Amnesty: Arms from China, Russia fuel on-going Darfur conflict

Feb 9, 2012, 0:02 GMT

New York - China and Russia have continued to transfer arms and munitions to Sudan, fueling the ethnic conflict in Darfur and violating the UN arms embargo against the country, Amnesty International said Thursday.

The London-based rights group said that Chinese weapons were used in December by Sudanese security forces against the Zam Zam camp for people displaced by the conflict.

It said witnesses reported that security forces looted the camp during the raid, in which they killed one man and injured six people. The witnesses reported that ammunition bore the Chinese manufacture codes of '41' and '71,' and 2006 and 2008 manufacture dates indicating that arms supplies were transferred to Darfur after the UN arms embargo took effect.

Amnesty said the Sudanese military flew Russian-made SAF Sukhoi-25 ground-attack aircraft, Mi-24 helicopter gunships and Antonov transport aircraft during air raids in 2011 in Darfur. It said Sudan received 36 new Mi-24 helicopter gunships from Russia between 2007-09.

'Exports (from Russia) include supplying significant quantities of ammunition, helicopter gunships, attack aircraft, air-to-ground rockets and armoured vehicles,' the report said.

'China and Russia are selling arms to the government of Sudan in the full knowledge that many of them are likely to end up being used to commit human rights violations in Darfur,' said Brian Wood, an Amnesty International military and policing expert.

'The Darfur conflict is sustained by the constant flow of weapons from abroad. To help prevent further serious violations of human rights, all international arms transfers to Sudan should be immediately suspended and the UN arms embargo extended to the whole country.'

Amnesty International and other non-governmental organizations have called for the United Nations to agree on an Arms Trade Treaty to regulate sales of weapons and munitions around the world. The report said an effective treaty would compel governments to stop transfers to areas where the arms will be used against civilians in violation of human rights.

More than 300,000 people have died since 2003 in the conflict in Darfur, according to the UN. Khartoum says the death toll is a politically motivated exaggeration, saying that only 'thousands' have died in tensions in the region.

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