City Bar Calls on International Community to Address Humanitarian Crisis in Darfur, Sudan

Actions “reflect systematic disregard for the right to life”

The New York City Bar Association has released a statement saying that “the ongoing violence in Sudan represents a critical and escalating humanitarian crisis, characterized by egregious violations of international human rights law and humanitarian principles.”

“The ongoing lack of accountability has only emboldened perpetrators, heightening the risk of further atrocities,” according to the statement. “The City Bar urges States to consider invoking the responsibility-to-protect doctrine, including through diplomatic, humanitarian, and peaceful channels and, secondarily, through the U.N. Security Council and mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court.”

The statement includes a call to action for “the international community to take immediate action to curb the financial and logistical networks sustaining the Rapid Support Forces” by:

1. Monitoring the shipment of gold to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to prevent illicit trade financing conflict operations;
2. Imposing targeted sanctions on companies involved in transporting Sudanese gold to the UAE and Egypt, while restricting their access to global financial markets;
3. Exposing and addressing “sportswashing,” whereby profits from gold smuggling are used to invest in sports teams, deflecting attention from human rights abuses;
4. Ensuring that billions of dollars in arms do not end up in Darfur, thereby helping to prevent further escalation of violence and atrocities against civilians; and
5. Urging the international community and those in power to meet their obligations under the Genocide Convention and to use all means to mediate this crisis.

Read the full statement here.

About the Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has over 20,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org.