Darfur arms embargo=Swiss cheese?

October 24, 2008
Darfur arms embargo=Swiss cheese?
Posted by Warren Strobel - McClatchy Blog

We end the week with a quick post on a recent report from the nonprofit group Human Rights First on arms sales to Sudan.

The report (a PDF file), which can be found here says that as many as 30 countries may be violating a 2004 United Nations arms embargo meant to stop arms from flowing to Sudan's Darfur region, where the Khartoum government has been accused of fueling genocide by arming militias known as the Janjaweed.

The report found that China is Khartoum's No.1 arms supplier. No surprise there, given Beijing's close ties with the government of Sudan, where it has long been helping to develop the country's disputed oil fields. But China's not alone: Belarus, Cyprus, India, Iran, Kenya, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey have all sold arms to the Sudanese government, according to the report, which is based on several sources, including U.N. data, and self-reporting by the governments involved.

U.N. Security Council resolution 1556 does not ban arms sales to the Sudanese government, only to the Janjaweed. But Sudan, according to Human Rights First, has refused to honor the arms embargo, and the fear is that weapons sold to it are being either transferred to government proxies in Darfur or used by the Sudanese government in support of Janjaweed offensives.

Many other countries, including the United States, are producers of arms that have ended up in Sudan, the report states. The report, which covers the years 2004-2006, says Sudan has imported $76.3 million in weapons since 2004, excluding combat aircraft.

That's it for this week...........