UNSC: Briefing on “The Values of Human Fraternity”

NOTE, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) holds UNSC presidency this month. A high-level briefing held by the UNSC June 14th focuses on human fraternity. Hopefully nice and friendly, joining hands in friendship for peace.

Report at What's In Blue
Dated Wednesday 14 June 2023 - full copy:

Briefing on “The Values of Human Fraternity” and Vote on a Draft Resolution on Tolerance and International Peace and Security

This morning (14 June), as one of the signature events of its Council presidency, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will convene a high-level briefing on “The Values of Human Fraternity in Promoting and Sustaining Peace” under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item. 

UAE Minister of State Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi will chair the meeting. The expected briefers are Secretary-General António Guterres; Sheikh Ahmed Muhammed Ahmed Aṭ-Ṭayyeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar; Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations of the Holy See; and a civil society representative.

In the afternoon, members are expected to vote on a draft resolution on tolerance and international peace and security co-authored by the UAE and the UK. This is a parallel—although related—initiative to this morning’s high-level briefing on human fraternity.

High-level Briefing

During the 1 June press conference on the Security Council’s programme of work for the month, Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh (UAE) said that the Security Council “has not always consistently addressed hate speech, racism and other forms of extremism as threat multipliers that drive the outbreak, escalation and recurrence of conflict”, adding that it was a key priority for the UAE to “push for a more consistent and effective approach”.

According to the concept note prepared by the UAE ahead of today’s meeting, the briefing intends to highlight the “impact of intolerance, hate speech and incitement to hatred, racism and other manifestations of extremism in exacerbating threats across the peace continuum”. The concept note says that one of the objectives of the meeting is “to raise awareness of the pivotal role that the values of human fraternity can play in promoting and sustaining peace and preventing intolerance and extremism” and to strengthen measures by the UN, member states, and other actors to address the “drivers of intolerance and extremism”.

The concept note poses several questions to help guide the discussion at today’s meeting, including:

• What gaps exist in the current UN peace operations and peacebuilding mechanisms to address conflict exacerbated by hate speech, intolerance, racism, and other manifestations of extremism?
• What measures and approaches can the international community, including the Security Council, take to address intolerance and hate speech and promote reconciliation and peacebuilding in conflict-affected societies?
• How can we strengthen the role of religious and community leaders, including women leaders, to promote tolerance and coexistence and prevent the abuse of religion?

At today’s meeting, some members may welcome the theme of the high-level briefing and say that it can make a useful contribution to Council discussions. Other members may take a more circumspect approach and underscore the importance of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Members may highlight a range of factors that can strengthen societies’ resilience and capacity to build sustainable peace—such as education and the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women—and highlight exclusion and inequality as root causes of conflict. Some participants may share examples of interreligious and intercultural dialogues and of mediation and reconciliation processes led by religious and community leaders.

Draft Resolution

The initiative for a Security Council resolution on tolerance and international peace and security is consistent with previous efforts by the UAE and the UK on similar issues at the UN. For instance, the UAE—together with Bahrain, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia—led an initiative for a General Assembly resolution proclaiming 4 February as the International Day of Human Fraternity, which was adopted by consensus on 21 December 2020 (A/RES/75/200). 

In March 2021, the UK organised an Arria-formula meeting titled “Religion, Belief and Conflict: the protection of members of religious and belief groups in conflict and religious actors in conflict resolution”. 

It seems that the UK had also circulated a draft resolution on the issues covered in the Arria-formula meeting to the five permanent members of the Council. However, the initiative was apparently shelved following opposition from at least one permanent member.

On 16 May, the UAE and the UK circulated the first draft of a resolution on tolerance and international peace and security and then presented it to Council members at an informal meeting on 18 May. After holding a first round of negotiations on 22 May, the co-penholders circulated a revised draft of the resolution on 25 May. Following a second round of negotiations on 30 May, a second revised draft was circulated on 2 June and put under silence until 5 June. 

Silence was broken by France and Switzerland and, separately, by the US. After silence was broken, Malta expressed support for the issues raised by France, Switzerland, and the US. Other members—including Brazil, China, Japan, Ecuador, and Russia—later sent comments. Following the silence break, the co-penholders engaged bilaterally with members over several days with the aim of resolving a number of outstanding issues. On 12 June, a third revised draft was circulated and put under silence until 11 am yesterday (13 June). However, France and Switzerland again broke silence. After additional consultations, a further draft was put in blue yesterday evening and a vote was scheduled for this afternoon.

The draft resolution in blue recognises that “hate speech, racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, related forms of intolerance, gender discrimination, and acts of extremism can contribute to driving the outbreak, escalation and recurrence of conflict” and urges states and international and regional organisations “to publicly condemn violence, hate speech and extremism motivated by discrimination including on the grounds of race, ethnicity, gender, religion or language, in a manner consistent with applicable international law, including the right to freedom of expression”. It also underlines “the potential contributions of ethnic, religious and confessional communities and religious leaders” to the prevention and resolution of conflicts as well as to reconciliation and peacebuilding, among other issues.

The negotiations on the draft resolution were difficult. A fundamental issue for some Council members was to adequately balance language addressing the use of hate speech in the draft text with language protecting human rights, in particular freedom of expression. It seems that at least one member expressed concern that proposed language on hate speech fell below the standard set in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. While some language on human rights was added in response to these concerns—including, in the third revised draft, a reference to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—it seems that when France and Switzerland broke silence yesterday they argued that the balance presented in the third draft was still unsatisfactory.

A specific concern for several members—including Brazil, France, Malta, Switzerland, and the US—was the use in the draft resolution of the term “extremism” without it being preceded by the qualifier “violent”. These members stressed that the unqualified use of the term “extremism” was too broad, and expressed concern about endorsing language that could be used restrictively, including to target freedom of expression. In the days preceding the vote, some civil society organisations, too, warned against the use of the term “extremism” not qualified by “violent” in the draft resolution.

It seems that the co-penholders maintained that a key objective of the resolution was to address extremism before it reaches the point of being violent, including through the promotion of tolerance and peaceful coexistence as preventive measures. During the negotiations, they added language contextualising references to “extremism” by, for instance, referring to “extremism driving the outbreak, escalation and recurrence of conflict”. After France and Switzerland broke silence on 13 June, a direct reference to “the right to freedom of expression” was added to a paragraph urging states, regional and international organisations “to publicly condemn violence, hate speech and extremism” in a manner consistent with international law. References to “violent extremism”, however, were not included in the draft text in blue. At the time of writing, it was unclear if the changes made on this issue will be sufficient to address the concerns raised by France and Switzerland.

A key goal for some Council members during the negotiations was to widen the overall scope of the draft resolution from focusing mainly on intolerance and discrimination on religious grounds to also include other grounds of discrimination. Arguing for a more inclusive approach to tolerance, members such as Ecuador, France, Switzerland, and Malta asked for stronger language on human rights, gender, and women, peace and security (WPS) to be included in the draft. It seems that China and Russia opposed this language, and that, after silence was broken on 5 June, Russia asked for all text on WPS and human rights to be removed from the draft. Such language was, nevertheless, gradually strengthened in the course of the negotiations.

While some members apparently supported the use of the term “fraternity” in the resolution, others opposed it, citing, among other issues, the gendered and non-inclusive root of the term and the lack of clarity around the term’s meaning. An additional concern was that references to “human fraternity” in the draft resolution could be interpreted as endorsing the content of the 4 February 2019 document on “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” signed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam of al-Azhar Aṭ-Ṭayyeb; particularly its condemnation of abortion. To address these concerns, the co-penholders deleted a reference to the 4 February 2019 meeting and removed all language on “human fraternity” except for text taking note of the International Day of Human Fraternity proclaimed by the 21 December 2020 General Assembly resolution.

Another friction point was a reporting requirement proposed by the co-penholders. The first draft text requested the Secretary-General to submit an annual report to the Council on the resolution’s implementation. It appears that introducing a regular reporting requirement was an important issue for the co-penholders, who argued that regularly receiving information on issues such as hate speech, extremism, and intolerance could help the Council better to tackle these issues and, ultimately, prevent conflict. 

However, at different points in the negotiations, several members expressed reservations about the proposed annual report. While some members’ concerns were related to the possible budgetary implications of the reporting requirement, it appears that other members altogether challenged the need for a periodic report on the implementation of the resolution.

In an apparent compromise, the draft resolution in blue requests the Secretary-General to provide, by 14 June 2024, an oral briefing to the Council on “the implementation of this resolution in the context of situations throughout the peace continuum which are on the agenda of the Council” during a public meeting under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item. The draft text in blue also requests that the Secretary-General swiftly inform the Council “about threats to international peace and security in this regard”.

Tags: Insights on Peacebuilding, Peacebuilding

Original: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2023/06/briefing-on-the-values-of-human-fraternity-and-vote-on-a-draft-resolution-on-tolerance-and-international-peace-and-security.php

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STATEMENT: The Friends of Sudan Group reiterate steadfast support for UNITAMS and SRSG Perthes

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: The Friends of Sudan Group includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union.

In the Group's June 7th statement copied here below, it reiterates its steadfast support for the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative (SRSG) to Sudan and Head of UNITAMS Dr Volker Perthes and their tireless work to assist the Sudanese people in their aspirations for a civilian transition, freedom, peace and justice. 

Incidentally, the 23 members of the Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) in Sudan are: Canada, Sweden, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Brazil, EU Delegation, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, US, UK, and Qatar, as well as UNAMID and the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNICEF as the Secretariat.

Source: Office of the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/2018/05/group-of-friends-of-children-and-armed-conflict-caac-in-sudan/

__________________________________________

Published at Government Offices of Sweden website

Dated 07 June 2023 - full copy:

Friends of Sudan Group Statement

France, Germany, Norway, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union, as members of the Friends of Sudan, express their deep concern about the ongoing violence and the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Sudan, including reports about violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, as well as about widespread looting of humanitarian supplies.

We strongly urge the warring parties to stop the fighting and attacks on civilians, and agree to an effective and sustained ceasefire, to ensure safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access and respect for international humanitarian law, and to work towards a return to the political process. We urgently call on the warring parties to adhere to their commitments agreed in the 11 May Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan and in the ceasefire of 20 May, and to return to the Jeddah dialogue to resolve issues around violations and reach a ceasefire that is respected fully. Humanitarian supplies and workers must be protected to ensure that assistance can reach people in need.

We support all international and regional efforts that work towards a cessation of hostilities and a resolution of this conflict. In this context, we would like to reiterate our steadfast support for the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) and Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) Volker Perthes and their tireless work to assist the Sudanese people in their aspirations for a civilian transition, freedom, peace and justice.

We call on the conflict parties to heed to calls of the Sudanese people for freedom, peace and justice by resolving their differences peacefully leading to the restoration of the political dialogue.

View original: https://www.government.se/statements/2023/06/friends-of-sudan-group-statement/

[Ends]

________________________________

Report at SudanTribune.com

Dated Monday 12 June 2023 - full copy:

Friends of Sudan express support for UN special envoy

Friends of Sudan meets in Riyadh, on January 18, 2022 SPA

June 12, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The Friends of Sudan group has voiced its unwavering support for Volker Perthes, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy and head of UNITAMS, while strongly denouncing the decision by the Sudanese government to declare him persona non grata.

The military-led government in Sudan made this declaration on June 8, shortly after the renewal of UNITAMS’ mandate for six months, disregarding its demand to replace him.

In a statement released on Monday, Dennis Kumetat, the Spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry for the Middle East and North Africa, representing his country and the Friends of Sudan, unequivocally condemned the Sudanese government’s action against the German diplomat.

“Since the outbreak of hostilities, the UN Special Envoy has been working tirelessly and energetically to campaign for ceasefires, protection of civilians, and humanitarian access to assist the affected local populations. We have full confidence in his ability to continue this crucial work,” Kumetat further stressed.

Perthes will continue to work on Sudan from Nairobi, where he has opened an office.

The statement follows a letter sent on June 9 by Sudan to the African Union, Ethiopia, and various UN specialized agencies, requesting that they refrain from engaging with Perthes. It should be noted that Sudan’s membership in the regional body has been suspended since the coup on October 25, 2021.

Additionally, France and the United States issued separate statements, offering their support to Perthes and condemning the decision of the military-led government in Khartoum.

The US State Department stated on May 27, “SRSG Perthes continues to have our confidence in implementing the UNITAMS mandate and in supporting the Sudanese people to achieve a peaceful and democratic future.”

Similarly, the French foreign ministry stated on June 9, “We commend the continued commitment and tireless work of Mr Volker Perthes and all UNITAMS teams to consolidate peace and support Sudan’s democratic transition, and more recently, to secure a ceasefire and humanitarian corridors.”

The Friends of Sudan group, established by the United States to support Sudan’s democratic transition, includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union.

View original: https://sudantribune.com/article274419/

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US points to Wagner plot against Chad's president

Report at The Wall Street Journal - wsj.com

By Benoit Faucon

Dated 23 February 2023; 7:58 am ET - full copy:

U.S. Intelligence Points to Wagner Plot Against Key Western Ally in Africa

Officials say U.S. has shared information with Chad that Russian group is working to destabilize nation’s government

PLAY VIDEO: From action movies to techno music clips, videos on Russian social media urge young men to join the Wagner mercenary group to fight in Ukraine. The pop culture push is even more important as Wagner’s losses mount on the battlefield. Illustration: RIA FAN/Aurum Production/Cyber FrontZ

The U.S. has shared intelligence with authorities in Chad that the head of Russian paramilitary company Wagner Group is working with Chadian rebels to destabilize the government and potentially kill the president of the African nation, a key counterterrorism ally of the West, according to U.S., African and European officials.

The vast, oil-rich desert nation of Chad sits at the center of Africa’s Sahel region, where Russia, with Yevgeny Prigozhin’s help, is openly challenging decades-old economic, military and political alliances with the West. A former French colony, Chad shares long, porous borders with Libya in the north, the Central African Republic in the south and Sudan in the east—three countries where Wagner already has a presence.

Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

View original: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-intelligence-points-to-wagner-plot-against-key-western-ally-in-africa-29867547

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Fleeing Sudan, diplomats shredded locals' passports

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: One would hope passports are treated as respectfully as a nation's flag. You don't shred a nation's flag without it being interpreted as a terrible insult. This article doesn't make clear whether the passports destroyed by the US were in fact US passports. If not, it seems to me the passports were not their property to destroy. They should have left them behind safely. A country's border is man made. In today's age of digital technology losing a passport should not be a matter of life or death.

As rightly stated in the article: A passport is a “precious and lifesaving piece of property,” said Tom Malinowski, a former congressman from New Jersey who helped stranded Afghans in 2021. “It’s a big deal to destroy something like that, and when we do we have an obligation to make that person whole.” 

Let's hope priority is given to replacing all passports wrongfully destroyed.

____________________________

Report at The New York Times
By Declan Walsh
Reporting from Nairobi, Kenya
Edward Wong contributed reporting.
Dated Friday 19 May 2023 - full copy:

Fleeing Sudan, U.S. Diplomats Shredded Passports and Stranded Locals

Officials destroyed Sudanese passports on security grounds as they evacuated the Khartoum embassy. Now the passport owners are trapped in a war zone.

Image Sudanese army soldiers guard a checkpoint in Khartoum on Thursday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In the frantic days before American diplomats evacuated their Khartoum embassy under darkness by helicopter last month, one crucial task remained.

Armed with shredders, sledgehammers and gasoline, American officials, following  government protocols, destroyed classified documents and sensitive equipment, officials and eyewitnesses said. By the time Chinook helicopters carrying commandos landed beside the embassy just after midnight on April 23, sacks of shredded paper lined the embassy’s four floors.

But the piles also contained paperwork precious to Sudanese citizens — their passports. Many had left them at the embassy days earlier, to apply for American visas. Some belonged to local staff members. As the embassy evacuated, officials who feared the passports, along with other important papers, might fall into the wrong hands reduced them to confetti.

A month later, many of those Sudanese are stranded in the war zone, unable to get out.

“I can hear the warplanes and the bombing from my window,” Selma Ali, an engineer who submitted her passport to the U.S. Embassy three days before the war erupted, said over a crackling line from her home in Khartoum. “I’m trapped here with no way out.” 

It wasn’t only the Americans: Many other countries also stranded Sudanese visa applicants when their diplomats evacuated, a source of furious recriminations from Sudanese on social media. But most of those countries did not destroy the passports, instead leaving them locked inside shuttered embassies  — inaccessible, but not gone forever.

Of eight other countries that answered questions about the evacuation, only France said it had also destroyed the passports of visa applicants on security grounds.

Image The US Embassy in Khartoum in 2017. Credit Ashraf Shazly/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The U.S. State Department confirmed it had destroyed passports but declined to say how many. “It is standard operating procedure during these types of situations to take precautions to not leave behind any documents, materials, or information that could fall into the wrong hands and be misused,” said a spokeswoman who asked not to be named under State Department policy.

“Because the security environment did not allow us to safely return those passports,” she added, “we followed our procedure to destroy them rather than leave them behind unsecured.”

Ms. Ali, 39, had hoped to fly to Chicago this month to attend a training course, and from there to Vienna to start work with a U.N. organization. “My dream job,” she said. Instead, she is confined with her parents to a house on the outskirts of the capital, praying the fighting will not reach them.

Violence in Sudan

Fighting between two military factions has thrown Sudan into chaos, with plans for a transition to a civilian-led democracy now in shambles.

“I’m so frustrated,” she said, her voice quivering. “The U.S. diplomats evacuated their own citizens but they didn’t think of the Sudanese. We are human, too.”

Alhaj Sharafeldin, 26, said he had been accepted for a master’s in computer science at Iowa State University, and supposed to collect his passport and visa on April 16. A day earlier, the fighting broke out.

Five days ago the U.S. embassy notified him by email that his passport had been destroyed. “This is tough,” he said, speaking from the house where he has sheltered since violence engulfed his own neighborhood. “The situation is so dangerous here.”

Image Alhaj Sharafeldin

The decision to destroy passports was gut-wrenching for American officials who realized it would hinder Sudanese citizens from fleeing, said several witnesses and officials familiar with the evacuation.

Particularly distressing was the fact that the passports of Sudanese staff members were also destroyed. Some had applied for United States  government training courses; others had left their passports in the embassy for safekeeping.

“There was a lot of very upset people about this,” said one U.S. official who, like several others, spoke on the basis of anonymity to discuss a sensitive episode. “We left behind a lot of people who were loyal to us, and we were not loyal to them.”

But the officials were following the same protocol that led to the destruction of many Afghan passports during the hasty evacuation from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, in August 2021, which was also a source of controversy.

Then, Afghans deprived of their passports could at least apply to the Taliban for a new one. But that option is impossible in Sudan because the country’s main  passport  office is in a neighborhood experiencing some of the fiercest battles.

Image American nationals arriving last month for evacuation in Port Sudan. Credit Reuters

Given those circumstances, angry Sudanese question why evacuating U.S. officials could not  have carried their passports with them. “Couldn’t they have just put the passports in a bag?” Ms. Ali said.

A passport is a “precious and lifesaving piece of property,” said Tom Malinowski, a former congressman from New Jersey who helped stranded Afghans in 2021. “It’s a big deal to destroy something like that, and when we do we have an obligation to make that person whole.”

In interviews, foreign diplomats said it was practically impossible to operate in Khartoum after the first shots were fired on April 15, when clashes between Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group, quickly spiraled into a full-blown war.

Warplanes zoomed over the Khartoum district including most foreign embassies, dropping bombs. R.S.F. fighters rushed into the streets, firing back. Stray bombs and bullets hit embassies and residences, making it too dangerous to even reach an office, much less hand out passports, officials said.

Still, Sudanese critics said the embassies could have tried harder — especially as they poured so much effort into evacuating their own citizens. Military planes from Britain, France, Germany and Turkey flew out thousands of people from Khartoum. Armed U.S. drones watched over buses carrying Americans as they traveled to Port Sudan, a journey of 525 miles.

Sudanese visa applicants who asked for help at foreign embassies holding their passports say they were met with obfuscation, silence or unhelpful advice like being told to get a new passport.

“There are no authorities in Sudan now,” said Mohamed Salah, whose passport is at the Indian Embassy. “Just war.” 

Image Mohamed Salah

One country did, however, provide some relief. Two weeks into the war, the Chinese Embassy posted a phone number online for visa applicants to retrieve passports.

The American Embassy, a sprawling compound by the Nile in southern Khartoum, was miles from the most intense fighting. Even so, officials worried that it would get cut off from critical supplies. So they began destroying sensitive material five days before President Biden formally ordered an evacuation on April 21, in scenes that one witness compared to the beginning of the movie “Argo.”

Classified and sensitive documents were fed into shredders that chomped them up and spat out tiny pieces. Officials wielding sledgehammers crushed electronics and an emergency passport machine. Burn pits glowed at the rear of the embassy.

The destruction grew more frenetic as the evacuation neared. Officials appealed over the embassy loudspeaker for help with shredding. Finally, a few hours before Chinooks landed in a field between the embassy and the Nile, throwing up clouds of blinding dust, U.S. Marines lowered the flag outside the embassy.

At the same time, other embassies were also in “full shred mode,” as one diplomat put it. A European ambassador said he personally smashed his official seal.

It is not clear if embassies that didn’t destroy passports made that choice or simply didn’t have enough time.

No government has said how many Sudanese passports it destroyed or left in shuttered embassies.

No One Left Behind, a nonprofit that helps Afghan military interpreters, estimated that several thousand passports were burned during the U.S. evacuation from Kabul in 2021, said Catalina Gasper, the group’s chief operating officer.

IMAGE A man waves folders with documents at U.S. Marines as they secure the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 2021. Credit Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

Fighting has surged in recent days, despite American- and Saudi-led efforts to broker a cease-fire. With little prospect of an immediate return to Khartoum, foreign diplomats say they are offering to help visa applicants left behind.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry said in response to questions that it was in “active contact” with affected people. The Spanish advised them to “obtain another travel document.” The Indians said they were unable to access their premises.

“The embassy area is still an intense fighting zone,” an Indian diplomat wrote.

Some people did manage to flee without passports. An official from France, which evacuated about 1,000 people from 41 countries, said people without papers were allowed to fly because officials knew that “their administrative situation would be resolved later.”

That option was not available to most Sudanese.

Mahir Elfiel, a development worker marooned in Wadi Halfa, 20 miles from the border with Egypt, said the Spanish Embassy hadn’t even responded to emails about his passport. “They just ignored me,” he said. (Others made similar complaints.)

Image Mahir Elfiel

There was at least one solution: Local officials were helping stranded people cross the border by extending their old, expired passports with handwritten notes. But Mr. Elfiel’s previous passport was stowed at his office back in Khartoum.

It presented a dilemma: return to the war zone and risk his life, or linger in Wadi Halfa until the fighting eases.

“I don’t have any options, really,” he said. “I’m just waiting.” 

Image Smoke billowing in Khartoum on Wednesday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.

Declan Walsh is the chief Africa correspondent for The Times. He was previously based in Egypt, covering the Middle East, and in Pakistan. He previously worked at The Guardian and is the author of “The Nine Lives of Pakistan.” @declanwalsh

A version of this article appears in print on May 20, 2023, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Fleeing Envoys Trap Sudanese In a War Zone.

- A Rescue Operation: As feuding generals turned Karthoum into a war zone, two university students navigated a battered Toyota through the chaos and saved at least 60 desperate people.

- Fleeing Sudan: The violence has driven thousands of Sudanese into neighboring countries and caused an exodus of diplomats and other foreigners who were in Sudan when violence erupted.

- A Safe Haven, for Now: Egypt has relaxed border controls for Sudanese arrivals since the outbreak of the fighting. But officials, expecting busloads of poorer refugees to follow, worry about what comes next.

- A Failed Test: As the crisis in Sudan creates the kind of power vacuum that the United States had hoped to avoid, critics of the Biden administration are blaming a naïve approach to foreign policy for the violence.

View original: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/world/africa/sudan-us-embassy-passports.html

COMMENTS POSTED AT ARTICLE ABOVE

Sort by: Newest

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San Diego

May 20

So the Chinese Embassy retained and protected the passports they held for Sudanese.  We did not.  Two thumbs up for the Chinese.  One down for us.  Reflects our cavalier attitude.

123 Recommend

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Rhode Island

May 20

Horrifying, and should be prosecuted, but of course never will. It was not U.S. property to destroy.

76 Recommend

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NJ

May 20

It was my understanding, from NYT reporting, that American dual citizens were given quite ample notice to leave ASAP and that some, having various family and financial connections to the country decided to stay:  if that truly is the case, then sadly, this is on them, not the embassy staff.

35 Recommend

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USA

May 20

Frankly, I don’t know why these people waited so long to leave the country

21 Recommend

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SFNM

May 20

Gut wrenching. Have we learned nothing?

20 Recommend

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New Delhi

May 20

The State Department abandoned U.S. citizens in Sudan while crowing about getting their own folks out. No surprise that they shredded the safety of so many Sudanese who put their faith in the power and fairness of the United States. We have lost the trust of the world in so many ways large and small. We could have made better choices.

72 Recommend

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Living In Mexico

May 19

Sounds like there need to be changes to these protocols so that certain items, including the passports of non-US citizens, get taken with evacuated diplomats. I get that there’s only so much room on a Chinook. But it should be possible to calculate what is practical and design suitable emergency protocols. This has already happened at least twice and it will happen again.

On a more practical note, does Sudan still have embassies in the US, in DC and at the UN in NY? If so they could reissue passports and people approved for travel to the US could pick them up when they get here. It sounds like the numbers involved are small enough for this to be a real solution to this specific problem.

135 Recommend

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North America

May 19

With the technology available, it should not be necessary to take people’s actual passports away from them.  These people came to us for help and we made things more difficult for them.

140 Recommend

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james commented

May 20

@Bwspmn 

Set a blame in the US why don’t you blame the warlords that are tearing the country apart?

30 Recommend

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Philadelphia, PA

May 19

It seems highly unlikely that the details of visa applicants were not routinely sent to the home country for review, so each country should at least have been able to generate a list of people it had a moral responsibility to rescue.

49 Recommend

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Boston

May 19

Having the passports fall into the wrong hands, to be misused by the wrong persons for travel to the US or other countries, would be an ongoing security risk. There could also be danger or persecution of persons who were identified as having relations with the US, so destroying the passports does make some sense. How much better to have scanned them and then taken the physical documents when evacuating. What more important items could there be when getting people to safety?

75 Recommend

Sudan: Could Arab tribal chief Hilal undercut Hemeti?

NOTE from Sudan  Watch Editor: I have just visited the archives of this site Sudan Watch 2004. The news headlines at that time seem to show we've gone full circle over past 20 years and are now back to square one. Here is an excerpt from one of the first reports reprinted here in 2004, followed by a recent report featuring the Arab tribal chief Mr Musa Hilal now aged 63.

Sudan Watch - Sunday, August 22, 2004

Janjaweed Leader Moussa Hilal - interview with UK Telegraph and IslamOnline.net

Aug 22: UK Telegraph news report by Philip Sherwell in Khartoum, copied here in full:

 

Tribal leader accused over Darfur says he was acting for government 

The sheikh accused by the United States of co-ordinating Janjaweed militiamen has admitted that he was "appointed" by Sudan's government to recruit Arab tribesmen to "defend their land". 

In an interview with The Telegraph, Musa Hilal scorned calls for his arrest on the eve of this week's visit to Sudan by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and the United Nations' deadline for Sudan to begin its promised crackdown on the Janjaweed. 

"I don't care what my enemies say about me," he said, jabbing his finger. "I have no concerns about being arrested. I don't think the Sudanese government would be stupid enough to take that decision." 

Mr Hilal has been identified by the US State Department as the most senior of seven Janjaweed leaders allegedly responsible for the ethnic cleansing conducted against predominantly black African villagers by Arab militiamen in the province of Darfur. 

Mr Hilal, 43, a tall man who has three wives and 13 children and leads a tribe of more than 200,000 people, denies the accusation. He was not an "agent" of the government, he said, but acknowledged allegations that the Khartoum government was using the camel and horse-riding Arab militia to suppress the rebellion. 

"I am one of the tribal leaders responsible for collecting people for military service for the country," he said, claiming that he organised his followers to defend themselves against Darfurian rebels. 

"I was appointed by the government to organise people to defend their lands but legally, not illegally. They were defending themselves against the mutineers." 

Read full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2004/08/janjaweed-leader-moussa-hilal.html

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Report from AlJazeera.com

By Mat Nashed

Dated 3 May 2023 - full copy:

Could an old tribal foe undercut Sudan’s Hemedti?

The RSF could be more vulnerable in its stronghold in Darfur, where a rival foe is challenging Hemedti.

PHOTO: Musa Hilal (centre right) celebrates with former President Omar al-Bashir (centre left) at the wedding of the former's daughter [File: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters]

After two weeks of armed conflict, Sudan’s feared paramilitary leader, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, has fought the army to a deadlock in the capital of Khartoum.

But his Rapid Support Forces could be more vulnerable in their stronghold in Darfur, where a rival has challenged Hemedti for tribal supremacy, analysts and residents told Al Jazeera.

Enter Musa Hilal, a respected tribal chief from the same Arab Rizeigat tribe that Hemedti hails.

Back in 2003, Hilal fought on behalf of the government against mostly non-Arab armed groups, who were rebelling against what they said was the state’s neglect and exploitation of Darfur. According to Human Rights Watch, Hilal’s forces – the Popular Defence Forces, called “Janjaweed” by the rebels – were accused of committing summary executions and using rape as a weapon of war.

Between 2003 and 2009, about 300,000 people were killed in the armed conflict, as well as from disease and famine brought on by the war. But while Hilal was scorned worldwide, he was rewarded back home.

In 2005, Sudan’s former leader, Omar al-Bashir, put Hilal’s fighters under the army’s control and tasked them with protecting Sudan’s frontiers.

Three years later, al-Bashir appointed him as his special adviser and even awarded him a seat in parliament in 2010.

“The thing with these militia leaders is that they start off as proxies [for the central government] and then they end up having their own political ambitions,” said Hafiz Mohamad, a Sudanese researcher for Justice Africa, which advocates for human rights across the continent.

Despite Hilal’s ascension in Khartoum, he eventually returned to Darfur after growing frustrated at the government’s continuing neglect of the region.

The fallout prompted al-Bashir to turn to Hemedti – then a little-known trader and a former fighter – to command a new armed group called the RSF. One of Hemedti’s early tasks was arresting Hilal for refusing to disarm his forces.

Now, Hilal could look to settle scores by helping the army weaken the RSF.

“When Bashir created the RSF, he gave all sorts of resources to Hemedti. That’s really when this rivalry started. Hilal started a rebellion against the government and one of Hemedti’s first tasks was to contain him,” Mohamad said.

Mobilising forces?

In March 2021, Hilal was pardoned after spending six months in prison, before Hemedti and army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – the two generals now fighting each other – upended the country’s democratic transition through a coup in October 2021.

Hilal has kept a low profile since his release, yet some analysts believed that the army has been trying to co-opt him – and fighters from his tribe – to undercut Hemedti.

“Hilal has been under Military Intelligence protection since his re-emergence,” one expert, who did not wish to disclose his name for fear of losing important sources and access to Sudan, told Al Jazeera.

Signs of a warm relationship between Hilal and the military have been reported. In June 2022, Hilal and his Revolutionary Awakening Council participated in peace talks with a number of other armed groups from Darfur, according to the latest United Nations Panel of Experts report on Darfur.

Sudan’s army sent the head of military intelligence, Major General Mohamed Ahmed Sabir, to mediate talks between the factions under the auspices of Promediation, a French NGO that assists mediation efforts between state and non-state groups.

The discussion centred around the peaceful return of Sudanese mercenaries, many of whom are loyal to Hilal, from Libya.

Months later, in the lead-up to the war between the army and RSF, Arab activists in Darfur reported that the military was recruiting from their clan in order to form a new border force that could undercut Hemedti.

The military has not denied that it was recruiting from Darfur, yet it did refute that it was coveting fighters from a certain tribe or clan. However, Hilal’s role and whereabouts remain uncertain.

“Rizeigat leaders were warning against an ongoing campaign to recruit fighters. The mobilisation is ongoing, but where Hilal fits in is not clear,” said Suliman Baldo, the founder of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker, a think tank covering political affairs in the country.

“The fact that all these [Rizeigat] tribal leaders were complaining about [recruitment], shows that it was an intense activity,” he added.

From strongmen to politicians

While Hilal and Hemedti are both from the Rizeigat, they are from two different clans within it.

The former is from the Mahamid and the latter from the Mahariya.

But, similar to Hilal, Hemedti evolved from being a militia fighter to having his own political ambitions.

The difference is that while Hilal maintains a loyal following in North Darfur, Hemedti has been able to cultivate relationships with regional backers, such as the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Eritrea.

Those powerful friends give Hemedti and the RSF an outsized advantage against any attempt by Hilal to fight him, said Anette Hoffman, an expert on Sudan for the Clingendael Institute, an independent Dutch think tank.

“If there were no foreign players involved, Hilal would be able to mobilise through his tribal links, including whatever links he has in Chad,” she told Al Jazeera. “But with such powerful backers, Hilal just doesn’t compare any more to Hemedti.”

Despite Hilal’s disadvantages, Hoffman expected him to still try and mobilise fighters, which could make the fighting in Darfur significantly bloodier in the weeks and months to come.

“If we see Hemedti get killed at some point, then we could see a disintegration of the RSF and also of the Rizeigat as an ethnic group,” she said. “Hilal would then play a role that leads to more suffering and more fighting and access to arms. He would help to turn things uglier than they already are.”

For non-Arab communities in West Darfur, the scarier scenario is if Hilal and Hemedti put their differences aside in order to fight the army, said Zakaria Bedour, a local human rights monitor in the province.

She stressed that Mahamid militias and communities are already receiving support from the RSF in order to target non-Arabs in el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur. The latest violence is due in part to a power vacuum in the region, prompting Arab militias to try and grab control over land and water resources.

The attacks have killed nearly 200 people, according to local doctors. Internally displaced camps sheltering non-Arab communities were also burned to the ground, while markets, hospitals and warehouses belonging to international relief organisations were looted.

“If [Hemedti and Hilal] get along, there will be consequences for the African tribes and the internally displaced people. [Hilal and Hemedti] remember the displaced people as being in opposition to them [in previous wars],” warned Zakaria.

“The consequence would make the [Arab] forces much bigger than the [armed non-Arab groups] in [West Darfur].”

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View original: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/3/could-an-old-tribal-foe-undercut-sudans-hemedti

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