Skip to main content
Menu

Main navigation

  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • Leadership
    • Jobs
    • Student Programs
    • Media Information
    • Store
    • Contact
    LOADING...
  • Experts
    • Policy Scholars
    • Adjunct Scholars
    • Fellows
  • Events
    • Upcoming
    • Past
    • Event FAQs
    • Sphere Summit
    LOADING...
  • Publications
    • Studies
    • Commentary
    • Books
    • Reviews and Journals
    • Public Filings
    LOADING...
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Sponsorship Benefits
    • Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
    • Meet the Development Team

Issues

  • Constitution and Law
    • Constitutional Law
    • Criminal Justice
    • Free Speech and Civil Liberties
  • Economics
    • Banking and Finance
    • Monetary Policy
    • Regulation
    • Tax and Budget Policy
  • Politics and Society
    • Education
    • Government and Politics
    • Health Care
    • Poverty and Social Welfare
    • Technology and Privacy
  • International
    • Defense and Foreign Policy
    • Global Freedom
    • Immigration
    • Trade Policy
Live Now

Cato at Liberty


  • Blog Home
  • RSS

Email Signup

Sign up to have blog posts delivered straight to your inbox!

Topics
  • Banking and Finance
  • Constitutional Law
  • Criminal Justice
  • Defense and Foreign Policy
  • Education
  • Free Speech and Civil Liberties
  • Global Freedom
  • Government and Politics
  • Health Care
  • Immigration
  • Monetary Policy
  • Poverty and Social Welfare
  • Regulation
  • Tax and Budget Policy
  • Technology and Privacy
  • Trade Policy
Archives
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • Show More
August 26, 2015 11:39AM

American Christians Should Stop Hurting Sudanese Christians With Sanctions

By Doug Bandow

SHARE

KHARTOUM, SUDAN—Ubiquitous American advertising is absent in Sudan. Washington bans most imports and exports to the country. Among the strongest supporters of economic coercion have been American Christians, seeking to punish the Muslim-dominated central government for its brutal conduct in past ethnic conflicts.

While the combat has largely ceased, the embargo remains. And Sudanese Christians with whom I recently spoke said that they suffer when Washington penalizes the Sudanese people for Khartoum’s sins. Rev. Filotheos Farag of Khartoum’s El Shahidein Coptic Church, explained “we want to cancel all the sanctions.”

The Clinton administration first imposed restrictions two decades ago for Sudan’s alleged sponsorship of terrorism. But the Obama administration admits that Khartoum cooperates with the United States today.

Penalties were later strengthened to punish Sudan for its tactics in the civil war in Sudan’s south and subsequent fighting around Darfur. But the first was resolved with the independence of South Sudan, which itself has tragically descended into its own civil war. And the large-scale killings at Darfur also have ended. While some fighting continues elsewhere, it is no worse than many other Third World countries.

Khartoum also is criticized for religious repression, but American allies such as Saudi Arabia are worse. Moreover, Sudanese Christians say they are among those most hurt by sanctions.

I visited a number of churches of different denominations which appeared to operate freely. A consistent message from Christian clerics is that they suffer disproportionately from U.S. sanctions.

Farag said, “Everybody here is affected. From America, we stopped importing necessities we need.” Moreover, “Many businesses here are closed. Taxation is much higher.” In his view “the government is not punished. If officials ask about anything, they can bring it from outside. But we can’t.”

Isaiah Kanani of the Presbyterian Nile Theological College reported that “sanctions are affecting everyone in the community in every corner of the country.” Unfortunately, “the grassroots feel it very harshly.” He pointed to lost jobs and people relocating for work. Moreover, while people believe the government is not responsible for these problems, their “eyes fix on the government to find a solution.”

Hafiz Fassha, an Evangelical Presbyterian pastor at the Evangelical Church of Khartoum North, said the harm is felt in “medical services, even education.” He prays for the lifting of controls, which “are like putting oil on a fire.”

Sanctions “make life very difficult for Christians and their jobs,” reported George Banna, the Patriarchal Vicar in the Greek Melkite Catholic Patriarchate, who heads the Oriental Catholic church. A number of his parishioners are in businesses or professions and “they find difficulties importing what they need.” Over the years “many have left the country for financial reasons.”

As for the church, “we depend on donations. If members don’t work, they don’t have anything to give.” He suffered from prostate cancer and had to go abroad for treatment. “We all oppose sanctions,” he said.

I spoke with two Catholic priests in Port Sudan, E. Luigi Cignolini and Antonio Manganhe Meej. Cignolini said because of the sanctions “we don’t get offerings. Even Europe can’t send them. Of course this hampers our work.”

Meej emphasized that “Poor people feel it more.” When they aren’t able to pay their school fees “it is becoming impossible to run these schools.” In school, he said, they have trouble getting the latest information and can’t upgrade computer programs. “While the U.S. might believe it is punishing the government,” it is “only punishing the people.”

As I point out in Forbes: “There was and remains much about which to criticize Sudan’s government. However, U.S. sanctions have lost any purpose they once may have had.”

Most important for American Christians, the sanctions hurt believers already living and worshipping in difficult circumstances. Fassha said, “We love America. We need America to help Sudan.”

The world has changed since sanctions were first imposed. Washington’s policy toward Sudan should change as well.

Related Tags
Defense and Foreign Policy

Stay Connected to Cato

Sign up for the newsletter to receive periodic updates on Cato research, events, and publications.

View All Newsletters

1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001-5403
202-842-0200
Contact Us
Privacy

Footer 1

  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • Leadership
    • Jobs
    • Student Programs
    • Media Information
    • Store
    • Contact
  • Podcasts

Footer 2

  • Experts
    • Policy Scholars
    • Adjunct Scholars
    • Fellows
  • Events
    • Upcoming
    • Past
    • Event FAQs
    • Sphere Summit

Footer 3

  • Publications
    • Books
    • Cato Journal
    • Regulation
    • Cato Policy Report
    • Cato Supreme Court Review
    • Cato’s Letter
    • Human Freedom Index
    • Economic Freedom of the World
    • Cato Handbook for Policymakers

Footer 4

  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Sponsorship Benefits
    • Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
Also from Cato Institute:
Libertarianism.org
|
Humanprogress.org
|
Downsizinggovernment.org