The United States will continue withholding aid from Sudan that was initially paused after October’s military coup unless there is an end to violence and a civilian-led government is restored, the US embassy in Khartoum said.
In a statement via the US Embassy in Khartoum on Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, and newly appointed Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, David Satterfield, say that after meeting with a wide cross-section of Sudanese civil society, they “share the deep concern of the Sudanese people about the disruption of the democratic transition“.
Phee and Satterfield also condemned the recent use of disproportionate force against protesters and called for transparent and independent investigations into the deaths and injuries that occurred.
During their visit to Sudan, Assistant Secretary Phee and Special Envoy Satterfield met families of those who lost loved ones in violence against pro-democracy demonstrators, and underscored that the USA will not resume paused assistance to the Sudanese government without “an end to violence and restoration of a civilian-led government that reflects the will of the people of Sudan”.
Thursday’s statement said that in meetings with the US officials, “the military leaders of the Sovereignty Council, offered their commitment to the inclusive national dialogue, the political transition, the establishment of a civilian-led government based upon consensus, and acknowledged the importance of establishing and sustaining a peaceful environment to allow the political process to proceed”.
The US officials endorsed the recently launched Sudanese-led political process facilitated by the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission to Sudan (UNITAMS) as a means to help Sudanese civilian stakeholders identify a common way forward to overcome Sudan’s political impasse and pledged full US support for the effort, and called upon all Sudanese stakeholders to engage in this process.
Phee and Satterfield expressed the US government’s solidarity with pro-democracy elements in Sudan, and pledged sustained support to the Sudanese people in their efforts to achieve freedom, peace, and justice, today’s statement concludes.
The US suspended all aid to Sudan following the military coup d’état of October 25. At the time, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said, “The United States is pausing assistance from the $700 million in emergency assistance appropriations of Economic Support Funds for Sudan. Those funds were intended to support the country’s democratic transition.”