Sudan Events – Follow-ups
Members of Congress, led by Senator Jim Risch, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a new letter to U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday, urging him to take more decisive actions against foreign entities and commercial actors that are fueling the war in Sudan and exacerbating the conflict. This includes those involved in smuggling gold from Sudan to the United Arab Emirates and other countries.
In their letter to President Biden, the lawmakers praised the actions taken by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against individuals from the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia and the announcement of investigations into seven UAE companies for potential violations of U.S. sanctions.
The congress members called on the Biden administration to intensify efforts to hold not only the warring parties accountable but also the foreign actors providing support, including the UAE, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
The lawmakers expressed deep concern that Sudan’s illicit gold trade enables lucrative revenue flows that sustain the documented atrocities. They added, “Sudan is one of the largest gold producers in Africa, with an industry worth billions of dollars. The RSF controls Sudan’s richest gold mines, including Jebel Amir, and, under the leadership of its commander, Hemeti, has established dominance in the gold trade through companies and banks based in Sudan and the UAE, which has become a vital source of funding for the violence.”
The congress members noted that the UAE is a major hub for smuggled Sudanese gold, with UAE companies receiving over 2,500 tons of illicit gold between 2012-2022, worth approximately $115 billion. As a result, they urged President Biden’s administration to take more decisive actions under Executive Order 14098 and the Global Magnitsky Act, and to identify additional UAE entities violating U.S. sanctions related to gold smuggling and ensure their accountability.
In a related development, Senator Ben Cardin, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter on Tuesday to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will chair a special U.N. Security Council session on Thursday at the ministerial level to discuss the situation in Sudan. In the letter, Cardin urged Blinken to seize the opportunity to issue an updated resolution from the Security Council concerning the atrocities in Sudan, reminding him that the time for the administration to implement its strategy is limited.
In his letter to Blinken, Cardin expressed hope that, through his leadership of the session, he could push the Council members to approve several key measures, including enforcing the current arms embargo in Darfur and expanding it to cover all of Sudan. He pointed out that credible reports, including those funded by the U.S. government, indicate the continued flow of weapons to the RSF from foreign partners with the help of neighboring countries. Cardin stressed that the Council and its member states must hold accountable those who violate the embargo and provide protection to civilians through local protection models developed by local actors.
Cardin concluded his letter to Blinken by saying, “The people of Sudan deserve much more than what the international community has provided them. In these final weeks of this administration, I urge you to take advantage of the international platform provided by the Council’s presidency to lead bold actions at the Security Council that will keep the light of hope alive for tens of millions of Sudanese people.”
