President of the United States: Donald J. Trump
U.S. Secretary of State: Marco Rubio
We, the undersigned organizations, write to urge you to take advantage of the critical opportunity presented during your upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and your attendance at the Gulf-US summit in Riyadh, to engage these countries to bring an end to the war in Sudan.
Last month marked the two-year anniversary of the war in Sudan, and recent escalations by both of the warring parties, including but not limited to the targeting of civilians in an airstrike on a market in Darfur, retaliatory extrajudicial killings, drone attacks in Port Sudan, and attacks on the country’s largest refugee camp, indicate that the violence will continue to escalate, inflicting a devastating toll on the Sudanese people. The war has resulted in the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, the world’s largest displacement crisis, and the world’s worst hunger crisis.
We echo the State Department’s recent message that it is “imperative for external actors to refrain from arming the belligerents.” As you meet this week with US partners in the Middle East, you will have an opportune moment to engage directly with several key countries that have had a significant role in the war in Sudan. Members of Congress and numerous investigative reports have confirmed that the UAE has provided arms to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt have all been involved in supporting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to varying degrees. As a result, these US partners are also critical to ending the war, and this trip provides a unique opportunity to press US partners to immediately and urgently use their leverage and influence to do so.
Last week, a bipartisan group of Senators said that the continuing violence in Sudan “poses serious risk to American security interests in the region.” Ending the war in Sudan will help stabilize conditions in the Horn of Africa, reducing growing threats to seaways and ports in the Red Sea and advancing US national security priorities. Even as they continue this war, the warring parties are well aware that there is no military solution to the conflict. With no serious mediation efforts in the works, the United States, which has been instrumental in bringing about peace accords in Sudan previously, can step up as a clear leader and offer an alternative way forward.
By engaging US partners this week, you can position the United States to deliver the only solution to achieving lasting peace in Sudan: a civilian-led process that ends the war and secures a durable democratic transition in Sudan.
Signed,
- African Humanitarian Action (AHA)
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
- Confluence Advisory
- CSW (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
- Darfur Network for Human Rights
- Darfur Women Action Group
- Democratic Monitor for Transparency and Rights
- FairSquare
- Gender Studies and Research Center
- Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART)
- Human Rights First
- HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
- Kayn for Women Empowerment Organization
- Kids for Kids
- Muzna Organization
- MedGlobal
- New Sudan Women Union
- Nora Organization for Compacting Violence against Women’s and Girls
- North Darfur Emergency Response Room Council
- Patrol-Africa
- PDS
- Peace and Human Dignity Organization
- Pioneers of Feminist Change (رائدات التغير النسوي)
- Search for Common Ground
- Sudan Peace Coalition
- Sudanese American Public Affairs Association
- Sudanese Lawyer and Legal Practitioners UK
- Sudanese Women Think Tank Group
- The African Middle Eastern Leadership Project (AMEL)
- The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)
- The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)
- The Think Tank of Sudanese Women
- Women Advancing Security in Sudan (WASS)
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