The civil war in Sudan must be declared a genocide, the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee has demanded of President Joe Biden. A resolution says the actions of the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) in targeting non-Arab ethnic groups is genocide.
“ … the unfathomable horrors that have recently been committed there by the RSF and its allied militias against the Masalit and other ethnic minorities require us to speak out, demand justice and accountability for victims, and begin working towards a sustainable peace that ensures Sudanese civilians are at the center of any reconciliation process,” said Senator Cory Booker chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Africa.
The non-Arab population, in particular the Masalit, Fur and Zaghawa communities, have become the main targets since civil war broke out in Sudan last year. There are two main combatants, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan which is pitted against the RSF of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The former is unable or unwilling to defend either of these communities concentrated in the Darfur region in the west and south. The capture of Darfur is crucial to the RSF since it could demand major concessions when negotiations come. The UN has estimated that 12,000 people have been killed so far.
These communities have been targeted before. From 2003-05, the Sudanese government under then president Omar-al Bashir used an Arab Muslim militia called the Janjaweed to launch mass attacks on them. Bashir was charged by the International Criminal Court with genocide in 2019, was overthrown and is presently in Aaliya hospital in Khartoum. The transitional government that replaced him was in turn overthrown by the Sudanese army and the RAF three years ago.
Last December, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the RSF and allied militias had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. He called on both sides to end the conflict.
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