By Matik Kueth
King New 09th September Juba – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to renew arms embargo sanctions against Sudan. The organization emphasized the urgency of the matter as warring factions in the country continue to commit atrocities and escalate violence, further destabilizing the region.
In a statement obtained by King News on Monday, Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, Senior Crisis, Conflict, and Arms Researcher at HRW, highlighted the direct involvement of both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in widespread war crimes and other grave human rights violations throughout the ongoing conflict.
He called on the UN Security Council to renew and strengthen the arms embargo and limitations on the Darfur region to cover all of Sudan and to hold violators accountable.
“Sudan’s conflict is one of the world’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises, with warring parties committing atrocities with impunity, and newly acquired weapons and equipment are likely to be used in the commission of further crimes,” said Gallopin
He added that fighters from both the SAF and the RSF have since mid-2023 posted photos and videos of new foreign-made kits, such as armed drones and anti-tank guided missiles.
He stressed that the UN Security Council should extend the Darfur arms embargo to all of Sudan to stop the flow of more atrocities.
“The Security Council should expand the Darfur arms embargo to all of Sudan to curb the flow of arms that may be used to commit war crimes,” Gallopin said.
He added, “The Security Council should publicly condemn individual governments that are violating the existing arms embargo on Darfur and take urgently needed measures to sanction individuals and entities that are violating the embargo.”
The Human Rights Watch analyzed 49 photos and videos, most apparently filmed by fighters from both sides, posted on the social media platforms Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, and X (formerly known as Twitter), showing weapons used or captured in the conflict.
It also identified new weapons, which include armed drones, drone jammers, anti-tank guided missiles, truck-mounted multi-barrel rocket launchers, and mortar munitions.
According to the statement, Human Rights Watch was unable to determine how the warring sides acquired the new equipment.
“The new visual evidence of equipment not known to previously be in the possession of Sudanese actors, and evidence that it is being used, suggests that the warring parties acquired some of these weapons and equipment after the start of the current conflict in April 2023. In one case, lot numbers indicate the ammunition was manufactured in 2023,” it stated.
The rights group pointed out that the SAF and RSF may continue to perpetrate war crimes and other major human rights violations not only in Darfur but throughout the country with such weapons and equipment.
The United Nations Security Council is expected to decide on September 11 whether to renew the Sudan sanctions regime, which prohibits the transfer of military equipment to the Darfur region.
Human Rights Watch underlined the need for a national arms embargo in addressing the issues by facilitating monitoring of transfers to Darfur and blocking the lawful procurement of weapons for use in other parts of Sudan.
However, in recent months, the Sudanese government rejected an extension of the arms embargo and encouraged members of the Security Council to abolish the sanctions system and eliminate the Darfur embargo entirely.
The human rights group claimed that the frequency of crimes committed by the warring sides poses a significant risk that acquired weapons or equipment would most likely be used to support major violations of human rights and humanitarian law, therefore endangering citizens.
“Ending the arms embargo would end the work of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan. The panel is one of the few entities that provides the Security Council with regular, in-depth reporting on the conflict in Sudan since the SAF-aligned government successfully demanded the closure of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan in December 2023,” HRW emphasized.
In recent weeks, the discussion around renewal at the Security Council has shifted toward renewing the Darfur embargo and associated sanctions regime, which means that if adopted, the status quo would continue.
Similarly, the Panel of Experts and Amnesty International have documented that the governments of Belarus, China, and Russia violated the embargo for years, yet only one individual has ever been sanctioned for violating the embargo.
Since the conflict between the SAF and the RSF began in Sudan in April 2023, countless civilians have been killed, millions have been internally displaced, and millions face famine.