Cardin Urges Allies to Increase Sanctions on Sudan
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., Aug. 1 encouraged U.S. allies and partners to impose more sanctions on those waging Sudan’s civil war.
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While he credited the Biden administration with sanctioning “a variety of actors, including at the senior levels of both warring parties” (see 2309060006 and 2312040056), he said a new report by The Sentry, a watchdog group, shows “the European Union, in particular, has lagged behind in its implementation” of Sudan sanctions.
“It's time for our allies to prioritize these measures so we are speaking with one voice to the warring parties,” Cardin said in a Senate floor speech.
The Sentry report says the “main national leaders responsible for the violence have not faced serious financial consequences from the EU, nor have their family members who are linked to companies funding the conflict," even though the EU has "considerable leverage in Sudan via aid, trade and migration." By using “a full range of more robust tools of financial pressure,” the EU could spur the Rapid Support Forces militia and the Sudanese Armed Forces to engage in peace talks, the report says.
In a statement provided to Export Compliance Daily, the EU said it's taking a “gradual and balanced approach” against those responsible for Sudan's instability. So far, the EU has sanctioned six entities and “six top-tier individuals from both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces,” the statement says (see 2401220010 and 2406240012). “Those targeted are subject to an asset freeze and a prohibition on the provision of funds or economic resources to them, directly or indirectly.” Additional sanctions are possible, the EU said.
In his speech, Cardin also called for “taking steps against those actors who supply or facilitate arms and military materiel to any side in Sudan.” He advocated “enforcing the existing United Nations arms embargo and pushing for its extension to cover all of Sudan, so that neither side responsible for the violence is protected or immune.”