Missionaries say “liberation” a farce

Missionaries working in southern Sudan said that the war was no longer one for liberation. In a statement sent to IRIN, 30 Comboni Missionaries gathered for an annual assembly said that they had come to the unanimous conviction that the war in Sudan was “not any longer a struggle for freedom of the Sudanese people and for the defence of human rights”. The statement said that after working in the “liberated areas” of southern Sudan, they had come to the unanimous conviction that the war in Sudan had become “immoral and a tragic farce”. It said religion was distorted and misused as a means for other interests, and that the war had become “a struggle for power, business and greed”. It said the number of victims of the war had increased and that “humanity in Sudan is getting lost”. “Corruption, tribalism and fratricidal hatred are fostered... The word “liberation” is abused... (with) Northerners against Southerners, Northerners against Northerners, Southerners against Southerners, Nuer and Dinka are fighting against Arabs. Nuer and Arabs are fighting against Dinka. Dinka against Dinka. Nuer against Nuer...”

The missionaries said that aid was prolonging the war. “NGOs and churches prolong the fighting through the relief aid that unknowingly supports also the warring factions,” the statement said. It appealed to all sides to put down weapons and intensify mediation for peace, and said the “political and economic powers of the world” should give up greed and self interest to stop the war. The Italian Catholic Comboni missionaries, named after the first bishop of Khartoum, have had a long history of involvement with Sudan.