British lawmakers urge Chinese help to end Darfur crisis
October 28, 2007 (LONDON) — More than 100 British legislators have written a letter to China’s government urging it to take greater responsibility for ending the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, a human rights group said Monday.
The letter, addressed to Chinese President Hu Jintao, calls on China to review its policy of providing arms to the Sudanese government, international rights organization Crisis Action said.
The letter, which said China’s help is needed before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, will be delivered to the Chinese Embassy in London on Monday by a delegation of legislators that planned to discuss it with senior embassy officials, Crisis Action said.
In Libya on Saturday, Sudan’s government committed to a cease-fire in Darfur at the start of peace talks, but major rebels boycotted the U.N.-sponsored negotiations, reducing hopes for an end to the fighting.
The cease-fire announcement raised hopes that momentum for peace could still be generated, but Sudan’s military has regularly bombed Darfur rebel zones and sent proxy-militias against villages despite previous pledges and U.N. resolutions.
Darfur’s ethnic African rebels took arms in 2003 against the Arab-dominated central Sudanese government, accusing it of decades of discrimination. Khartoum is accused of retaliating with mass violence against civilians that has killed more than 200,000 and displaced over 2.5 million people, largely ethnic Africans.
Darfur rebels, along with many international rights activists, have accused China of indirectly funding Khartoum’s war effort in Darfur by massively investing in Sudan’s oil industry.
Sudan’s government receives large royalties for the estimated 500,000 barrels that are pumped each day, and observers consider that up to 70 percent of this cash goes to the military.
The British legislators’ letter says China is in a key position to persuade Sudan’s government to withdraw its support for attacks on civilians, give aid operations the freedom to work unhindered, abide by existing cease-fire arrangements, disarm militias and cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court.
“We are also keen to see China review its long-standing policy of providing, and financing, arms sales to the government of Sudan to ensure that it is not contributing to the security crisis in Darfur,” the letter says.
The signatories, including former British foreign ministers and ministers for sport, welcomed the Chinese governments backing for the U.N. force in Darfur, but stressed that China must now use its influence with the Sudanese government to ensure that civilians are protected.
Lord Glentoren — a signatory, a British Olympic gold medal winner and a Conservative Party spokesman on the Olympics — supported the initiative by saying: “If the Chinese government used their status as hosts of the 2008 Olympic Games to put pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the war and suffering in Darfur, it would be a wonderful example of the Olympic power for good.”
(AP)