Mia Farrow To Air "Darfur Olympics"

KHARTOUM, Sudan — As the Summer Games open in Beijing, actress activist Mia Farrow is Web-casting her own "Darfur Olympics" from a refugee camp on the barren Sudan-Chad border, aiming to shame China into using its influence with Khartoum to end the Darfur conflict.

Human rights groups have been using the Beijing Olympics to highlight accusations that China's close ties to the Khartoum government are helping fuel the bloodshed in Darfur, where up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million people driven from their homes since 2003.

China buys nearly two-thirds of Sudan's oil and is believed to provide the country with most of its small arms, many of which human rights groups say end up being used in Sudan's western region of Darfur. Beijing, which has veto power at the U.N., has resisted tough Security Council action against Sudan over the conflict.

At the same time as the opening ceremony in Beijing on Friday, Farrow will post footage on the Web from one of a dozen camps in eastern Chad where Darfurians fleeing the conflict have taken refuge. The Web-cast is to include refugee children playing sports and songs contributed by pop singers including REM, Bette Midler and Taleb Kweli.

Each day for the first week of the Beijing games, Farrow will post new Web-casts with "voices from the camps," including interviews with women and children.

The footage will provide viewers around the world a glimpse of the "deplorable" conditions in these camps, Farrow told The Associated Press on Thursday by satellite telephone from a camp in eastern Chad. She would not identify the camp for security reasons.

If people want to skip the "opening propaganda ceremony" in Beijing, they can "watch the opening ceremony we put together," Farrow said.

"The Olympic Games should be cause for celebration ... the decision to hold the games in Beijing is beyond comprehension," she said. "With China underwriting the suffering in Darfur and hosting the Olympic games at home, there is an incongruity that everyone attending the game, participating in the games and covering the games can't ignore."

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Some 250,000 Darfurians live in the refugee camps in Chad. Another nearly 2.5 million people displaced by the fighting remain in Darfur, most in camps.

Farrow's Dream for Darfur group has called the Olympics the "Genocide Games." China barred from entering the country a Dream for Darfur member, Jill Savitt, who had planned to take the video made by Farrow to reporters in China, where the Web site is blocked.

Last month, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was indicted by the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court on charges of genocide in Darfur. Khartoum is accused of unleashing the Arab militias known as the janjaweed to put down ethnic African rebel groups that rose up in 2003. The janjaweed, in turn, are accused of carrying out a campaign of atrocities, killing and raping ethnic African civilians and burning their villages. Khartoum denies supporting the janjaweed.

Jerry Fowler, the president of the New York-based Save Darfur Coalition, said that in light of the ICC charges of genocide, China must "stop being the enabler of genocide in Darfur and start putting pressure and using leverage on Khartoum to stop the violence, to protect civilians and to bring about a lasting peace."

China says its arms sales to Sudan fall outside of the scope of a U.N. arms embargo on the provision of arms to Darfur, and that it is acting to bring peace to Darfur.

Sudanese officials decline to comment on the weapons sales, but say China has helped Sudan build roads, electricity grids, hospitals and other infrastructure.

"The Sudanese people view China as a friendly country," Mahjoub Faidul, a presidential spokesman, told The Associated Press.

Al-Bashir is staying home for the games, where Sudan has nine athletes competing. Sudanese officials say al-Bashir is too busy handling the aftermath of the indictment to attend.

In Khartoum, the capital's Chinese residents as well as Sudanese were scrambling to find a way to watch the opening ceremony.

Al-Fateh Hassan, a 28-year-old Sudanese street vendor, said he will be watching the Olympics in cafes with subscription to the sole satellite station with broadcasting rights here.

"China is everywhere around here. Even the needle here is Chinese," he said. "But to me as a citizen, I see little of China's money."

____

On the Web:

The site of Farrow's Web-cast

http://www.darfurolympics.org

Comments

[darthdarcy]

Good for her...!

[marymansour]

Good for MIa. Here is a woman who truly cares and has given a home to many orphans without the accompanying circus - except when Woody acted out.

[InofTouch]

she did had a circus but she old now so blah.

[Tulu]

We have to change our thinking about China’s ambition to conquer the world. China will stop at nothing. It is pillaging Africa already and ever expanding. One of the tricks that China does to get support in African countries is to bribe and corrupt the regime officials. It is hard to influence Chinese companies since they are interested in the power of China. The best options we need to look at is support democratic movement in Africa and expose China’s work of internet censorship, providing military weapons, pillaging the natural resources of Africa. Please read How China's taking over Africa and why the West should be very worried
http://www.ethiomedia.com/all/6228.html

[indiex]

the american liberals' fixation for darfur is amazing, considering the way western powers have ravaged africa for oil and minerals. the french govt has recently been indicted for its role in rwanda. there is a big fight going on, within africa, among usa/europe/china to gain control over natural resources. the liberals should first look and fight within rather than making noise elsewhere on behalf of the interests of american capital. i wonder how active these american sports and media personalities are in the anti-war movement.

[chinationreport]

http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/congo.htm
The ongoing civil war in the Congo (formerly Zaire) is a prime example of the devastating legacy of U.S. arms sales policy on Africa. The U.S. prolonged the rule of Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Soko by providing more than $300 million in weapons, $100 million in military training. Mobutu used his U.S.-supplied arsenal to repress his people and plunder his nation"s economy for three decades, until his brutal regime was overthrown by Laurent Kabila"s forces in 1997. When Kabila took power, the Clinton administration quickly offered military support by developing a plan for new training operations with armed forces.
Decades of U.S. weapons transfers and continued military training to both sides of the conflict have helped fuel the fighting in Africa. The U.S. has helped build the arsenals of eight of the nine governments directly involved in the war that has ravaged the DRC since Kabila"s coup. U.S. military transfers in the form of direct weapons deliveries, commercial sales, and International Military Education and Training (IMET) to the states directly involved have totaled more than $125 million ...
I wonder why China did not call the world to boycott LA Olymics or Atlanta Olympics?
Mrs. Farrow, clean your own backyard before sticking your nose into your neighbor's house!! Who do you think you are to judge? Study history of Africa and China first!

http://www.chinationreport.com/ for balanced views on China

[chinationreport]

http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/congo.htm
The ongoing civil war in the Congo (formerly Zaire) is a prime example of the devastating legacy of U.S. arms sales policy on Africa. The U.S. prolonged the rule of Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Soko by providing more than $300 million in weapons, $100 million in military training. Mobutu used his U.S.-supplied arsenal to repress his people and plunder his nation’s economy for three decades, until his brutal regime was overthrown by Laurent Kabila’s forces in 1997. When Kabila took power, the Clinton administration quickly offered military support by developing a plan for new training operations with armed forces.
Decades of U.S. weapons transfers and continued military training to both sides of the conflict have helped fuel the fighting in Africa. The U.S. has helped build the arsenals of eight of the nine governments directly involved in the war that has ravaged the DRC since Kabila’s coup. U.S. military transfers in the form of direct weapons deliveries, commercial sales, and International Military Education and Training (IMET) to the states directly involved have totaled more than $125 million ...
I wonder why China did not call the world to boycott LA Olymics or Atlanta Olympics?
Mrs. Farrow, clean your own backyard before sticking your nose into your neighbor's house!! Who do you think you are to judge? Study history of Africa and China first!

www.chinationreport.com for balanced view on China

[southafrica4obama]

waste of time and money. Target the US government too

[allonfla]

I will watch it too. I will not be watching the Beijing Olympics at all.

[writerjohnny]

Here's a thought... Maybe some of those extremely wealthy liberals will spring for a mercenary army(the anti-haliburton if you will) that will go into Sudan and kick some ass and any shipment coming from China(be it money or arms) will be intercepted at the border and if the Chinese don't like it let them make a move. Seriously, for every Saddam there are 1000 guys in the Sudan who need to be neutralized NOW! Let's quit playing patsy with the real bad guys. If somebdoy with money calls for recruits to do that work there will be thousands willing to fight and/or die in that cause. I'll be first in line. Ms. Farrow is awesome but she needs more than attention to stop the human garbage raping, killing and maiming civilians in Dafur. If this isn't a fight worth fighting we're all just as guilty. Remember the Lincoln brigades in Spain and the Flying Tigers in China. We don't have to wait for the current administration or the next. Let's just do it.

[thewhitewitch]

i WiLL BE WATCHiNG. Mia is a brave woman, repeatedly risking her own life to try to help right this horrific, embarrassing wrong. What is taking America so long to tend to this emergency and why are we supporting China by participating in their Olympics?

[sometimeshere]

Mia, I'll be watching; thank you.