Sudan Tribune, Sudan
Sept 30 2007
Survivors of Armenian genocide urge Chinese pressures on Sudan
Sunday 30 September 2007 06:49.
September 25, 2007 (YEREVAN, Armenia) – Survivors of Armenian
genocide urged Chinese government to pressurize Sudan to ensure
security for Darfur people and to end the four years conflict before
August, 2008, date of the beginning of Olympic games.
Less than one year before Beijing Olympic Games begin, the Archbishop
of Canterbury Rowan Williams, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of
All Armenians, and prominent human rights activists pointedly
connected the government of China to the first genocide of the 21st
century in a torch lighting ceremony at a site commemorating the
first genocide of the 20th century.
Archbishop Williams stated, `Today, we honored victims and survivors
of genocides of the past century, linking them together through our
passing of a torch signifying the hope that we share for an end to
the violence in Darfur. I join these survivors in standing up to say
that although the international community has stood by silently again
and again while the blood of innocent human beings is shed, we must
now make the phrase `never again’ a reality.’
`Following many years of indifference, the Chinese government is now
asserting that it has been a leader for peace in Darfur. But even in
the best of scenarios, there will not be an adequate peacekeeping
force on the ground for many months,’ said Jill Savitt, Director of
Dream for Darfur. `We must continue pressing China so that the next
Olympic Games, an international symbol of peace and brotherhood, are
not hosted by a nation that is complicit in the ultimate
international crime.’
The Archbishop of Canterbury, along with Darfur advocates and
Armenian genocide survivors, lit the torch at the eternal flame at
the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan. The torch was then passed
around the eternal flame in a somber ceremony honoring survivors of
genocide and remembering the lives lost both in Darfur, and in
previous genocides of the 20th century.
`This flame honors those who have been lost and those who suffer;
this flame celebrates the courage of those who have survived; this
flame represents the hope we all share for an end to the violence and
a safe return home,’ said Omer Ismail, a Sudanese survivor from
Darfur, as he passed the torch.
"Armenians worldwide understand the realities and pain of genocide,
even today, 92 years after the Armenian Genocide. Today’s event
demonstrates our solidarity with the people of Darfur, and with all
those who have been subjected to genocide," said Arpi Vartanian,
Armenian Assembly of America Country Director for Armenia and Nagorno
Karabakh.
The Dream for Darfur symbolic Olympic Torch Relay began on the border
of strife-ridden Darfur and Chad in August, where Mia Farrow and
other Darfur advocates lit the torch. The Relay then traveled to
Kigali, Rwanda, where survivors of the Rwandan genocide passed the
torch from the site where thousands of Tutsis were killed after UN
forces withdrew.
After Armenia, the Torch Relay will continue to other countries
associated with genocide and mass slaughter – Bosnia, Germany, and
Cambodia, ending in Hong Kong to commemorate the 70th anniversary of
the Rape of Nanking, China’s own experience with the murder of
innocents.
Dream for Darfur, a year-long campaign undertaken with the support of
a worldwide network of Darfur advocates, is both asking and demanding
that China, in its role as Olympic host and close partner of Sudan,
use its unique influence with Khartoum to end the suffering in
Darfur – before the Games begin in August, 2008. The campaign motto is
`China, Please: Bring the Olympic Dream to Darfur.’
In solidarity with the international torch relay, a relay will be
held in 25 states in the United States between September and December
to build public pressure on China in regard to its dual roles as
Olympic host and sponsor of a genocidal regime. More info can be
found at: National relays are also
slated for Canada, Italy, Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom, France,
Brazil, and South Africa.
In seeking to enlist China’s intensive involvement in resolving the
Darfur crisis, the Dream for Darfur campaign is contacting the IOC,
national Olympic committees, and corporate sponsors of the ’08
Olympics.
`We welcomed China’s recent UN vote to allow a peacekeeping force
into Sudan, but China now must press Sudan to ensure that the words
on paper translate into action,’ said Savitt. `We will continue our
campaign until China uses its influence with Khartoum and we see
adequate and verifiable security on the ground in Darfur.’
Photo: September 25 – At a genocide commemoration ceremony at the
Armenian Genocide Memorial, religious leaders passed a symbolic
Olympic Torch to call for an end to the genocide in Darfur. From
left: Samuel Kobia, General Secretary, World Council of Churches; His
Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians; the Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams, Sept 25, 2007.
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