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March 31, 2008 |
UN Urged to Pressure Sudan on Darfur War Crimes Suspects | |
London 31 March 2008 |
Ahmad Harun |
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the two men almost a year ago.
Nick Donovan heads the Darfur campaign at the Aegis Trust, a Britain-based non-governmental organization focused on the prevention of genocide. Donovan tells VOA the United Nations has several options available.
"The U.N. Security Council can take some concrete steps such as imposing targeted sanctions like freezing the bank accounts of those who are protecting Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, the two suspects," Donovan said. "In this way they can put pressure on those who are refusing to hand them over to the International Criminal Court."
But the spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in London, Khalid al Mubarak, dismisses the letter as part of a campaign to demonize Sudan. He tells VOA the suspects will not be handed over to the ICC.
"The International Criminal Court is itself controversial and highly discredited; for one reason, which is this that many countries including the United States are exempted from the rules relevant to the International Criminal Court," Mubarak said. "Over and above that, Sudan is not party to it, it has not ratified anything relevant to it."
Mubarak says Sudan's judiciary is quite capable of trying its own accused.
He says that some people accused of human rights abuses in Darfur have been tried in Sudan and received heavy sentences. He says Kushayb and Harun are not up for trial because there is no evidence against them. He also dismisses the evidence that led to their ICC indictment as vague reports and accusations by people who are not credible.
Sudan Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmad Muhammad Harun was state interior minister at the height of the Darfur conflict. He is accused of helping to recruit Janjaweed militias and contributing to the commission of crimes against humanity. Ali Kushayb, was a senior militia leader.
It is estimated more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes since the conflict in Darfur began in 2003, when southern rebels launched an attack against a government garrison. The government responded with a harsh crackdown, using regular troops and Janjaweed militias.
Among those who have signed the letter to the Security Council are Carla del Ponte and Richard Goldstone, former Chief Prosecutors for the ICC tribunals for Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, Salih Mahmoud Osman, Darfuri winner of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize and members of the Darfur Bar Association.
Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:25pm GMT
By Paul-Marin NgoupanaBANGUI, March 28 (Reuters) - Gunmen are holding 55 children captured in raids on villages in Central African Republic, the United Nations said on Friday, weeks after attacks that local authorities blamed on Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army.
A team of U.N. investigators which visited the remote area around Obo in the country's southeast concluded that local authorities were powerless to protect the population from the fighters, who also still hold 50 abducted adults.
Some 300 armed men attacked the four villages between between Feb. 19 and March 10, abducting more than 150 people. They were tied with ropes at the hips and forced to carry away stolen food and supplies.
Local authorities said the fighters were from the Ugandan rebel group, which became notorious for abducting children to become sex slaves or child soldiers during its 21-year war.
Nearly 40 people have been released by the fighters, many of the women reporting they had been gang-raped. Over 50 adults remain in captivity and none of the 55 abducted children have been released, a U.N. spokeswoman said.
"We were unable to identify who the perpetrators were, partly because several armed groups with similar modus operandi are present in the area," said Elizabeth Byrs, of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affaires in Geneva.
"These acts of indiscriminate violence hitting innocent men women and children are extremely worrying and a grave violation of human rights," she said.
Uganda's government said last week that LRA leader Joseph Kony had moved at least some of his forces to Central African Republic, undermining hopes he will sign a peace deal with Kampala by a March 28 deadline.
An LRA spokesman has insisted Kony will sign, although the date might slip to early April.
In return for peace, Uganda will ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to drop arrest warrants for Kony and two of his deputies.
Central African Republic's north has increasingly fallen prey to bandits and armed groups in recent years as President Francois Bozize's government has battled rebel factions and the spillover from the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.
The recent attacks in the south, however, represent a spread of regional insecurity from a different source.
The LRA usually operates in northern Uganda, southern Sudan and northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, where Kony is believed to be hiding.
The United Nations estimates 1 million people in Central African Republic have been affected by conflict -- or roughly a third of the population -- of whom 100,000 fled into neighbouring countries and 197,000 are internally displaced.
A U.N. appeal for $96 million this year from the international community to tackle the rising insecurity has so far received only $39 million. (Reporting by Daniel Flynn in Dakar and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; editing by Alistair Thomson)
March 30, 2008 |
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Saturday offered to provide up to nine military officers for the planned peace force for Darfur as he slammed Khartoum's lack of cooperation.
Speaking to reporters after a one-hour meeting with UN chief Ban Ki-moon here, he said he informed his host that Canberra would make available up to nine military officers to the joint UN-African Union force known as UNAMID.
"The government of Sudan generally has not welcomed any more substantial military commitments from Western powers," he noted. "I regard that as unfortunate but that is the reality."
Rudd also pledged an additional five million dollars in humanitarian assistance to the people of Darfur.
And he expressed to Ban "our concern and frustration together with that of other states about the continued obstruction ... by the government of Sudan."
Calling the festering conflict in Sudan's western region "a continuing humanitarian tragedy," he stressed that "the international community has a responsibility to act."
"Our government is of the view that these matters soon need to be brought back to the UN Security Council so that the government of Sudan can be held properly to account for its continuing obstruction."
Khartoum has been accused by Western powers of dragging its feet on allowing the full deployment of UNAMID which is tasked with providing assistance and protection for beleaguered Darfur civilians.
When fully deployed, UNAMID is to become the UN's largest peacekeeping operation with 20,000 troops and 6,000 police and civilian personnel.
But only around 9,000 troops and police are currently in place.
An estimated 200,000 people have died in Darfur from the combined effects of war, famine and diseases since 2003 and more than two million have been displaced, but the Khartoum government refutes these figures and puts the death toll at 9,000.
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Copyright © 2008 AFP.
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Rebel fighters attacked villages in the Central African Republic, raping women and taking 150 hostages, including 55 children, UN officials here and in Bangui said Friday.
A UN investigation into attacks on four CAR villages between February 9 and March 10 found that men and women were tied at the hips with rope and forced to march from their homes carrying stolen food and supplies.
All 55 of the kidnapped children, many of them younger than 15, are still missing, although close to 40 adults have been released, the officials said.
An unofficial UN report issued in Bangui earlier Friday said that the atrocities "bear all the hallmarks of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)," a notorious rebel movement in neighbouring Uganda.
"In as much as we can confirm that the attacks actually took place, we were unable to identify who the perpetrators were, partly because of the fact that several armed groups with similar modus operandi are present in the region," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement Friday.
OCHA said that eyewitnesses and victims told the UN team that some 300 armed men had attacked the villages of Bambouti, Gbassigbiri, Ligoua and Obob, along the Central African Republic's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
"These acts of indiscriminate violence, hitting innocent men, women and young children, are extremely worrying and a grave violation of human rights,' the office said.
The CAR government has confirmed that fighters entered the country, although it was unable to positively confirm they were LRA. Uganda has said it has "reliable information" the fighters were from the LRA.
LRA chief Joseph Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In late February, Uganda said it had signed an accord with the LRA which would see the armed militia group disarm, demobilize and be reintegrated into society.
This would be the last step before a formal peace accord scheduled for April, although it has not been signed by Kony.
The region where the attacks took place, which has a population of some 60,000, is relatively peaceful compared with the north of CAR, where conflicts have created 300,000 refugees.
However, it is still lawless and afflicted by roaming armed groups, including heavily-armed Sudanese poachers.
Published by AFP
"A service upon which millions of people depend should not have to fear for its future every month,"
"The WFP's air link carries some 8,000 aid workers from 160 organisations to, from and within Darfur each month...The agencies -- which include CARE Sudan, Catholic Relief Services and Oxfam International -- said that they rely on the WFP's air service to help them deliver aid to "many of the most inaccessible, insecure and poverty-stricken areas of Sudan".
In Darfur alone, the aid groups jointly assist more than 2 million people in areas currently only accessible by air, as roads are too insecure, according to the statement.
Hollywood stars help sustain Darfur aid flights - WFP
Fri 28 Mar 2008, 15:28 GMT
GENEVA (Reuters) - Money from Europe and a charity co-founded by Hollywood actors George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle will help maintain humanitarian flights in Darfur through April, the United Nations said on Friday.
The $6 million donated by Ireland, the European Union and the Clooney-backed Not On Our Watch will allow the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) to hire helicopters and aircraft to ferry aid workers to Sudan's war-torn region for 30 days.
The WFP's air link carries some 8,000 aid workers from 160 organisations to, from and within Darfur each month, WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume said.
"We have received some funds which will allow us to maintain the flights for the month of April," she told a news briefing but added the reprieve is only short term as a further $71 million is needed to operate the service for the rest of 2008.
"It is vital to maintain the service especially at a time when insecurity reigns," she said.
The western Sudanese region of Darfur is the site of the world's largest aid operation. International experts estimate five years of conflict have killed 200,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes.
Aid workers are increasingly at risk in Darfur where rebel groups and militias have split into factions, some of them merely bandits without political agendas who prey on civilians for their own survival.
Bandits killed three WFP truck drivers in separate attacks earlier this month in Darfur and south Sudan.
Securing long-term funding for humanitarian flights in Sudan is essential, 14 international aid agencies said in a joint statement issued on Friday.
The agencies -- which include CARE Sudan, Catholic Relief Services and Oxfam International -- said that they rely on the WFP's air service to help them deliver aid to "many of the most inaccessible, insecure and poverty-stricken areas of Sudan".
In Darfur alone, the aid groups jointly assist more than 2 million people in areas currently only accessible by air, as roads are too insecure, according to the statement.
"A service upon which millions of people depend should not have to fear for its future every month," it said.
VISIT WWW.WFP.ORG
Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved.
March 29, 2008 |
Mar 29, 2008, 20:59 GMT
German chancellor Angela Merkel will not attend the upcoming Summer Beijing Olympics.
Ms. Merkel became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics in Beijing.
The Guardian (UK) reports that the EU leaders will discuss the Tibet-China crisis for the first time today, in their efforts to decide whether to boycott the Olympics.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France is rumored to side with Merkel in defiance of the British PM Gordon Brown's attending of the Olympics.
Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk and President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic will travel to Beijing, according to the Guardian.
"The presence of politicians at the inauguration of the Olympics seems inappropriate," Tusk said. "I do not intend to take part."
Brown is to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader when he visits Britain in May, but is determined to be in Beijing.
China is bristling under Western media exposing their one-party political system, human rights abuses, treatment of the mentally ill and minorities and state controlled media. The additional embarrassment of Steven Spielberg pulling out as artistic director of the Olympic games over their Darfur connections also is a sore point.
March 28, 2008 |
On a morning in mid-February, the four staff members of Dream for Darfur sat in silence in what they call their war room, contemplating posters of Beibei the Fish and her four fellow Olympic mascots taped to the walls. In this cramped office in a shared space on the 16th floor of a downtown Manhattan Art Deco building, Beibei smiled welcomingly, as did Jingjing the giant panda, Huanhuan the red Olympic flame, Nini the green swallow and Yingying the horned orange Tibetan antelope: anime-style drawings that regardless of name appear strikingly the same, Medusa hair fused on teddy-bear faces with little-girl expressions. Once the Summer Games begin in Beijing on Aug. 8, Chinese Olympic officials plan to sell millions of the mirthful mascots; the Chinese government has planted them everywhere in the country, hanging like religious icons from the rearview mirrors of Beijing taxis, greeting guests as stuffed toys atop hotel check-in desks and buzzing above city skylines on huge billboards like hovering fairies.
>> more >>
Ahmed Haroun holds ministerial responsibility for Sudan's National Mine Action Office, so I guess he is the humanitarian affairs minister referred to here. He is also wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity. Khartoum throws us a crumb (what's new) but we'll take it.
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Sudan to destroy anti-personnel landmines in Juba
Thursday 27 March 2008. Sudan Tribune
March 26, 2008 (KHARTOUM) -- The National Mine Action Centre said it will destroy next Monday in Juba some 4,997 antipersonnel landmines, as part of Sudan’s commitment toward the Ottawa Treaty, or the Mine Ban Treaty, which was ratified by Sudan in 2003.
Director of the National Mine Action Center, Col. Al-Awad Al-Bashir, said Sudan has destroyed the first 4,488 of its stockpiled antipersonnel Mines on 30 April 2007 in El-Silait area, Khartoum North.
Al-Awad said Sudan's move comes as part of its commitment to Ottawa Treaty which stipulates the destruction of stockpiled antipersonnel mines by the member states after 4 years of implementation of the Treaty.
He pointed out that Sudan has fulfilled its commitment to the agreement before the date stipulated by the treaty, the official SUNA reported.
He further said that the destruction of mines will be celebrated in Juba in presence of a number of federal and state ministers, including the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, as well as the UN's agencies working in domains of Mines.
(ST)
This is a coalition of Muslim groups speaking out on Darfur for the first time to tie in with the Arab League summit. It's pretty strong language including condemning the Govt of Sudan of blocking UN deployment.
The coalition, comprising over twenty Muslim groups, includes many international and national organisations such as human rights groups like Friends of Al-Aqsa and the Islamic Human Rights Commission; aid agencies including Muslim Aid and Islamic Aid and other Islamic groups from countries as diverse as Britain, Pakistan, Germany, Malaysia, Canada, Iran, Turkey, the US, Australia and Bahrain.
In the open letter the groups criticise the lack of attention paid to the crisis so far saying, “The crisis has cost the lives of at least 200,000 Muslims yet has not yet captured the attention of the Muslim world in the way that it should.”
The letter accuses the Sudanese Government of blocking the full deployment of the UN peacekeeping force by placing “many obstacles in its path” and urges the Arab League to, “call for an end to the obstructions on the deployment and call on those countries which have the capability to offer their own resources and manpower to support this for the protection of civilians.”
The letter also calls on the Arab League to “contribute much more to the humanitarian operation” and to “put pressure on all sides to engage honestly in the talks and encourage all sides to show flexibility.”
In the wake of increasing attacks in the past month, particularly in West Darfur, the letter also calls for the Arab League to speak out against the violence; “President Bashir has said he would consider a ceasefire but we also know that many such ceasefires have been broken in the past. The Arab League as well as calling for a ceasefire should speak out against anyone, government or rebels who breaks it.”
For more details and interviews please contact:
English:
- Brendan Cox, Crisis Action on + 44 20 7269 9450 or + 44 7957 120 853
- Seyfeddin Kara, Islamic Human Rights Commission on + 44 20 8904 4222
Arabic
- Nadim Hasbani, + 324 8533 6372
Interviewees:
- Arzu Merali, Head of Research, Islamic Human Rights Commission, English only
- Adam Tordjok, Darfuri Imam, English and Arabic
- Ishag Mekki, Darfuri Refugee, English and Arabic
The full copy of the letter with signatories is below:
Dear Secretary General,
We write as fellow Muslims from around the world to ask you to pay urgent attention to the crisis in Darfur.
The crisis has costs the lives of at least 200,000 Muslims yet has not yet captured the attention of the Muslim world in the way that it should.
There are many ways the Arab League can discharge its responsibility to help, specifically:
1) The Arab League can contribute much more to the humanitarian operation in Darfur that is keeping 3.5 million people alive in a member state of the Arab League.
2) The Sudanese Government has agreed to the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force but since that agreement has placed many obstacles in its path. As a result of this and the failure to contribute enough troops and resources, so far very few peacekeepers have been deployed and only a few Arab countries have offered substantial support. We urge the Arab League to call for an end to the obstructions on the deployment and call on those countries which have the capability to offer their own resources and manpower to support this for the protection of civilians.
3) While peacekeepers are essential it will take time to deploy them fully. To halt the killings now the Arab League can demand an immediate ceasefire from all sides. President Bashir has said he would consider a ceasefire but we also know that many such ceasefires have been broken in the past. The Arab League as well as calling for a ceasefire should speak out against anyone, government or rebels who breaks it. We are sure you agree that the killings must come to an end now.
4) Finally, while all of these steps are essential none of them is sustainable unless there is an inclusive and genuine peace process. Whilst the Arab League can not ensure this happens but they can put pressure on all sides to engage honestly in the talks and encourage all sides to show flexibility.
The suffering in Darfur is on a scale few of us can imagine. It is the duty of all of us, from whatever background, wherever we are, to do what we can to alleviate it, and we urge the Arab League to show good leadership in this.
We understand the concern that discussions around Darfur suggest external interference in the workings of a member state. However, recognising the gravity of the situation, it becomes incumbent on organisations like the Arab League to find a viable solution, as it is quite clear that Sudan itself needs outside support.
It is now time to speak with one voice, to help the needy, protect the weak, stop the killings and build a new peace.
Signed:
Friends of Al-Aqsa
Crescent International
Islamic Aid
Islamic Human Rights Commission
Muslim Aid
Muslim Council of Britain
Muslim Association of Britain
Federation of Student Islamic Societies
Woman's Rights Association Against Discrimination (Turkey)
Organization of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People
(Turkey)
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils
Citizens International (Malaysia)
Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (Iran)
Arakan Rohingya (Germany)
Sufi Muslim Council
Muslim Bar Association of New York
Minhaj ul Quran International (Pakistan)
Minaret
British Muslim Forum
Jamiat Ahle Sunnat
Muslim Global Relief
Helping Hands
Faith Matters
Crescent Life
Muslim Canadian Congress
New York Times - United States
But human rights advocates have linked the Olympics with violence in the Darfur region of Sudan and have accused Mr. Bush of giving his imprimatur to a >> more >>
Wolf has said any American seen cheering in the Beijing stadiums "will go down in history as cooperating in the 'genocide Olympics' of 2008 >>more >>
...laying out an aggressive military solution for Darfur. However his proposal not only would decidedly NOT save Darfur, it would place aid workers in peril and jeopardize humanitarian operations-the only infrastructure in place now sustaining more than 4 million fragile lives. A non-consensual military response cannot possibly use bombers and missiles. Darfur is not a video game. Any plan of action must put the security of civilians and humanitarians first. This means a fully able peacekeeping force on the ground. The aggressive measures contemplated by Helperin do not factor in the safety of civilians and aid workers or Khartoums retaliations that would certainly follow. The Janjaweed could be loosed on the camps. Aid organizations have always known that the killing of even one dozen expatriate humanitarian workers would signal the withdrawal of the rest. All would be expelled with the first bomb in any case...
And who would provide the military equipment for such an attack, let alone the immediate deployment of ground troops in their wake?
Mr Heplerin's piece may read well on paper but it is dangerously ill informed.
AHN - USA
However, the Sudanese military denied all the charges stated in the report issued by the Human Rights and the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (Unamid), >> more >>
Miami Herald, Sat, Mar. 22, 2008
The following statement was written by Václav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic; André Glucksmann, a French philosopher; Yohei Sasakawa, a Japanese philanthropist; El Hassan Bin Talal, president of the Arab Thought Forum and president emeritus of the World Conference of Religions for Peace; Frederik Willem de Klerk, former president of South Africa; and Karel Schwarzenberg, foreign minister of the Czech Republic.
PRAGUE -- The recent events in Tibet and adjoining provinces are causes for deep concern. Indeed, the dispersal of a peaceful protest march organized by Tibetan monks, which led to a wave of unrest that was brutally suppressed by the Chinese military and police, has caused indignation all over the democratic world.
The reaction of the Chinese authorities to the Tibetan protests evokes echoes of the totalitarian practices that many of us remember from the days before communism in Central and Eastern Europe collapsed in 1989:
harsh censorship of the domestic media, blackouts of reporting by foreign media from China, refusal of visas to foreign journalists, and blaming the unrest on the ''Dalai Lama's conspiratorial clique'' and other unspecified dark forces supposedly manipulated from abroad.
Indeed, the language used by some Chinese government representatives and the official Chinese media is a reminder of the worst of times during the Stalinist and Maoist eras. But the most dangerous development of this unfortunate situation is the current attempt to seal off Tibet from the rest of the world.
Even as we write, it is clear that China's rulers are trying to reassure the world that peace, quiet and ''harmony'' have again prevailed in Tibet. We all know this kind of peace from what has happened in the past in Burma, Cuba, Belarus and a few other countries -- it is called the peace of the graveyard.
Merely urging the Chinese government to exercise the ''utmost restraint'' in dealing with the Tibetan people, as governments around the world are doing, is far too weak a response. The international community -- beginning with the United Nations and followed by the European Union, ASEAN and other international organizations and individual countries -- should use every means possible to:
• Step up pressure on the Chinese government to allow foreign media, as well as international fact-finding missions, into Tibet and adjoining provinces in order to enable objective investigations of what has been happening.
• Release all those who only peacefully exercised their internationally guaranteed human rights, and guarantee that no one is subjected to torture and unfair trials.
• Enter into a meaningful dialogue with the representatives of the Tibetan people.
Unless these conditions are fulfilled, the International Olympic Committee should seriously reconsider whether holding this summer's Olympic Games in a country that includes a peaceful graveyard remains a good idea.
©2008 Project Syndicate
March 21, 2008 |
Tibet Adds Pressure for Olympic Sponsors
By JOE McDONALD, The Associated Press, Wednesday, March 19, 2008; 4:23 PM
BEIJING -- McDonald's, Coca-Cola and other sponsors paid tens of millions of dollars to link their names with the Beijing Olympics. Now they're trying to mollify activists pressing for change on Tibet, Darfur and other issues, without angering China.
They have expressed concern over Tibet. Some talk privately to Beijing organizers. Samsung Electronics Co. called off a Beijing news conference scheduled for Friday on the torch relay. But sponsors insist they should stay out of politics.
"We all have to be careful about how we talk about this," said Chris Renner, president for China of sports marketing consulting firm Helios Partners. Its clients include sponsors Volkswagen AG, computer maker Lenovo Group and mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd.
The Olympics almost always attract activists interested in leveraging the popular event to publicize their causes.
At the 1996 Atlanta Games, sponsors faced boycott calls after a county where the beach volleyball event was to be held enacted a measure deemed anti-gay. In Sydney in 2000, there were protests about the environment and Australian aboriginal rights.
But the Beijing Games have generated more heat, in part because of an array of activist groups long critical of China's policies _ and newer ones focused on its economic and diplomatic clout.
"Everybody knows we're pretty much on the biggest platform you can pick," Renner said.
Sponsors were already on the lookout for controversy over Sudan, a diplomatic partner and Chinese oil supplier, as well as press freedom, human rights and Tibet.
After protests last week by Tibetans against Chinese rule -- and Beijing's crackdown -- sponsors said they were watching events closely.
A few have turned to public relations specialists for advice, said a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Coca-Cola Co., Lenovo, McDonald's Corp. and others said this week they plan no changes in strategy.
Likely to face immediate pressure could be Lenovo, Coca-Cola and Samsung, the three sponsors of the Olympic torch relay. The worldwide trek begins this month and will pass through Tibet and up Mount Everest.
Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee, or BOCOG, vowed Wednesday that the anti-government riots in Tibet last week and a subsequent crackdown by authorities would not disrupt plans for the torch relay.
"We know the incidents are the last thing we want to see, but we firmly believe that the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region will be able ensure the stability of Lhasa and Tibet, and also be able to ensure the smooth going of the torch relay in Tibet," Jiang told reporters.
Abroad, Tibet activists say they will protest along the torch route in India, Britain and elsewhere to highlight complaints that Beijing is degrading the Himalayan region's distinctive Buddhist culture.
"We have no plans to change any of our activities related to the torch relay," said Christine F. Lau, a Coca-Cola spokeswoman in Beijing.
Samsung said in a statement: "We believe the Olympic Games are not the place for demonstrations and we hope that all people attending the games recognize the importance of this.
"International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said Sunday the body is "very concerned" about Tibet. But the IOC insists it is not in a position to pressure China on political matters.
The Olympics is both a premier advertising platform in the fast-growing China market and a chance for sponsors to build ties with Chinese officials by backing a national prestige event.
The companies are counting on the Olympics to raise their profile in China, increase their market share in the country, and attract local partners, and they want to avoid jeopardizing access by doing anything that might upset communist officials. Licensing in China is highly subjective, and Beijing has retaliated in the past for unwanted foreign actions by canceling contracts or restricting market access.
Sponsor payments and other marketing revenues are expected to cover the games' operating costs, about $2.1 billion _ a figure that does not include spending on venues and public facilities.
Until last week, the sponsors' biggest concern was pressure over Darfur.
Fronted by actress Mia Farrow and employing disciplined public relations strategies, Darfur activists have been prodding sponsors to lobby Beijing to help pressure Sudan to end the conflict.
Director Steven Spielberg withdrew as an artistic adviser to the games after pressure from Farrow, chairwoman of Dream for Darfur, which wants companies to lobby Beijing. It has warned China that it risks having its games remembered as the "genocide Olympics" and is issuing "report cards" to rate sponsors on their Darfur policies.
Dream for Darfur issued a "report card" in June on sponsors and plans to issue an update this month.
"The companies that get a C, D or F on this next report card will be the focus of our intensive activism between now and the games," said Jill Savitt, Dream for Darfur's executive director. She said the group will picket their headquarters and appeal to TV viewers to turn off their commercials during the games.
General Electric Co. scored highest at a C-plus in the earlier report, in part for donating medical equipment and aid to UNICEF, while Savitt said 13 companies got failing grades.
"The violence and brutality committed against the people in the Darfur region is appalling," said Deirdre Latour, a GE spokeswoman, in an e-mail. Still, she said, "It is not GE's role to use the games to influence government policy."
In the top tier of sponsors are 12 companies that reportedly have paid at least $100 million each to become Worldwide Olympic Partners.
Lenovo, the only Chinese company among the 12, took into account possible activism when it made its plans, said Robert J. Page, the company's Olympics public relations manager.
"All of these potential considerations are taken into the planning process," Page said. He declined to comment on violent scenarios, but said, "The potential for people to express their opinions is certainly something we have taken into consideration, and we would work with BOCOG on anticipating."
Lenovo hopes to use the Olympics to establish itself as a global brand following its 2005 acquisition of IBM Corp.'s personal computer unit. Asked whether the company worries about damage to its image, Page said, "That's not a concern at this point."
"There is no question that the Olympic Games are a powerful force for peace," Page said. "We believe that the games will focus on all the good that is being brought to China, and we are proud to support that."
Coca-Cola, Adidas AG and Omega, a unit of Switzerland's Swatch Group, say they have talked privately to Beijing Olympics organizers.
They declined to give details, but a BOCOG employee said sponsors have asked for information on China's position on Darfur and other sensitive issues.
"They have held intimate discussions with our sponsorship department to better understand the issues and how it may affect them," said the employee, who asked not to be identified further because she was not authorized to talk to reporters.
"It's obviously a fine balancing act that every single Olympics encounters," said Michael Payne, a former IOC marketing director who now works as a consultant. "The PR departments of each of the sponsors have got to be sensible in how they respond."
Robert A. Kapp, a former president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said it's possible that popular anger, particularly among Americans concerned with human rights, may become so severe "that some companies may face a very hard decision as to whether their highly visible support of the Olympics is causing so much damage that they need to reconsider their options."
"I could imagine some companies going back to their advertising departments and external PR advisers and seeing whether there are ways in which the company's presence in support of the Olympics can be reviewed with an eye toward these recent and tragic circumstances," Kapp said by telephone from Port Townsend, Wash.
"There may be different ways of presenting messages that would still support the Olympics, (but) would not cause undue anger and disenchantment among the people of China or at the level of the Chinese government," he said.
Associated Press writer Lindsay Holmwood contributed to this story from New York.