The Sudanese Foreign Ministry has dismissed what it termed as “baseless accusations” in a statement from the US State Department against the Sudanese Armed Forces and the government regarding humanitarian aid and civil activities.
The Sudanese ministry criticized the American statement for not explicitly and solely condemning the Rapid Support Forces rebels, which are held responsible for crimes of genocide, ethnic cleansing, sexual violence, and crimes against humanity in Sudan, recognized as such by the US administration and legislative bodies.
The statement accused the US of unfairly implicating the Sudanese Armed Forces, the national army supported by the entire Sudanese populace, in unrelated matters.
The ministry also highlighted the US statement’s oversight of the fact that the Sudanese-Chadian border, where terrorist militias are active, serves as the main route for weapons and equipment used by militias to commit atrocities against the Sudanese people.
This has been documented by numerous neutral entities, including the United Nations’ independent expert team monitoring Resolution 1591, television channels, and major American newspapers.
Furthermore, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry pointed out that while the American statement acknowledged the militia’s looting of homes, markets, and food aid warehouses in areas under their control, it unjustly blamed the Armed Forces for the lack of aid reaching those areas.
The statement also wrongly involved the Armed Forces in the issue of communication network disruptions, which is solely the responsibility of the terrorist militia. Contrary to the statement, the Sudanese government has provided all necessary support to telecom companies to resume services by establishing new operators to replace those destroyed by the militia.
The ministry strongly condemned the American statement for not attributing the widespread occurrence of rape and civilian abuse to the terrorist militia, despite the US administration’s awareness of the perpetrators.
The ministry regretted the absence of any reference to the militia’s recent crimes against unarmed villagers in the states of Gezira, Sennar, South Kordofan, and the displacement camps in North Darfur, the siege on Tabit city, and the ten-month blockade on the Fatahab area in Omdurman, lifted only after the militia’s defeat by the Armed Forces last week.
The ministry reiterated the Sudanese government’s commitment to the Jeddah Declaration of Humanitarian Principles, welcoming the US State Department’s reminder of this document signed on May 11, 2023.
However, it clarified that the US administration’s hesitant stance towards the militia’s renunciation of the Jeddah Declaration and the lack of decisive action against the militia’s crimes since then, along with its contradictory messages, have hindered the intended outcomes of the declaration, which aimed to address the humanitarian crisis and pave the way for ending the war.
