(GENEVA) - Leonard Leo, Chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), issued the following statement on Escalating Tensions in Sudan and South Sudan.

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The U.S. government and international community together should condemn Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's declaration of war and his vow to topple the government of South Sudan. Sudan and South Sudan must be pulled back from their war footing before it is too late. Too much is at stake. A return to full-scale war would take a huge humanitarian toll. It also would lead to the same gross religious freedom and human rights abuses that Sudan has been inflicting recently on people in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. These acts ominously recall Sudan’s repressive acts during the North-South civil war, which led USCIRF to declare Sudan at that time as the world's worst abuser of religious freedom.

”

Brief Background

South Sudan’s Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Sudan’s National Congress Party have failed to reach agreement on border demarcation, oil revenue sharing, and nationality as trust between the two has steadily dissipated.

In response to Sudan’s siphoning of oil, South Sudan shut down oil production in January. Following recent border conflicts between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Army, the SPLA took control of Heglig on April 9 and has since shut down oil production in that area.