Agence France-Presse,
China and Russia are supplying arms to Sudan, which is using them in war-torn Darfur in violation of a UN embargo, the human rights group Amnesty International charged Tuesday.
Amnesty released a copy of a report which it said shows that “arms supplied to Sudan from China and Russia … have been used for violations of the Security Council's own mandatory arms embargo.”
China and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council, which imposed an arms embargo in 2005 that covered not just all armed groups but also the Sudanese government, which allegedly backs the Arab Janjaweed militia.
The other council members are Britain, France and the United States.
In Moscow, a foreign ministry spokesman rejected the Amnesty report, saying: “None of our arms are being supplied to Darfur. We rigorously observe the provisions of the UN resolution banning deliveries of arms to Darfur.”
And in Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the Amnesty report was “a groundless accusation”.
“The Chinese government takes a responsible attitude and a strict management policy on arms exports,” she said.
In a 24-page report obtained by AFP, London-based Amnesty provided photographs of Russian and Chinese warplanes it said were deployed at Nyala airport in Sudan's western desert region of Darfur in the last few months.
In early March, a large bomb and some green ammunition boxes were seen next to Chinese Fantam jet bombers, it said.
It added that, on March 22, a plane described by witnesses as a Sudanese Russian-built Antonov “bombed areas north and south of the north-eastern Chadian town of Bahait.”
The conflict in recent months has spilled across Sudan's western border to Chad.
Amnesty said Sudan imported from China 24 million dollars (18 million euros) worth of arms and ammunition, nearly 57 million dollars worth of parts and aircraft equipment and two million dollars worth of parts of helicopters and airplanes.
It cited data from Sudan for 2005, the last available trade figures.
It said the Chinese company AviChina Industry and Technology “recently delivered six K-8 military training/attack aircraft to the Sudanese Air Force and a further six will follow soon,” citing an unnamed military magazine.
“The K-8S is widely used as a basic training jet for fighter pilots. Some of the Sudanese Air Force fighter pilots will eventually graduate onto the NAMC Q-5 'Fantan' after undergoing basic training on the K-8S,” it said.
Amnesty added that in 2005, the Russian Federation exported to Sudan 21 million dollars worth of aircraft and associated equipment including spare parts and 13.7 million dollars of helicopters.
It was particularly concerned about Russian Mi-24 helicopter gunships being used against civilians.
The human rights group also expressed concern over close military ties between Sudan and Iran, Belarus and Kuwait.
Amnesty said Sudan has also allowed armed opposition groups from neighboring Chad to operate from Darfur and “these groups have obtained small arms and light weapons transferred to Darfur, including recent arms from China.”
Finally, Amnesty urged “the international community to assert its authority and immediately adopt steps to strengthen the implementation of the UN arms embargo and stem the flow of arms to Darfur.”
Some 200,000 people have died in the four-year civil war in Darfur and two million more fled their homes, according to UN figures, although some sources put the toll much higher.
Sudan disputes those estimates and says that 9,000 have died.
