March 22, 2007

"The best way toward peace [in Darfur] is a cessation of hostilities.... I believe in peace. Most generals believe in peace. We have seen how devastating war is," said Sudan's Ambassador to the U.S. John Ukec Lueth Ukec yesterday (Mar. 21). "We know how it is to lose a friend… what it is like for mothers."

Ambassador Ukec (pronounced OO-KECH) addressed the board of directors of humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS), meeting in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, outside Baltimore, on the current situation in his country.

"The CPA [Sudan's North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in January 2005] will not succeed," Ukec said, "without solving the problem of Darfur. We are Sudanese and we can't keep killing one another," continued Ukec, himself a soldier on behalf of Southern Sudan for much of his life.

Ukec graduated with honors from the University of Juba in Southern Sudan during the fleeting years of peace, in the 1970s and early 1980s, and later received advanced degrees in the U.S. He and his family were living in Iowa, where he was teaching at the university level, when he agreed to join Sudan's then-new Government of National Unity in 2005. He became Ambassador to the U.S. in 2006.

In what appeared to be candid, heartfelt comments, Ukec said, "I need your help. The lives of Darfur should be put back together. We can't do that by arms…. Peace is the only way women cannot be raped, children can go to school, hospitals can be available to treat people."

In the four-year war in Darfur, called a genocide by the Bush administration and others, countless villages have been burned, roughly 300,000 people have died from violence or disease, and more than two million people have been uprooted. It is internationally accepted that much of the violence has been perpetrated by janjaweed (men on horseback) militia, with backing and arms from the government of Sudan.

Ukec acknowledged that Sudan's previous government made mistakes in Darfur. "When you give civilians arms," he said, "they settle their own problems. They don't listen. They aren't disciplined." While Ukec argues that that practice has ended, non-governmental organizations and others say they have seen little change on the ground since the formation of the Government of National Unity and maintain that the new government continues to support factions of the janjaweed.

Ukec recognized the role of land in contributing to the current violence in Darfur. The African farmers of the region till the land, he explained, while the Arabs in the area are pastoralists, or herders. In recent years, he said, the desert has moved some 90 miles south, destroying most of the grazing land and increasing the competition for land. And, Ukec acknowledged, "There are certain critical issues about boundaries. 'Boundaries' is who oil comes from," referring to the country's oil deposits--revenues on which Sudan's government relies. In Sudan's Government of National Unity, President Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir, president since 1989, remains the country's head of state.

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) representative Rev. Amy Gopp told Ambassador Ukec, "My heart breaks for the people of your country, and my heart sings with the people of Southern Sudan… I have seen their hope." Gopp asked the ambassador about security for aid workers and about the situation of Southern Sudan.

"We're working hard to protect humanitarian workers," said Ukec. "We're trying everything to do that."

"We have made peace with the North after 50 years," said Ukec, speaking from his vantage point as a Southerner. "Why can we not make peace in the four-year war in Darfur? We can with the help of organizations like yours. You have a record of being involved in situations like this."

Welcoming a CWS planned visit to Sudan and the Darfur region, Ukec said, "If you have a relationship with the rebels, fine. If you don't, you have the opportunity to try. I admire your ability.... We hope that you expand your presence."

"We have just recovered from a 50-year [North-South] war," said Ukec, "We don't want more war.... Let us work together to solve the issue of Darfur."

Church World Service is providing humanitarian assistance in Darfur and is working through various channels to bring peace to the region. CWS is also assisting people returning to Southern Sudan under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Media Contacts: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin (24/7), 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net