Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised the Inter-Governmental Authority Development (IGAD) for inviting the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to the East African Summit slated for January 18, 2024.
In a statement seen by The City Review on Sunday, the ministry condemned the move, alleging that RSF keeps violating human rights as they engage in more atrocities in the country.
“The IGAD invitation to the leader of Janjaweed militias to attend the emergency summit of IGAD No. 42, in flagrant violation of the agreement establishing IGAD and all the rules and traditions of the work of international organisations, and a gross disregard for the victims of genocide, ethnic cleansing, sexual violence and all the atrocities practiced by Janjaweed gangs in different parts of the country,” it said.
It added, “The Ministry does not need to remind us that the establishment of an organisation of sovereign governments aims to promote regional peace and security and achieve integration among member states, and there is no place in it for terrorist and criminal groups.”
The ministry faulted IGAD for remaining silent even as international organisations such as the United Nations, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, the League of Arab States, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and a number of countries, led by the United States.
The ministry argued that the RSF leader cannot participate in the meeting as it is a reserve of the heads of state and government of member states.
“This shameful precedent will not only destroy the credibility of IGAD as a regional organisation because it does not respect its documents and basic systems and works to undermine the sovereignty of member states,” it noted.
On January, 13, 2013, the Sudanese government withdew from the upcoming IGAD extraordinary summit, scheduled for January 18, citing the need for a crucial face-to-face meeting between Sudan’s top military leaders, President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), to address pressing issues between the two warring parties.
