Sudan’s War And Addressing The United Nations General Assembly: A Continued Political Escalation

On the 21st of September, as the Sudanese people were getting ready to hear Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, the President of the Transitional Sovereign Council and the SAF’s chief, addressing the general debate of the General Assembly’s — session, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the RSF commander, issued a statement dedicated for the same matter.

As the warring parties continue their political escalation, however, regardless of the escalation, both addressing had similar claims:

1. Aiming to Stop the War: both addresses confirmed that they seek to end this war at Jeddah Pulpit through a peace agreement starting with a “long-term ceasefire” as soon as the other party pledges.
2. Promising Democracy and Fast Political Transition: Since day one, the RSF’s commander has repeatedly pledged to “protect” democracy, and his last address wasn’t an exception. On the other hand, the SAF’s chief’s last address had mixed messages in which he only pledged to “hand over the power to the Sudanese people” in two of his six addresses, including the last one.
3. Calling for the International Community to Help: Both parties called on the International Community to “help and support” the Sudanese people; however, the RSF was more focused on the humanitarian aspects, while the SAF concentrated on the reconstruction and the “post-war” aspects.

Also, the addressing had its contradictions and worrying claims and indicators as well:

4. Who Started the War: Despite both parties being “mass mobilizing” two days before the war erupted, it has yet to confirm the “first shooter.” Both parties have contradicted claims, as SAF insists that the RSF started the war. In contrast, the RSF’s narrative blames the Sudanese Islamic Movement’s jihadi factions for starting the war.

5. Calls for “Terrorist Groups” Designations: Since day one, the RSF described the jihadi factions fighting along with the SAF as terrorist militias, not calling for a “terrorism designation” as these factions were present when Sudan was listed as a terrorism sponsor state back in —. The SAF called the international community to “consider designating the RSF as terrorist groups to protect the Sudanese people, the region, and the world” in the UNGA—GD’s address.

6. Peace Mapping Indicators: Although both parties pledged to seek peace, there are still no clear indicators on “how” the peace will be reached; on-ground reports indicate more and more violence and continued war.

The Sudanese people continue to suffer while the International Community watches silently, neither offering humanitarian assistance nor facilitating a peace agreement.

Resources:

General Debate of the General Assembly’s 78 session

RSF’s Parallel Addressing

SAHRO