China-Based I.T. Attacks Reported to FBI, Save Darfur Denounces Efforts to Disrupt Coalition Advocacy

Fowler: Someone in Beijing is clearly trying to send us a message, but they’re mistaken if they think these attacks will end efforts to bring peace to Darfur.

WASHINGTON – The Save Darfur Coalition met this week with special agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations to report increasing I.T. attacks on coalition systems – attacks which appear to originate in China and primarily target and probe the coalition’s aggressive China advocacy efforts to bring peace and security to Darfur. As the coalition’s China advocacy campaign has intensified, officials have noticed increasingly sophisticated and subversive attempts to intercept emails and infect computers with malicious programs. During the meeting with FBI officials, the coalition provided technical information and offered a detailed account of the recent attacks.

“This year has not been a good one for Beijing,” said coalition president Jerry Fowler. “The closer we are to the Olympics, the more scrutiny is applied to China’s obstructive role on Darfur and their overactive attempts to deflect pressure. By attacking our computer systems, someone in Beijing is clearly trying to send us a message. But they’re mistaken if they think these attacks will end efforts to bring peace and security to Darfur. This is our message to them: stop the violence and suffering in Darfur by ending Khartoum’s defiance.”

The intrusions were first documented when Save Darfur staff members noticed e-mail messages that appeared to have been read by a third party. Further inspection revealed several other sophisticated attacks, which appeared to originate in China and seemed intent on subversively monitoring, probing and disrupting coalition activities. Officials have conducted a full review of their I.T. networks and have also implemented new security measures. These efforts are intended to maximize the security mechanisms in place and thereby protect the coalition’s advocacy campaigns.

With the Darfur crisis entering its sixth year, advocates say there are clear steps Beijing must take to help bring an end to the violence and suffering in Darfur, including supporting punitive measures against individuals in the Sudanese government, rebel groups and militias who obstruct peacekeeper deployment to Darfur or foment regional instability.

Citing continued insecurity in the region, along with heightened Sudanese obstruction to the UNAMID peacekeeping force, activists have urged China – as Sudan’s chief diplomatic sponsor, major weapons provider, and largest foreign investor and trade partner – to use its unique position to lead the world in bringing peace and security to the Darfuri people.

Darfur advocates noted that China’s high-profile media efforts to portray itself as a responsible player in the effort to resolve the Darfur conflict have told only part of the story. While the passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1769 authorizing a hybrid peacekeeping mission to Darfur did occur during China’s presidency of the U.N. Security Council, reports indicate that China also worked to weaken the terms of the resolution. Additionally, Sino-Sudanese trade more than doubled in the first half of 2007, and recent reports suggest weapons from China are still being used against the people of Darfur.