(3 Minutes Read)
The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding that Sudan’s paramilitary force immediately halt its siege of the vast western region of Darfur that it doesn’t control. More than a million people are reportedly trapped
The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding that Sudan’s paramilitary force immediately halt its siege of the vast western region of Darfur that it doesn’t control. More than a million people are reportedly trapped.
The British-sponsored resolution, which was approved by a vote of 14-0 with Russia abstaining, also called on the paramilitary Rapid Support Force and Sudanese military “o seek an immediate cessation of hostilities leading to an end to their more than year-long war.
It expressed grave concern at the spreading violence and credible reports that the Rapid Support Forces are carrying out ethnically motivated violence in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, as well as last year in El Geneina in West Darfur. Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward told the council after the vote that the resolution sends a clear message: the RSF must immediately stop the siege of El Fasher and that all sides step back from the brink.
Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital Khartoum and spread to other regions including Darfur. The U.N. says over 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured.
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.
Read Also:
https://trendsnafrica.com/un-warns-of-internally-displaced-persons-in-sudan/
The RSF was 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. The ICC wants him on charges of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s. The resolution demands that the RSF and government forces ensure the protection of civilians, including allowing those wishing to move within El Fasher or leave the city for safer areas to do so.
