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Congressman calls for U.S. sanctions on Hemetti and his militia ahead of Sudan protests

RSF elements beat a civilian laying on the ground in the Nile Street on Saturday 1 June 2019 (ST photo)
RSF elements beat a civilian laying on the ground in the Nile Street on Saturday 1 June 2019 (ST photo)

June 28, 2019 (WASHINGTON) – The Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, called on the U.S. administration to sanction leader of Rapid Support Forces and his militia, pointing to expected new repression of protesters next Sunday.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are accused of the violent attack of 3 June and killing of over hundreds of protesters. However, the militia leader who is also the deputy head of the transitional military council denies the charge.

On 28 June, Engel addressed a letter to Mike Pompeo Secretary of State and Steven T. Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury where he pointed to the killing and sexual assaults on civilians on 3 June by the RSF troops.

“As massive protests against Sudan’s Transitional Military Council are expected to resume on June 30, I am concerned that another violent crackdown is imminent. This requires immediate U.S. action,” he further stressed.

The Congressman recalled Pompeo and Mnuchin that both the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act and the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, as well as the provisions of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Global Magnitsky Act), authorize them to sanction the leader of the “reconstituted version of the Janjaweed”.

“Sanctioning Hemeti and the Rapid Support Forces would reaffirm our unwavering support for democratic principles in Sudan and send a powerful message to the Sudanese people that the United States stands in solidarity with them in their fight to end the human rights abuses under Sudan’s Transitional Military Council,” he said.

(ST)

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