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Amnesty International said on Wednesday that the conflict in Sudan is being exacerbated by the continued flow of weapons into the country.
The agency said in a press statement that recently manufactured foreign weapons have been brought into Sudan and surrounding areas, often in flagrant violation of the existing Darfur arms embargo.
The statement pointed out that Amnesty International found that weapons and ammunition recently manufactured or transferred from countries such as China, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen were imported into Sudan in large quantities, and some were transferred to Darfur.
On April 15, 2024, the first anniversary of the Sudan conflict, Amnesty International launched a global petition urging the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo from Darfur to the rest of Sudan.
“Our research shows that weapons entering the country are falling into the hands of fighters accused of violating international humanitarian and human rights law. We have systematically tracked a range of lethal weapons being used by Sudan’s warring forces, including pistols, shotguns and rifles,” the statement said. “It is clear that the existing arms embargo, which currently applies only to Darfur, is completely inadequate and must be renewed and expanded to cover all of Sudan. This humanitarian crisis cannot be ignored. As the threat of famine grows, the world cannot continue to fail Sudanese civilians,”
More than 16,650 people have been killed so far since the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) escalated in April 2023, Amnesty International said, adding that some violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict amount to war crimes.
The statement noted that an estimated 11 million people are internally displaced and millions more are at risk of famine.
According to the press release, Amnesty International analyzed more than 1,900 shipping records from two different trade data providers and reviewed open source and
The digital evidence – including about 2,000 photos and videos – shows weapons that were recently manufactured or recently imported into Sudan.
The agency also interviewed 17 regional weapons and Sudan experts between February and March 2024 to corroborate the data analysis and investigate the weapons supply lines used by the groups.
Fighting broke out in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Security Forces paramilitary group in April 2023. Since then, other armed groups and actors have joined the conflict, allying themselves with the Sudanese Armed Forces or the Rapid Security Forces.
The fighting followed months of tensions between the two factions over issues including reform of the security forces, which is part of negotiations for a new transitional government.
The conflict has resulted in massive civilian displacement, with the United Nations estimating that more than 7.3 million people have been internally displaced since April 2023. In addition, an estimated 2.1 million people have fled to neighboring Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, where they live in dire conditions.
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