UN extends partial Sudan arms embargo for a month

Sudan’s UN ambassador told the council that a total arms embargo goes against the UN Charter’s guarantee that countries have the right to self-defence.

Armed defectors from Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) arrive in vehicles as they surrender to the Sudanese army in western Omdurman [Ebrahim Hamid / AFP]

The UN Security Council voted unanimously to briefly extend the arms embargo on Sudan’s western Darfur region while negotiations continue on a contentious US proposal to impose a nationwide ban.

All 15 Security Council members on Friday voted in favour of the one-month extension, which maintains the existing measures while allowing more time for negotiations on potential changes to the sanctions regime.

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US Ambassador Jeff Bartos said Washington welcomed the adoption. “The current sanctions regime is over 20 years outdated, and is insufficient to address the realities of the war today,” he told the Security Council.

The US is proposing to expand the embargo throughout Sudan to pressure the warring parties to end their more than three-year conflict.

Bartos urged the council to “expand the arms embargo across the entire territory of Sudan, expand the listing measures to include horrific actions such as conflict-related sexual violence, kidnapping for ransom, and attacks on humanitarian personnel, and strengthen the mandate and effectiveness of the panel of experts.”

The Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the vast Darfur region after violence erupted in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum, then led by Omar al-Bashir.

The government responded with air attacks and a ground offensive by government-linked militias called the Popular Defence Forces, known by the rebels as “Janjaweed”, who are accused of mass killings and rapes. Up to 300,000 people died in the conflict, and 2.7 million fled their homes.

Russia, which holds veto power in the council and backs the Sudanese government in its fight against paramilitary forces, pledged to prevent any expansion of the arms embargo.

Moscow made its “red lines” clear during closed negotiations, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said Friday. “We will not allow even a hint of broadening the restrictions by the council on Sudan.”

Evstigneeva asked why the US was trying to expand the arms embargo now when government forces “have a definite advantage on the ground,” and not in 2023 when the RSF was threatening the capital, Khartoum, and other cities.

Sudan’s UN Ambassador Al-Harith Mohamed told the council that a total arms embargo goes against the UN Charter’s guarantee that countries have the right to self-defence and their armed forces have the right to produce and acquire weapons to protect their sovereignty.

At a council meeting on August 24, the US urged a countrywide arms embargo to push the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to negotiate an end to fighting that began in April 2023.

The current war has killed at least 59,000 people, though aid groups warn the number could be much higher. It has displaced some 13 million people and pushed parts of the country into famine, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

苏丹常驻联合国代表告诉安理会，全面武器禁运违反了《联合国宪章》保障各国享有自卫权的规定。

在苏丹西部恩图曼，苏丹准军事快速支援部队（RSF）的武装叛逃者乘坐车辆抵达，向苏丹军队投降。[Ebrahim Hamid / AFP]

联合国安理会一致投票决定暂时延长对苏丹西部达尔富尔地区的武器禁运，同时继续就美国提出的在全国范围内实施武器禁运的争议性提案进行谈判。

周五，安理会15个成员国全部投票赞成将制裁期限延长一个月，这既维持了现有措施，又为就制裁制度的潜在变化进行谈判留出了更多时间。

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美国大使杰夫·巴托斯表示，华盛顿对安理会通过该决议表示欢迎。他告诉安理会：“现行的制裁机制已经过时20多年，不足以应对当今战争的现实。”

美国提议将禁运范围扩大到整个苏丹，以向交战各方施压，结束长达三年多的冲突。

巴托斯敦促安理会“将武器禁运范围扩大到苏丹全境，扩大制裁措施的范围，将与冲突有关的性暴力、绑架勒索赎金和袭击人道主义人员等骇人听闻的行为纳入其中，并加强专家小组的任务授权和效力。”

2003 年，叛军拿起武器对抗当时由奥马尔·巴希尔领导的喀土穆政府，暴力冲突爆发后，安全理事会对幅员辽阔的达尔富尔地区实施了武器禁运。

政府以空袭和由政府支持的民兵组织“人民防卫军”（反叛分子称之为“金戈威德”）发起的地面进攻作为回应，这些民兵被指控犯有大规模屠杀和强奸罪行。冲突造成多达30万人死亡，270万人流离失所。

俄罗斯在安理会拥有否决权，并支持苏丹政府打击准军事部队，俄罗斯承诺阻止任何扩大武器禁运的行动。

俄罗斯常驻联合国副代表安娜·叶夫斯季格涅耶娃周五表示，莫斯科在闭门谈判中明确划定了“红线”。“我们绝不允许安理会有任何扩大对苏丹限制的迹象。”

叶夫斯季格涅娃质问道，为什么美国现在要扩大武器禁运，而此时政府军“在地面上拥有明显的优势”，而不是等到 2023 年，当快速支援部队威胁首都喀土穆和其他城市时。

苏丹常驻联合国代表哈里斯·穆罕默德告诉安理会，全面武器禁运违背了《联合国宪章》的保障，即各国享有自卫权，其武装部队有权生产和获取武器以保护其主权。

在 8 月 24 日的安理会会议上，美国敦促对苏丹全国实施武器禁运，以迫使苏丹军队和准军事快速支援部队通过谈判结束自 2023 年 4 月开始的战斗。

目前的战争已造成至少5.9万人死亡，但援助组织警告称，实际死亡人数可能远高于此。战争导致约1300万人流离失所，并使该国部分地区陷入饥荒，造成了世界上最严重的人道主义危机之一。