US to Impose Sanctions on Sudan After Finding Government Used Chemical Weapons
The United States said on Thursday it would impose sanctions on Sudan after determining that its government used chemical weapons in 2024 during the army's conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, a charge the army denied.
Measures against Sudan will include limits on US exports and US government lines of credit and will take effect around June 6, after Congress was notified on Thursday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
"The United States calls on the Government of Sudan to cease all chemical weapons use and uphold its obligations under the CWC," Bruce said, referring to the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty banning the use of such weapons.
In a statement, Sudan rejected the move, and described the allegations as false.
"This interference, which lacks any moral or legal basis, deprives Washington of what is left of its credibility and closes the door to any influence in Sudan," government spokesperson Khalid al-Eisir said on Friday.
The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the army and the RSF, unleashing waves of ethnic violence, creating the world's worst humanitarian crisis and plunging several areas into famine. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and about 13 million displaced.
Washington in January imposed sanctions on army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accusing him of choosing war over negotiations to bring an end to the conflict.
The US has also determined members of the RSF and allied militias committed genocide and imposed sanctions on some of the group's leadership, including RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
Bruce's statement said the US had formally determined on April 24 under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 that the government of Sudan used chemical weapons last year, but did not specify what weapons were used, precisely when or where.
"The United States remains fully committed to hold to account those responsible for contributing to chemical weapons proliferation," Bruce said.
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