President Joe Biden issued a statement on Tuesday calling for peace in Sudan and criticizing aggressors of the war that has plagued the country for 17 months. The president blamed the actions of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces for the war.
“For over 17 long months, the Sudanese people have endured a senseless war that has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises,” Biden said in the statement. “Nearly 10 million people have been displaced by this conflict. Women and girls have been kidnapped and sexually assaulted. Famine has taken hold in Darfur, and is threatening millions more elsewhere.”
Biden emphasized the plight of the victims in the war, highlighting the city of El Fasher, which has been hit particularly hard by the fighting in the civil war. He mentioned the dire conditions and expressed sympathy for the people affected.
“And today, a violent history is repeating itself,” Biden said. “The city of El Fasher, Darfur — home to nearly two million people and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons — has been under a months-long siege by the Rapid Support Forces. That siege has become a full-on assault in recent days.”
Fighting has been intense in El Fasher, and it has been under regular bombardment from the RSF, according to reports. The paramilitary organization began besieging the city in May. The collateral damage has been catastrophic, causing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield to express that she is “gravely concerned about reports of a serious escalation in RSF’s months-long siege on El Fasher” in a post on X.
“I’m gravely concerned about reports of a serious escalation in RSF’s months-long siege on El Fasher,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “I urge RSF to halt its attack, including bombardments destroying infrastructure and threatening civilian life, and fulfill its commitments to the international community to protect civilians.”
Biden called on the SAF and the RSF to prioritize the welfare of the people being harmed and asked the groups to commit to allowing humanitarian aid in the region and to begin negotiations to conclude the war.
“I call on the belligerents responsible for Sudanese suffering — the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — to pull back their forces, facilitate unhindered humanitarian access, and re-engage in negotiations to end this war,” Biden said. “The RSF must stop their assault that is disproportionately harming Sudanese civilians. The SAF must stop indiscriminate bombings that are destroying civilian lives and infrastructure.”
“While both sides have taken some steps to improve humanitarian access, the SAF and RSF continue to delay and disrupt lifesaving humanitarian operations,” the president added. “Both parties need to immediately allow unhindered humanitarian access to all areas of Sudan.”
Moreover, the United States determined that members of the SAF and the RSF committed war crimes, with those in the RSF going so far as to engage in ethnic cleansing. Sanctions were imposed on members of these groups, which Biden acknowledged in his statement.
“We have previously determined that members of the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes, and that members of the RSF have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing,” Biden said. “The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned sixteen entities and individuals for contributing to the conflict, exacerbating instability, or serious human rights abuses. And we will continue to evaluate further atrocity allegations and potential additional sanctions.”
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Biden also reinforced his commitment to ending the war and declared the U.S. is in solidarity with the Sudanese people.
“The United States stands with the Sudanese people,” Biden said. “Since the start of the conflict, we have pressed for peace and sought to hold accountable actors seeking to perpetuate violence.”
