Canada can and must do more in Darfur

Nineteen months into the war between the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces, the war has killed tens of thousands, and threatens millions more. The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR) found clear and convincing evidence that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied fighters are committing genocide in the western region of Darfur in April 2024. Both sides are using food as a weapon of war, according to the United Nations, and more than half the population faces acute hunger. The fighting has displaced more than 11 million people. In the most-affected regions, 70 per cent to 80 per cent of health facilities are barely functioning or closed. Yonah Diamond. Handout photograph And the international response is falling far short—the refugee response plan and general humanitarian response plan are only 39 per cent and 57 per cent funded. Canada can and must do more. Earlier this month, we at the RWCHR made eight recommendations to the House of Commons Subcommittee on Human Rights to address the ongoing conflict, genocide, and humanitarian crisis. First, Canada must halt all military exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in accordance with its obligations under the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA) and Arms Trade Treaty. Canada sold $13.3-million in military exports to the UAE last year. The UAE is openly and directly supplying the RSF with ongoing military, political, diplomatic, and financial support, as documented by the UN Panel of Experts on Sudan and various independent sources. Therefore, there is a clear and foreseeable risk that these arms will be used by the RSF to perpetrate ongoing atrocity crimes, including widespread attacks on civilians and sexual violence, such that the EIPA requires the minister of foreign affairs to halt all exports. Ella Johnson is a legal researcher and analyst at the RWCHR. Handout photograph Second, Canada should sanction all individuals and entities already sanctioned by close allies for their complicity in the war in Sudan. The United States has listed nine individuals and 16 entities, whereas Canada has designated just six individuals and entities. Canada should close this accountability gap as soon as possible. Third, the federal government should introduce a Canada-Sudan emergency visa program, analogous to the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel, introduced immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has approved nearly one million applicants under the Canada-Ukraine program. In contrast, in February 2024, Canada introduced a restrictive pathway to permanent residence for Sudanese nationals capped at 3,250 applicants. Only 1,100 have been approved. The RWCHR is concerned that this discrepancy suggests a discriminatory policy. The RWCHR, therefore, recommends government action to address any potential discrimination within the IRCC in accordance with the Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2028, particularly by establishing a mechanism to report publicly on the IRCC’s anti-racism performance and outcomes. Fourth, Canada should sponsor a UN resolution, in compliance with the responsibility to protect, to deploy a life-saving presence authorized to use force to protect vulnerable civilian populations in emergency hotspots and critical humanitarian corridors, ports, and airfields. Canada should also sponsor a resolution to pressure warring parties to stop withholding humanitarian aid. Fifth, Canada should bring a case to the International Court of Justice to hold the external actors fuelling the war to account. The RWCHR-led Sudan Taskforce for Accountability and Justice has already begun to assemble the necessary expertise and evidence required to pursue legal avenues at the international level and is prepared to support this effort. Sixth, parliamentarians should establish a parliamentary or inter-parliamentary coalition for Sudan, replicating efforts made during the previous Darfur genocide when then-Liberal MP Irwin Cotler chaired the All-Party Save Darfur Parliamentary Coalition to co-ordinate efforts across government and internationally. Seventh, Canada should increase levels of humanitarian assistance it sends to Sudan and neighbouring countries, and work to distribute aid directly to grassroots initiatives who will ensure it reaches the people most in need. Eighth, the Canadian Parliament should recognize the genocide against non-Arab groups in Darfur dating back to 2003, and recurring in the present conflict in West Darfur. Since the start of the conflict, the RWCHR has issued early warning risk assessments, conducted an independent inquiry into the mass atrocities in Darfur, and engaged in private diplomacy to influence international and Canadian responses. It is past time for Canada to act. Yonah Diamond is senior legal counsel at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and a lead author of the international report, Breaches of the Genocide Convention in Darfur, Sudan: An Independent Inquiry. Ella Johnson is a legal researcher and analyst at the RWCHR. The Hill Times

Canada can and must do more in Darfur

Since the conflict in Darfur began, the RWCHR has issued early warning risk assessments, conducted an inquiry into the mass atrocities and engaged in private diplomacy to influence global responses. It is past time for Canada to act.

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