Talisman exercised moderating influence on Sudan regime
Calgary Herald, Editorial, 30 June
The human rights activists pressuring Calgary's Talisman Energy Inc. to get out of Sudan should stop now, before their plan not only backfires but does even worse harm to the very people they are trying to help.
Events of the past month illustrate how a Talisman retreat will not only make little difference in the 18-year-old Sudanese civil war, but would likely leave the door open to far more pernicious corporate activity.
Religious groups turned up the heat on Sudan after the election of U.S. President George W. Bush, who turned a sympathetic ear to Republican voices lobbying for U.S. support for rebels in southern Sudan, many of whom are Christians persecuted by Islamic rulers in Khartoum.
The activists' contention that corporate investment in Sudan props up the government's campaign of terror resulted in the U.S. House of Representatives supporting a bill earlier this month to ban companies operating in Sudan's oil and gas sector from being listed on American stock exchanges. U.S. sanctions passed in 1997 already prevent American firms from drilling in Sudan.
Talisman immediately responded that it would not risk its Wall Street listing and would comply should the bill become law. Some analysts have suggested divestiture would benefit Talisman, whose share price is considered to be depressed because of its presence in Sudan.
This week, Sudan's finance minister admitted Talisman's departure would make no difference to Khartoum and suggested there are ready buyers for Talisman's 25 per cent of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co. In fact, terms of the partnership agreement favour a buyout from the Chinese, Sudanese and Malaysian state oil companies already part of the project.
These nations are hardly known for stellar records in human rights.
It is unlikely they would give even a passing nod to the ethical guidelines Talisman has developed. Nor should one expect any more hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and humanitarian projects of the like funded by Talisman.
Even human rights activists in Sudan acknowledge the corporate citizenship shown by Western companies outweighs any negatives in the production of oil. Ghazi Suleiman, a prominent Sudanese human rights lawyer, last week credited Talisman for the marginal freedoms Khartoum has accorded opposition parties. The publisher of the capital's only independent paper, Alfred Taban, agrees: "The way forward is not to take away companies . . . that have been working to try to end some of the abuse."
The civil war in Sudan is a horrific travesty which has killed more than two million people, mostly due to famine. The government has committed no end of sins. The world is right to condemn it.
But targeting corporations such as Talisman is naive. If the company is forced to leave Sudan in order to stay on Wall Street, the civil war will continue, but without a committed corporate citizen mitigating some of the misery.
It's not too late for church and humanitarian groups to review their plan, back off on the push to pass restrictive legislation and find real ways to help the Sudanese.
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