President Biden: Act Now to Protect Civilians in El Fasher

Dear President Biden,

The crisis in Sudan has worsened and we are on the verge of more grave violations in the Sudanese city of El Fasher if you do not act with urgency. Thousands of civilian deaths are predicted to be imminent in and around El Fasher in the coming days.

We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, urge you to take immediate steps to address this crisis. Since April 2023, the ongoing fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has devastated the country, with countless atrocities and millions forcibly displaced and in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

In December 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an official atrocity determination on Sudan, acknowledging that members of the SAF have committed war crimes and that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing. Decades of impunity has emboldened the warring parties to continue to commit crimes. The ethnic-based targeted killing in Darfur, in particular, echoes the atrocities in Darfur that caught the world’s attention some 20 years ago. Despite the international community’s wide condemnation of the actions of the SAF and RSF, there has been insufficient substantive action to halt the violence against civilians, stop the widespread hunger and suffering, or seek justice and accountability. The humanitarian crisis continues to grow.

More immediately, civilians are caught in the escalating violence in Sudan’s capital of North Darfur, El Fasher. The international community must act urgently to prevent atrocities in El Fasher and its surrounding villages, to protect civilians and must ensure perpetrators are held to account. El Fasher is home to over 1.5 million people, including hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) who have sought safety from violence in other parts of Darfur. These civilians are now trapped inside the city with no means of protection. Your failure to act now will likely result in the warring parties engaging in widespread violations of international humanitarian law in the coming days and weeks.

We urge you to take the following steps immediately:

• Personally speak out on Sudan, condemn the actions of the perpetrators and call for the protection of civilians in El Fasher and throughout Sudan.
• Directly engage governments who are arming the leaders of RSF and SAF to demand that they respect the arms embargo on Darfur.
• Engage and support the governments of neighboring countries to ensure urgently needed aid and refuge is offered and sustained to those fleeing hunger and violence in Sudan.
• Prioritize life-saving assistance to respond to the rapidly growing humanitarian crisis, including support to local actors.

The people of Sudan are suffering. You have a responsibility to act on El Fasher now.

Organization Signatories

Act for Sudan
Abukloi Foundation
Advocacy for Justice, Peace and Sustainable Development
Advocacy Network for Africa (AdNA)
African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies
Africans for the Horn of Africa Initiative
Afrikki Pan African Movement
Alliance for Peacebuilding
American Friends of the Episcopal Church of the Sudans (AFRECS)
American Relief Agency for the Horn of Africa (ARAHA)
Amnesty International USA
Asmaa Society for Development
Avaaz
AWAFY Sudanese Organization
Birthright AFRICA
Brooklyn Coalition for Darfur & Marginalized Sudan
Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice
Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity; Graduate Center–City University of New York
Civic Lab -Kampala
Clip Poverty Organization
Coalition Against Global Genocide/Executive Director
Collectif Urgence Darfour
College of St Benedict and St John’s University
Confluence Advisory
Crane Center for Mass Atrocity Prevention
Darfur Action Group of South Carolina
Darfur and Beyond
Darfur Bar Association
Darfur Civil Society Platform
Darfur Interfaith Network (DIN)
Darfur Women Action Group
Darmasalit Union – Corp
Denver Sister Cities International
Doctors to the World
DT Global
Education for Global Peace
Empower One
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Genocide Studies International
Genocide Watch
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Global Fund for Women
Golda Meir House Museum
HIAS
HRA
HUDO Centre
Humane Initiative, South Sudan
Humanity United
Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART)
iACT
Institute for Islamic Judaic Middle East and Sephardic Studies
Journal of Social Encounters
Kamma Organization for Development Initiative (KODI)
Katartismos Global
The MagkaSama Project
Mercy Valley Relief
New York Coalition for Darfur
NoirUnited International
Nonviolent Peaceforce
Nuba Christian Family Mission
Nuba Mountains Association
Nuba Now
Nuevo Amanecer
OKAYAFRICA
Operation Broken Silence
PAEMA
Pax Christi New York State
Pax Christi USA
Peace Catalysts Organization (PCO)
Post Genocide Education Fund
Presbytery of Shenango Sudan/
Project Expedite Justice
Refugees International
Rights for Peace
Rocky Mountain Welcome Center
Rural Extension for Development Organization (REDO)
Sabah Jedid – South Sudan
Seed for Democracy for South Sudan
South Sudan International Advocacy for Human Rights
South Sudan Women United (SSWU)
St. Mary Magdalene Social Justice and Peace Committee
Sudan and South Mission Partnership Network
Sudan for All
Sudan Human Rights Network
Sudan National Forum California
Sudan Peace and Security Monitor
Sudan Platform for Agriculture and Food Security
Sudan Rowan Inc.
Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker
Sudan Unlimited
Sudan’s Doctors for Human Rights
Sudanese American Physician’s Association
Sudanese American Public Affairs Association (SAPAA)
Sudanese Doctors for Peace and Development
Sudanese Women Rights Action
SuDRO
Sustainable Dailoug Center
The Elsa-Gopa Trust
The Regional Centre for Training and Development of Civil Society (RCDCS)
The Sentry
The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International TASSC
TSI
U.S.-Educated Sudanese Association (USESA)
Unflinching Hope Worldwide
Unite for the Country
Vital Voices Global Partnership
Waging Peace
World Without Genocide

Individual Signatories

Semhar Araia
Ibrahim Taha Ayoub
Ishmael Beah
Bill Casey
Baroness Caroline Cox
Donna Creasman
Gayle Donsky
Lynne Duman
Anwar Elhaj
Linda Farb
Caroline Faria
Salma Gasim
Frederick E. Gilbert
Amel Gorani
Karen Henderson
Jehanne Henry
Robert Hitchcock
Awad Ibrahim
Pius Kamau
Walter Kendall
Eiman Kheir
Akec Khoc
Matthew Kohn
Ngor Mayol
T. Michael McNulty
Sonja Miley
Anab Mohamed
Crystal Murphy
Pam Omidyar
Omolayo Oyudo
Krista Potter
Annie Rappeport
Rabbi Daniel Roberts
Deb Rome
Sherry Rubinstein
Adil Salih
Francis Shor
Jack Sigman
Jan Theisen
Camille Tinnin
Daniel Wehrenfennig
Emira Woods
Eiman Zein-Elabdin
Stephen Zunes