The UN Security Council has extended the existing arms embargo to include the Sudan government (29 March 2005). The Government of Sudan has been accused by observers on the ground of supporting the Janjaweed armed groups in the Darfur region. Human Rights Watch, a US-based IANSA member, recently recorded a video interview with an alleged leader of the Janjaweed admitting the support received from the government. Click here to read a transcript of the video.

Amnesty International (an IANSA member) published a detailed report in 2004 – Sudan: arming the perpetrators of grave abuses in Darfur describing the arms flows to Sudan. The main suppliers have been China, Russia, Iran and France, which is one reason why the Security Council has been so slow to act.

Security Council Resolution 1591, which extends the arms embargo, also authorises the creation of an embargo monitoring committee, supported by a Panel of Experts, with powers to impose targeted sanctions on arms dealers that violate the embargo. The committee can also impose sanctions on the Government of Sudan if it continues to conduct offensive military flights over Darfur.

Between February 2003 and March 2004, as many as 300 000 people have died as a result of the conflict, according to a report of the UK International Development Committee. A further 1.6 million people have been displaced by the conflict according to a report by the UN Secretary-General.

Previous UN arms embargoes on Sudan were only imposed on the armed groups fighting within Sudan, not the government itself, and had no monitoring mechanism to help ensure compliance.