"The Scorched Earth: Oil and War in Sudan"
The British-based charity Christian Aid has called on oil companies to suspend operations in Sudan because of
atrocities it blamed on the Sudanese government and 'sponsored militias'. The charity said that tens of thousands of
civilians have been killed or displaced in a policy to drive them from oil fields in Sudan.
In a report called "The Scorched Earth: Oil and War in Sudan" the group also calls for oil giants Shell and BP to get
rid of their shares in companies which it claims are complicit in human rights abuses. The report "presents
eyewitness testimony showing that Sudanese government forces and sponsored militias are mounting a systematic
'scorched earth' strategy in and around the oilfields where foreign companies operate," Christian Aid said.
"Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and displaced by a systematic policy of depopulating the oil-rich
areas," said Mark Curtis, the charity's head of policy. "Each time an oil concession is developed, it is accompanied
by massivehuman rights violations." He added that foreign oil companies operating in Sudan "should immediately
suspend operations until an agreement for a just and lasting peace is achieved.
