Geneva fountain to be lit red for Darfur

July 16, 2007 (GENEVA) — Geneva’s landmark Jet d’Eau (Water Fountain) will be lit up in red for several hours on Tuesday to draw attention to the bloodshed in Sudan’s Darfur region, the city’s mayor said on Monday.

The centre-left city council took the decision following a proposal from an international lawyers’ group, TRIAL, which campaigns for political leaders accused of genocide and other crimes against humanity to be brought to justice.

“We believe this action will prick some consciences and help break the silence around the drama in Darfur,” Mayor Patrice Mugny said. “We hope that other major European cities will do something similar.”

The Jet d’Eau, on an artificial promontory in Lake Geneva, has been a feature of the city skyline since 1891 and is illuminated after dark. It rises about 140 metres and is visible from the nearby Alps and Jura mountains.

Geneva, home to the European headquarters of the United Nations, the offices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Human Rights Council, is often dubbed the world human rights capital.

International experts estimate that some 200,000 people have died in Darfur over four years of conflict involving Sudanese government troops, militias accused of cooperating with them and rebel groups.

The Khartoum government says 9,000 people have died and blames most of the suffering on the rebels. The International Criminal Court in the Hague has issued arrest warrants for two Sudanese officials accused of crimes in Darfur.

(Reuters)