US urges countries supplying weapons to Sudan's warring parties to stop, warning of a new genocide

"TWO decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations that identify as Central or East African. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.

That legacy appears to have returned, with the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, saying in January there are grounds to believe both sides may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

The RSF were formed from Janjaweed fighters by former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades before being overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s." Read more.

From The Independent UK
By Edith M. Lederer
Dated Tuesday, 30 April 2024 - here is a full copy:

US urges countries supplying weapons to Sudan's warring parties to stop, warning of a new genocide

The United States is imploring all countries supplying weapons to Sudan’s warring parties to halt arms sales, warning that history in the vast western Darfur region where there was a genocide 20 years ago “is repeating itself.”

The United States on Monday implored all countries supplying weapons to Sudan’s warring parties to halt arms sales, warning that history in the vast western Darfur region where there was a genocide 20 years ago “is repeating itself.”

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after an emergency closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council that El Fasher, the only capital in Darfur not held by paramilitary forces, is “on the precipice of a large-scale massacre.”

She urged all countries to raise the threat that “a crisis of epic proportions is brewing." Britain’s deputy ambassador James Kariuki echoed her appeal saying: “The last thing Sudan needs is a further escalation on top of this conflict that’s been going on for a whole year.”

Thomas-Greenfield said there are “credible reports” that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias have razed many villages west of El Fasher and are planning “an imminent attack on El Fasher.”

“An attack on El Fasher would be a disaster on top of a disaster,” Thomas-Greenfield warned, saying it would put the two million people who live in El Fasher and 500,000 Sudanese who have sought refuge there at risk.

Thomas-Greenfield urged the paramilitary forces, known as the RSF, to end their siege of El Fasher “and swear off any attack on the city.”

She urged the RSF and rival government forces to take urgent steps to de-escalate the violence and engage in direct negotiations, protect civilians and enable humanitarian access, especially to the 5 million Sudanese “on the brink of famine” and 10 million others in desperate need of aid.

Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the RSF paramilitary commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum. Fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the Darfur region.

U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the council on April 19 the year-long war has been fueled by weapons from foreign supporters who continue to flout U.N. sanctions aimed at helping end the conflict. “This is illegal, it is immoral, and it must stop,” she said.

She didn’t name any of the foreign supporters.

But Burhan, who led a military takeover of Sudan in 2021, is a close ally of neighboring Egypt and its president, former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. In February, Sudan’s foreign minister held talks in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart amid unconfirmed reports of drone purchases for government forces.

Dagalo, the leader of the RSF, has reportedly received support from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group. U.N. experts said in a recent report that the RSF has also received support from Arab allied communities and new military supply lines running through Chad, Libya and South Sudan.

Thomas-Greenfield said Monday that all regional powers must stop providing weapons to the warring parties as the U.N. arms embargo demands, and told reporters the United States will continue pressuring them.

In response to a question, she said one of the countries the United States has engaged with is the United Arab Emirates, which has repeatedly denied providing any weapons to Sudan.

The U.N.’s DiCarlo painted a dire picture of the war’s impact — over 14,000 dead, tens of thousands wounded, looming famine with 25 million people in need of life-saving assistance, and over 8.6 million forced to flee their homes.

During the war, the Arab-dominated RSF have carried out brutal attacks in Darfur on ethnic African civilians, especially the ethnic Masalit, and have taken control of most of the vast region – with El Fasher its newest target.

Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations that identify as Central or East African. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.

That legacy appears to have returned, with the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, saying in January there are grounds to believe both sides may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

The RSF were formed from Janjaweed fighters by former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades before being overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s.

View original: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/rapid-support-forces-ap-linda-thomasgreenfield-darfur-south-sudan-b2536848.html

END

Sudan: UK has circulated a draft UN resolution calling for an immediate end of hostilities ahead of Ramadan

"THE UK has circulated a draft UN resolution calling for an immediate end of hostilities in Sudan ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 

The British draft resolution expresses ‘grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation’. 

With Ramadan expected to begin around Sunday, depending on the sighting of the new moon, the council is expected to vote quickly on the resolution, probably on Friday. 

The latest draft on a Sudan ceasefire was circulated on the same day the head of the UN food agency warned that the Sudan conflict “risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis” as global attention is focused on the Israel-Hamas war. 

The proposed UN resolution calls on all parties to remove obstructions and allow “full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access” including across Sudan’s borders and across conflict lines.

The draft also urges strengthened co-ordination of several regional and international efforts “to facilitate an end to the conflict and to restore a lasting inclusive civilian-led democratic transition.” 

The US is negotiating on its own proposed Gaza resolution with the latest draft calling for a “ceasefire of roughly six weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages” as soon as Israel and Hamas agree. The draft makes no mention of Ramadan."  Read more.

From The Irish News

By Edith M Lederer, Associated Press

Dated Thursday, March 07, 2024 at 3:36AM GMT

UN resolution calling for end to hostilities in Sudan ahead of Ramadan

The British draft resolution expresses ‘grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation’.

Full story: https://www.irishnews.com/news/world/un-resolution-calling-for-end-to-hostilities-in-sudan-ahead-of-ramadan-4EQJ622VTNJ5ZHTECA4OWM3DF4/

_______________________________

Related 

From Sudan Tribune - undated, here is a copy in full: 

Fikra for Studies and Development urges Security Council to endorse UK draft resolution for ceasefire in Sudan

Fikra for Studies and Development welcomes the UK draft resolution submitted to the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan. We hope that the Security Council will adopt this resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and that it will include clear and effective enforcement, implementation, and monitoring mechanisms to ensure its application on the ground.

The resolution should emphasize the need to adhere to the principles of the Jeddah Declaration for the Protection of Civilians, signed by the warring parties on May 11, 2023. It should also reaffirm the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) principle adopted by the UN in 2005, to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid and the cessation of violations against Sudanese civilians, especially in Darfur, Khartoum, and Al Gezira states.

If adopted by the Security Council and successfully implemented, this resolution will pave the way for a permanent ceasefire, opening the door for a rational political process to end the civil war that has been ongoing in Sudan since April 15, 2023.

Fikra for Studies and Development calls on the members of the Security Council to vote to pass this resolution. We also call on the African Union, the Arab League, and IGAD to support this resolution by urgently contacting all members of the Security Council and encourage them to vote in favor of this resolution. We further call on the five permanent members of the Security Council not to use their veto power to block the passage of this resolution.

We reiterate our call to the UN and its humanitarian agencies to declare a state of severe famine of phase 5 at the national level in Sudan and to address the humanitarian situation accordingly.

The current situation in Sudan represents the largest humanitarian catastrophe of our time, in terms of the number of displaced and refugee people, the widespread famine, the severe food shortages, and the horrors faced by the Sudanese people due to the ongoing war. The international community must act now effectively to stop this ongoing suffering.

View original: https://sudantribune.com/article282996/

END

UN experts: Sudan’s paramilitary forces carried out ethnic killings and rapes that may be war crimes - Darfur is experiencing “its worst violence since 2005”

EDITH LEDERER, an exceptional war journalist with 50 years experience, never fails to produce well written, accurate news reports devoid of sensationalism and spin. Proper reporting. Here is a good example. 

This report by Ms Lederer today states that a UN panel of experts said Darfur is experiencing “its worst violence since 2005.” Also, according to the panel, the “RSF’s takeover of Darfur relied on three lines of support: the Arab allied communities, dynamic and complex financial networks, and new military supply lines running through Chad, Libya and South Sudan.” 

Also, "while both the Sudanese military and RSF engaged in widespread recruitment drives across Darfur from late 2022, the RSF was more successful, the experts said. And it “invested large proceeds from its pre-war gold business in several industries, creating a network of as many as 50 companies.” The RSF’s complex financial networks “enabled it to acquire weapons, pay salaries, fund media campaigns, lobby, and buy the support of other political and armed groups,” the experts said". Read more.

From The Associated Press (AP)
BY EDITH M. LEDERER
Dated Friday, 01 March 2024, Updated 6:26 AM GMT. Here is a copy in full:

UN experts: Sudan’s paramilitary forces carried out ethnic killings and rapes that may be war crimes

FILE - Residents displaced from a surge of violent attacks squat on blankets and in hastily made tents in the village of Masteri in west Darfur, Sudan, on July 30, 2020. Paramilitary forces and their allied militias fighting to take power in Sudan carried out widespread ethnic killings and rapes while taking control of much of western Darfur that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to a new report to the U.N. Security Council, obtained Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, by The Associated Press. (Mustafa Younes via AP, File)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Paramilitary forces and their allied militias fighting to take power in Sudan carried out widespread ethnic killings and rapes while taking control of much of western Darfur that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, United Nations experts said in a new report.

The report to the U.N. Security Council, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, paints a horrifying picture of the brutality of the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces against Africans in Darfur. It also details how the RSF succeeded in gaining control of four out of Darfur’s five states, including through complex financial networks that involve dozens of companies.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.

Fighting spread to other parts of the country, but in Sudan’s Darfur region it took on a different form: brutal attacks by the RSF on African civilians, especially the ethnic Masalit.

Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias against populations that identify as Central or East African. It seems that legacy has returned, with the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Karim Khan saying in late January there are grounds to believe both sides are committing possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

The panel of experts said Darfur is experiencing “its worst violence since 2005.”

The ongoing conflict has caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis and displaced approximately 6.8 million people — 5.4 million within Sudan and 1.4 million who have fled to other countries, including approximately 555,000 to neighboring Chad, the experts said.

The RSF and rival Sudanese government forces have both used heavy artillery and shelling in highly populated areas, causing widespread destruction of critical water, sanitation, education and health care facilities.

In their 47-page report, the experts said the RSF and its militias targeted sites in Darfur where displaced people had found shelter, civilian neighborhoods and medical facilities.

According to intelligence sources, the panel said, in just one city — Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state near the Chad border — between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed.

The experts said sexual violence by the RSF and its allied militia was widespread.

The panel said that, according to reliable sources from Geneina, women and girls as young as 14 years old were raped by RSF elements in a U.N. World Food Program storage facility that the paramilitary force controlled, in their homes, or when returning home to collect belongings after being displaced by the violence. Additionally, 16 girls were reportedly kidnapped by RSF soldiers and raped in an RSF house.

“Racial slurs toward the Masalit and non-Arab community formed part of the attacks,” the panel said. “Neighborhoods and homes were continuously attacked, looted, burned and destroyed,” especially those where Masalit and other African communities lived, and their people were harassed, assaulted, sexually abused, and at times executed.

The experts said prominent Masalit community members were singled out by the RSF, which had a list, and the group’s leaders were harassed and some executed. At least two lawyers, three prominent doctors and seven staff members, and human rights activists monitoring and reporting on the events were also killed, they said.

The RSF and its allied militias looted and destroyed all hospitals and medical storage facilities, which resulted in the collapse of health services and the deaths of 37 women with childbirth complications and 200 patients needing kidney dialysis, the panel said.

After the killing of the wali, or governor, of West Darfur in June, the report said, Masalit and African communities decided to seek protection at Ardamata, just outside Geneina. A convoy of thousands moved out at midnight but as they reached a bridge, RSF and allied militias indiscriminately opened fire, and survivors reported that an estimated 1,000 people were killed, they said.

The panel stressed that disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians — including torture, rapes and killings as well as destruction of critical civilian infrastructure — constitute war crimes under the 1949 Geneva conventions.

The RSF was formed out of Janjaweed fighters by Sudan’s former President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades, was overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019, and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for charges of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s.

According to the panel, the “RSF’s takeover of Darfur relied on three lines of support: the Arab allied communities, dynamic and complex financial networks, and new military supply lines running through Chad, Libya and South Sudan.”

While both the Sudanese military and RSF engaged in widespread recruitment drives across Darfur from late 2022, the RSF was more successful, the experts said. And it “invested large proceeds from its pre-war gold business in several industries, creating a network of as many as 50 companies.”

The RSF’s complex financial networks “enabled it to acquire weapons, pay salaries, fund media campaigns, lobby, and buy the support of other political and armed groups,” the experts said.

United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who visited Chad in September, called the report’s findings “horrific” and expressed “deep disappointment” that the U.N. Security Council and the international community have paid such little attention to the allegations.

“The people of Sudan feel that they have been forgotten,” she said.

In light of the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan and the broader region, Thomas-Greenfield demanded that the Sudanese military lift its prohibition on cross-border assistance from Chad and facilitate cross-line assistance from the east. She also demanded in a statement Wednesday that the RSF halt the looting of humanitarian warehouses and that both parties stop harassing humanitarian aid workers.

“The council must act urgently to alleviate human suffering, hold perpetrators to account, and bring the conflict in Sudan to an end,” the U.S. ambassador said. “Time is running out.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-paramilitary-ethnic-killings-united-nations-report-37eb2b6980e029d5603d83401619c85d

END