Olympic Dream for Darfur is an organization and campaign to pressure the

Government of the People's Republic of China The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mili ...

to intervene on the side of civilians in the

Darfur conflict The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups be ...

. It claims that the Chinese government has the requisite influence to pressure the Sudanese government to accept international police into its country, although China disputes this. The methods of the campaign are alternative torch relays and boycotts intended to disrupt the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Goals

The Olympic Dream for Darfur is based in New York and headed by Hollywood actress and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...

. The organization was founded by Farrow, Sudan expert

Eric Reeves Eric Reeves (born 1950) is an American academic who is professor ''emeritus'' of English Language and Literature at Smith College in Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the Rive ...

, and campaign director Jill Savitt. The goals of the campaign and organization are the new deployment of an African Union and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

peace force, and the disarmament of

Janjaweed The Janjaweed ( ar, جنجويد, Janjawīd, lit=mounted gunman; also transliterated ''Janjawid'') are a Sudanese Arab militia group that operate in Sudan, particularly Darfur, and eastern Chad. Using the United Nations definition, the Janjaweed ...

militias. Olympic Dream for Darfur says that because China supplies oil and arms to Darfur and has extensive economic interests there, that China could influence the Sudanese government to accept an international police force to halt violence in Darfur. The Chinese government's position is that the Darfur problem is very important to China; that China is making real efforts to bring the Sudanese government and the international community together to resolve the issue; that drawing a connection between Darfur and China, and drawing a connection between Darfur and the Olympics, do not help to resolve the issue; and that the actions of the campaign are contrary to the Olympic spirit and a violation of the principle of non-politicisation of the Olympic Games.

Methods

Olympic Dream for Darfur organizes torch relays to sway public opinion towards pressuring China to use its influence in the Darfur conflict. In May 2008, Olympic Dream for Darfur lead an unofficial torch relay in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

at the same time as the official Olympic torch relay. Hollywood actress and Dream for Darfur chairwoman

delivered a speech calling on world leaders to boycott the

2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the ''Bird's Nest''. It began at 20:00 China Standard Time ( UTC+08:00) on Friday, 8 August 2008, as the number 8 is considered to be auspicious. ...

and criticizing the corporate sponsors of the Olympics for not pressuring China on Darfur. A

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

spokesperson responded by pledging $5 million for assistance in Darfur. In addition to Hong Kong, she has staged torch relays in Rwanda, Germany,

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

and

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

. An alternative torch relay in the United States was staged by Dream for Darfur with the Save Darfur Coalition and STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition.

External links

Official website

References

{{reflist War in Darfur Human rights organizations based in the United States Darfur

Goals

Methods

See also

External links

References