Rev. Danny Fisher

Nobel Peace laureates Bishop Carlos Belo, Shirin Ebadi, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Rigoberta Menchu, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, and Betty Williams and Jody Williams, as well as several Olympic athletes and entertainers such as actress/activist Mia Farrow sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday urging the 2008 Summer Olympics host to press his close allies in the Sudanese government to end genocide in the Darfur region of the country.

“As the primary economic, military and political partner of the Government of Sudan, and as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has both the opportunity and the responsibility to contribute to a just peace in Darfur,” said the letter.

“Ongoing failure to rise to this responsibility amounts, in our view, to support for a government that continues to carry out atrocities against its own people,” said the letter, released on a day of events by the Save Darfur Coalition.

[...]

The letter to Hu acknowledged Chinese support for a U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for the deployment of a U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force to Darfur and other diplomatic efforts.

“However, we note with dismay that the Chinese government worked to weaken the resolution before it passed,” it said. The letter said China doubled its trade with Sudan in 2007 and continued its military relationship with the African country.

To find out what you can do to help the people of Darfur, visit the Save Darfur Coalition at http://www.savedarfur.org.

[This post has been updated as of 2.13.08.]

Variety and other news sources are reporting that popular filmmaker Steven Spielberg (director of the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) has pulled out as an artistic advisor for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. In a major public relations coup, the three-time Academy Award winner announced that he made this decision in response to the Chinese government’s lack of action to end genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Spielberg’s worldwide profile could lead others involved in the Games to pull out and even lead sponsors to reconsider their roles in the event.

As the biggest customer for Sudan’s oil, China has been the target of Darfur advocates for the better part of a year, much to the dismay of Chinese officials who have complained that the Games were being politicized.

“I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual,” Spielberg said. “At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies but doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur.”

Spielberg was to join a team led by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, but outside of a visit to Beijing a year ago, he had done little work on the event. He even noted in his statement that he has yet to sign a contract that the Beijing Organizing Committee sent to him a year ago.

“Sudan’s government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these ongoing crimes, but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more to end the continuing suffering there,” Spielberg said in his statement. “China’s economic, military and diplomatic ties to the government of Sudan continue to provide it with the opportunity and obligation to press for change.”

While I can appreciate that some people do not want the Olympic Games politicized, things in Darfur have not gotten better, but rather much worse. People are dying, and even refugees now face the threat of expulsion from safe harbor in nearby Chad. The Chinese government has the ability to change this situation and they’re not doing it. At this point, I think any gesture that might raise awareness and motivate people to do something about the situation is welcome.

Humanitarian groups and others have been critical of Spielberg’s involvement with the Olympics up to now, but I think that with today’s action he’s done the right thing and then some.

Bravo, Mr. Spielberg.

[To find out what you can do to help the people of Darfur, visit the Save Darfur Coalition at http://www.savedarfur.org.]