Sudanese authorities on Thursday lashed out at the international community for its response to the war that began in April 2023, reproaching governments and organizations for merely issuing statements without taking action and for "trying to equate" state forces with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). At the same time, they stressed that, in their opinion, the Government of Spain "is at the forefront of those who are on the right side of history."
Amgad Fareid Eltayeb Idris, advisor for Political and Diplomatic Affairs to the president of the Transitional Sovereign Council and head of the Army, Abdelfatah al Burhan, highlighted after a "very fruitful" official visit to Spain that "there are still many voices in the international community that try to equate both parties and say that each should commit to this or that, when the risk posed by the RSF is evident."
"This is the problem, the false equivalence between those who defend the population from atrocities and those who commit them," he stated at an event at the Sudanese Embassy in Madrid, where he stressed that the dilemma "is very clear": "Who is on the right side of history and who is on the wrong side of fascism, genocide and barbarism."
"Three years and two months have passed. Enough is enough. This ambiguity generates complicity, fueling the continuation of the war because it creates impunity for the RSF," Idris indicated, pointing out that the group "knows that, whatever crime it commits, responsibility will fall on all involved."
In this vein, he stressed that the international community "must wake up and stop pretending neutrality, because neutrality that stands between the aggressor and the victim is not neutrality, but complicity." "Those who ask us to accept being murdered, looted, raped and displaced are asking us for something irrational," he added.
Idris also denounced that the fact that the international community "hides behind passivity (...) is one of the reasons why the war has dragged on." "It always talks about committed atrocities, sexual violence, genocide. Sudan is suffering the biggest humanitarian crisis. Sudan is not suffering the biggest humanitarian crisis as a result of an earthquake, a fire or a flood," he explained.
Therefore, he has praised the role played by Spain, which he has defined as "a key and committed actor, in support of the principles of International Law". "We will continue to collaborate with Spain and other like-minded actors to ensure the preservation of International Law, justice, and equality among all nations," he has assured.
Regarding the EU's position, he recalled that the bloc is made up of 27 states and admitted that "it is sometimes difficult to reach a consensus on certain issues". "Some EU countries are more principled and honest than others. Spain is at the forefront of those on the right side of history," he remarked.
"For all Europeans, and specifically for Spaniards, and that is why I believe Spain is adopting the correct discourse on this: they know the risk of fascism, they know that one cannot coexist with fascism," he defended, before drawing a parallel with the Second World War and recalling that Europeans "could not coexist with Nazism".
STEPS FOR PEACE
In relation to efforts to end the conflict, he insisted that the authorities have "never" walked away from the table. "The problem is that the international community, or certain actors within it, want us to engage in an endless dialogue without a predetermined objective, and the cost of this is the death of more Sudanese people," he warned.
"We want peace. All Sudanese people want this war to stop. The reason for this war is the existence of a militia of a fascist nature," emphasized Al Burhan's advisor, who has called for the "dismantling" of the RSF, their declaration as "a terrorist organization" and the end of all military and political support for the group.
In this regard, he argued that if the RSF were to sit down to negotiate without external support and without "the continuous supply of weapons," a real path to peace would open up. "The RSF must be dismantled, and this is possible peacefully," he stressed, while pointing out that the organization "has no claims on governance" and is financed through the "looting" of resources in the areas under its control.
He has also warned that "many countries are bordering on complicity in the genocide being perpetrated by the RSF." "Sudan needs help to protect its people from the fascism and barbarism of the RSF. The UN, first and foremost, is betraying the great principle of the responsibility to protect, coined by the late Kofi Annan," he denounced.
In this vein, he expressed concern about the situation around El Obeid, in the Kordofan region, where he fears that "atrocities like those that occurred in El Fasher will be repeated," a city where the RSF carried out massacres and abuses after taking control in late 2024, after a year and a half siege. "The RSF are the source of this risk, while the Sudanese Armed Forces are the defenders against it," he explained.
REGIONAL RISK
Idris reiterated that the RSF "do not seek to reform the country, but to fragment the State," which "entails risks, especially for Europe." He warned that the problem is not limited to "migration and the uncontrolled movement of people," but also to the circulation of weapons, "advanced weaponry and technology, from the RSF across borders to terrorist organizations such as Boko Haram and the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM)," Al Qaeda's branch in the Sahel.
"These RSF militiamen are mercenaries, whether Sudanese or from abroad, such as Colombia and other countries. These mercenaries are dedicated to this for money, selling their weapons to these terrorist organizations. They possess advanced weaponry capable of destabilizing the Sahel, North and West Africa, as well as the Horn of Africa, and represent a serious danger to security in Sudan," he explained.
Given this scenario, he stressed that "there are no political complexities" and added that "the RSF have been killing people in Sudan since their creation," in allusion to the 'Janjaweed' militias, formed during the regime of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, involved in the Darfur genocide at the beginning of the century and the origin of the current paramilitary structure.
"Now they continue to kill the people of Darfur, including all other Sudanese, in the service of other masters. Thus, the criminal is the same and the victims are the same," he lamented, before stressing that several states in the region —including Kenya, Ethiopia, and Chad— "betrayed the principles" of the African Union (AU) and "African solidarity" by providing support to the group led by 'Hemedti'.
Lastly, he indicated that he "does not believe" that the United States "has a concrete plan, approach, or strategy to end this crisis," something that, in his opinion, explains why Washington's mediation "has not yielded results." Even so, he reiterated that Khartoum "will welcome any serious effort, based on a realistic assessment of the situation on the ground, to help end this suffering in the country."
"However, any attempt to force the Sudanese people to accept the participation of politicians, military, or paramilitary in the bloodshed will not be accepted by the people, let alone by the Government," Idris concluded, emphasizing that "the solution must come from within and be accepted by those within the country." "The government's responsibility is to the Sudanese people, and to no one else," he concluded.