SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Foreign Policy - Seeking to Secure Power, Sudan’s Military Ruler Hires Lobbying Help

28/6/19: Foreign Policy - Seeking to Secure Power, Sudan’s Military Ruler Hires Lobbying Help, by Justin Lynch and Robbie Gramer

 Foreign Policy’s feature piece highlights the military’s public relations campaign to “shore up their legitimacy and control.”

 The military’s lobbying contract with Canadian firm Dickens & Madson reflects Himedti’s “shadowy behind-the-scenes push…to consolidate control,” and “illustrates how many foreign governments have worked to stake claims in Sudan.”

 The TMC seeks Dickens & Madson’s help to legitimize Himedti by securing him a meeting with US President Trump and Middle-East governments,  along with other priorities such as securing military training and equipment, infrastructure and food security support from Russia, and an alliance with Libyan general Khalifa Haftar.

 A speech at Himedti’s rally last week by former US congressman-turned-lobbyist James Moran helped “[reinforce] the perception…that [Himedti] is backed by the international community,” as it is the only information that many Sudanese have regarding the international community’s stance toward [Himedti],” amid the internet blackout.

SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel Calls for Sanctions on Sudanese Security Forces

28/6/19: US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel Calls for Sanctions on Sudanese Security Forces

 Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called on the Trump administration to sanction the Rapid Support Forces under the Global Magnitsky Act, singling out Himedti for his responsibility in ordering “gross human rights abuses…against unarmed civilians.”

 As well as expressing concern that another violent crackdown is imminent during the planned June 30 protests, Engel wrote that such sanctions with “reaffirm [US’] unwavering support for democratic principles in Sudan,” and sends a “powerful” message to Sudanese people that the US “stands in solidarity with them in their fight to end the human rights abuses.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Globe and Mail - Quebec lobbying firm may have broken Sudan sanctions with deal ‘striving’ to supply equipment for military

28/6/19: Globe and Mail - Quebec lobbying firm may have broken Sudan sanctions with deal ‘striving’ to supply equipment for military, by Steven Chase and Geoffrey York

The Globe and Mail reports that Dickens & Madson, the Canadian lobbying firm working to help Himedti to procure equipment for Sudan’s armed forces, could run afoul of Canadian sanctions and new arms-brokering controls that come into effect in September 2019.

 Canadian domestic law has implemented UN Security Council economic sanctions and trade restrictions to limit sales of arms and related materials to Sudan.

 Toronto-based lawyer John Boscariol said “if someone were to be providing consulting services that related to the provision of military equipment to a person in Sudan, on its face, that’s prohibited.”

 An anonymous Canadian official said that if Dickens & Madson facilitates an arms sale for Himedti, then Canada would expect them to apply for a brokering permit. However, the official added that facilitating a sale of equipment for the Sudanese military comes very close to technical assistance, which is prohibited under the UN sanctions.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP – Group urges Sudan to ensure protester safety during rallies

28/6/19: AP – Group urges Sudan to ensure protester safety during rallies, by Samy Magdy

 AP reports that Amnesty International said Friday that Sudanese military rulers must guarantee the safety of protesters ahead of planned mass rallies over the weekend calling for civilian rule and following a deadly military crackdown that has left more than 100 dead since early June.

 “The horrific unprovoked use of lethal and unnecessary force against peaceful protesters as witnessed on 3 June must not be repeated this Sunday, or ever again,” said Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty’s secretary general.

Protest leader Sherif Osman, from the Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters, said the “peaceful” marches planned for Sunday could only be called off “if the military council handed over power to civilians.”

The demonstrations are planned to mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamist-backed coup that brought Omar Al Bashir to power in 1989.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – US Supreme Court to consider reviving $4 billion terror award against Sudan over US embassy bombings in 1998

28/6/19: Multiple sources – US Supreme Court to consider reviving $4 billion terror award against Sudan over US embassy bombings in 1998

Bloomberg, by Greg Stohr

Reuters, by Andrew Chung

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider reviving a $4.3 billion punitive damage award against Sudan for providing al-Qaeda with a haven while the terrorist group planned the 1998 bombings outside the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The award came in a lawsuit on behalf of more than 150 U.S. government employees and contractors who were killed or injured, as well as hundreds of family members.

The punitive damages are part of a $10.2 billion award they won when Sudan didn’t defend against a lawsuit filed in Washington. However, US sovereign-immunity law does not permit punitive damages for actions that took place before Congress amended the law in 2008 to authorize those types of awards.

 US President Donald Trump’s administration urged the Supreme Court to hear the case and reinstate the punitive damages award.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - UN puts brakes on peacekeepers’ pullout from Sudan’s Darfur

28/6/19: AP - UN puts brakes on peacekeepers’ pullout from Sudan’s Darfur, Edith M. Lederer

 AP reports that the UN Security Council voted unanimously to put the brakes on the withdrawal of the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s vast western Darfur region as the country deals with a political crisis.

 The council approved a resolution to extend the current mandate of the force, known as UNAMID, for four months until October 31.

 Last July, the Security Council voted to dramatically cut the UNAMID force in response to reduced fighting and improved security conditions. The target for ending the mission is June 30, 2020.

 Britain’s U.N. deputy ambassador Jonathan Allen, whose country co-sponsored the resolution with Germany, said the council “recognizes that Darfur is affected by wider instability in Sudan and that there is a need for continued protection of civilians in Darfur.”