By Enyichukwu Enemanna
U.S. sanctions imposed on Sudan’s government in connection with the use of chemical weapons against its own nationals took effect on Friday, according to a government published notice.
The notice, published in the U.S. Federal Register, says a State Department official determined on April 24 that the Government of Sudan “has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law or lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals”.
The Sudanese government is alleged to have deployed chlorine gas, an agent that can cause severe respiratory damage and death—during military operations against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The sanctions, enacted under the 1991 Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act, are wide-ranging.
According to the official notice, the sanctions entail cutting off assistance to Sudan under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, with an exception for urgent humanitarian aid.
The measures also bring an immediate halt to the sale and financing of U.S. defence articles and services. Furthermore, the sanctions block Sudan from receiving credit or other financial assistance from any U.S. government agency, including the Export-Import Bank, and ban the export of national security-sensitive goods and technology to the country.
However, the State Department official certified to Congress that it is “essential to the national security interests of the United States” to partially waive some of the sanctions.
The waivers allow for continued foreign assistance, case-by-case reviews of defence sales to entities other than the Sudanese government, and exports necessary for civil aviation safety or for U.S. and other foreign-owned subsidiaries in Sudan.
The measures will remain in place for at least one year, the notice added.
Sudan’s military leadership, including General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, are already under U.S. sanctions.
Sudan’s government has previously denied the allegations.
In May, the army chief formed a national committee to investigate the U.S. claims.
