Sudan: Warring Parties Achieve Illegally Acquire New Weapons Despite Embargo

ROMA – The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), both responsible for war crimes in the current conflict in Sudan, have acquired modern foreign-made weapons and military equipment, particularly armed drones and anti-tank missiles, documents Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a new report. The UN Security Council should renew and extend the arms embargo from the Darfur region to all of Sudan, the human rights organization says.

The weapons. HRW analyzed 49 photos and videos, mostly filmed by both SAF and RSF fighters, posted on Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, and X, showing weapons used in the conflict. The new equipment identified by Human Rights Watch, including armed drones, anti-tank missiles, truck-mounted multi-barrel rocket launchers, and mortar munitions, were produced by companies registered in China, Iran, Russia, Serbia, and the United Arab Emirates. The organization was unable to determine how the warring parties acquired these new weapons, but confirmed that they were recent purchases, as serial numbers indicate that most of the munitions were manufactured in 2023.

The war. Since the conflict between the SAF and RSF in Sudan began in April 2023, there have been massive casualties, millions of displaced people, and widespread famine. The continued purchase of weapons by the SAF and RSF with impunity, HRW writes, is prolonging the conflict and human rights abuses not only in Darfur but across the country.

L’embargo. On September 11, the United Nations Security Council decides whether or not to renew the sanctions regime against Sudan, which prohibits the transfer and sale of weapons in the Darfur region alone. The sanctions were imposed in 2004, when Darfur was at the center of a conflict with very serious human rights violations ranging from war crimes to ethnic cleansing. Since April 2023, however, fighting has affected most of Sudan’s states, yet Security Council members have not yet taken steps to extend the arms embargo to the entire country, despite the deaths and displacement. A nationwide arms embargo – comments HRW – would help facilitate the monitoring of transfers to Darfur and prevent the acquisition of weapons for use in other parts of Sudan. The Sudanese government has opposed the extension of the arms embargo and in recent months has pressured Security Council members to end the sanctions regime.

The analysis of the evidence. Two videos verified by Human Rights Watchfilmed by drones and posted on social media accounts that support the SAF, show drones attacking unarmed civilians in Bahri, in northern Khartoum. Another video, posted on X on January 14, also on a pro-SAF page, shows a drone dropping two mortar shells on people in civilian clothes as they cross a road in Bahri. Yet another video, posted on a SAF support page on March 19, 2024, shows a drone dropping a munition on a group of civilians loading a truck with sacks of wheat and flour, also in Bahri.

UN decisions. Any lifting of the arms embargo – as requested by Sudan – would put an end to the work of the Panel of Experts on Sudan, which is currently one of the few initiatives providing the UN Security Council with regular and in-depth reporting on the conflict in the country since the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission was dismissed in December 2023. The sanctions regime against Sudan has faced several opponents since its inception. The UN Panel of Experts and Amnesty International have documented that the governments of Belarus, China and Russia have been violating the embargo for years. In a report published in July, Amnesty found that “recently manufactured weapons and military equipment from countries including Russia, China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are being imported in large quantities into Sudan and then diverted to Darfur.”