Chair Cardin Calls for Strong U.S. Leadership at the UN to Address Conflict, Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield urging continued leadership on Sudan as the United States prepares to assume the presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) next month.

Specifically, Chair Cardin urged the Biden administration to convene a high-level briefing at the UNSC and propose a roadmap to address the crisis in Sudan and work toward resolving the conflict. He also called on Secretary Blinken and Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield to push the UN to take concrete steps to protect civilians, support accountability measures for atrocities, and facilitate humanitarian access.

"The sheer enormity of the numbers of Sudanese who are starving, who have been beaten and raped, who have been murdered due to the color of their skin, who have perished from hunger or disease is unfathomable and keeps growing more inscrutable by the day," said Chair Cardin. "Each passing day of global inaction, more Sudanese needlessly suffer and die. I know you agree with me that the situation is unconscionable. Despite the chorus of 'never again,' the world continues to turn away from the tragic crimes against the Sudanese people rather than effectively confronting them. We must not let Sudan fall by the wayside, even in our final days in office."

Full text of the letter is available HERE and provided below.

Dear Secretary Blinken and Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield:

I write to express my gratitude for your leadership on Sudan and to urge you to continue that leadership as the United States prepares to assume the presidency of the UN Security Council next month. Specifically, I exhort you to use this opportunity to convene a high-level briefing on Sudan and deliver elements of a roadmap for members of the Council, and the international community, to relieve the agony of tens of millions of Sudanese.

The sheer enormity of the numbers of Sudanese who are starving, who have been beaten and raped, who have been murdered due to the color of their skin, who have perished from hunger or disease is unfathomable and keeps growing more inscrutable by the day. Each passing day of global inaction, more Sudanese needlessly suffer and die. I know you agree with me that the situation is unconscionable. Despite the chorus of "never again," the world continues to turn away from the tragic crimes against the Sudanese people rather than effectively confronting them. We must not let Sudan fall by the wayside, even in our final days in office.

The United States can use its last UNSC presidency under this Administration to shine a spotlight and provoke bold action, following the failure of the UK's UNSC Resolution, to respond to the crisis in Sudan by convening a high-level briefing.

Despite important Security Council resolutions earlier this year on Sudan, neither the UN, nor regional organizations like IGAD or the AU, have taken any significant, tangible steps to establish mechanisms for civilian protection, to support accountability measures for atrocities committed by the SAF and RSF, or to bring the parties closer to a ceasefire and ultimately an end to the conflict. Limited breakthroughs in humanitarian access, including the agreement to maintain the Adre border crossing past November 15, are critical, but insufficient.

The international community should be flooding ports, roads and airports across Sudan with lifesaving assistance. The UN is critical in transforming these ambitions into reality. We must push the UN to take far more bold, innovative, and forward-leaning steps to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need, with or without consent from the warring parties.

Secretary Blinken, I also encourage you to use the opportunity of such a high-level briefing to announce an update to the December 6, 2023, atrocity determination, to declare the atrocities that have been rigorously documented to have taken place in Darfur as a genocide, and to publicly propose commensurate sanctions on those identified as responsible. Such a briefing will pave the way for future UNSC debate and action to press UN and regional organizations to take meaningful action to address the Sudan crisis and press towards a resolution to the conflict.

In addition, during its presidency, the United States should publicly call for the expansion of the arms embargo to cover all of Sudan. We must also recommend the Sanctions Committee review the action of all of those alleged to have violated the current embargo and consider how best to enforce a regime that has seen only toothless compliance since it was put into place more than two decades ago.

I thank you again for your strong, consistent leadership on Sudan and urge you to once again use your powerful voice to elevate the crisis in Sudan. I stand ready to support your efforts.

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