Sudan: RSF to turn Zurrug, N Darfur into a dream city

THE ruthless leader of Sudan's Arab militia has grand plans for the remote western province. But the transformation of Zurrug risks more unrest. Read more in this report from the archives of Sudan Watch, copied here in full.

Blood, sand and gold: victor’s city rises from ashes of Sudan’s civil war

Report from the The Observer - www.theguardian.com

Observer dispatch Darfur

By KLAAS VAN DIJKEN

Dated Saturday 29 February 2020, 17.05 GMT

Photo: Children at the school in Zurrug sing anti-racism songs that praise the Rapid Support Forces. Photograph: Klaas van Dijken/Lighthouse Reports

Zurrug is one of the few towns on Earth that has yet to appear on Google maps. After nightfall, its sparse shacks are illuminated by campfires that throw shadows over pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns – the only hint of the violent past of this outpost in Darfur, Sudan’s troubled western province.

The town is being built on the spoils of a brutal war that once tore at the conscience of the world. The victors in that conflict have grand plans for this settlement based on a winner-takes-all vision for their home region – a vision that clouds the future of the whole of Sudan.

The Observer was given unprecedented access to this remote area of Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group whose influence stretches from Sudan’s borderlands with Chad and Libya to the capital, Khartoum, where protesters last year toppled 30-year dictator Omar al-Bashir.

The RSF wants to show off a future city as evidence of the peace it has brought to this contested land. To the vanquished – scattered in their millions across desperate refugee camps within and beyond Sudan’s borders – Zurrug is an insult being built on stolen land.

Darfur and Bashir were back in the headlines last month when Sudan’s transitional government agreed to hand over the ousted president to the international criminal court to face charges of crimes against humanity. These crimes took place in Darfur from 2003, when Bashir unleashed Arab militia, with the backing of the Sudanese army, to crush an insurgency by black African tribes. What began as ethnic clashes over land and water escalated into a crisis that prompted western public demonstrations, celebrity activism and a genocide investigation.

Those armed herders were known at the time as the Janjaweed, or “devils on horseback”. Today they are called the RSF. Their leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – long referred to as Hemedti – is Bashir’s heir apparent. A renowned and ruthless commander, he was called by Bashir “my protector”, a role that helped him become the wealthiest man in Sudan.

Zurrug is a world away from Khartoum, where riverine Arab elites created a metropolis thanks to their dominance of politics and economy. This makeshift town is a 10-hour drive across the vast plateau from Darfur’s northern city of El Fasher.

In its current form, Zurrug’s market has stalls hawking anything from Chinese phones to sacks of beans. The prefab clinic and school are speckled with the letters “UN”, a reminder that they have been jerry-built from the wreckage of the shrinking peacekeeping mission to Darfur, Unamid.

Photo: Rapid Support Forces on the way from Kutum towards Zurrug. Photograph: Klaas van Dijken/Lighthouse Reports

According to plans seen by the Observer, Zurrug will become a city. The documents call for residential areas, a hospital and town squares. Officials from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates visited in 2018 promising to help finance the work, including an international airport.

For now, two water towers mark the entrance to the town, placed there to slake the thirst of the camels, which vastly outnumber either people or vehicles. The largest house belongs to Juma Dagalo, the area’s chief and Hemedti’s uncle. “We were nomads, but now we want to develop ourselves, so we have to settle and send our children to school,” he said.

In his telling, Zurrug belongs to his ethnic group, the Mahariya, having been gifted to them by their former colonial masters, the British. The chief, who brought Hemedti up, says the land was empty.

This story of empty land is bitterly disputed by community leaders in the camps in north Darfur. They claim Zurrug is on land they inhabited for centuries before being forced to leave by the RSF, who used the same tactics – murder, rape and robbery – as the Janjaweed. One of these communities is the Zaghawa, a black African ethnic group who bore much of the brunt of the war crimes alleged in Bashir’s ICC indictment.

Mohamed Ibrahim, a Zaghawa chief or umda, said: “What Juma Dagalo is saying is not true. Zurrug was not empty land. We have our farms there but we cannot harvest. The RSF denies us access.”

Injustice and asymmetric war on civilians dominated much of the three decades that Bashir spent in power. His hold on office relied on a complex of alliances that spanned the Islamists, the army and support among the Arab middle class. Last year the regime collapsed as demonstrators in the cities demanded a civilian government. But insiders claim that Bashir stepped down only when Hemedti refused to use the RSF to crush the demonstrations. The protector switched allegiances from Bashir to the protestors in a move that saw him expand his support base far beyond Darfur.

“I stood beside the Sudanese people,” Hemedti told the Observer from his gilded residence in Khartoum. “A massacre would have happened herein Khartoum, a genocide would have happened on 11 April without our existence.”

The RSF is sanctioned by the state but its allegiance is to Hemedti, not Sudan’s army. His leadership of what is effectively a private army has reportedly helped him make a fortune from gold, construction and alleged smuggling. Hemedti denies that the men he commands perpetrated atrocities, either in their former guise as the Janjaweed or more recently as the RSF.

Today, Hemedti, whose Mahariya clan is part of the populous Rizeigat tribe, is vice-chairman of the sovereign council, the transitional body that is meant to guide Sudan to a new civilian government. But his credentials as protector of the people were stained in June last year when soldiers – many in RSF uniforms – attacked a civilian sit-in in the capital. More than 150 people were killed and many woman were raped. Hemedti denies ordering the violence and blames elements of the former regime seeking to discredit him. His denial is dismissed by most of the protest groups.

Photo: Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, the RSF leader. Photograph: STR/AP

Meanwhile, a struggle is being waged inside the Sovereign Council, and on the streets, to make good on the promise of a transition to civilian rule. The army retains a powerful, possibly decisive voice on the council. Straddling it all is Hemedti, not beholden to Sudan’s army, confident in his wealth and political support. He has the backing of influential Gulf States, cemented by sending the RSF to fight in Yemen alongside Saudi proxies in yet another gruesome conflict.

For now, Hemedti prefers to whitewash the RSF’s recent and deeper past, saying his forces have brought safety and stability to Darfur. On the issue of land, he appears magnanimous: “Whoever took land or built anything on land which is not his, he has to leave it. Everybody has to take his own old land.”

But those who have done the taking in north Darfur are overwhelmingly Hemedti’s own Mahariya people. His uncle, Juma Dagalo, has toured the region enticing members of his own ethnic group to come and settle in Zurrug and six other proto-towns around it. Each one has the same school and clinic, recycled from the UN bases. The teachers and doctors are on Hemedti’s payroll. Water towers, a practical and symbolic way of staking claim to land, have started to appear – all financed by the RSF.

A report last year from the UN panel of experts for Darfur concluded that development around Zurrug was meant to lure people from the cities. It also warned that it had the potential to “become a new source of conflict”.

The land issue is far from buried, and Darfur is part of the same negotiations between Sudan’s transitional government and various rebel groups that saw Bashir offered up to the ICC. Whatever those talks conclude, the facts on the ground are already being changed, with mono-ethnic settlements expanding every day.

After dark in Zurrug the children of the Mahariya gather around a single lightbulb to recite passages from the Qur’an. During the day they sing songs that mash up anti-racism slogans with praise for the RSF. These anthems would ring hollow with the disenfranchised Zaghawa, who have formed committees in their camps and written letters to Sudan’s new leadership. They have had no response and their leader, Mohamed Ibrahim, warns: “If we can’t solve this peacefully, we will take up arms again.”

Source: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2020/03/sudan-blood-sand-and-gold-victors-city.html

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Is Sudan's Ministry of Health working? Women’s vigil in North Darfur capital decries healthcare collapse

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Why can't urgent medical supplies be dropped by air? Planes are used in Australia's outback to provide medical services. Billions have been raked into the coffers of the UN and countless charities to help the most vulnerable and needy in Sudan and South Sudan. The belligerents need medical aid too. What is Sudan's Ministry of Health doing? Why can't it and the UN track and coordinate where supplies are needed and get them delivered by any means possible as soon as possible? 

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Dated 18 August 2023 - here is a full copy:
Report at Radio Dabanga

Women’s vigil in North Darfur capital decries healthcare collapse

Vigil by women activists in El Fasher on Thursday (Photo: RD)

Women’s activists organised a vigil in the North Darfur capital, El Fasher, on Thursday to protest the deteriorating healthcare conditions, and what they called the failure of the Ministry of Health and the state government to support the Specialised Maternity Hospital. 

Shortages of medicines and equipment at hospitals has become a country-wide crisis, as logistics, supply, and power outages stress facilities beyond their limits.

The participants in Thursday’s vigil told Radio Dabanga of their dissatisfaction at the facilities at the specialised obstetrics and gynaecology hospital, which is the main reference hospital, and the only one of its kind in the state. They lament that “the hospital lacks even the simplest equipment to provide treatment in the fields of obstetrics and gynaecology.” they say, “which has resulted in the deaths of a large number of mothers and newborns”.

The medical staff lack essentials such as surgical gloves and blood for transfusion, the activists say. The electricity supply is subject to frequent outages, and “for the past four months, the hospital has relied entirely on initiatives by public volunteers and the support committee”.

The vigil appealed to the state government and the Ministry of Health to pay urgent attention to the conditions at the hospital, as they fear ”the situation may collapse”.

The protesters decried the murders, rapes, and kidnappings in North Darfur state, pointing to the deteriorating conditions of women in various fields. “Women are subject to continuous violations in the centres and neighbourhoods.”

Activist Asmaa El Nour, one of the participants in the vigil, told Radio Dabanga that the vigil demanded the provision of necessary medicines to save women’s lives, especially at the specialised hospital for obstetrics and gynaecology in El Fasher, and criticised the state health ministry’s failure in doing its part.

National crisis

Earlier this month, Dabanga reported that blood transfusion bags, anaesthesia, gauze, solutions, and suture threads are among the medical supplies that are in critically short supply in the South Darfur capital of Nyala, as medical facilities are swamped with an influx of conflict-related cases. Health care in South Kordofan is suffering from a shortage of medicines.

The Children’s Hospital in El Gedaref, eastern Sudan, recorded figures of 132 children who died as a result of a surge in malnutrition-related diseases. According to recent reports, there has been a marked increase in the number of disease cases and fatalities, notably within camps providing shelter to those uprooted by the conflict in Khartoum. From April to July, the Children’s Hospital documented a total of 365 malnutrition cases, which they state, translates to a 20 per cent mortality rate among afflicted children. 

The monthly death toll saw 33 casualties in April, followed by 41 in May, 24 in June, and another 34 in July.

Apart from massive logistical challenges to distribute vital equipment and medicines brought about by the war, a lack of fuel means that hospitals cannot always run generators to power equipment. As reported by Dabanga this week, a kidney failure patient died in Port Sudan, after a dialysis centre was struck by a power outage.

Compounded with the scarcity of essential medical supplies required to provide adequate care for over 360 patients, among whom at least 100 have been uprooted from Khartoum due to the destructive clashes that ravaged the capital’s healthcare infrastructure.

View original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/womens-vigil-in-north-darfur-capital-decries-healthcare-collapse

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Sudan Ocha: SAF & RSF clashes in Nyala, South Darfur

Press Release from OCHA - OCHASudan@un.org

Flash Update No. 01 

SUDAN: SAF & RSF clashes in Nyala, South Darfur (21 August 2023)

Monday 21 August 2023 - here is a full copy:

Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala Town, South Darfur State

HIGHLIGHTS

• Renewed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala Town since 11 August 2023 are continuing to fuel displacement of the civilian population.

• Up to 50,000 people have fled their homes in Nyala Town due to the fighting.

• At least 60 people have been killed and 250 others injured due to the clashes.

• Staff at the Turkish Hospital have been overwhelmed by the number of injured seeking assistance.

• Trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies are unable to travel to Nyala Town due to the fighting.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

From 11 to 17 August 2023, renewed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala Town, the state capital of South Darfur State, have displaced thousands of people to other areas, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). 

Preliminary reports indicate that approximately 10,000 families – about 50,000 people –  fled their homes in the Al-Mazad, Tayba, Seka Hadeed, Al-Jabal, Neil, Karrari, Musa and Texas neighbourhoods of Nyala Town to Hai Al-Jeer, Al-Nahda, As Salam, Derwa and Kangho neighbourhoods in the town; and to the As Salam, Al Serief, Otash and Kalma displacement camps in Beliel and Nyala Shimal localities in South Darfur. 

People have also fled to Tulus, Buram, As Salam and Damso localities in South Darfur, as well as to Shia'ria locality and Ad Du’ayn Town in East Darfur and Al Fasher Town in North Darfur. 

At least 60 people have been killed and 250 others injured during the fighting, according to IOM.
 
Staff at the Turkish Hospital – which is already understaffed – are reportedly struggling to cope with the influx of wounded people, and humanitarian partners on the ground report that medical supplies are running low.
 


Trucks loaded with nutrition, health, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) supplies destined for Nyala Town have remained in Ad Du'ayn Town, the capital of East Darfur, since 14 August due to the fighting, and planned distributions by UNICEF have been postponed. 

There are concerns that continued fighting will cause the already precarious humanitarian situation in the state to deteriorate and heighten the health, nutrition, sanitation and food security needs of the vulnerable. Meanwhile, some areas could become inaccessible if roads become impassable during the ongoing rainy season.


Gathering information from Nyala Town in recent days has been challenging, as communication towers have reportedly been damaged during the fighting, and the electricity and water systems in the town are no longer functioning.
 


Background 


Nyala Town is located in Nyala Janoub locality, South Darfur State. An estimated 401,000 people live in the locality, of whom about 95,000 needed humanitarian assistance even before the conflict, according to the 2023 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO).

Download the Flash Update here:

https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/sudan/flash-update/6pAVMP3Q8Fckx2PGKNkZA1/

View original: 

https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/sudan/flash-update/6pAVMP3Q8Fckx2PGKNkZA1/

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VIDEO: UNSC Meeting on Sudan 9 Aug. Remarks by UNSC President at Briefing, Press Stakeout & BBC

NOTE from Sudan Watch Ed. I have viewed this video by UN Web TV showing a meeting on Sudan held at the UN Security Council, New York 09 Aug 2023. The meeting is titled "Sudan and South Sudan" but South Sudan is not in the video. Maybe it was covered in a closed meeting or postponed.  

Dr Volker Perthes, Special Representative (SRSG) for Sudan and Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) was scheduled to give a briefing but his name, along with another briefer, UNSG Guterres, were withdrawn. Sudan was also upset the meeting was open. 

UNSC president, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield noted the lack of international coverage on Sudan highlights the importance of having an open briefing. Little hard news comes out of Sudan. Two weeks ago I read there is only one western journalist in Sudan and he's in Port Sudan. 

I'll view the video again in order to make notes for future reference. Dr Perthes was praised by some briefers, Japan in particular supported UNITMAS and offered a good idea to update UNITAMS' mandate. 

In my view, the speeches were good. Unsurprisingly, France's was a bit short. A Sudan PR was present with two colleagues and gave a briefing. It's worth keeping an open mind while listening closely and carefully to each speech.

The US chairs the UNSC this month. Here below is a copy of the president's briefing plus links to media stakeout and BBC interview. Her briefing in her capacity as US rep to the UN is on the video around the 1hr 18 min mark. 

VIDEO: UN Security Council Open Meeting on Sudan held 09 Aug 2023 

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Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a UN Security Council Briefing on Sudan

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
New York, New York
August 9, 2023

AS DELIVERED

I would like to thank Ms. Wosornu for her leadership and Assistant Secretary-General Pobee for her sobering briefing. And while we are grateful for the ASG’s participation, we had expected SRSG Perthes to brief the Council. We now understand that the Sudanese government warned it would end the UN mission in Sudan if the SRSG participated in this briefing. And that is unacceptable.

I do welcome the participation of the Sudan PR and I look forward to hearing his statement on the situation in Sudan, and particularly efforts to end this senseless war. I also want to thank the United Kingdom for calling this important meeting. Ms. Wosornu, you noted in your statement the lack of international coverage of the situation in Sudan, which highlights the importance of having an open briefing like this.

It’s been over 100 days since fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, and in that time, senseless violence has wrought unthinkable suffering. The situation has become – in the words of a doctor from Khartoum: “a living hell.” A living hell.

Millions of people have been displaced. We heard the numbers today. Civilians have been shot dead in the street. Children have been orphaned, forcibly recruited, subjected to violence. Women have been brutally raped. Fighting has blocked humanitarian assistance – food, water, medicine, and other essentials – from reaching people in dire need.

There are credible reports that the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias have carried out continued atrocities and other abuses in West Darfur. Killings based on ethnicity. Widespread sexual violence. The burning and looting of homes and villages. Tens of thousands of people forced to flee to neighboring Chad and other countries. History is repeating itself – in the most tragic way possible.

The United States condemns – in the strongest terms – these reported atrocities, which are an ominous reminder of the horrific events that led us to determine in 2004 that genocide had been committed in Darfur. And we are gravely concerned about the risk of further conflict in North and Central Darfur. Specifically, by a reported buildup of Rapid Support Forces and affiliated forces near El Fasher, which poses a threat to non-Arab populations in the area. We are also deeply concerned by unconfirmed reports of armed actors in Sudan preventing people from leaving areas of Darfur in search of safety, including across the border into Chad.

Colleagues, as we approach the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we have a responsibility to live up to the promise of this foundational document. To not just extol human rights, but defend them. So we must all demand the parties comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law regarding the protection of civilians.

Of course, the best way to protect civilians would be for parties to end this brutal conflict – once and for all. The United States, and regional and international partners, are unified in calling for the parties to immediately put down their weapons. And we echo the calls of countries in the region, including the July 10th Intergovernmental Authority on Development communique, to prevent any external interference and military support. This would only intensify and prolong the conflict at the expense of the people of Sudan.

We also support coordinated international diplomatic efforts by the AU, the IGAD, the League of Arab States, the UN, and other parties from the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. But until the guns are silenced, and for as long as this humanitarian crisis continues, we must support the people of Sudan, who have endured so much – so much – needless suffering.

The United States remains the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan. We’re working to support the millions of internally displaced people, the nearly one million people who have crossed into neighboring countries to seek refuge.

We must also work together to ensure that humanitarian assistance can reach people in dire need including those who can’t leave their homes because of fighting, fuel shortages, and, simply, because of fear. Bureaucratic hurdles and other barriers have hindered relief efforts. That, too, is unacceptable. Humanitarian workers must be free to do what they do best: they save lives. They need to be able to do that without roadblocks or delays.

We call on Sudanese authorities to expedite visa approvals for humanitarian workers – enable the movement of humanitarian goods and personnel throughout Sudan and facilitate the importation of humanitarian goods and equipment.

As the situation in Sudan has spiraled, neighboring countries have stepped up to welcome refugees. And we are deeply, deeply grateful for these acts of humanity. And we must encourage these countries to ensure refugees and asylum seekers have access to needed protections.

Colleagues, we must work toward a future where Sudan is back on the path of democracy. Sudan’s political future belongs to the Sudanese people. And we support members of civil society, professional and labor unions, resistance committees, women and youth organizations as they heroically work to meet emergency needs, push for peace, resume the stalled democratic transition – so that freedom, peace, and justice in Sudan can be realized.

At this perilous moment, this body must speak out unequivocally – with one voice – in the name of peace. We should never give into forces that want to stop this Council from addressing matters of international peace and security. In the words of the late Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and human rights activist, he said, “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

We must all urge the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to end the bloodshed and end the suffering of the Sudanese people. There is no acceptable military solution to this conflict. And peace cannot wait another day.

Thank you.

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View original: https://usun.usmission.gov/remarks-by-ambassador-linda-thomas-greenfield-at-a-un-security-council-briefing-on-sudan-3/

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Read More

VIDEO Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the UN Security Council Stakeout Following a Briefing on Sudan

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
New York, New York
August 9, 2023

 

AS DELIVERED

So good afternoon, and let me thank all of you for being here. I would like to make a statement in my national capacity.

Today, the Security Council met to discuss a pressing matter of international peace and security: the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. I would like to thank Ms. Wosornu and Assistant Secretary-General Pobee for their sobering briefings this morning.

But as I told the Council just now, while we were grateful for the ASG’s participation, we had expected that SRSG Perthes was going to brief the Council. We now know that the Sudanese government threatened to end the UN Mission in Sudan if the SRSG participated in this briefing. And that was really outrageous, and I did make that point in the Council. No country should be able to bully a briefer into silence, let alone the United Nations.

A conflict that has gone on for over 100 days – and has turned large swaths of Sudan into a living hell. The stories and the images coming out of Sudan, especially out of Darfur, are bone-chilling.

There are credible reports that the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias have carried out continued atrocities in West Darfur. Killings based on ethnicity. Widespread sexual violence against women. The burning and looting of homes and villages. Women who have been brutally – brutally – raped. Children who have been orphaned, forcibly recruited, subjected to violence.

And I think about children like Essam Muhammad, an 11-year-old who fled Sudan and found his way to a refugee camp in Chad. And according to a Washington Post article, Essam’s mother, Fatima, lost her parents in the 2003 genocide. And 20 years later, Essam’s mother was killed by a sniper in western Darfur. Now, Essam is left to care for his 13-month-old sister.

One of the worst chapters of recent history is repeating itself. And it’s beyond horrifying. The Security Council, and the entire international community, has a responsibility to demand the parties comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law regarding the protection of civilians. We have a responsibility to ensure humanitarian assistance can reach people in dire need. And we have a responsibility to urge the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to immediately put down their weapons.

At this perilous moment, the Security Council and all Member States must stand on the side of peace, and on the right side of history. Let us do everything in our power to end the bloodshed. Sudan’s political future belongs to the Sudanese people – not to the men with guns who are prolonging human suffering.

And I do call upon all of you to continue to report on this dire situation. One of the briefers said that she was struck by the lack of reporting on what is happening in Sudan. And she commented that not knowing what was happening was very, very worrisome. And that’s why I appreciated the UK calling for this meeting today because it gave us an opportunity to once again bring this situation to the forefront of the news.

Thank you very much.

QUESTION: You mentioned specifically what’s happening in Darfur when it comes to ethnic and sexual violence, and that the RSF and the allied militias are to blame. What about in the rest of the country? We heard from the UN that it’s, you know, it’s on a sickening scale. Who’s to blame for all that?

AMBASSADOR LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD: It’s all over the country. We have seen this kind of violence being perpetrated by both sides. So, there are no innocents here.

QUESTION: Thank you very much, Madam Ambassador. First, just to clarify what you said about Volker Perthes. The ambassador seemed to push back on what you had said. Did the United States receive some kind of a written communication from the foreign ministry and – about this threat –

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: No, this is not the United States –

QUESTION: – I mean the United Nations.

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: – this is the United Nations. We were told yesterday that Volker would be briefing the Council. And this morning his name was pulled. And we understand that that happened because the Sudanese government threatened to pull UNITAMS out of Sudan if he briefed the Council. And I spoke directly to him on that. And he told me he was under instructions.

QUESTION: But my – but that wasn’t my – that was a clarification. My question was you said the Security Council has to do something. Is the United States or is somebody going to put forward a resolution, a presidential statement, something –

AMBASSDOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: No, yeah, I didn’t say we needed to do something on this. What I said is that we were appalled by it, it was outrageous, it was unacceptable. And it is. And we did push back. We got a really excellent briefing from the Assistant Secretary-General, but I do think it’s not appropriate for any Member State to block, or to threaten a briefer.

QUESTION: I wasn’t talking about a briefer, I was talking about the whole, the broad situation of what’s going on in Sudan.

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Yeah, I do think we absolutely need to be doing something. This is one step in that process – calling this open meeting. And there were objections to us having an open meeting on this. But we were able to have an open meeting, and we will look at what other actions and efforts we might take.

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View original text: https://usun.usmission.gov/remarks-by-ambassador-linda-thomas-greenfield-at-the-un-security-council-stakeout-following-a-briefing-on-sudan/

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Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s Interview with Caitríona Perry of BBC World News

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations

New York, New York August 8, 2023

AS DELIVERED

QUESTION: Thanks for joining us, Ambassador. If we can turn first to the situation in Ukraine. We’ve seen Russia striking civilians there while holding a blockade of food exports in the Black Sea. Much-needed food relief for countries like Afghanistan, Yemen, and others. In fact, the situation that the former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder in the New York Times called a war zone as relevant to NATO as western Ukraine. Is there any hope for relief in the Black Sea as you see it to restore the grain deal?

AMBASSADOR LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD: You know, I continue to be hopeful. The Secretary-General, the United Nations, Türkiye have been working diligently over the course of the past few weeks to push the Russians and urge the Russians to get back into the grain deal. It is in the interest of the Global South community, it is in our interest, and it is in Russia’s interest to get back into this deal. So, we remain hopeful, but it really is in the hands of the Russians to make the right decision to resume allowing for Ukrainian grain to flow through the Black Sea.

QUESTION: Why do you think it is that the UN Security Council has been unable to get a handle on the ongoing Russian aggression, a clear breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty?

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: It is clearly a breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty. It undermines the very foundation of the UN Charter, the foundation of all the values that we believe in. The Council has been consistent in condemning Russia’s actions. Their actions have been condemned very strongly in the General Assembly. We had more than 140 countries vote to condemn Russia, to condemn their actions in Ukraine, to condemn their annexations, and to call for peace.

And in the Security Council itself, you hear every single country calling on Russia to do the right thing; condemning their actions in Ukraine, their attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty. So, it is really in Russia’s hands to end this war today. They can end the war today. They can return Ukrainian territory to Ukraine and allow for the free flow of wheat to the rest of the world.

QUESTION: But those condemnations as well-meaning and as loud and as frequent as they have not led to any actual action on the part of Russia. How significantly do you think their veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council has hindered the ability to bring about any permanent accomplishments?

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: You know, their veto power hasn’t protected them from the condemnation. It has not protected them from the isolation that they are feeling in the Security Council. And we will continue to keep the pressure on Russia until they withdraw their troops from Ukraine. And I know that they are feeling that pressure every single day and we cannot let up until they end this unprovoked war of aggression on the Ukrainian people. President Biden has said over and over again that we will stand with Ukraine as long as Ukraine needs us, and we will.

QUESTION: Now I did see peace talks in Jeddah over the weekend. Although there was no significant resolution at all to come from that. Do you think the UN can broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine?

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: I think that a deal can be brokered. It has to have Ukraine’s active participation in that process, and it can’t give Russia their – what I like to refer to their ill begotten wealth – their annexation of Ukrainian territory that they took in this unprovoked war. So right now, efforts are being made. We support efforts to find a path to peace. But Russia has to be a willing participant in that. And in participating, they have to withdraw their troops from Ukraine.

QUESTION: And speaking about the Security Council, the U.S. obviously holds the presidency of that for the month of August. One of your priorities is food insecurity, specifically ending famine forever. What are you asking from other UN nations in terms of achieving that goal?

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: You know, we are asking other countries to commit to doing everything possible to end famine. There is no reason for 700 million people to go to bed hungry every single night. There is no need for famine like conditions in the Horn of Africa. We have the resources, we have the tools to end this crisis, and we have to commit to doing it. And I was very pleased that we had 91 countries this past week sign on to a communique demanding that food not be used as a weapon of a war. And the Security Council condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

QUESTION: If we can turn to look at the situation in Niger now, the Acting Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Victoria Nuland visited there on Monday. She described the situation on the ground as not comporting with the constitution. Now officially calling it a coup of course has serious legal implications – not least that most U.S. aid would have to be stopped. But if the Biden Administration considers actions there not to be in line with the constitution and the delegation was physically stopped from seeing the president in person, is that not a coup?

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: It is certainly an attempt at a coup. But we still believe that President Bazoum is the recognized elected leader of Niger. And we will continue to push for his release. We have supported the efforts of ECOWAS. They have also called for his release, and they’ve called for the military to stand down.

QUESTION: But if those present there at the moment are not allowing your delegation to visit with the president, they also have refused a visit from an ECOWAS delegation, that is a very serious situation. How concerned are you about the safety of President Bazoum?

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: It is a serious situation. And we are concerned about his safety. We have stayed engaged with him over the course of his detention. We have spoken with him on the phone several times. I have been in touch with him, as has the Secretary of State and others in the region have reached out to him. And we will keep pushing for his release. ECOWAS will be having a meeting, I think on Thursday, where they will discuss the situation I think more aggressively, talk about how they can find a path forward that will get President Bazoum released.

QUESTION: And specifically, what is the next step that the U.S. can take?

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Right now, what we have decided to do is temporarily hold back on all of our support and aid that goes through the Government of Niger. We are still providing direct humanitarian assistance to the people, but we want to be clear that this current effort is not going to be supported by the U.S. government.

QUESTION: Well, thank you for joining us. We’ll leave it there for now. Ambassador Linda Thomas-greenfield, thank you.

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Thank you very much, it was great to be here with you.

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By United States Mission to the United Nations | 8 August, 2023 | Topics: Highlights, Remarks and Highlights

View original: https://usun.usmission.gov/ambassador-linda-thomas-greenfields-interview-with-caitriona-perry-of-bbc-world-news/

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