UN: Sudan, armed groups violate international sanctions

Chair of the UN Security Council’s Sudan Sanctions Committee, Joanna Wronecka, yesterday accused Sudan and armed groups in the Darfur region of violating the arms embargo imposed on the country.

The committee’s coordinator, Thomas Bifwoli Wanjala, said in a report – which covered the period March-November 2018 – that “concerns about the protection of civilians in Darfur continue to exist, while women and girls throughout the region continue to be subjected to conflict-related sexual violence”.

Wanjala continued: “The armed groups in Darfur continue to violate the international embargo on transferring arms [to Sudan], while security incidents continue in the form of inter-communal clashes, particularly in rural areas.”

The report warned that “the Libyan crisis is the main source of possible conflict in the region,” adding that “the main conflict-related development during the reporting period was the resumption of heavy clashes throughout the Marra Mountains in Darfur between government forces and the Sudan Liberation Army.”

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The report also pointed out that Khartoum has responded to the hit-and-run attacks launched by the Sudan Liberation Army – a militant group active in the Darfur region in the south of the country – with large-scale military operations aimed at removing the group from its strongholds.

“Although the current security situation in Sudan does not allow the Darfurian elements in Libya to launch a large-scale operation in their country of origin, they are strengthening their military capabilities so that they can return to Sudan when circumstances are more appropriate,” Wanjala said.

The UN Security Council yesterday debated the future of sanctions imposed on Sudan for more than 13 years.

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