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"ADRA News Release"
Contact: Tereza Byrne, Bureau Chief
for Marketing and Development
Email:
TerezaByrne@compuserve.com
Global cell: 301-792
9850
Telephone: 301-680-6398
Fax: 301-680-6370
Date: April
01, 2001
ADRA Urges the Release of Two Remaining
Hostages
Silver Spring, Maryland - Two Kenyan workers of the Adventist
Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) who were taken
hostage on March 8 by armed militia in Kiechkuon, southern Sudan,
were released on Saturday and handed over Kenya’s Ambassador in
Sudan, Edward Kabwisa. The release followed a request from Kenyan
President, Daniel arap Moi, to Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir
during a two-day visit to Khartoum.
The other two ADRA workers still being held in Khartoum are
Peter Lujana, a Sudanese national who has lived 15 years in Kenya,
and Joy Santuke, Ugandan mother of four. During the attack on ADRA’s
compound, Lujana was injured, and a woman and young girl from a
nearby village were killed. As all four workers were operating
legally in southern Sudan, ADRA is still unclear as to the possible
reason for their continued detention.
No
ADRA or United Nations (UN) officials have yet had access to the two
remaining detainees since they were brought to Khartoum by Sudanese
army officials on March 16. Shortly after the abduction on March 8,
the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, personally wrote to the
president of Sudan requesting the release of the ADRA
workers.
ADRA operates in southern Sudan as a member of Operation
Lifeline Sudan (OLS), a consortium of UN agencies and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The UN Office of the
Humanitarian Coordinator (OCHA) coordinates OLS, which facilities UN
agencies and NGOs in delivering aid to war-torn Sudan. OCHA made a
verbal statement to the Sudanese government on March 24 restating
their position.
“The Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator wishes to confirm
to the Ministry the United Nations position that the presence of the
four ADRA personnel at Kiechkuon was and is consistent with the
practice of the agreements and plans of action of Operation Lifeline
Sudan (OLS), to which the Government of Sudan is a party. The Office
of the Humanitarian Coordinator also wishes to confirm that the
movement of the four ADRA personnel in UN/OLS aircraft is fully
consistent with the information on flight movements provided to the
Government on a regular monthly basis.”
ADRA is encouraged by the level of assistance it has received
from the UN secretary-general, OLS partners, the president of Kenya,
and other government officials in their efforts to free its four
workers. “I’m encouraged by the bona fide gesture of the Sudanese
government in releasing our two Kenyan workers. As an international
NGO, ADRA recognizes that its workers sometimes operate in dangerous
situations, but when agreements have been reached by government
authorities to protect and facilitate the movements of humanitarian
staff, we expect them to be honored,” said Ralph Watts Jr., ADRA
president.
ADRA was the first NGO to establish operations in Luakpiny
District in the Upper Nile province of southern Sudan. The agency’s
integrated emergency health and food assistance programs there
include primary health care, food security, and veterinary health
care programs. ADRA has operated in southern Sudan since 1984, and,
as a member of OLS, programs currently reach more than 200,000
beneficiaries. The agency has also run integrated programs in
northern Sudan since 1983 in collaboration with, and with the full
support of the Sudanese government.
For more information on ADRA’s programs, call
1-888-237-2367.
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