The administration harshly criticized Biden for ‘waiting’ to declare genocide in Sudan
JOHANNESBURG, Republic of South Africa – Biden administration he was criticized by incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho., for “waiting” until the outgoing president had just 13 days left in office before declaring insurgency in Sudan, the riven country, for up to 21 months of a fierce war, to be “genocide”.
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said members of the Sudanese rebel group, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, “committed genocide in Sudan.”
In a statement, Blinken said: “The United States is committed to holding those responsible for these crimes accountable. We are sanctioning RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Dagla Mousa, known as Hemedti, for his role in systematic crimes against the Sudanese people.”
US President Joe Biden speaks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) during a trilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in the East Room of the White House on April 11, 2024 in Washington, DC Leaders from the three nations meet for the first trilateral summit in history as a sign of solidarity as China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea has raised tensions in the region. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.)
Blinken reached his verdicts, he said, because “the RSF and RSF-affiliated militias continued to target civilians, systematically kill men and boys—even infants—on an ethnic basis, and (have) deliberately targeted women and girls from a certain ethnic group for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence.”
The secretary continued: “These same militias targeted fleeing civilians, killing innocent people fleeing the conflict and preventing remaining civilians from accessing life-saving supplies.”
Blinken added that it is African nation is suffering through “a conflict of unmitigated brutality that has resulted in the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, leaving 638,000 Sudanese experiencing the worst famine in Sudan’s recent history, more than 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and tens of thousands dead.”
Risch argued that the situation in Sudan has been catastrophic for more than a year and questioned the timing of Blinken’s statement. In a statement earlier this week, he wrote: “It has been almost a year since I introduced a resolution calling the crimes in Sudan what they are: genocide. Additionally, I first called for the imposition of Magnitsky Global Sanctions against the RSF and Hemedti 263 days ago – and yet those sanctions have still not been implemented.”
Fighters from the Sudan Liberation Movement, a Sudanese rebel group active in Sudan’s Darfur state that supports army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, attend a graduation ceremony in the southeastern state of Gedaref on March 28, 2024. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images.)
Risch spoke to Fox News Digital, stating, “The Biden administration waited less than two weeks in office to sanction companies associated with RSF and Hemedti for their crimes and call the crimes in Sudan genocide.”
Risch said: “This neglect to resolve the crisis in Sudan weakened American influence in the region and the world several years ago. If the Biden administration had backed up its rhetoric with action, Sudan would be in a better position today, more lives would have been saved, and foreign proxies who aggravate this conflict, they would stay away.”
Risch added: “This war must end. Further instability in Sudan will only breed terrorism and regional turmoil, threatening global security. The US and our allies must work to stop the killing and atrocities, end the malign actions of brokers, manage migratory pressures from mass displacement, and protect strategic interests such as the Red Sea corridor.”
UAE, OTHER COUNTRIES REMOVED FROM INTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERING WATCH LIST
People board a truck as they leave Khartoum, Sudan, June 19, 2023. The UN human rights office said in a new report Friday, February 23, 2024, that dozens of people, including children, were subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence in the ongoing conflict in Sudan, attacks that can be considered war crimes. (AP Photo, File)
In his statement, Blinken announced the new sanctions, saying: “We are also sanctioning seven RSF-owned companies located in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and one person for their role in procuring weapons for the RSF.”
The Ministry of Finance also sent a statement, almost simultaneously with the State, saying that “the RSF’s ability to procure military equipment and generate finance continues to fuel the conflict in Sudan.” The Ministry of Finance said that a company in the UAE, owned by a Sudanese national, “provided money and weapons to the RSF”.
Other UAE companies that were sanctioned last week have been charged by Ministry of Finance handling financial transactions, being “an essential part of RSF’s efforts to finance its operations”, and importing IT and security equipment.
A company dealing in gold in the UAE was sanctioned for allegedly “buying gold from Sudan, probably for the benefit of the RSF, and then transporting it to Dubai”. In addition, the Ministry of Finance claimed that “RSF procurement director and brother of RSF leader Hemedti had access to a (gold company) bank account in the UAE, which contained millions of dollars.”
Women from El Geneina, West Darfur, cry after receiving news of their missing relatives in Ardamata as they wait for them in Adre, Chad, November 7, 2023. Ardamata was the latest site of ethnic cleansing by the RSF and allied Arab militias against the Masalit ethnic African tribe. (Reuters/El Tayeb Siddig.)
“The United States continues to call for an end to this conflict that puts the lives of innocent civilians at risk,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. “The Ministry of Finance remains committed to using all available tools to hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations of the Sudanese people.”
In response to questions from Fox News Digital involving companies registered in the United Arab Emirates, an official from their Ministry of Foreign Affairs fired back, stating. “The UAE’s primary focus in Sudan remains on resolving the catastrophic humanitarian crisis. We continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and a peaceful resolution to this man-made conflict. In this regard, the UAE has already made it abundantly clear that by not providing any support or supply to either of the two belligerent warring parties in Sudan.”
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The official continued: “The UAE takes its role in protecting the integrity of the international financial system extremely seriously. We remain committed to fighting financial crime globally, strengthening international cooperation and developing strategies to address emerging risks.”
