Sudan's Warring Parties Sign Commitment to Protect Citizens

Sudan's warring parties signed a commitment late on Thursday May 11, 2023 on guidelines for allowing humanitarian assistance, U.S. officials said. Voice of America reports that representatives of the army and paramilitary forces, who have been fighting for nearly a month, signed the agreement in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on a "declaration of commitment to protect the civilians of Sudan".

The agreement requires both sides to permit humanitarian assistance, to allow the restoration of electricity, water and other basic services, to withdraw security forces from hospitals and to arrange for "respectful burial" of the dead.

"We are hopeful, cautiously, that their willingness to sign this document will create some momentum that will force them to create the space" to bring in relief supplies, the U.S. official said. Still, the two sides remain "quite far apart," the official added.

Earlier on Thursday, the U.N. Human Rights Council barely managed to pass a motion to increase monitoring of human rights abuses in Sudan. Backed by the United Kingdom and the United States, the motion passed 18-15. It grants the U.N.'s Sudan expert more powers to monitor abuses, among other measures. It was watered down several times in recent days in order to gain approval.

No African country voted in favor of the initiative. Sudanese Ambassador Hassan Hamid Hassan said the conflict was internal and reiterated the refrain of "African solutions for African problems."

According to the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, over 750 people have died from the violence in Sudan, with more than 5,000 people also having been injured.