UN rejects Sudan’s request to remove individual sanctions
March 26, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – The UN sanctions committee for Sudan declined Khartoum’s demand to remove three Sudanese from a Security Council list of sanction established under resolution 1591 (2005) on the Darfur conflict.
On 25 March, the head of Sudan sanctions committee Sven Jürgenson, briefing the 15-member body about the security situation in Darfur saying there is a notable drop in violence. However, he underlined the need to prioritize civilians’ protection.
Jürgenson further rejected a demand by the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations to delist Sudanese from the sanctions list.
Adam Yacub Shareif, a rebel commander had been struck off the list of four Sudanese subject to sanctions, the Estonian diplomat told the Security Council.
On 5 March 2021, the Committee decided to remove Shareif, a commander of the Sudan Liberation Army after receiving reports about his death on 7 June 2012.
Regarding the three others, the committee “objected to the delisting of one individual, and continues its consideration of the request to delist two remaining individuals”.
He reiterated that the sanctions regime was established for the sole purpose of helping to bring peace to Darfur.
“It is not to punish Sudan, but to support the attainment of sustainable peace,” he stressed, pledging the Committee’s commitment to work together with Khartoum to make that peace a reality.
The three others are Musa Hilal, a tribal leader and militia leader involved in war crimes committed during the counterinsurgency campaign against Darfur armed groups.
In addition, the list includes Gaffar Mohammed El-Hassan, a Sudanese army general who was the Commander of the Western Military Region, and Jibril Abdulkarim Ibrahim Mayu, a commander of the National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD), a former rebel coalition formed in 2006 after the Abuja peace agreement gathering the JEM and some SLA factions.
(ST)