International Agency: UAE Accused of Worsening Sudan’s Conflict

Human Rights Watch has verified that the UAE is intensifying conflicts in Sudan by supplying foreign-made weapons and equipment to the Rapid Support Forces militia, a key player in the civil war.

According to the organization, rebels involved in war crimes during the current Sudanese conflict have recently received advanced foreign-manufactured weapons and military supplies, with the UAE being the main provider.

The organization emphasized the need for the United Nations Security Council to renew and broaden the arms embargo on Darfur, extending it to all of Sudan, and to ensure violators are held accountable.

Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, described the conflict in Sudan as one of the world’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises, with warring factions committing atrocities without consequence.

He also noted that since mid-2023, the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have been sharing images and videos of newly acquired foreign-made weapons, such as armed drones and anti-tank guided missiles.

Human Rights Watch analyzed 49 photos and videos, mostly shared by fighters from both sides on platforms like Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, and X (formerly known as Twitter), showing the use or capture of these weapons in the conflict.

The new equipment identified by Human Rights Watch, including armed drones, drone jammers, anti-tank guided missiles, multi-barrel rocket launchers mounted on trucks, and mortar munitions, was manufactured by companies based in China, Iran, Russia, Serbia, and the United Arab Emirates.

New visual evidence of these weapons, which were not previously known to be in Sudan’s possession, suggests that the warring factions acquired some of them after the conflict began in April 2023. In one instance, batch numbers show that some munitions were produced in 2023.

Since the outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, countless civilians have lost their lives, millions have been displaced within the country, and many more face the threat of famine.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces may use such weapons and equipment to continue to commit war crimes and other serious human rights abuses not only in Darfur, but throughout the country.

The UN Security Council is expected to decide on September 11 whether to renew the sanctions regime on Sudan, which prohibits the transfer of military equipment to the Darfur region.

Established in 2004, the sanctions regime targeted the Darfur conflict, which involved severe human rights abuses, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing. Although the ongoing conflict has spread across much of Sudan since April 2023, the Security Council has not yet expanded the arms embargo to encompass the whole country.

These findings demonstrate the inadequacy of the current Darfur-only arms embargo and the serious risks posed by the warring parties’ acquisition of new weapons.

A nationwide arms embargo would help tackle these challenges by enabling better oversight of arms transfers to Darfur and blocking the legal procurement of weapons for use in other regions of Sudan.

The Sudanese government has opposed expanding the arms embargo, and in recent months has been pressing Security Council members to end the sanctions regime and lift the Darfur embargo entirely.

According to the organization, the extensive atrocities committed by the warring factions raise a serious concern that any new weapons or equipment they acquire might be used to commit grave human rights violations and breaches of humanitarian law, thereby harming civilians.

The organization also highlighted that removing the arms embargo would compromise the efforts of the Panel of Experts on Sudan, which has been among the few entities delivering comprehensive reports on the conflict to the Security Council since the pro-SAF government successfully closed the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan in December 2023.

In a report published in July, Amnesty International found that “newly manufactured weapons and military equipment from countries including Russia, China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are being imported into Sudan in large quantities and then diverted to Darfur.”

The organization appealed to the Security Council to extend the arms embargo from Darfur to the entire Sudan to prevent the proliferation of weapons that could facilitate war crimes. It also recommended that the Council publicly denounce governments, such as the UAE, that violate the embargo and take swift action to penalize those who breach the restrictions.