WHEREAS the Church of the Brethren has had a personal relationship with the people of Sudan for over thirteen year; and

WHEREAS Church of the Brethren field staff as well as a recent delegation to Sudan have attested to the enormity of human suffering due to the brutal ten-year war that is rooted in religious and cultural conflicts within Sudan; and

WHEREAS the people of Sudan have been victimized through violence, human rights abuses, malnutrition and disease at the hands of their government as well as in some instances by the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army; and

WHEREAS the Church of the Brethren reacts with sorrow, seeks to stand in solidarity with the people of Sudan and senses the call to speak out on behalf of our oppresses sisters and brothers who feel their plight has been ignored by the world community; and

WHEREAS the Church in Sudan carries and increasingly important role as it appeals for justice, seeks to maintain dialogue between all parties in the conflict and responds to the humanitarian crisis with aid;

THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN GENERAL BOARD REAFFIRMS

• our 1970 Annual Conference statement which calls us to "the way of love and nonviolence . . . knowing that in so doing violence may fall upon us as it did upon Jesus" (The Church of the Brethren on War);
• our 1977 Annual Conference statement which declares that "when social structures have ceased to serve their humanitarian purposes, radical non-violent changes are in order" (Justice and Nonviolence);
• our 1981 Annual Conference statement which affirms the calls to do justice, be peacemakers, and for the church to "manifest to the world the power of God to break down all barriers and to establish the Church's unity in Christ" (World Mission Philosophy and Program);
• our 1988 Annual Conference statement which asserts that "the denial of basic human rights and the violence and counter-violence that terrorizes humanity are all related" (Making the Connection);
• our 1989 Annual Conference statement which calls us to be ministers of reconciliation and concludes that "Christian mission today is a word of hope to all people", and that we are called to respond to God's will "so that all might live toward God's shalom, experiencing power and redemption in an ever-widening covenant community" (Mission Theology and Guidelines); and
• our 1991 Annual Conference statement which calls the Church to "protest violent actions, support peaceful initiatives, and advocate a new understanding of global relationships that includes respect and love" (Peacemaking: The Calling of God's People in History);

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Church of the Brethren General Board, meeting in Elgin Illinois on March 5-9, 1993, commits itself and urges Brethren congregations and members to call upon our governmental leaders, international authorities and world religious leaders:

  1. To strongly encourage the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government to make Sudan a top priority in order to prevent a worsening of the humanitarian disaster, to commit additional resources for relief and reconciliation, and specifically:

      a. to encourage the UN to establish a culturally sensitive process to resolve the conflict, arrange got and immediate cease-fire and disengagement of all combatants, and to institute an arms embargo on Sudan;

      b. to support UN efforts to negotiate internationally-monitored demilitarized zones on the ground and in the air, safe passage agreements for movement of civilians, and safe corridors of access for humanitarian relief;

      c. to discourage additional IMF loans to Sudan until it honors internationally-established human rights standards;

  2. To strongly encourage the government of Sudan to comply with and to honor its commitments regarding the convention and understandings of the Charters of the United nations and the Organization of African Unity, the provisions of the International Covenants on Human Rights, the genocide Convention and the December, 1992, UN General Assembly Resolution which condemns governmental violations of Human Rights; and

  3. To strongly encourage the government of Sudan as well as the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement and Army to agree to an immediate cease-fire and disengagement of all combatants in the civil war, allow shipments of humanitarian aid to take place without hindrance or seizure, ensure the safe passage of civilians, guarantee that camps for displaced persons be demilitarized, permit inspection of reported cases of human rights violations and consider an open and internationally monitored plebiscite to allow the people of Sudan to determine their future.