Ivory for Arms
Posted April 26, 2008 by Colleen
It was in the news this week thatZimbabwe may have sold more than 8 tons of
illegal ivory to China
“The Zimbabwean heard that the cash-strapped military junta had on April 1 flown toChina
ivory worth US$1 million as part payment for 77 tons of weapons, that have been
shipped from Beijing
The Geneva-based secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to whichZimbabwe
Given a couple of articles I posted about a few months ago, it seems clear that the state of things for elephants and wildlife inZimbabwe
Meanwhile, as the post-election political crisis in that country rages on,China was
denied permission to offload its weapons at the Durban port in South Africa
See article. Chinese arms to come by air
“Zimbabwe
To read more on theZimbabwe
Back to weapons and ivory in Africa. Many people read this shocking Newsweek piece from March 1, 2008, Endangered animals are the new blood diamonds as militias and warlords use poaching to fund death, and learned that the militias credited with much of the violence in the Sudan have moved into ivory poaching to sustain their operations.
China is the
largest market for illegal ivory, with the United States
The other recent(China
and weapons to Africa) story is about the Sudan
“A lethal cycle has developed whereSudan sells China
large quantities of oil and then turns around and uses the income from its oil
sales to purchase weapons from China Darfur suffer the consequences
as the arms are turned against them, resulting in more death, displacement and
destruction.”
So, in this vicious circle, the weapons fuel the violence and death inSudan
And just as the average oblivious consumer could be said to be at the root of the warmongering by the U.S. (in the Middle-East) and China (in the Sudan) over oil, now we find out that in the Congo, we help fuel the terrible violence, death of millions of people, probably the worst war against women in history, child labour, and the ongoing carnage against wildlife through buying our everyday gadgets like laptops, dvds, cellphones and playstations. Click link below "how our gadgets" for more on that topic. Well, at least this time I bought a refurbished laptop.
Related Articles
From the BBC dated April 28, 2008,
Congolese saw U.N. peacekeepers arming militias, refuting U.N. probe findings (read more)
an excerpt: "Peacekeepers from Pakistan and India smuggled gold and ivory — and gave arms to militias fighting in eastern Congo in return, the British Broadcasting Corp. alleged Monday, saying it had new witness accounts refuting U.N. claims that no weapons transfers had taken place."
From the Telegraph
May 2, 2008, Poachers in Congo Slaughter 14 Elephants
From Ending Charcoal Blog
May 1, 2008, Sunday's Elephant Poachers
April, 29, 2008, SOS: 14 Elephants killed in Virunga (click here)
How our gadgets cause death in the Congo
Militias and warlords use poaching of endangered species to fund death
Remarks by Stephen Lewis published in Pambazuka News - Congo's rape and sexual violence: UN's delinquency
Stephen Lewis Foundation site
It was in the news this week that
“The Zimbabwean heard that the cash-strapped military junta had on April 1 flown to
The Geneva-based secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which
Given a couple of articles I posted about a few months ago, it seems clear that the state of things for elephants and wildlife in
Meanwhile, as the post-election political crisis in that country rages on,
See article. Chinese arms to come by air
To read more on the
Back to weapons and ivory in Africa. Many people read this shocking Newsweek piece from March 1, 2008, Endangered animals are the new blood diamonds as militias and warlords use poaching to fund death, and learned that the militias credited with much of the violence in the Sudan have moved into ivory poaching to sustain their operations.
The other recent
“A lethal cycle has developed where
So, in this vicious circle, the weapons fuel the violence and death in
And just as the average oblivious consumer could be said to be at the root of the warmongering by the U.S. (in the Middle-East) and China (in the Sudan) over oil, now we find out that in the Congo, we help fuel the terrible violence, death of millions of people, probably the worst war against women in history, child labour, and the ongoing carnage against wildlife through buying our everyday gadgets like laptops, dvds, cellphones and playstations. Click link below "how our gadgets" for more on that topic. Well, at least this time I bought a refurbished laptop.
Related Articles
From the BBC dated April 28, 2008,
Congolese saw U.N. peacekeepers arming militias, refuting U.N. probe findings (read more)
an excerpt: "Peacekeepers from Pakistan and India smuggled gold and ivory — and gave arms to militias fighting in eastern Congo in return, the British Broadcasting Corp. alleged Monday, saying it had new witness accounts refuting U.N. claims that no weapons transfers had taken place."
From the Telegraph
May 2, 2008, Poachers in Congo Slaughter 14 Elephants
From Ending Charcoal Blog
May 1, 2008, Sunday's Elephant Poachers
April, 29, 2008, SOS: 14 Elephants killed in Virunga (click here)
How our gadgets cause death in the Congo
Militias and warlords use poaching of endangered species to fund death
Remarks by Stephen Lewis published in Pambazuka News - Congo's rape and sexual violence: UN's delinquency
Stephen Lewis Foundation site
Interesting that China thinks interfering here by selling arms is a PR move worth taking. Maybe thinking that while the world is busy fussing over Tibet and the Olympic torch relay, this little arms for ivory thing will be overlooked? Shameful.
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