Monday, November 23, 2009
According to a report published by a panel of experts for the UN Security Council, the Darfur arms embargo has been blatantly violated by all parties, including Sudanese government forces, allied Janjaweed militias, rebel groups and insurgents from neighboring Chad. The embargo was implemented in 2005, but the UN Security Council only restricted arms exports to Darfur, not the entire country. Therefore, arms imports to Sudan are permitted, but transferring them to Darfur is in violation of the embargo. In the report, the panel requested assistance from UN Member States to identify the source country of arms in violation of the embargo and to disclose efforts in identifying the chain of ownership and where ownership diversion occurred.
The panel found that “almost all the documented ammunition, vehicles and aviation equipment, and much other military material is of post-embargo production.” Toyota distributors in Arabic-speaking countries, as well as Iran, France and Gibraltar, were identified as the source of some of the trucks used in the Darfur conflict, and the panel found that those countries, particularly the United Arab Emirates, were a main source of Toyota pick-up trucks converted into fighting vehicles by rebel forces in Darfur. Many vehicles entered Darfur through Chad after being shipped from various countries in the Middle East. The panel also mentions the “prominence of Chinese manufactured arms and ammunition found among the material that the Panel documented in Darfur” not only among government units but also among rebel forces. Although other Chinese companies were mentioned in the report, China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) and China Xinshidai Company are described as makers of the type of ammunition that was described as “omnipresent among Darfurian groups.”
-Angela Chen
Tide of Munitions for Darfur War Still Flows Despite Embargo (Sudan Tribune)
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