Key facts
- G7 ministers urged Sudan's RSF to cease attacks and called for a wider arms embargo.
- A US rights group, Dawn, urged the UN to impose an arms embargo on the UAE.
- Dawn cited UN findings of UAE-linked weapons supply corridors to Sudan's RSF.
- The RSF has been accused of atrocities, including acts of genocide.
- Dawn called on five governments (US, France, UK, China, Italy) to halt arms transfers to the UAE.
- The UAE denies providing military or financial support to any warring party in Sudan.
G7 foreign ministers have urged Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to cease attacks that endanger civilians, particularly in El-Obeid, and called for a comprehensive arms embargo on the nation. The ministers also implored external actors to halt military and financial support to the warring factions, expressing grave concern over alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
Concurrently, a U.S.-based human rights group, Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), has appealed to United Nations member states to implement an immediate arms embargo on the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dawn contends that the UAE's alleged support for the RSF makes it complicit in atrocities, including acts of genocide, as concluded by UN investigations.
Dawn's appeal is supported by evidence from a UN panel of experts that mapped UAE-linked supply corridors funneling weapons, vehicles, and fuel into Sudan via Chad and Libya. The group also cited Amnesty International's findings regarding the RSF's use of UAE-made armored personnel carriers and re-exported Chinese ordnance. The UAE has denied providing military or financial support to any warring party in Sudan.
The conflict in Sudan, which began on April 15, 2023, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, displaced over 13 million people, and pushed more than 19.5 million to the brink of famine. Dawn is urging governments, including the U.S., France, the UK, China, and Italy, to cease arms transfers and security cooperation with the UAE. The group also called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Sudan to the International Criminal Court and expand the Darfur arms embargo to all of Sudan, explicitly naming external state enablers.
Dawn is also pressing the U.S. Congress to pass resolutions blocking pending arms sales to the UAE. This comes despite the U.S. Department of Commerce recently easing export controls on weapons and spacecraft to the UAE, a move Dawn argues contradicts the U.S. declaration of genocide in Sudan.