Corruption is driving force behind Sudanese atrocities -George Clooney & John Prendergast of The Sentry

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: In an audio conversation conducted by BBC Newsday presenter James Copnall with US peace activists George Clooney and John Prendergast, James was told about those profiting from conflict in South Sudan and that corruption is the driving force behind the atrocities in South Sudan. In my view, it could also apply to Sudan. 

Here is a transcript I made from the audio originally released 20 Sep 2019. An undated copy was published at BBC Sounds online two days ago. Much of it applies to the situation today. Apologies if I mistakingly attributed any parts. The American accents were so similar I had to guess who said what. 

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From: BBC World Service Newsday

Release date 20 September 2019

Re-released two days ago, circa 09 May 2024 - here is a full copy:

George Clooney tells Newsday about those profiting from conflict in South Sudan

The corrupt financial transactions between some government officials and foreign companies should be targeted as the most effective way to curb the violence in South Sudan. 

This is the conclusion of research by The Sentry, an advocacy and investigation organisation based in the United States, which names individuals and businesses - including foreign state-owned oil companies - which it says have plundered the resources of the country for personal gain. 

Newsday's James Copnall spoke to George Clooney - the film star who co-founded The Sentry - and the organisations director John Prendergast.

Photo: George Clooney (R) and John Prendergast. Credit: Getty Images

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Transcript

JOHN PRENDERGAST: These war profiteers, these people who profit from human misery are extremely vulnerable in one way. They use the international financial system to move the proceeds of their financial crimes. When they do that in US dollars, and they do it in pounds, and they do it in euros, they become subject to the regulatory authorities and the banking systems, any money laundering efforts and we can work directly with governments and with banks to close those avenues, illicit financial flows off, and actually freeze and seize those assets so that it creates a real consequence, a real level of accountability for these kinds of crimes.

BBC: George, your activism has been around South Sudan and other issues too for many issues for many years was there something in particular that surprised you here?

GEORGE CLOONEY: Well, what’s an interesting thing, we’ve gone through a series of different versions of how we try to go after and stop these atrocities. We’ve tried putting satellite up in the air, we’ve tried, we’ve tried a lot of different things. Sometimes we’ve been successful, ultimately we’ve failed clearly because there’s an awful lot of violence that still goes on there. What became clear was that once we realised that we put on the front page of newspaper “troop build ups and mass graves” and nothing happened that they thought they could act with impunity [BBC: they could, couldn’t they? GC: they could and they have] but what’s also clear is if you sit down with a bank and you say well tomorrow I am going to hold a press conference that says you are laundering one hundred million dollars and I’m going to announce tomorrow that either you are doing something about it or not or you are complicit, it’s amazing how quickly they say you know what we don’t need to be in the business anymore of South Sudan.

JOHN PRENDERGAST: The whole system has been established in South Sudan to loot and if you can start to create a consequence for looting, you’re going to make a difference, you’re going to start to impact the calculations of folks that are making decisions about how they are going to run South Sudan.

BBC: [unclear] from Kenya, from Uganda, countries in the region, sometimes where the money goes, sometimes who may disagree with the conclusions you’re coming up with?

JOHN PRENDERGAST: So this is a really important point because the politicians left to their own devices in those neighbouring countries with business as usual. But Kenyans want the Kenyan banking sector to be the financial one-stop shopping for the entire region so they have to open themselves up to the international regulatory authorities, there is something called the Financial Action Task Force, we’ll put everybody to sleep if we talk about it, but the Kenyans are terrified if they get a bad grade from the Financial Action Task Force their whole banking sector is going to suffer. So suddenly they are like, okay yeah maybe we are in business with, some of our politicians are in league with these folks who are stealing from South Sudan but our entire future financial sector is at risk if we keep doing business. That’s a very significant counterweight and it gives us a chance to do something real.

BBC: Is it your contention that in the current situation people really shouldn’t be doing business in South Sudan at all because people will be saying this country needs people coming in?

JOHN PRENDERGAST: We want to encourage foreign investment, we want to encourage private sector development in South Sudan but if you talk to South Sudanese businessmen who aren’t on the take, if you talk to investors who want to do it clean they have no chance because the folks who are bringing suitcases full of money and putting it under the table and are hijacking these particular processes there’s no transparency.

BBC: [unclear] you cut out the financial dodgy dealing a big if ... there are still a lot of problems in South Sudan, ethnic tensions, political competition, this is a small part of a very big pond.

GEORGE CLOONEY: Except that the amount of money that’s coming in from and the kind of corruption, corruption is the driving force for these atrocities, you take away that giant piece of the puzzle and suddenly you know Salva Kiir doesn’t really have the same incentives and probably loses power. 

BBC: Even in the context where soldiers aren’t getting paid, when the economy has been bled dry already?

JOHN PRENDERGAST: Why are they not getting paid? Why is the economy being bled dry? Because of mass corruption. This is the cancer that eats away at the effectiveness, the potential effectiveness of the state. If you do not address it, which it has not been addressed, and then try to do things about everything else there is still this massive hole at the centre. And I think this is our argument. It is not a small thing, it’s not just a, it has repercussions for all these other things that makes everything else worse because the state has been captured and when you have a captured state and the objective of that state is to enrich the leaders of that, everything else that you are trying to do, supporting foreign investment, development, infrastructure, even child nutrition, even education, is being obstructed and undermined by the cancer of corruption.

BBC: So this is a conversation being carried out about international businessmen, about banking systems internationally, what about the South Sudanese guys sitting in a village in [unclear] listening to this on the radio, watching this on TV in Juba, what can they do in your view to change the system there?

JOHN PRENDERGAST: Well, you’ve seen a great deal of opposition to the system in the form of, sadly, in the form of armed rebellion, in the form of development of militias whether they are defending their own territory or attacking wanting to change the system. Sudan right to the north has created this incredible model where hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people kept demonstrating and kept marching in support of democracy and in support of peace despite tremendous repression and violence, state violence, against them. I feel like that the next wave in South Sudan in terms of people who are trying to make a difference because now if you try to make a difference if you try to challenge the system you’ll be killed or imprisoned. It’s a scary thing, people have to make choices. If you are going to take on the system you and your family will probably face severe repercussions but once the numbers get large and you start to see change as we’ve seen in Sudan and seen in other parts of Africa we may see a difference. I think that’s probably mass protest against war, against corruption, against dictatorship, is probably the thing that will make the biggest difference, it’s the people themselves that have got to take the reins and make the change.

BBC: You know what the South Sudanese government is going to say, don’t you, they’re going say, you going after us it’s regime change, western prominent personalities maybe backed by governments trying to bring us down, what do you say to that?

GEORGE CLOONEY:  If you think about what we’re saying is we think we should stop corruption. If the answer by the South Sudan government is you want regime change then you are saying that you are corrupt. That’s basically what you are saying. We’re not saying that, we are saying that we should stop corruption. 

Listen to the conversation here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07ntymp

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United Kingdom is on a "war footing". New UK Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea appointed

On April 24, 2024 the BBC reported that many of the front pages declare that the UK is on a "war footing" after Rishi Sunak's announcement of an extra £75bn for defence over the next six years. 

The Telegraph says there will be a focus on hypersonic missiles, lasers, anti-tank rockets and artillery shells. Writing in the paper, the chief of the defence staff - Admiral Sir Tony Radakin - said the investment was a sign that Britain had lost none of her famous resolve.

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New UK Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea appointed

Alison Blackburne is the UK’s Special Envoy for the Red Sea and Horn of Africa, starting in this role in May 2024. Alison was the British Ambassador to South Sudan from April 2017 to May 2019, and before that British High Commissioner to Uganda from August 2012 to November 2016.

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HERE is a full copy of Africa Press Release

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Government of UK
Dated Thursday, 9 May 2024 

New United Kingdom Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea appointed: Alison Blackburne

Alison Blackburne has been appointed UK Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea. She takes up the role with experience in a wide range of diplomatic roles in the UK and overseas, including previously serving as the British High Commissioner to Uganda and British Ambassador to South Sudan. 

The UK Envoy’s role is to lead the UK response to international activity in the Horn of Africa region, engaging with key actors.

Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: The UK is committed to building our long-term partnerships in the Horn of Africa, wider East Africa and across the Gulf. Our relationship tackles a range of issues, from humanitarian crises to trade, investment, and regional security.  

It’s been a critical year for the region, from a devastating conflict in Sudan, to attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and building our trade links in the Gulf. 

Alison will bring invaluable knowledge and experience to the role, and I am confident she will grow our diplomatic relationships in the coming years.

UK Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea Alison Blackburne said: The Horn of Africa is a dynamic region, and the UK remains focussed on working with partners to bring peace, stability, and prosperity for its people.

We are committed to tackling the key issues which affect communities across the region.  These include conflict and instability, humanitarian crises, climate change and food insecurity, as well as the challenges and opportunities of regional economic cooperation and trade and investment. 

 It is a privilege to accept this position, and I look forward to working with our international partners at such a crucial time.

View original:  https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/africa-press-releases/new-united-kingdom-special-envoy-to-the-horn-of-africa-and-red-sea-appointed-alison-blackburne-s3nghnzc

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Save Darfur. Save Sudan. Conflict and Humanitarian Emergency in Sudan: An Urgent Call to Action.

US Department of State Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Sudan today, Wednesday, May 1 2024. Click here to watch it on video. 

This is a copy of the statement of U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello:

Statement of
Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello
U.S. Department of State
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
“Conflict and Humanitarian Emergency in Sudan: An Urgent Call to Action” 

May 1, 2024

Chairman Cardin, Ranking Member Risch, I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the horrific crisis in Sudan. I also want to thank this Committee for your untiring and vital advocacy for the people of Sudan over many years, and particularly since this tragic war began last April.

As this Committee well knows, the war and humanitarian crisis in Sudan are already catastrophic. Worse yet, the most likely trajectory forward is towards famine, fighting that takes on increasingly ethnic and regional aspects, and the possibility of a failed state of 50 million people on the strategic eastern gateway to the Sahel. For the past year, the people of Sudan have suffered death, crimes against humanity, sexual violence and starvation as a weapon of war, and ethnic cleansing. More than 8 million Sudanese people have been displaced– more than if every resident of Maryland and Idaho combined was forced from their homes, 3 million children – approximately one in eight children – have fled violence since mid-April, making it the world’s largest child displacement crisis. 25 million people are in need of basic food and medicine with 4.9 million of those people on the verge of famine. This brutal war is having a disproportionate impact on women and girls, who both parties have subjected to ongoing atrocities, including rape and conflict-related sexual violence.

The scale of the suffering is shocking. Beyond each of those statistics are human beings, like the woman I met who had recently escaped Darfur. She described the horrors committed against her by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and then being re-traumatized when she got to a neighboring country. Sadly this is all too common. Yet the world has treated Sudan as an invisible crisis, rarely covered in the world press. While much of the world turns a blind eye to this crisis, the Sudanese that I’ve met – including women and youth - have let me know how much they notice the statements and speeches Chairman Cardin and Ranking Member Risch have made. I appreciate that Senator Booker led a recent delegation to witness first-hand the scale and stark conditions of refugees flooding into Chad from Darfur. When these women and children – too many with bone-thin arms and thousand-yard stares – were asked at the border why they had fled, the answer repeatedly was simple – “food.”

Food insecurity and malnutrition have reached alarming levels across Sudan, driven by conflict and blockage of humanitarian aid. Nearly 18 million people in Sudan faced acute food insecurity, with nearly 5 million people on the brink of famine. According to the latest data from February, nearly 3 million children in Sudan are acutely malnourished. A woman carrying her baby of 7 months said to me, “this Ramadan, we’ve had more iftars with no food than with food.”. Absent a change in humanitarian access and flow of aid, conditions are expected to worsen with the imminent arrival of the ‘lean season’ which lasts through the summer. Sudan is on the verge of famine, due to blatant and systematic violations by both SAF and RSF of international humanitarian law. Amidst this fragility, the SAF made the unconscionable decision earlier this year to block, disrupt, and limit humanitarian aid in a way that has made it impossible to meet the scale and urgency of hunger facing the Sudanese people.

But even in areas without major limits on humanitarian access, like the refugee camps in Chad, resources have fallen painfully short. The World Food Program (WFP) had cut daily rations to 30 percent below recommended levels in case no new funding arrived. For this reason, the decision of this Congress to pass supplemental humanitarian funding earlier this month was truly a lifesaving decision for many Sudanese. The United States has now committed over $1 billion in food, medicine, and other humanitarian aid since the war began, and I hope that the media will let more Americans see how their generosity is helping some of the world’s most vulnerable people. However, much work remains to mitigate famine, including pressure to translate donor pledges into results on the ground and escalating pressure on both the SAF and RSF to allow unconditional, safe and sustained cross border and crossline delivery of aid in accordance with international humanitarian law.

While humanitarian aid is vital, the hundreds of Sudanese with whom I have met have spoken with one voice on this fact – the only true solution to the humanitarian crisis and human suffering is to end this war, and that is my top priority as the U.S. Special Envoy. While two armed factions launched this conflict, this is less a civil war between two sides than a war which two generals and their affiliates are waging against the Sudanese people and their aspirations to a free and democratic future. Let’s be clear: the RSF and its leadership are rooted in the Janjaweed militias who committed genocide and widespread crimes against humanity. They have conducted this war with unspeakable brutality, including through ethnic cleansing of the Masalit, sexual violence as a weapon of war, and torching whole villages. Any external actor providing support to the RSF cannot claim ignorance of its past or on-going atrocities.

In December, Secretary Blinken determined that the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes, and that the RSF and allied militia have also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The SAF bombed civilian areas, and now proactively interferes with humanitarian operations, repeatedly refusing the flow of lifesaving food and medicine in direct violation of international humanitarian law. The Biden Administration has also issued OFAC sanctions against SAF and RSF targets, as well as entities responsible for supporting these violations.

In a moment, I’ll share why I believe that a peace deal could be on the horizon, but first, let me be crystal clear that there is undeniable momentum now for this crisis to get much worse. A two-sided war is in danger of factionalizing, with more ethnic militias moving from neutrality to combatants. Many of these groups have populations that overlap with neighboring countries, increasing the chances of this becoming a regional war. We see credible reports about the growing number of negative actors, including Islamists and former regime officials, and a rise in hate speech and polarization. The current battle over El Fasher in North Darfur could eliminate one of the last semi- safe civilian havens in western Sudan and produce a flood of new refugees. The possibility of famine and a fractured state is real, and we are communicating that with urgency from the highest levels of our government to those who have leverage to end this war. As Secretary Blinken said in his April 13 video message to the Sudanese people, “more fighting cannot, and will not, end this conflict.”

Let me summarize three of our lines of effort focused on ending the war.

We have elevated and focused U.S. leadership on Sudan across the inter-agency. This has included repeated engagement by Secretary Blinken, and tremendous support from the Department’s

African and Near Eastern affairs bureaus, and tireless support from our Embassies for a ten-week sprint of shuttle diplomacy. We have also seen Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield publicly and consistently pursue Sudan as one of her top three priorities and push the United Nations Security Council to call for a Ramadan ceasefire. The U.S. Department of Treasury is playing a crucial role on expanding sanctions and ensuring consequences for those committing atrocities and spoiling the peace, including through the imposition of sanctions against perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict, implementing the Presidential Memorandum to Promote Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence. USAID, along with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), has been a key partner in tenaciously advocating for humanitarian access, aiding Sudanese pro-democracy and civil society groups to continue organizing in their communities, and supporting courageous youth who continue to find innovative ways to deliver food and medicine at great risk.

Second, we have focused our strategy on building and aligning sufficient political will in the region to compel a peace deal consistent with the aspirations of the Sudanese people. Over recent months, we have made clear to regional and European counterparts that Sudan now represents not only a humanitarian and human rights crisis but also a threat to regional and Europe’s stability. We expect all actors, even those previously playing a negative role, to now be partners in a peace deal to prioritize stability over a failed state that would have consequences for the broader region for a decade or more. This is reflected by – but not limited to – a commitment to new peace talks in the coming weeks. These talks will be (1) inclusive of key African and Arab regional leaders, (2) focused on aligning external political will, and (3) designed to produce a comprehensive cessation of hostilities. We expect all partners, even those who have previously fueled the conflict, to understand that the United States government now expects them to be partners in peace.

While this revised formulation of the Jeddah platform represents our best opportunity for formal talks, I have been clear publicly and privately that we are not waiting for Jeddah talks to resume to negotiate an end to this war. We are actively engaged in it every day, with every meeting and every signal sent. In this effort, I want to thank so many of our African partners, the United Nations, and the African Union who are leading efforts to create greater global consensus and urgency for compelling a deal.

Third, we are continuing to raise the costs of those conducting and fueling this war. We are engaged directly with both fighting factions, including their top generals, to deter escalation and atrocities. We have led the world on sanctioning bad actors – both individuals and entities like banks that are enabling the atrocities – and have made clear our readiness to expand those sanctioned.

Finally, the greatest source of hope is the resilience and unity of the Sudanese people, and we continue to center and amplify their call not just for peace but for the restoration of their shared aspirations for a democratic future. They are united in wanting the war to end, full access to humanitarian aid, and a unified professional army under the authority of a civilian government. They do not want to see former corrupt regime officials or extremists use this war as a backdoor to power. In short, they want their future back – the future they so courageously began with the

overthrow of the authoritarian Bashir regime. That is the North Star of our policy - standing with the Sudanese people.

As we speak, Sudan faces two distinct but accelerating trajectories– one towards famine and possibly a failed state, and the second towards peace and a democratic future. The only two barriers to ending this war are, first, the political will of two Generals and those fueling this horrific war, and second the absence of enough political will by those of us who could compel a peace. Our North Star is the aspirations of the Sudanese people. Our path is building and aligning enough will in the region to silence the guns and restore the Constitutional transition. That path can be paved, but time is very much not on our side.

In closing, let me express my appreciation to this Committee for your support for the people of Sudan, for the mandate of the Special Envoy, and the light you shine on the crisis in Sudan. 

The Honorable Tom Perriello

U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan

U.S. Department of State

Washington, D.C.

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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

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