China threatens to block UN report on Sudan: report

October 17, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – The Chinese government is fighting hard to prevent the publication of a report showing the flow of weapons it sold into the war ravaged region of Darfur over the course of last year despite a ban imposed by the UN Security Council (UNSC), according to a newspaper reported.

The Washington Post quoting unnamed diplomatic sources said that the unreleased report prepared by the UN panel of experts, does not claim that Chinese arms dealers knew that their ammunition was being sent to Darfur. However, he findings show that Khartoum has routinely channeled weapons it bought from China to Darfur.

“These were very concrete allegations against the Chinese,” said a UN-based diplomat familiar with the issue. “The Chinese don’t want the report to be published.”

The UNSC resolution 1591 adopted on March 29, 2005 placed an embargo on the supply of arms to all parties to the conflict in Darfur.

Human rights groups frequently accused China of supplying arms to Sudan for use in Darfur, in breach of a UN arms embargo and produced photographs of Chinese weapons in Darfur.

China responded angrily to the revelations by the panel, insisting it would block the public release of the report unless the findings were rewritten, according to diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the dispute.

The U.N. panel responsible for implementing the embargo told the UNSC that Sudanese forces have used more than a dozen types of Chinese ammunition against Darfuri rebels over the past two years. It also reported finding recently manufactured shell casings from Chinese ammunition at the site of numerous attacks launched by unidentified assailants against peacekeepers from the joint U.N.-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

It is not clear if the panel is pointing fingers at Khartoum for the recent surge of attacks on UNAMID peacekeepers and personnel.

On Thursday, China abstained from voting on a resolution extending the mandate of the panel that monitors the implementation of sanctions imposed on Sudan and arms embargo.

China is the major buyer of Sudanese oil and has other key commercial interests.

“China has serious concerns about the annual report submitted by the panel of experts on the Sudan sanctions committee and believes that there is much room for improvement in the work of the panel,” a Chinese official told the Security Council, to justify the abstention.

“We urge the panel of experts to conduct their work under the principles of objectivity and responsibility,” the official added, without giving any details.

The Foreign Policy magazine said that during the Oct. 4 meeting, China’s U.N. delegation threatened to veto the resolution. But the country’s delegation relented following discussions with the United States and Britain and instead abstained on the resolution

The report by the panel found that the Sudanese government had routinely skirted the sanctions – using recently purchased Russian helicopters, Sukhoi 25 fighter planes from Belarus and at least one Russian MiG-20 fighter jet in Darfur.

Sudan acknowledged to the panel that it had transferred some of the aircraft into Darfur, but insisted that the aircraft had not been used in military operations and therefore did not violate sanctions.

Russia has sold some 36 Mi-24 and Mi-17 helicopters to Khartoum since 2009, while Belarus has sold 15 Sukhoi 25 jets to the Sudanese government since 2008, according to the panel. Sudan signed end-user agreements with both governments guaranteeing that the aircraft would not be used in Darfur.

While Russian diplomats have responded diplomatically to the allegations, China has sought to flex its muscles. “They demanded a complete rewrite of the report,” said one official familiar with the deliberations. “But they have no factual basis to object.”

The panel uncovered a total of 18 varieties of shell casings, including 12 from China and four from Sudan. Two samples of ammunition – which were used by the Justice and Equality Movement, one of the main rebel groups – were manufactured in Israel. The panel said that Israel confirmed that the ammunition was sold to the government of Chad. Chad – which also signed an end-user agreement with Israel not to ship the arms to a third country – has long been accused of smuggling weapons to JEM.

Last year, the former head of the panel, Enrico Carisch, testified before Congress that the Security Council had failed to act on more than 100 panel recommendations aimed at strengthening the sanctions. He also faulted the United States, France and Britain for doing little to force a more public debate.

The United Nations estimates as many as 300,000 people have died in the humanitarian crisis after Khartoum mobilized militias to quell the revolt.

More than 2 million Darfuris fled the conflict to makeshift camps, where U.N. agencies and aid groups that Sudan allows to operate there struggle to feed the displaced people.

(ST)