DIOCESE of EL OBEID
BISHOP'S OFFICE

Commander Abdel Aziz Adam El Hilu
Governor of Nuba Mountains Region
Southern Kordofan

February 15, 2004

Dear Commander Abdel Aziz,

With this note let me congratulate you and your colleagues and associates taking part in the Naivasha peace process for the efforts you are making to give our people a firmer hope of permanent peace.

For your information I am appending a copy of the letter I sent to the Special Advisor to President Bush, in which I expressed my concern that in order to have a just and lasting outcome of the peace process, the three areas of the Nuba Mountains, Southern Blue Nile, and Abyei County must take part in the referendum that has been accorded to the South in the Machakos Agreement. Also appended is the response I received from the Deputy Assistant to the President. You may share Washington's reply as well as my letter to you with your colleagues at your upcoming meetings in Naivasha.

I feel obliged to express this same concern to you, since the words "popular consultation" are being used in the regard to the peoples of the three areas that are said to be included into the governance of the Khartoum regime. That the three areas are to be put under the direct responsibility of the president, rather than one of the Ministers, does NOT guarantee the right of each citizen of these areas "to take part in the government of this I country, directly or through freely chosen representatives" (Article 21, Universal Declaration of Human Rights) The usage of the word "popular consultation" is very vague if not dubious and misleading and gives wide margin to various interpretation.

I am appealing to you, to your colleagues and associates in the peace process to hold fast to this important element of the referendum in order to assure the peoples of these areas their basic human right to self-determination. Our people look at you with trust that you and your associates and colleagues will defend their rights and aspirations. I am in full agreement with you and your colleagues and associates that the people of these three areas are part and parcel of the Liberation Movement and their right to a just and lasting peace has equal footing with those of Southern Sudan.

I reiterate and voice my deep conviction that any peace at all costs is no real peace. Any agreement that brings such a peace is in reality a further injustice inflicted not only on you and your associates and colleagues who fought for so long against injustice but also on the civilian populations who have suffered so long. Such an injustice will be the breeding ground of more hatred and violence. We have only to look at our own past experience following Ananya 1 to predict that any peace that excludes or marginalizes the aspirations and hopes of our people in these three areas will open the way for future violence. Assimilation of these peoples by the Islamic Fundamentalist regime of Khartoum can readily lead to a form of ethnic, cultural and religious cleansing.

As Bishop of the Nuba Mountains and Abyei County, I cannot but share with you and your colleagues and associates what are the aspirations and hope of my flock whether they belong to the church or to other faiths beliefs. We Bishops in caring for our people at the grass roots can vividly sense their genuine hopes and aspirations for a peace based on justice and the respect of their dignity. We know from our country's unfortunate past experience that such hopes and aspirations can be a reality when peace is based on justice. My brother Bishops or the Sudan and l join in the pleas so often made by our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, that without justice there can be no peace.

As my diocese includes Kordofan and Darfur regions, my pastoral concern reaches in a special way also to the thousands of our innocent people suffering because of the present civil conflict in Darfur, Reports from the Beja speak of civil unrest in the east as well. These peoples are suffering from the same root causes, which you and your associates and colleagues have been fighting against for the last twenty years, namely manipulation, exploitation, oppression, and marginalization by Khartoum regimes. If their rights continue to be violated and they do not receive justice, their unrest and civil conflict will not only continue to bring further instability, and suffering to their areas, but also can be sources of instability and suffering to the just and lasting peace for which you and your associates and colleagues have fought so long to achieve.

I regret that I could not share my views with you earlier, as I was in the United States meeting with the Assistant of Mr. Michael Ranneberger at the State Department. I also had Iong talks with Senator Sam Brownback, and the Legislative Assistant to Senator Frist as well as similar meetings with Congressmen Frank Wolf, Tom Tancredo, Paine and others.

The sharing of views between civil authorities and the Bishops who are Shepherds and Moral leaders of our people is a vital source of clarification for all of us regarding the moral dimensions of proposals and decisions that affect the well being of our people. So I welcome this opportunity to share the insights and concerns expressed above with you, and wiIl value such opportunities in the future.

Again, let me commend you and your associates for your efforts to obtain a just and lasting peace for our people. My brother Bishops join me in praying for you. May the Good Lord enlighten you, strengthen you, and guide you with His wisdom to be instruments of justice and peace for our people. My Almighty God bless you all.

Sincerely yours,

+ Macram Max Gassis
Bishop of EI Obeid Diocese

Cc: Mr. Colin PowelI, Secretary of State
Ms. Condalezza Rice, National Security Advisor
Mr. Barry Jackson, Deputy Assistant to the President & Deputy to the Senior Advisor
Senator John Danforth, Presidential Envoy to Sudan
Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, Sudan Working Group, State Department
Senator Sam Brownback
Senator William Frist
Congressman Frank Wolf
Congressman Tom Tancredo
Sudan Catholic Bishops' Regional Conference, Justice & Peace Department, Nairobi
Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference, Justice & Peace Department, Khartoum