The White House on Thursday issued visa and economic restrictions against Sudanese Leaders who were in charge of violating a cease-fire and causing “appalling” bloodshed.
“We are following through by levying economic sanctions, imposing visa restrictions against actors who are perpetuating the violence,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
“Despite a cease-fire agreement, senseless violence has continued across the country — hindering the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and hurting those who need it most. The scope and scale of the bloodshed in Khartoum and Darfur, in particular, is appalling,” Sullivan said.
The army’s and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces’ failure to uphold the cease-fire “only deepens our concern that the people of Sudan will once again face a protracted conflict and widespread suffering at the hands of the security forces,” according to the UN.
The penalties are being implemented, according to Sullivan, in accordance with the power granted by President Joe Biden in May.
According to a news release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), four firms connected to the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Army Forces have been sanctioned.
“Through sanctions, we are cutting off key financial flows to both the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, depriving them of resources needed to pay soldiers, rearm, resupply, and wage war in Sudan,” Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said in a statement.
“The United States stands on the side of civilians against those who perpetuate violence towards the people of Sudan,” Yellen added.
After the army announced its pullout on Wednesday, Blinken, who was in Oslo for NATO negotiations, stated that the United States would continue to be involved without specifically condemning one party for breaking the cease-fire.
President Joe Biden’s administration has come under fire from a number of American legislators and activists for delaying taking action against army head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, including the imposition of sanctions.
U.S. diplomats have argued that maintaining connections was more advantageous than trying to bargain between them.