Sudan appeals to the Security Council to lift the arms embargo on armed forces
Agencies - Moatinoon
Sudan’s representative called on the Security Council today to impose an arms and material transport embargo against rebel forces, invaders and mercenaries, and to lift sanctions on the Government forces, as the 15‑member organ received an update from its sanctions committee for that country.
Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed (Sudan) recalled that the Council arms embargo against his country — dealing with all non-Government entities and individuals, specifically the Janjaweed militias in north, south and east Darfur — was extended to all parties related to the ceasefire agreement and in conflict. The embargo further imposed a travel ban and assets freeze for certain individuals.
The transitional Government drafted a plan for civilian protection before the war, he said, adding that the Sudanese Armed Forces joined efforts to defend the country against aggressors who enjoyed support from regional States, mobilizing mercenaries to undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He further cited a mechanism, brought to the Council’s attention two years ago, calling for financial support for regular forces and joint peacekeeping forces in the Darfur zone to counter trafficking in persons and drugs, enhance resilience against climate change and strengthen those Armed Forces struggling against the Rapid Support Forces, whose members rape women and murder civilians based on identity. The international community must shore up support for the Government forces, he stated.
Noting the right to preserve Sudan’s territorial integrity, he beseeched the Council to impose an embargo on arms and material transport on the Rapid Support Forces, invaders and mercenaries. “If you truly wish to safeguard peace and security in Darfur, there is a need to exclude the Armed Forces from the embargo imposed since 2004,” he said. Citing a wide array of aggression, violence, murders and destruction of civilian infrastructure by militias, he noted that those rebels and their allies receive support from armed stakeholders in neighbouring States; a field hospital was established in one of them to treat wounded militia and transport them, a violation of international law. Warning about ongoing ethnic cleansing targeting various Darfur tribes, which has triggered a wave of regional exodus, he said: “We are liable to see what happened in Rwanda in 1994 transpire once again.”
Source: https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15525.doc.htm
