An international boycott of the upcoming Olympic Games in China is "one of the best options" to pressurise that country into addressing the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, according to an award-winning Sudanese human rights lawyer.
Salih Osman, an opposition member of the Sudanese parliament who was awarded the European Parliament's 2007 Sakharov prize for freedom of thought for his work defending victims of human rights abuses, also acknowledged the risk posed to UN troops in the region, including Defence Forces personnel.
However, he said their presence was necessary for humanitarian reasons.
Mr Osman, who met President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin yesterday and also Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea and a number of NGOs, said he personally supported a boycott of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
While it was up to governments to decide how to act, he remarked: "Be very clear about it . . . the boycott is justified. It is not politics, it's about human suffering."
On troop safety, Mr Osman said the Government had taken the "right decision at the right moment, when the issue is always about human suffering. When you send troops to areas of conflict, you cannot exclude a risk always, but what type of risk, that is an important question".
"If you are there to protect lives, it is only natural that to protect lives, you have to use power when there is imminent danger to the lives of the targeted people.