Letter to President Biden concerning the crisis in El Fasher

Operation Broken Silence is joining over 150 organizations and experts in calling on the Biden Administration to take more decisive action in Sudan, specifically with regard to the rapidly deteriorating genocide emergency unfolding in the city of El Fasher.

What does this mean and why does it matter?

Fourteen long months of war and extreme violence between regime factions in Sudan has given way to the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency in the world. Almost 18 million Sudanese —a third of the country— are facing life-threatening levels of food insecurity. Nearly 11 million people have been forced to flee their homes or have left Sudan altogether.

Modestly optimistic estimations based on available data suggest 2.5 million Sudanese will perish by September 2024, if conditions do not improve in the coming weeks. Famine is now breaking out in the hardest hit areas of the country, particularly in Darfur and Kordofan. Large-scale hunger is already leading to growing death rates. And still, the world has barely noticed.

The threat to human life in Sudan has risen even more rapidly over the past several weeks. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have surrounded the El Fasher area in North Darfur, which is home to an estimated two million people. National army and anti-RSF militias are holding out in the city so far, but at an appalling price to terrified civilians who are being shelled and are running out of food. The trajectory El Fasher is on is toward large-scale loss of human life, one that could exponentially eclipse the slaughter in El Geneina last year that saw up to 15,000 of the ethnically African Masalit people exterminated by the RSF.

While the Biden Administration has taken some action —including appointing a committed Special Envoy, making an atrocity determination, and helping to pre-position aid supplies in countries around Sudan— the President himself has neither spoken out on the world’s largest humanitarian emergency, nor has his administration pursued more aggressive action to shut down the flow of weapons into Sudan and deliver aid through untraditional channels.

The United States must play its traditional role of international mobilizer when it comes to saving lives in Sudan. Historically that has always included verbal and tangible support from the President of the United States. Now is the time for President Biden to speak out and for his administration to take a more heavy-handed approach with Sudan’s warring generals and their international backers.

Photo: On June 6, every Washington Post newspaper delivered to the White House included a wrap ad featuring the letter and signatures. We know this action was seen widely at the White House and spurred additional conversations. (Humanity United)

The clock is ticking. The complete impunity enjoyed by army and Rapid Support Forces generals is the primary driver of ghastly crimes and spiraling humanitarian conditions, but the United States can play a vital role in reducing the scale of suffering and bringing this senseless war to an end.

While we await a response, we ask that you join us in taking direct action below.

How You Can Help

Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For over a decade, we've allied people just like you with incredible Sudanese heroes on the ground. Your gift will help them continue their lifesaving work.

Team Zamzam in Darfur, Sudan - 20 female counselors serving victims of sexual violence and malnutrition in Zamzam displacement camp near El Fasher. They are distributing food to the disabled, the elderly, orphans, widows who have taken in children, and those with severe acute malnutrition. This is the area of Sudan most in need right now.

Refugee Leaders in Adré, eastern Chad - Experienced local healthcare and aid workers are running a small feeding program and two clinics to provide food and care to the most vulnerable, specifically the disabled and orphans. This is where many survivors of the Darfur genocide have fled. Rations have been cut in the camp due to a lack of funding.

Education Office in Juba, South Sudan - Our Nuba education partner has an office in Juba, where thousands of refugees from Darfur have arrived traumatized and hungry. Few have been able to secure refugee food benefits due to severe lack of international funding. Our partner is trying to provide basic food but has only 20% of the funding they need to do it.

Other Ways To Support These Heroes

Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.

Join Miles For Sudan, the new global event helping runners, walkers, and cyclists convert their miles into dollars raised. 

Purchase our Sudan Forever t-shirt to help raise awareness about this ignored crisis and deliver food relief.

Donate stock or crypto from your investment portfolio, which can come with unique tax benefits.

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.

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• Share Our Posts: Instagram | Threads | Facebook | LinkedIn | Reddit

• Over 150 organizations and experts are calling on the Biden Administration to take more decisive action in Sudan, specifically with regard to the rapidly deteriorating genocide emergency unfolding in the city of El Fasher. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-president-biden-concerning-the-crisis-in-el-fasher

• Fourteen long months of war and extreme violence between regime factions in Sudan has given way to the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency in the world. It’s time for world leaders to act. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-president-biden-concerning-the-crisis-in-el-fasher

• The Rapid Support Forces have surrounded El Fasher in North Darfur, which is home to an estimated two million people. The trajectory is toward large-scale loss of human life, one that could exponentially eclipse the slaughter in El Geneina last year. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-president-biden-concerning-the-crisis-in-el-fasher

• The complete impunity enjoyed by army and Rapid Support Forces generals is the primary driver of ghastly crimes and spiraling humanitarian conditions, but the United States can play a vital role in reducing the scale of suffering and bringing this senseless war to an end. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-president-biden-concerning-the-crisis-in-el-fasher

Famine descends on Sudan, 2.5 million people could die from hunger by September 2024

The greatest humanitarian emergency of our lifetime is unfolding in Sudan.

Almost no one has noticed, and time is running out.

•••••

When gunfire and explosions erupted in Khartoum in April 2023, it was clear that Sudan’s merciless generals would give no quarter to the Sudanese people. Fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) quickly spread across the country. So did the war crimes, which has given way to a full-blown genocide in Darfur perpetrated by the Arab-dominated RSF against the region’s ethnic African minorities. Gruesome images of mass executions, beheadings, and bodies left to rot in the streets have trickled out of Sudan ever since.

Indeed, this living nightmare is just as much a total war on Sudan’s diverse, beautiful citizenry as it is a battle for power between two of the most barbaric armed forces in the world. Fourteen long months of extreme violence has displaced 11 million people. Over 20 million children can no longer attend school and most farmers cannot work. Over 70% of Sudan’s healthcare system has been knocked offline, and the medical facilities that remain are overwhelmed and underfunded. Communication networks are collapsing, further hampering the Sudanese people’s efforts to get information out to the world.

As month after month has slipped by with no end in sight, food has become more and more scarce. A perfect storm of the army and RSF blocking humanitarian aid, extreme violence, depleted harvests, soaring prices, and a near criminal lack of international attention has brought Sudan to the brink of an unfathomable humanitarian catastrophe.

Almost 18 million Sudanese —one third of the entire country— are facing severe food insecurity. And, according to a new report, 2.5 million of those most at risk could perish from hunger over the next three months.

The Clingendael Institute, a Hague-based think tank on international affairs, recently released “From hunger to death: An estimate of excess mortality in Sudan, based on currently available information.” The detailed report opens with a grim picture of what lies ahead:

“Using food balance estimates based on published data on harvest and stocks, and somewhat optimistic estimates of stocks at household level, wheat imports and humanitarian food aid, excess mortality was calculated under a number of scenarios. A scenario in which the hungriest people are given small amounts of extra food by others leads to an estimated excess mortality of about 2.5 million people (about 15% of the population in Darfur and Kordofan, which are likely worst affected) by the end of September 2024.

A tipping point at which large-scale hunger transitions into large-scale death has likely already been reached in parts of the country in May.”

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The full report can be viewed here. It contains technical language that may be unfamiliar to the general public, so we have pulled forward some key points below that get to the essence of this crisis.

Famine is descending on Sudan. Here’s what the near future could look like.

According to the report, it is estimated that 90% of excess mortality will be concentrated among roughly 10% of the population. Spreading hunger will likely be worst in Darfur and Kordofan where food production and humanitarian efforts are abysmally low due to targeted violence, insecurity, and the blockage of aid. This implies that about 15% of the population in Darfur and Kordofan will die from hunger and disease by September 2024 if there are no rapid improvements in food availability. Seasonal rains are coming soon and will likely make all forms of transporting food aid very difficult by early July. The below map is helpful in visualizing all of this.

While the below classifications consider the severity of hunger, it is the duration of hunger that may need more attention. If food deficits are below what the body can adjust to for long enough, many people will die even though they do not fall into the category of “catastrophic hunger.” Simply put, one cannot survive at emergency levels of food consumption for a long time.

Photo: Map from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) showing how quickly Sudan is descending into famine.

Brave, informal community-level initiatives to share food and feed the hungriest households are increasingly precarious. If neighborhood “soup kitchens” face any uptick in harassment, money transfers being blocked by internet shutdowns, or food availability dwindling in markets, the number of people being served will reduce suddenly and drastically. And the lack of any sort of formal status of these groups means major international aid agencies are not working with them at scale.

While strengthening local mechanisms for food redistribution can make a real difference in the immediate future, it will neither be enough to stop hunger nor enough to avoid death in the longer term. All indications are that conflict, rising prices, and other challenges will lead to a below-average harvest in 2024, even if seasonal rains are good. There are also no indications that global imports of cereals —which feature heavily in the Sudanese diet— will return to pre-war levels anytime soon.

Unless there is a rapid, structural, and large-scale increase in the availability of food (i.e. a ceasefire and a massive humanitarian intervention) it can be expected that after a limited recovery immediately following an upcoming reduced harvest, the 2025 lean season will bring even worse hunger and death than this year will.

Chart: “Excess morality” is the number of deaths beyond what is expected under normal circumstances. (Clingendael)

A Few Notes From Us

For reasons beyond understanding, an official famine has not yet been declared, even though the few who are responding to this crisis are seeing hard evidence that the silent killer has arrived. Outgoing Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs recently said on June 4 that there is “a likelihood that five million people across the country [Sudan] could face famine. I don't think we've ever had that kind of number at risk of famine.”

This is no time to be cautious with our language. The famine is now here and, if something does not change soon, the next few months will provide ghastly evidence of this truth. Merely preventing the crisis from getting worse will lead to countless deaths. Hunger must be reversed if a complete death spiral is to be averted.

Sudan’s military elite are the driving force behind this crisis, but the international community’s refusal to hold them accountable and pursue less traditional ways of getting aid into the country in the interim is compounding the damage. This situation has been warned about for months. There was ample time for the world to get organized, creative, and aggressive in response. An effort to do so is only barely underway now, and small organizations like us are still overwhelmed with needs as we wait for the rest of the world to catch up.

That said, there are reasons to hope. The Clingendael report correctly points out that “even a modest redistribution of food to the hungriest people can substantially reduce excess mortality.” This is no long-term solution, but it does buy precious time that is running out. Time that ordinary Sudanese can use to escape the hardest hit areas or strengthen their own brave efforts to feed the most hungry. We ask that you join us in giving to that end, whatever you can spare.

How You Can Help

Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For over a decade, we've allied people just like you with incredible Sudanese heroes on the ground. Your gift will help them continue their lifesaving work.

Team Zamzam in Darfur, Sudan - 20 female counselors serving victims of sexual violence and malnutrition in Zamzam displacement camp near El Fasher. They are distributing food to the disabled, the elderly, orphans, widows who have taken in children, and those with severe acute malnutrition. This is the area of Sudan most in need right now.

Refugee Leaders in Adré, eastern Chad - Experienced local healthcare and aid workers are running a small feeding program and two clinics to provide food and care to the most vulnerable, specifically the disabled and orphans. This is where many survivors of the Darfur genocide have fled. Rations have been cut in the camp due to a lack of funding.

Education Office in Juba, South Sudan - Our Nuba education partner has an office in Juba, where thousands of refugees from Darfur have arrived traumatized and hungry. Few have been able to secure refugee food benefits due to severe lack of international funding. Our partner is trying to provide basic food but has only 20% of the funding they need to do it.

Other Ways To Support These Heroes

Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.

Join Miles For Sudan, the new global event helping runners, walkers, and cyclists convert their miles into dollars raised. 

Purchase our Sudan Forever t-shirt to help raise awareness about this ignored crisis and deliver food relief.

Donate stock or crypto from your investment portfolio, which can come with unique tax benefits.

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.

Shareables

Short statements you can share online and with others. Simply copy and paste.

• Share Our Posts: Instagram Stories | Threads | Facebook | LinkedIn | Reddit

• Famine is descending on Sudan. 2.5 million people could die from hunger by September 2024. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/2-5-million-sudanese-could-die-from-hunger-by-september-2024

• The greatest humanitarian emergency of our lifetime is unfolding in Sudan. Almost no one has noticed, and time is running out. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/2-5-million-sudanese-could-die-from-hunger-by-september-2024

• The living nightmare unfolding in Sudan is just as much a total war on the country’s diverse, beautiful citizenry as it is a battle for power between two of the most barbaric armed forces in the world. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/2-5-million-sudanese-could-die-from-hunger-by-september-2024

• Almost 18 million Sudanese —one third of the entire country— are facing severe food insecurity. And, according to a new report, 2.5 million of those most at risk could perish from hunger over the next three months. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/2-5-million-sudanese-could-die-from-hunger-by-september-2024

• Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs. For over a decade, we've allied people just like you with incredible Sudanese heroes on the ground. Will you join us? https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/2-5-million-sudanese-could-die-from-hunger-by-september-2024

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on conflict and humanitarian emergency in Sudan - May 2024

Last week, the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee held an emotional hearing on the conflict and humanitarian emergency in Sudan. U.S. Special Envoy Tom Perriello provided updates on the current situation and recent U.S. efforts before taking questions.

Special Envoy Perriello captured the urgency of the moment well at the end of his opening comments, saying:

“As we speak, Sudan faces two distinct but accelerating trajectories – one towards famine and possibly a failed state, and the second towards peace and a democratic future. The only two barriers to ending this war are, first, the political will of two Generals and those fueling this horrific war, and second the absence of enough political will by those of us who could compel a peace. Our North Star is the aspirations of the Sudanese people. Our path is building and aligning enough will in the region to silence the guns and restore the Constitutional transition. That path can be paved, but time is very much not on our side.”

While the situation in Sudan looks pretty bleak in the near to medium term, Special Envoy Perriello did articulate how the United States is tightening up it’s efforts to bring the war to an end, get emergency relief to starving people, and document atrocities. This is a welcome development considering how scattershot American policy has been since the war began.

You can watch the entire hearing above. We understand it is long and encourage you to at least watch the exchange between Special Envoy Perriello and Senator Cory Booker beginning at 1:10:30. Both were recently in Sudanese refugee communities in eastern Chad. We’ve pulled forward a few noteworthy points below as well.

Summary

• Read Special Envoy Perriello’s full testimony here.

• Special Envoy Perriello confirmed that the current trajectory in Sudan is toward famine. He was clear that U.S. policy is to end the war and restore the constitutional transition that began years ago, without a power-sharing agreement between “bad actors.”

• The Biden Administration has elevated Sudan across “the interagency.” This simply means that multiple departments (State, Treasury, USAID, etc.) are working together to bring forward a more robust and coherent response to the crisis.

• Securing tangible United Nations action for Sudan is now one of the U.S. government’s top three priorities at the global body.

• The forum for ceasefire talks in Jeddah has been restructured to be inclusive of key African and Arab regional leaders and to focus on aligning external political will. Multiple attempts by various countries to broker a ceasefire in different venues over the past 12 months have been played against each other by Sudan’s generals, so this is an especially welcome development.

• Trying to determine why there has been such a stunning lack of international attention to the emergency in Sudan —now the largest in the world— came up throughout the hearing. Special Envoy Perriello echoed several of the reasons we have previously outlined and described them as “a tragedy.”

• The Biden Administration is prepared to expand sanctions on individuals and entities who are fueling the war.There are currently no “ready to go” civilian protection measures for Sudan, such as an United Nations or African Union peacekeeping force. Special Envoy Perriello’s office is raising the possibility of more robust measures with international partners.

• The U.S. government is employing “a couple of efforts to use methodologies” to determine a more credible death toll from the war and mass killing. Special Envoy Perriello mentions that he has seen estimates ranging from 10,000 up to as high as 150,000.

We’re a nonprofit organization with over a decade of experience working alongside Sudanese heroes. Together we are making the story of Sudan known, empowering survivors, and working to build a renewed Sudan from the ground up. And we need your help.

Our Sudanese partners on the ground are overwhelmed with needs as the war spreads and hunger deepens. Your generosity will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.

$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.

$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.

$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.

$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.

$50 - Helps repair classrooms in Yida damaged by seasonal rains and provide for general maintenance.

Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.

Join Miles For Sudan | Donate Stock or Crypto

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.

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Short statements you can share online and with others. Simply copy and paste.

• Share Our Posts: Instagram Stories | Threads | Facebook | LinkedIn | Reddit

• The United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently held a hearing on the conflict and humanitarian emergency in Sudan. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-senate-foreign-relations-committee-hearing-on-sudan-may-2024

• “As we speak, Sudan faces two distinct but accelerating trajectories – one towards famine and possibly a failed state, and the second towards peace and a democratic future.” https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-senate-foreign-relations-committee-hearing-on-sudan-may-2024

• The U.S. government is employing “a couple of efforts to use methodologies” to determine a more credible death toll from the war and mass killing. Special Envoy Perriello says he has seen estimates ranging from 10,000 up to as high as 150,000 people. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-senate-foreign-relations-committee-hearing-on-sudan-may-2024

Letter to U.S. Department of Justice concerning ICC-Sudan OLC guidance

Photo from Canva Pro.

Operation Broken Silence is joining 16 organizations in asking the U.S. Department of Justice to publicly release any unclassified written guidance that the Office of Legal Counsel has issued regarding the conditions under which the U.S. government can lawfully support the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation of atrocities such as those recently committed in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

This request has been submitted under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552.

What does this mean?

Since war consumed Sudan in April 2023, the armed actors in the conflict —specifically the army and Rapid Support Forces— have committed atrocities that the U.S. Secretary of State has determined meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing. Additionally, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed his office is investigating ethnic massacres and other crimes being committed in Darfur.

The ICC is the only permanent global court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. It is the “court of last resort,” meaning it steps in when national courts fail to prosecute such crimes or need assistance in doing so.

American officials have reacted favorably to the ICC investigation in Darfur; however, the United States faces complex internal legal restrictions when it comes to assisting the court. This could hinder or prevent the U.S. government from handing over critical evidence the court may find useful for its investigation and any future prosecutions.

Wait, what’s happening in Sudan?

One of the worst armed conflicts and the largest humanitarian catastrophe in the world.

SEE OUR GUIDE ➡

A 2010 U.S. Department of Justice memorandum seems to suggest the U.S. government can support the Darfur investigation, provided that the support amounts to “assistance to international efforts to bring to justice…foreign nationals accused of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity,” rather than “institutional support” to the ICC. Basically, the U.S. should approach the court on a case-by-case basis.

Analysis stemming from more recent U.S. legislation suggests that legal obstacles may stand in the way though. Former U.S. Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Todd Buchwald has suggested that the U.S. government may not be able to assist the court “in the early stages of the [ICC] Prosecutor’s efforts in a country that would help identify which individuals should be ‘accused’.”

Why this matters

Early is the precise stage at which the court’s investigation of recent crimes in Darfur presumably stands. This is when assistance from the United States may be most helpful in speeding up and strengthening the ICC’s critical work. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s atrocity determination suggests the U.S. government has evidence and information that could greatly assist the court.

It is essential that United States be able to share evidence and provide additional assistance to the ICC’s investigation in Darfur without waiting for formal accusations to emerge against specific individuals, and without then limiting its assistance to the cases against those accused. If legal barriers do exist, then the public should know what they are and be able to propose and pursue solutions to overcome them. Our joint Freedom of Information Act request seeks to make public any relevant guidance or memos to that end.

The clock is ticking. Sudan is now home to the world’s largest and worst humanitarian emergency, with millions of Sudanese under immediate threat of war crimes and famine. The complete impunity enjoyed by army and Rapid Support Forces generals is the primary driver of ghastly crimes and spiraling humanitarian conditions.

While we await a response from the Justice Department, we ask that you join us in taking direct action below.

We’re a nonprofit organization with over a decade of experience working alongside Sudanese heroes. Together we are making the story of Sudan known, empowering survivors, and working to build a renewed Sudan from the ground up. And we need your help.

Our Sudanese partners are overwhelmed with needs as the war spreads and hunger deepens. Your generosity will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.

$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.

$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.

$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.

$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.

$50 - Helps repair classrooms in Yida damaged by seasonal rains and provide for general maintenance.

Join Miles For Sudan | Donate Stock or Crypto

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.

Shareables

Short statements you can share online and with others. Simply copy and paste.

• Share Our Posts: Instagram Stories | Threads | Facebook | LinkedIn | Reddit

• 17 orgs ask the Justice Department to release any unclassified written guidance regarding the conditions under which the U.S. government can lawfully support the International Criminal Court investigation of atrocities in Sudan’s western Darfur region. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-us-department-of-justice-concerning-icc-sudan-olc-guidance

• American officials have reacted favorably to the ICC investigation in Darfur; however, the United States faces complex internal legal restrictions when it comes to assisting the court. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-us-department-of-justice-concerning-icc-sudan-olc-guidance

• It is essential that United States be able to share evidence and provide assistance to the ICC’s investigation in Darfur without waiting for formal accusations to emerge against specific individuals. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-us-department-of-justice-concerning-icc-sudan-olc-guidance

Sudan trapped in a “doom loop of silence” after one year of war and humanitarian nightmare

Rachid had already fled her neighborhood in Nyala, Darfur for another since the war in Sudan began in April 2023. Now, with the genocidal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) —an Arab supremacist paramilitary group that has plagued the country for years— on the verge of taking over Sudan’s second largest city, she decided it was time to head for the border with South Sudan.

“I don’t remember what day I ran,” Rachid says. “I thought to be a woman when the janjaweed (RSF) come will mean evil done upon me. My friend was raped by them before. They do this to the black women. They hate us.”

View fullsize

Map: UNOCHA showing displacement and refugee movements. Click or tap to expand.

It was mid-October 2023. Several weeks of brutal battles between the RSF and national army had already made parts of Nyala a ghost town. Areas of the city under RSF control were being looted and terrified citizens were being sexually assaulted, tortured, and executed at the hands of the notorious paramilitary group. Rachid said the army made no effort to protect citizens. The situation was going from bad to worse very quickly.

“Running west to Chad was no good because the janjaweed were everywhere,” Rachid describes. “Running to South Sudan was a little safer. Less janjaweed.”

It took Rachid nine days to reach South Sudan. She somehow managed to avoid the RSF patrols that were quickly swarming the region. Rachid eventually stumbled into one of our Sudanese partners who was providing limited ground transport to people fleeing toward South Sudan. She got out just in time: by the end of October the RSF had overrun all of Nyala and most of Darfur.

Rachid now spends her days yearning to go home, but she knows she can’t until the RSF are gone. “As long as the janjaweed exists no one in Sudan is safe,” she says. “I don’t know where any of my family is. I don’t know if they are alive. No one can tell us when or how our nightmare ends.”

Sudan is home to the largest emergency in the world

Rachid’s story is shared by countless other Sudanese. As the country enters another year of war between Sudan’s ruthless national army and the barbaric Rapid Support Forces, generals on both sides have brought on the largest general displacement, child displacement, hunger, childhood education, and medical emergencies in the world.

The statistics are impossible to fathom. Nearly 25 million Sudanese —half the country— are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Over 8 million are displaced in Sudan’s borders or have fled the country altogether. 730,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and nearly 20 million more can no longer attend school.

Entire swaths of Sudan are too dangerous to access to try to determine a death and injury toll. What we do know is that all estimates are a severe undercount. As refugees pour into neighboring countries, they bring with them stories of mass graves, neighborhoods leveled and villages massacred, and soldiers and militias torturing and executing unarmed civilians viewed as “belonging” to the “other side.”

One recent estimate put the national death toll at 14,790 people. Meanwhile, a leaked United Nations report from three months ago suggests that up to 15,000 of the ethnic Masalit people were slaughtered in a single city during April-June of 2023 alone. It must be assumed that Sudan’s death toll is likely already soaring into the mid tens of thousands, if not higher. And with pockets of famine already breaking out in the hardest hit areas, the United Nations estimates that 230,000 children, pregnant women, and new mothers will die in the coming months due to hunger.

Behind all these hard-to-grasp numbers though are innumerable stories just like Rachid’s. No person should have to live like this. This is neither the life she signed up for nor the one she deserves. Understandably, she is baffled that the world seems not to have noticed.

A child is loaded into a truck taking people fleeing Sudan's war from Joda, on the Sudanese border, to Renk in South Sudan, where they will stay in a transit camp before they are transported further into the country. (Photo by Sally Hayden, Sipa via AP Images)

Reckoning with Sudan’s “doom loop” of silence

Sudan rarely shows up on anyone’s radar today for a myriad of reasons. The international aid and peacekeeping presence in the country has declined precipitously over the last 10 years. Western media especially has looked away following the U.S. military evacuating embassy staff from Khartoum a year ago. Being a local or international journalist on the ground has never been easy, but it is becoming impossible due to high levels of extreme violence. Both the army and RSF have destroyed or cut cell networks and internet access in parts of the country, making it harder for ordinary Sudanese to get news of their plight out into the world.

Current affairs on the international stage are also keeping eyes away from Sudan. With so much of the world glued to Gaza/Israel and Ukraine, few have noticed that the catastrophe unfolding in Sudan eclipses both of these conflicts…combined. This is not to say what is happening in these two places is unimportant. It is to say what is happening in Sudan very much is.

Little attention means efforts to save lives are severely underfunded. The United Nation’s humanitarian response plans —more than $4 billion needed to keep the situation from merely getting worse— are only 6% funded. That doesn’t include what local Sudanese groups and the few private international organizations left in Sudan like us require to meet the needs the UN won’t get to even if they were fully funded.

Too few resources means fewer international and connected Sudanese eyes and ears on the ground, which means fewer stories and critical information gets back out into the world. And the cycle starts all over again.

This doom loop of silence is compounding the damage of an already horrifying emergency. Given the fact that Sudan rarely shows up in the news, classrooms, and other social settings, it is no surprise that many Americans especially struggle to point to Sudan on a map. Our information environment has not prioritized the Sudanese. As such, good people who would be inclined to help don’t have the opportunity to.

Signs of hope, and the need to get to work

Interestingly, people notice this doom loop when they become aware of what is happening in Sudan. As our organization has introduced new faces to this crisis over the past twelve months, the first question we almost always hear is some form of “why am I just hearing about this now?” Shock is often mixed with frustration, not just with the situation, but with those who can easily break this cycle not doing so.

Some have suggested that world leaders and globally-minded citizens are fatigued with Sudan. An older generation of well-connected activists who dearly love the Sudanese people is a fraction of the size it once was. The days of big name celebrities keeping a sustained light on Sudan are long past. Most of the well-known Congressional champions of the Sudanese people retired years ago.

One can easily despair, but these realities are the closing of but one chapter belonging to a much longer story, most of which has not been written yet. If we’ve learned anything these past twelve months it is that people are more than willing to help, but they have to be educated and asked first.

We know from experience that this takes years of hard work and considerable resources to do at scale. Overcoming this challenge isn’t going to happen from the top down. It falls to ordinary people like us to educate ourselves and commit to standing with our friends in Sudan, no matter what. And we must invite others to join us.

A new generation of engaged American activists allied to Sudanese heroes is called for. There needs to be a sustained effort to cultivate that generation, from the ground up and the middle out, in cities and communities across the United States. This work does not belong to one individual or one organization. It cannot be done overnight. Neither can breaking the doom loop of silence our friends in Sudan are trapped in.

We are doing our part though. From creating new learning resources for classrooms to providing more news and analysis that is free to all, to building simple tools newcomers can use to help educate their friends to launching creative ways they can directly support Sudanese heroes, we are already seeing signs of hope that a new generation of activists can be educated and mobilized to help.

Today marks one year since this emergency in Sudan began. We all have a role to play in helping people like Rachid. Will you join us?

We’re a nonprofit organization with over a decade of experience working alongside Sudanese heroes. Together we are making the story of Sudan known, empowering survivors, and working to build a renewed Sudan from the ground up. And we need your help.

Our Sudanese partners are overwhelmed with needs as the war spreads and hunger deepens. Your generosity will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.

$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.

$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.

$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.

$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.

$50 - Helps repair classrooms in Yida damaged by seasonal rains and provide for general maintenance.

Join Miles For Sudan | Donate Stock or Crypto

Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to P.O. Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.

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• “As long as the janjaweed exist no one in Sudan is safe,” Rachid says. “I don’t know where any of my family is. I don’t know if they are alive. No one can tell us when or how our nightmare ends.” https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-trapped-in-a-doom-loop-of-silence-after-one-year-of-war-and-humanitarian-nightmare

• Sudan is trapped in a “doom loop of silence” after one year of war and a humanitarian nightmare. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-trapped-in-a-doom-loop-of-silence-after-one-year-of-war-and-humanitarian-nightmare

• Sudan’s warring generals have brought on the largest general displacement, child displacement, hunger, childhood education, and medical emergencies in the world. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-trapped-in-a-doom-loop-of-silence-after-one-year-of-war-and-humanitarian-nightmare

• Today marks one year since this emergency in Sudan began. The situation is bleak, largely because the world is not paying attention. We can all play our part in changing that. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-trapped-in-a-doom-loop-of-silence-after-one-year-of-war-and-humanitarian-nightmare

Joint statement in support of progress toward a Crimes Against Humanity treaty

Photo from Canva Pro.

Operation Broken Silence is joining 300+ international organizations and experts to express our support for a global convention on crimes against humanity. As an organization working in Sudan’s war zones for more than a decade, we have seen firsthand why the world needs a crimes against humanity treaty.

Together, we are urging states to utilize the 2024 April Resumed Session of the UN’s Sixth Committee to express strong support for a procedure to be adopted at the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly to move the Draft Articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity forward to negotiations for a treaty. You can view the joint statement below.

What are crimes against humanity?

Crimes against humanity are defined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as:

“any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack: Murder; Extermination; Enslavement; Deportation or forcible transfer of population; Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; Torture; Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; Enforced disappearance of persons; The crime of apartheid; Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.”

To learn more about crimes against humanity and similar transgressions, please see our educational resource on mass atrocity crimes.

Why does the world need a treaty on crimes against humanity?

Crimes against humanity are prohibited under the Rome Statute and under customary international law; however, unlike for genocide and war crimes, no standalone treaty exists obligating states to prevent and punish crimes against humanity. This dangerous gap in international law fosters impunity and creates a false hierarchy between equally serious international crimes.

A crimes against humanity treaty will not only help fill this gap, but creates an opportunity to incorporate decades of progress made towards addressing international crimes since the drafting of the Rome Statute, including sexual and gender-based violence, persecution, enforced disappearances, and environmental crimes.

Codifying these crimes will not stop them from occurring, but clear international and domestic legal rules are an important first step to holding perpetrators accountable. The existence of these laws signals to potential perpetrators that they will face justice if they commit these crimes, which can contribute to deterring their commission over time. A treaty can also codify the rights of victims and require states to engage with them to achieve justice. This is an important step in the right direction.

We’re a nonprofit organization with over a decade of experience working alongside Sudanese heroes. Our Sudanese partners are struggling as the civil war and mass atrocity crimes spread and needs skyrocket. Your generosity will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.

$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.

$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.

$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.

$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.

$50 - Helps repair classrooms in Yida damaged by seasonal rains and provide for general maintenance.

Join Miles For Sudan | Donate Stock | Give Crypto

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.