The lawsuit by the Presbyterian Church of Sudan against Talisman Energy, a Canadian oil company, has taken a further twist. A sworn statement of a former Talisman employee claims that the oil company deliberately destroyed evidence of human rights abuses, allowed its airfields to be used by the Sudanese military in attacks against the south. The statement also claims that the company masqueraded security advisers as community development officers. Ian Taylor, Talisman's former manager of community development in Sudan, gave the sworn statement in September 2001. Tragically, he died of a heart attack last fall. In his statement, he wrote "I feel a deep sense of shame for not realizing Talisman's true objective earlier than I did and I experience daily nightmares based on fear for my eternal soul for the role I have played in the murder, starvation and displacement of the southern Sudanese people."
An Ontario Superior Court justice has also ordered Taylor's family to turn over all of Ian's correspondence and documents that might shed light on the case. While the lawsuit has been filed in New York, the Taylors live in Canada, which is why the church requested the involvement of the Ontario judge. The family only hesitated to release the documents until receiving a court order due to concerns of retribution from Talisman. The ruling can be viewed online.
Ethnicity (%) Sudanese Arab (70), Fur, Beja, Nuba and Fallata (30)
Religion Sunni Muslim, small Christian minority
Leader President (to be determined) Transitional military leadership in place
Government type Presidential republic
Legal system Mixed legal system of Islamic law and English common law
Source: CIA World Factbook
Pray for Sudan
Pray that Christians throughout Sudan will continue to entrust themselves to Christ and preach the Gospel boldly, knowing Jesus is the ruler over the kings of the earth (2 Timothy 1:7-12, Revelation 1:5).
Pray also that peace, justice and religious freedom may be firmly established.
A demolished Pentecostal church building in Khartoum. Photo: CSW
On July 8th, approximately 30 individuals equipped with heavy machinery demolished a Pentecostal church in the El Haj Yousif area of Khartoum as police officers and military personnel looked on without intervening. By the time the demolition was finished, the worship hall – which had been constructed in the early 1990s – was reduced to rubble, along with the church's administrative offices, guest house, and other adjoining buildings.
A church in Sudan. Photo: Flickr / David Stanley (cc)
The bishop of the El-Obeid diocese in Sudan recently suffered a harrowing ordeal at the hands of both members of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and those of the opposing rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). On December 1st, Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali reported that he was travelling with a deacon named Joseph. The ministry team had just arrived in El-Obeid when they were suddenly stopped and harassed by the SAF. The troops seized the small sum of money in U.S. dollars that the bishop was carrying, claiming that it was forbidden currency. During the robbery, the soldiers also physically harmed the two men.
A group of people in Sudan. Photo: Wikipedia / Nina R (cc)
Residents of the Al-Makniya area of Sudan's River Nile state drove 34 displaced Christians from their homes on October 19th. Those responsible for the displacement explained that they did not want any Christians nor black people in the area.
Amid the ongoing civil war in Sudan, a group of over 100 Sudanese men, women and children travelled to the city of Shendi on the banks of the Nile River in search of refuge from the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary group, RSF. There, the refugees – most of whom are members of the Sudanese Church of Christ – sought shelter in an affiliated church building.