Concerns over export restrictions and the accountability of arms makers are raised by reports that French-made defense systems are being employed in the bloody Sudanese civil war.
According to Amnesty International, the Sudanese army has taken control of armored vehicles with French defense systems that were produced in the United Arab Emirates during the country’s civil war.
In a report released on Thursday, the rights group noted that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Darfur region of Sudan were using UAE-made armored personnel carriers (APCs) in their conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
The military vehicles’ presence on the battlefield “probably constitutes a violation” of a UN arms embargo that forbids the supply of weapons to Sudan, it continued.
After long-simmering tensions between the RSF and the Sudanese army intensified into fierce combat throughout the North African nation, where numerous human rights violations were perpetrated, the civil war broke out in April 2023.
The UN reports that the conflict has claimed the lives of over 20,000 people and that 11.6 million people have been forcefully displaced, including 8.3 million internally and 3.1 million who have fled to neighboring countries.
The UAE has refuted Sudan’s allegation that it has been providing the RSF with weapons that have extended the 18-month conflict with the army.
Weapons made in France and discovered in Sudan
According to Amnesty’s research, it confirmed images posted on social media that showed the vehicles taken or destroyed by the Sudanese army, confirming the existence of many Nimr Ajban APCs on the ground.
According to the Amnesty study, the vehicles were manufactured by Edge Group in the United Arab Emirates and fitted with the Galix reactive defense system, which is produced in France by Lacroix Defense and KNDS France.
According to Lacroix’s website, the Galix system is intended to defend automobiles from oncoming dangers by emitting smoke, missiles, and decoys.
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard stated, “Our research demonstrates that weapons designed and manufactured in France are in active use on the battlefield in Sudan.”
The RSF is using the Galix System in this battle, and it would be blatantly against the UN arms embargo to employ it in Darfur.
“The French government must ensure that Lacroix Defense and KNDS France immediately stop the supply of this system to the UAE” .
The UAE denies any involvement.
ΐLacroix has been approached for comment via its website form.
The UAE is the “target of a coordinated disinformation campaign aimed at undermining our foreign policy, regional role, and humanitarian efforts,” according to an emailed statement from an Emirati government spokeswoman in response to the Amnesty report.
The statement stated that the UAE has been active in humanitarian efforts to aid Sudanese in the conflict and said, “It is both outrageous and unacceptable that the SAF representatives continue to level accusations against the UAE, alleging our involvement in the ongoing conflict.”
According to the UAE, it has informed the UN Security Council and its foreign allies that it does not support or supply the RSF or “any of the belligerent warring parties in Sudan.”
Algoney Hamdan Dagalo Musa, a top RSF leader and the brother of the paramilitary’s commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, was sanctioned by the US last month for “leading efforts” to provide weapons during the conflict.
Algoney is the owner of Tradive General Trading LLC, a front firm based in the United Arab Emirates that brought cars into Sudan and equipped them with machine weapons on behalf of the paramilitary RSF.
