US May Increase Sanctions on Sudan, Official Says

The Biden administration is “developing additional potential sanctions” that it could impose on leaders of Sudan’s two warring parties if they continue to resist participating in peace talks, a State Department official said Sept. 11.

“We are working on several fronts to try to bring the conflict to a close, including by increasing pressure on both parties to the conflict,” said John Bass, the State Department’s acting undersecretary for political affairs.

The administration is also considering additional sanctions against those that provide weapons to the combatants in violation of a U.N. arms embargo, Bass testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on Africa.

Sudan's civil war, which began in April 2023, pits the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia against the Sudanese Armed Forces.

The administration already has sanctioned “a variety of actors, including at the senior levels of both warring parties,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., said last month (see 2408020006). It has also sanctioned “a number of entities outside of Sudan,” including some in the United Arab Emirates “that have been involved in enabling” the RSF to evade the arms embargo, Bass said.

Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., told Bass that she believes sanctioning arms suppliers is key to ending Sudan's civil war. “The deaths are going to continue as long as folks are able to obtain weaponry,” she said.

Rep. John James, R-Mich., noted that the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees urged the administration in an April letter to consider imposing human rights-related sanctions on the RSF and its leader (see 2404190068). He said the administration was required by law to respond to the letter by mid-August but has yet to do so, and that those responsible for not responding should be held accountable.