The U.N. Security Council on Friday unanimously extended its Sudan sanctions regime for one month, maintaining an arms embargo on Darfur as the United States pushes for tougher measures covering the whole country.
All 15 council members voted in favor of the extension, which keeps the existing sanctions in place until Oct. 9 and gives members more time to negotiate possible changes to the regime.
US Ambassador Jeff Bartos said Washington welcomed the adoption, but stressed that a long-term technical rollover was “not an option.”
The United States wants to extend the arms embargo beyond Darfur to cover all of Sudan and expand the criteria for targeted sanctions to include conflict-related sexual violence, kidnapping for ransom and attacks on humanitarian personnel, Bartos said. Washington also wants to strengthen the mandate of the U.N. Panel of Experts.
“The current sanctions regime is over 20 years outdated, and is insufficient to address the realities of the war today,” Bartos said.
Sudan’s U.N. ambassador, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, opposed expanding the arms embargo, saying it would undermine Sudan’s ability to re-establish control and defend itself. He also warned that it would create an “unfair equivalence” between the Sudanese Armed Forces and armed groups.
The sanctions regime, established in 2005, includes an arms embargo on actors operating in Darfur, as well as targeted travel bans and asset freezes.
The council, acting under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, said the situation in Sudan continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region.
It also extended the mandate of the Panel of Experts until Nov. 9.
Sudan has been at war since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Negotiations over the sanctions have taken place amid worsening fighting in Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile, with concerns also growing over the use of drones, external military support and cross-border flows of weapons and fighters, according to the Security Council Report.
Washington circulated an initial draft in August that proposed expanding the sanctions, but disagreements among council members led it to seek the one-month extension while negotiations continue.
China, Russia and several African council members have opposed extending the sanctions beyond Darfur, according to the Security Council Report.
and then