An Appeal to China from W. Massachusetts

AN APPEAL TO CHINA TO PRESSURE SUDAN TO END THE GENOCIDE AND ALLOW THE UN/AU PEACEKEEPING FORCE INTO DARFUR

Addressed to:
His Excellency Hu Jintao,
President, People's Republic of China
c/o His Excellency Zhon Wen Zhong,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008

Since 2003, the Sudanese government has fought the guerilla insurgencies in Darfur by targeting innocent civilians. Hundreds of thousands have been killed and 2.5 million displaced into inadequate refugee camps. The US Congress, on July 23, 2004, declared that the atrocities unfolding in Darfur are genocide.

Despite a world-wide outcry against the Darfur Genocide, the killing continues. In August, 2006, UN Security Council resolution 1706 called for a robust UN peacekeeping force, but the Sudanese government had prevented its deployment in Darfur. On July 31, 2007, the UN Security Council Resolution 1769 passed unanimously, calling for a hybrid UN/AU (Organization of African Unity) force of 26,000 to be deployed by the end of the year. The world community must exert maximum pressure on the Sudanese regime, and also on China to ensure that the peacekeepers do their job.

China, through its development of Sudanese oil resources and provision of loans, is the mainstay of the Sudanese economy and it continues to supply arms and has defended Sudan in the UN Security Council. Experts agree that if China applies maximum pressure, the Sudanese regime will be forced to allow in the UN/AU peacekeepers. Our task is to convince China to exert that pressure on Sudan.

A May 7, 2007 letter from 108 members of the US House of Representatives to Hu Jintao, President of China says, in part:
[ ……the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are going to be an important event for the image of the PRC [People's Republic of China]…It would be a disaster for China if the games were marred by protests from concerned individuals and groups who will undoubtedly link your government to the continued atrocities in Darfur….Already there are calls to boycott what is increasingly being described as the "2008 Genocide Olympics."…we urge you to protect your country's image from being irredeemably tarnished, through association with a genocidal regime, for the purposes of economic gains.]

Informed citizens around the globe are convinced that China has the power to force Sudan to stop the genocide and to permit the UN/AU peacekeepers into Darfur.
If China fails to act, millions are likely not only protest and boycott the "Genocide Olympics" (the 2008 Summer Olympics will be held in China), but may well, in their extreme frustration, turn to boycotting other Chinese products and services.

Name and Date___________________________

Address___________________________________

Please sign this appeal, circulate it within your network for more signatures and send it to the President of China c/o the Chinese Embassy, Washington, DC (the full address is under the heading at the top of the page)

Issued by
Western Mass Darfur Coalition
http://www.darfurwm.blogspot.com/

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