SUDAN: SAF & RSF GUILTY of War Crimes and Ethnic Cleansing, Says U.S
Oyiza Adaba, New York
Effects and devastation of war. File Photo:Levi Meir Clancy @levimeirclancy
SUDAN
“10,000 Killed
Over 6.8 million Displaced”
December 14, 2023
Africa Regional Media Hub held a digital press briefing with the U.S. Department of State’s Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Beth Van Schaack, to discuss war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing in the “needless and unconscionable conflict” in Sudan.
Last week, U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the determination that members of the fighting groups Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “have unleashed horrific violence, death, and destruction across Sudan. Civilians have borne the brunt of this needless conflict.” Below are the links to the audio and video recordings of the briefing.
“The atrocities today are an ominous reminder of the prior genocide ”
Highlights
A needless and unconscionable conflict by the same perpetrators, the same communities being targeted in the same patterns of criminality
Human Rights Concerns and abuses:
Gender-based Violence: The war has also been waged on the bodies of women and girls who have been terrorized by deliberate systemic sexual violence
U.S has provided nearly $895 million in total humanitarian assistance in fiscal year 2023 through USAID, the Department of State's Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration and other sources;
U.S to rally the international community to help in the violence, address the humanitarian crisis, and promote justice for survivors and victims
The Human Rights Council in Geneva planned an independent investigation committee that was rejected by the Sudanese government
ICC does not have a mandate to work in the current conflict
Audio/Soundcloud Link
Watch full video here