Sudan II - EP 2

In response to an intensification of the conflict (on both sides) in late December 2004 and early January 2005 (including aerial bombing by Government of Sudan forces in December 2004), new sanctions were imposed on 29 March 2005 (UNSCR 1591). The sanctions expanded the arms embargo to include the Government of Sudan (as the arms imports embargo was imposed on belligerents in Darfur and all parties to the 2004 N’djamena Ceasefire Agreement), but exempted Government movements of military equipment and supplies into Darfur upon prior Committee approval. The resolution also authorized the application of individual sanctions (asset freeze and travel ban) to those who impeded the peace process, constituted a threat to stability, committed atrocities or violations of international humanitarian or human rights law, violated sanctions measures, or engaged in offensive military over-flights, and created a Sanctions Committee and a Panel of Experts. The Government of Sudan was called upon to respect the existing ceasefire agreement (N’djamena 2004) and criticized for its failure to disarm the Janjaweed militias. Two days later, on 31 March 2005, UNSCR 1593 referred the situation in Darfur since 1 July 2002 to the Prosecutor of the ICC for an investigation.

No individuals were designated for sanctions until a year later, with the passage of UNSCR 1672 (25 April 2006) in an unusual procedural move to name the individuals in the text of the resolution in a decision taken by the Council, not by its Sanctions Committee. The four individuals (two on each side of the conflict) designated remain the only designations to date (one has been delisted on 5 March 2021).

On 5 May 2006, the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) was signed in Abuja by the Government of Sudan and the Minni Minawi (MM) faction of the main Darfur rebel group, SLM/A. The other rebel factions originally part of the negotiations – Abdul Wahid (AW) faction of SLM/A and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – refused to sign and the agreement remained largely unimplemented. The agreement established the Darfur Regional Authority, an interim governing body for the region between the Government of Sudan and the SLM/A-MM. In October 2006, Sudan expelled the top UN official (SRSG Jan Pronk) from the country. UNAMID, a joint UN/AU peacekeeping operation force composed of 19,550 military and 3,772 police personnel created in 2007 (UNSCR 1769, 31 July 2007) to implement the peace agreement, was given a mandate to enforce the UN arms embargo.

Two years after the ICC referral, on 27 April 2007, the ICC issued its first two indictments: the Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Minister (Ahmed Harun) and the Janjaweed militia leader (Ali Kushayb). The ICC indicted Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir and issued a warrant for his arrest on 4 March 2009 for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Bashir was the first sitting head of State to be indicted by the ICC and in July 2010 became the first person to be charged with genocide. Additional ICC arrest warrants were issued on the Sudanese Minister of Defense (Abdel Raheem Hussein) in March 2012, and on JEM rebel leader (Abdallah Banda) in September 2014. Charges against two other rebel leaders (Bahr Idriss Abu Garda and Saleh Jerbo) were dismissed and dropped, respectively.

Following joint AU/UN mediation efforts, the Government of Sudan and the Liberty and Justice Movement (LJM) rebel faction signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) on 14 July 2011. Like its 2006 Abuja predecessor, the agreement was criticized for failing to include the other rebel groups, namely SLM/A and JEM. UNSCR 2035 (17 February 2012) welcomed the DDPD as the basis for reaching a comprehensive and inclusive solution to the conflict in Darfur and urged armed movements that had not signed to negotiate without preconditions on the basis of the document and participate in the joint AU/UN mediation. Stressing the need for a more comprehensive, national approach to the conflicts in Sudan, three Darfur armed groups (JEM, SLM/A-MM, and SLM/A-AW) joined with the wider Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in November 2011 to form the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) alliance. Despite increasing rebel linkages between the conflicts in Darfur and the “two areas” (Blue Nile and South Kordofan), the Government of Sudan refused to negotiate outside of the scope of DDPD, entrenching this position in the constitution in January 2015. The DDPD stipulated that the government would hold a referendum on a unified administrative status of Darfur.

In 2013, the situation in Darfur worsened with the eruption of communal conflicts over land and natural resources, incidents of ethnic cleansing, and Government arms deliveries and aerial bombings (deemed routine violations of the arms embargo by the Panel of Experts). 2014 witnessed an increase in tensions between the Sudanese Government and the UN, culminating in the expulsion of two key UN representatives and official Government calls to wrap up the UNAMID operation in Darfur. Although the peacekeeping operation’s mission was extended under the same mandate for another year by UNSCR 2228 (29 June 2015), its exit strategy – based on progress against benchmarks and conditions on the ground – was developed by a Joint Working Group (UN, AU, and the Government of Sudan).

The ICC repeatedly expressed “a deep sense of frustration, even despair” that their briefings “had been followed by inaction and paralysis within the Security Council while the plight of victims of crimes committed in Darfur has gone from bad to worse” (5 June 2013 UNSC meeting), noting that hardly any of the 55 UNSC resolutions adopted on Sudan since 2004 had been implemented (Report of the ICC to the UN on its activities in 2013/2014). Amid ongoing refusal by some member states (including signatories of the Rome Statute) to surrender President Bashir to the court and the Council’s inaction on the issue, the ICC Prosecutor Fatau Bensouda announced on 12 December 2014 the suspension of investigations into war crimes in Darfur, even though the ICC indictment and arrest warrants remained in place.

The negotiation process remained stalled despite ongoing efforts of AU, UN, and individual member states (especially Germany) and the signing of the DDPD by several breakaway rebel factions. In late 2014 and early 2015, the largely uncoordinated international negotiation efforts achieved only limited rapprochement between the SRF opposition and the Sudanese National Dialogue Committee, and AU-mediated talks broke down in November 2014. President Bashir’s National Dialogue and Constitutional Progress initiative, which began work in January 2014, produced hundreds of recommendations for political and constitutional reform by 2016, but the vast majority were not implemented. Despite a major opposition boycott, general elections took place in April 2015, and President Bashir was reelected.

By July 2016, the LJM remained the only rebel group to sign the DDPD with JEM, SLA-N, Abdul Wahid (AW), and Minni Minawi (MM) factions disagreeing on key passages of the agreement. The non-signatory rebel movements continued to reject the DDPD as a comprehensive peace agreement. The government proceeded with the implementation of elements of the DDPD and organized a referendum in Darfur to determine the administrative status of the region in April 2016. Voters opted to retain the five-state administrative structure rather than a one-state administrative structure preferred by rebel groups (who boycotted the referendum). The non-signatory rebel movements categorically rejected both the referendum and its outcome. Following the referendum, the government declared the DDPD process completed and decided not to renew the mandate of the Darfur Regional Authority (established by the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement), which expired in July 2016.

The Special Report of the Secretary-General and the Chairperson for UNAMID noted in 2016 that the government began fresh military operations against SLA-AW positions in Jebel Marra after accusing the rebel movement of looting and attacking civilians. The government expanded its ground fighting and aerial bombardment, targeting other rebel groups (JEM and SLA-MM). By the end of 2016, both groups were pushed outside of the territory of Darfur and started increasingly basing their attacks on Sudanese government forces from bases in South Sudan (for JEM) and in Libya (for SLA-MM). As a result, there was very little progress on the engagement of key rebel groups which remained outside of the DDPD in 2016, and the agreement remained unrecognized by them.

The Sudanese government created a Darfur Peace Follow-up Office in January 2017, which in effect put the DDPD and the engagement of rebel groups behind it. Although there were heavy losses for the SLM-AW and its splinter group still operating in central Darfur, as well as for an SLM-MM incursion from Libya in May 2017, the total number of reported clashes, fatalities, and offensive Government of Sudan air attacks declined from the levels of previous years. From the Sudanese government perspective, the conflict situation was largely under control by the end of 2017, and the December 2017 Panel report concluded that the government had no interest in continuing talks with rebel groups. Another major development during 2017 was the lifting of US unilateral sanctions on the country. In early January 2017, former President Obama suspended US sanctions, pending Sudanese government cooperation on a number of key issues (mostly related to counter-terrorism), and the Trump administration followed up with a lifting of all US sanctions on Sudan in October 2017.

An even more significant change in conflict dynamics came with the overthrow of the Bashir government in April 2019. Public protests against the government, stimulated in part by deteriorating economic conditions, erupted across the country in December 2018. While he attempted to stay in power using traditional authoritarian means (declaring a state of emergency in February 2019), Bashir was ousted by a military coup in April 2019. Street protests continued, calling for civilian involvement in a transitional government to replace the Transitional Military Council (TMC). Following extensive negotiations between the TMC and civil society groups, a constitutional document was signed on 17 August 2019 establishing a new civilian-led transitional government and transitional institutions to be headed first by a military figure (for the initial 21 months), followed by a civilian leader (for the succeeding 18 months). The new transitional government had some success in resolving the longstanding Darfur conflict, as exemplified by the signing of a framework agreement on 28 December 2019 with the main rebel groups previously operating in Darfur outlining issues to be negotiated. The agreement was facilitated by peace talks in Juba, convened by South Sudanese President Kiir in the final months of 2019.

With regard to the joint AU/UN peacekeeping operation, UNAMID, there were already signs of an improvement in the security situation in Darfur (probably linked to the expulsion of the principal rebel groups from the territory in 2017), and UNSCR 2429 (13 July 2018) welcomed the fact that the Government of Sudan and principal rebel groups in Darfur had announced unilateral cessations of hostilities. It also noted progress in the implementation of the DDPD. UNAMID has been undergoing a gradual drawdown in forces since early 2018, but there has been an ongoing debate among Security Council members on the pace of the drawdown. UNSCR 2525 (3 June 2020) extended the mandate of the force for only six months (to the end of December 2020), and called for the UN Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the AU to provide the Council with a Special Report assessing the security situation on the ground and making recommendations on “the appropriate course of action regarding the drawdown of UNAMID” by the end of October 2020. UNAMID’s mandate was terminated on 31 December 2020.

With the drawdown of UNAMID forces to signal a new phase in its relationship with the country, the UN created a transitional assistance mission for Sudan (UNITAMS) in UNSCR 2524 (3 June 2020), whose mandate was terminated as of 31 December 2023 in UNSCR 2715 (1 December 2023). The transitional government signed a formal peace agreement with all of the major actors in the Darfur conflict (the Sudan Revolutionary Front Alliance, the Sudan Liberation Army and Movement, JEM, and the Minni Minnawi faction) on 29 August 2020. This was followed by the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) on 3 October 2020 between the Government of Sudan, the Sudan Revolutionary Front, and the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minawi.Holdout rebel group Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North of Abdel Aziz al-Hilu signed a Declaration of Principles on 28 March 2021 with government in South Sudan’s capital Juba. The 2023 PoE report concluded that the Darfurian armed movements that signed the JPA remained committed to it and that a major group outside the agreement had refrained from major military action against government forces. The report also concluded that the government also remained committed to the Agreement, employed intercommunal reconciliation agreements to facilitate local peacemaking, and began talks (the “Niamey Process”) with several non-signatory Darfurian movements operating from Libya.

A military coup upended the transitional Sudanese government in October 2021, and despite a November 2021 agreement to reinstate ousted Prime Minister Hamdok, he resigned in January 2022, leaving the military in full control of the transition. The military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, ordered armed groups to leave major urban areas in Darfur in February 2022 to facilitate the implementation of the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement, but there were reports of growing violence in Darfur later in the spring, which continued throughout 2022. On 5 December 2022, the military government and civilian groups signed a framework agreement, the Sudan Political Framework Agreement, paving the way for an all-civilian government to assume power in two years (by the end of 2024), but three of the Juba Peace Agreement signatories indicated their opposition to the deal.

In April 2023, deadly fighting broke out between rival security forces of the military government. A longstanding power struggle between General al-Burhan, who leads the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo, who controls the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in Khartoum and subsequently spread to Darfur, reigniting intercommunal tensions in the region. The RSF forces intensified attacks in Darfur in May 2023, as they sought to control major cities in the region. By July 2023, the RSF appeared to have gained the upper hand in Khartoum, but the situation was reversed by the end of August 2023. In November 2023, several key leaders of armed movements in Darfur, including Minni Minawi (Chair of the Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minawi) and Gibril Ibrahim (Justice and Equality Movement Chair) declared their support for the SAF, indicating that armed groups splintered as different factions sided with either the RSF or the SAF. Ethnic recruitment and targeting reportedly increased in Darfur, especially by the RSF and local allies. Meanwhile, diplomatic disarray (with multiple mediation efforts simultaneously underway) hindered peace efforts between the two sides.

In April 2025, the Panel of Experts noted that the RSF control large parts of Darfur and advanced after heavy fighting with SAF-affiliated groups to the center of El Fasher, the erstwhile SAF stronghold in the region. The alliance between SAF and local armed groups also indicated the collapse of a local ceasefire that had divided El Fasher among SAF, RSF, and Darfurian groups since 2023. Atrocities against civilians were committed by the RSF in the territory they control and by the SAF through indiscriminate aerial bombardments.

UNSCR 2562 (February 2021) extended the UN sanctions regime for another year, requested a review of the situation in Darfur, and recommended that the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Panel of Experts, establish benchmarks to guide the Security Council in its review of the sanctions. The slow pace of implementation of the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement was mentioned in the renewal of the sanctions regime in UNSCR 2620 (February 2022). The 2023 renewal of the regime in UNSCR 2676 (March 2023) encouraged the Government of Sudan “to take further steps to accelerate the process of full implementation of the JPA, including by establishing the Darfur regional disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) commission." The resolution also expressed the Council’s intention to review the sanctions measures in the light of progress achieved on the benchmarks. UNSCR 2725 (8 March 2024) expressed alarm at the ongoing conflict and deteriorating security situation amidst fighting in Darfur. The resolution also extended the measures of the sanctions regime, as did subsequent resolution UNSCR 2750 (11 September 2024).

Over the course of the long episode, successive Panel of Experts reports have highlighted violations of the arms embargo by both the Government of Sudan and by rebel forces. The March 2020 report stated that the government continued to violate the arms embargo with transfers of weapons into Darfur and that rebel groups had access to arms from cooperation with factions fighting in neighboring Libya. In general terms, UN member states did not appear to be utilizing end user certificates when making arms transfers to Sudan. The 2022 PoE report repeated the criticism that the Sanctions Committee had not received any requests for exemptions or notifications of transfers and stated that the violation of the arms embargo continued. The 2023 report of the Panel concluded that “the proliferation of weapons and ammunition in Darfur intensified and continued to pose a serious threat to security there.” In January 2024, the Panel reported intensified fighting between RSF and SAF in Darfur, with high numbers of civilians being killed, and further noted recruitment campaigns by both conflict parties and the formation of new alliances with local groups. As the Panel noted in 2025, arms and ammunition continued to be transferred to Darfur by both major conflict parties. The RSF rely mainly on supply routes from Libya and Chad, while the SAF regularly drop weapons and ammunition by air in support of allied groups on the ground. As the International Crisis Group reported in June 2025, the RSF have successfully occupied the border triangle with Egypt and Libya, diversifying supply lines. The SAF have accused General Khalifa Haftar’s forces in Libya of transferring arms, likely originally delivered by the UAE, to the RSF. Haftar and the UAE deny the allegation. The SAF, for their part, are reportedly supplied with weapons by Turkey.

The asset freeze and travel bans have not been implemented by the government. The conclusion of the 2015 Panel of Experts report that the “sanctions regime is in effect inoperative within Sudan” remains an appropriate description of the implementation of the UN sanctions measures over the course of the episode. The PoE’s 2022 report stated that implementation of the travel ban and asset freeze “remained a challenge,” owing to a lack of cooperation from the government of Sudan and neighboring states and mentioned a new instance of a travel ban violation in April 2021. It came to the same conclusion in its 2023 report. In 2024, the Panel noted overflights by the SAF violated the sanctions regime, and both SAF and RSF imports of arms into Darfur constituted further breaches. The RSF in particular brought new weapons systems to Darfur, altering the conflict dynamics. Moreover, one of the four individuals originally targeted by the UN asset freeze and travel ban, Mus Hilal Abdalla Alnsiem (SDi.002), violated the travel ban by visiting Chad. The Security Council has repeatedly requested the Government of Sudan to submit requests for approval for the movement of military equipment and supplies into the Darfur region in accordance with UNSCRs 1591, 1945 and 2035. Reflecting the prominent role of the RSF in the conflict Darfur and the significant atrocities committed by the group, the Sanctions Committee added two senior commanders of the RSF, Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla (SDi.005) and Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed (SDi.006), to the list of individuals subjected to the travel ban and asset freeze on 8 November 2024.

Despite his indictment by the ICC in 2009, President Bashir travelled to ICC member states, including Uganda in May 2016 and Rwanda in July 2016, without the arrest warrant being enforced. However, the transitional government indicated in February 2020 and again in August of 2021 that it was prepared to hand over the former President to the ICC to face trial for charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. After the 2019 coup, Bashir was imprisoned for corruption and faced a trial for orchestrating the 1989 coup that brought him to power. He remains in a medical facility in Sudan.

Mandatory

Ongoing arms imports embargo on any belligerents in Darfur expanded to include all parties to the 2004 N’djamena Ceasefire Agreement (the Government of Sudan exempted with prior Committee approval).

Newly imposed individual travel ban and asset freeze (from February 2012 also applying to entities) on those who impede the peace process, constitute a threat to stability, commit atrocities or violations of international humanitarian or human rights law, violate sanctions measures, or engage in offensive military over-flights.

Travel ban:

https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1591/exemptions/travel-ban

Asset freeze:

https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1591/exemptions/assets-freeze

Carve out provisions for humanitarian actors apply, as specified in UNSCR 2664 (2022).

Arms embargo:

https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1591/exemptions/arms-embargo

Current and maximum number of designees during the episode: 5 individuals (one from the SAF, two from the RSF, and two leaders of local groups).

Current list of sanctions designees:

https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1591/materials

Sanctions implementation deliberately delayed by 1 month. Sanctions Committee and Panel of Experts created. Designation criteria were specified and targets designated. Enforcement authorities not specified.

Implementation assistance notice:

Travel ban:

https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sites/www.un.org.securitycouncil/files/1591_ian1_e.pdf

Panel of Experts reports:

https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1591/panel-of-experts/reports