The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted Wednesday to extend the existing sanctions and arms embargo against Sudan for another year.
With 13 votes in favour and two abstentions, the Council “decided to extend until 12 March 2024 the mandate of the panel of experts originally appointed under resolution 1591 of 2005 and previously extended” by a number of successive texts voted against Sudan over the past 18 years, according to the new resolution 2676.
While 13 countries voted in favour of the motion, Russia and China abstained from voting.
China’s representative, Dai Bing, argued that the sanctions were outdated and no longer necessary.
Bing stated that the situation on the ground had improved and, therefore, the sanctions should be lifted.
Russia’s representative, Dmitry Polyanskiy, criticized the sanctions regime, claiming that it did not accurately reflect the situation in Darfur.
Polyanskiy argued that the sanctions were impeding the Sudanese government’s state-building and socioeconomic development.
The United States representative, John Kelley, supported a continuation of monitoring and reporting.
He acknowledged the progress made on benchmarks set by the Juba peace deal signed in 2020.
Kelley believes that achieving these benchmarks will help Sudan move towards peace and prosperity, which is what its people deserve.
Sudan is under a series of sanctions and an arms embargo imposed in 2005 by the UN during the conflict in Darfur, in the west.
The post-Bashir democratic transition offered hope. In 2020, Washington removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and international aid returned — $2 billion annually.
But the October 25, 2021 coup led by military leader General Abdel Fattah el-Burhan interrupted that transition and the flow of aid.