United States Congress members called on President Joe Biden on Friday to sanction Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (commonly known as Hemedti), for gross violations of human rights. Senators Benjamin Cardin and James Risch of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Representatives Michael McCaul and Gregory Meeks of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote an open letter to the President, citing the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and requesting a determination of whether RSF and Hemedti have engaged in prohibited activities under the Act.
The Act, passed in 2016, allows the US government to sanction foreign entities for human rights abuses. If RSF and Hemedti were found to have committed such violations, the Act would authorize sanctions against the individuals and entities involved. The EU and Canada also enacted similar laws to coordinate their sanction efforts.
Furthermore, the letter also advised Biden to sanction General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, leader of the ruling Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), under Executive Order 14098 for undermining Sudan’s democratic transition and complicit in ongoing atrocities in the conflict.
The feud between SAF and RSF started in April 2023 after a failed political pact. Earlier this year, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found that both SAF and RSF have committed human rights abuses – noted in a report by the UN. Crime allegations include extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and the targeting of journalists. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also concluded that both parties have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing in Sudan.
The open letter triggered a 120-day deadline for President Biden to act. The President’s response to this call will have significant repercussions for the ongoing human rights crisis in Sudan.
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