Bishops demand end to bombing

Sudan’s Roman Catholic bishops have condemned Khartoum’s continued bombing of civilian targets and called on the United Nations to monitor a ceasefire. In a statement sent to AFP in Nairobi, the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBRC) expressed “deep and unanimous concern for the continued bombardment of civilian targets in the war-ravaged region.”

“We demand that the current ceasefire be strictly observed by the warring parties in the country and land corridors and military ‘no-fly-zones’ be established to facilitate humanitarian activities in the southern Sudan, the Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile,” the statement said.

It also called for a strict UN monitoring and assessment of the ceasefire to avert violations that have characterised similar initiatives in the past. “The UN, and not the government of Sudan, should be entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring and clearing flights to the regions mentioned above,” the bishops said.

The bishops also appealed to countries and multinationals to immediately end their oil production activities in Sudan. “This is because the revenues generate the continuation of the war that will inevitably annihilate the people of southern Sudan, Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile,” the bishops said.