Dear Mr. Assistant Secretary,
Dear Special Envoy to Sudan,
In December 2018, protests broke out throughout Sudan calling for dictator President Omar al-Bashir, in power for nearly 30 years, to step down. Al-Bashir was removed from power on April 11, and replaced by a Transitional Military Council (TMC), now controlled by Lt. General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and Lt. General Mohamed Hamdan, known as Hemeti. Hemeti is the leader of the Rapid Support Forces, which grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militia responsible for the Darfur genocide, where more than 500,000 people died.
The Forces for Freedom and Change, the opposition coalition leading the protests, is calling for the TMC to immediately hand over power to a civilian-led council. Despite Burhan’s commitment to transfer power to civilians, the military junta has resisted by unleashing its most violent military and paramilitary forces against its own people, The Rapid Support Forces and other security forces have killed over 100 peaceful protestors, 40 bodies were recently recovered from the Nile River in Khartoum. Civil society representatives, opposition leaders, journalists, political activists, and medical professionals have been detained and tortured. Sudanese hospitals have reported over 70 cases of rape of both men and women in June. Yet the Sudanese uprising has maintained its commitment to nonviolence.
We the undersigned human rights and civil society organizations committed to a free, civilian-led Sudan, are encouraged that you have met with the TMC and opposition forces to seek a peaceful solution to the Sudanese crisis and that Ambassador Donald Booth has been appointed as a senior advisor on Sudan. We believe that the goals for American diplomacy should be to press the TMC to:
(1) Press the TMC to immediately cease all attacks on protesters and civilians, who have the right to freedom of expression and association, and to choose their own leaders
(2) Press the TMC to negotiate with the Freedom and Change Movement with the goal of quickly transferring power to a civilian-led council which can set Sudan on a path to a democratic and prosperous future
(3) Make clear to the TMC’s allies—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt—that they must go along with a civilian-led government or face serious consequences in their relationships with the United States. One of the principal reasons why the TMC stubbornly refuses to cede power to civilians is because it believes it has the backing of these three countries, which in turn are supported by the United States.
For U.S. diplomacy to be successful in achieving these goals, the U.S. needs to develop strong leverage and can do so through the use of robust financial tools. We ask that you support the implementation of sanctions for human rights violations and corruption using the Global Magnitsky Act and work with the Department of Treasury to issue an advisory to alert financial institutions about the increased risk that proceeds of corruption from Sudan may enter the U.S. financial system
We thank you for your consideration and hope you will support the people of Sudan at this critical time.
Sincerely,
ORGANIZATIONS:
INDIVIDUALS
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