November 14, Nairobi — French-manufactured military technology that is incorporated into armored personal carriers made by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is being used on the battlefield in Sudan.
This likely constitutes a violation of the United Nations arms embargo on Darfur, Amnesty International said in a new investigation published on Thursday. This embargo was extended by the UN Security Council in September.
“Our research shows that weaponry designed and manufactured in France is in active use on the battlefield in Sudan,” Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said in a statement.
Amnesty revealed earlier this year that armed personal carriers (APCs) which were being used in Sudan were made by the UAE. Now new research shows that these APCs, which are being used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), include sophisticated French-designed and manufactured reactive defense systems.
The APCs are manufactured in the UAE by a company called Edge Group and equipped with the French Galix System. Amnesty said that it had verified pictures on social media which showed these APCs being destroyed or captured by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and have the Galix System visible.
The UAE has long track record of breaching UN Security Council arms embargoes in relation to Sudan, Amnesty said. They called on the French government to immediately stop the supply of this system to the UAE. The European Union has imposed an arms embargo on Sudan since 1994.