Cardin Urges UN Security Council to Punish Violators of Darfur Arms Embargo

The U.N. Security Council, which plans to draft a resolution this month on Sudan’s civil war, should “enforce accountability for member states violating” the arms embargo for Sudan’s Darfur region, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Nov. 14.

Such enforcement is needed to protect civilians from the atrocity-plagued conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), he said.

Cardin also said that while the council recently sanctioned two people connected to the RSF (see 2411120042), there remains an "absence of comprehensive international action to address this growing crisis."

Cardin made his comments the same day that four other senators formally introduced a previously announced bill that would require the U.S. executive branch to develop a “comprehensive strategy” to use sanctions and other tools to protect civilians from Sudan’s civil war (see 2410030004).