Global Policy Forum

Sudan Link Could Lead to Action by Canada

By David Ljunggren

Ottawa - Ottawa today threatened to slap sanctions on a Canadian oil firm operating in Sudan unless the company did more to help end the African country's 16-year civil war and curb alleged human rights violations. Although Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy did not specify against whom the sanctions would be aimed, it was clear he was referring to Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc., which has a controversial 25 percent stake in a south Sudan consortium. Talisman said it was delighted with the initiatives, but cautioned there was "a lot of misinformation surrounding Sudan" and said it could not act as a "sovereign government." Axworthy also announced he had invited the leaders of Sudan's warring factions for talks in Canada to help end a conflict that has killed an estimated 2 million people.

Fueling the War?

He said Canada - worried that revenues from the oil trade were fueling the campaign by Sudan's Islamic government to crush guerrillas in the predominantly Christian south - would send a team to probe human rights abuses in the country and the role played by private sector oil companies.

Axworthy also wants to meet Talisman Chief Executive Jim Buckee next Tuesday to demand the firm do more to help broker an end to the war, encourage the Sudanese government to improve the country's human rights record and start talks with Khartoum to ensure oil revenues were spent on humanitarian aid. "Canada expects Talisman Energy to respond seriously and constructively to these efforts," Axworthy's ministry said in a statement. It said Canada was deeply concerned by reports of fighting in the regions of oil development and by evidence that oil extraction could be contributing to the forced relocation of people living near oil fields.

"If it becomes evident that oil extraction is exacerbating the conflict in Sudan, or resulting in violations of human rights or humanitarian law, the government of Canada may consider, if required, economic and trade restrictions such as are authorized by the Export and Import Permits Act, the Special Economic Measures Act, or other instruments," it said.

Positive Engagement

Talisman called the announcement "the type of positive engagement that we had hoped for when we entered Sudan a year ago." "We believe Canada's limited diplomatic links with Sudan have hampered a true understanding of the real human tragedy, the civil war and the tribal dynamics in the South," Buckee said in a statement.

A company spokesman downplayed the sanction threat when asked if he believed the talk to be a warning. "No. This is about bringing peace to a very poor, troubled part of the world and if peace happens, everything else will fall into place," Dave Mann told Reuters.

Axworthy - saying the sanctions could be applied against both companies and countries - told reporters Canada would not normally impose the measures without a decision or vote by an international body such as the United Nations. "I want to emphasize that those steps are at the moment in reserve. Our priority is to have voluntary compliance with the code of conduct and behavior and also to determine what the exact circumstances are," he said.

Officials said the sanctions acts could be used to ban the export to Sudan of equipment and products needed by Talisman, which is Canada's biggest international oil producer. Canada has encouraged companies not to invest or operate in Sudan but has not banned them. Talisman is the only Canadian oil company doing business in Sudan. Its stock closed down Canadian $2.55 to C$40.95 in Toronto after Axworthy's statement.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright also criticized Talisman over the weekend.

Canada supports a process by a seven-nation African group known as the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development, which has produced many rounds of largely fruitless peace talks between Khartoum and the rebels.