US Congress urges Biden to penalize anyone who blocks Sudan’s civil transition
Democratic Senators Bob Menendez, Chairman of the US Congress Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Jim Rich, the Senate Republican suggested that the US administration will punish those who impede the civil transition, and the violators of human rights in Sudan.
Molly, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said the US had made it clear to Sudanese military leaders that Washington was prepared to take additional measures against the military if violence continued.
“We are reviewing the full range of conventional and unconventional tools available to further reduce the funds available to the Sudanese military regime,” she added.
The US official indicated that she had made it clear publicly and privately that “the violence practiced by the security services in the face of peaceful demonstrators since October 25 must end.”
The actions taken by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on October 25 halted power-sharing arrangements between the army and civilians that had been negotiated after the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir’s regime in a popular uprising in April 2019.
In response to a question from Menendez whether there has been progress in persuading the Sudanese military to end its practice of lethal force, arbitrary arrest, and sexual violence against civil society activists and protesters, Fei said she believed it was “too early to know.”
But she said the administration of President Biden is seriously considering how to put pressure on companies controlled by the Sudanese security forces in various sectors.
In November, “Congress” prepared a bill providing for penalties for personalities and entities that impede civil transformation in Sudan, based on the US National Defense mandate for the fiscal year 2022, which was approved more than a month ago.
According to the draft resolution submitted by Democratic Senator Chris Coons; sanctions will be imposed on actors who obstruct a civilian-led democratic transition and undermine peace and human rights in Sudan.
