Sudan

Lord Hussain Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2017 Grand Committee

Asked by

[Lord Hussain]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the situation in Sudan in the light of the threat posed by Islamic extremists in the surrounding countries.

[Lord Hussain (LD)]

My Lords, I have had the opportunity of visiting Sudan and South Sudan a couple of times in the last few years. During my visits to Khartoum, Darfur, Merowe, Juba and Rumbek, I had an insight into Sudan’s environment and culture. It is a vibrant, open culture with males and females working side by side in schools, colleges, universities, the media, politics and all other aspects of life. A visit to the Republic of Sudan completely changes the perception held by many in Europe and other western countries. I was particularly impressed by the large female representation in the parliament and the education from diverse cultures. The role of the arts and music in Sudan’s culture shows a moderate face of contemporary Islamic society that is unique to Sudan.

However, Sudan has long been beset by conflict. Two rounds of the north-south civil war cost the lives of 1.5 million people, while the continuing conflict in the western region of Darfur has driven 2 million people from their homes and killed more than 200,000. Sudan is taking significant steps to improve its relations with the breakaway state of South Sudan. The presidents of both countries are talking to each other more often. Both countries are co-operating with African Union efforts to resolve the outstanding disputes between them. The Government of Sudan are engaged in a process of national dialogue with more than 100 political parties and rebel groups and are committed to developing understanding and consensus among all the parties on national issues. We learned that armed confrontation between the rebels and government forces has reduced significantly.

African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur representatives in Al-Fasher were not able to verify any aerial bombardments by the Sudanese air force taking place in the six months prior to our visit to Darfur. That does not mean that they did not take place, but UNAMID could not confirm any. In an answer to a specific question about getting access to reports of aerial bombings, the UNAMID representative said after a careful calculation that approximately 2% of the time, access is denied by government forces.

Decades of civil war have resulted in the breakaway of South Sudan into a separate country and the loss of 75% of oil revenue to Sudan. Oil was the main source of income for the country. Despite huge potential in the exploration and production of oil, gas and minerals including copper, silver and gold, the people of Sudan have suffered enormously under sanctions imposed by the United States which effectively barred Sudan from carrying out any trade with most European countries. The effects of those sanctions are visible in health, education and many other sectors.

On the question of extremists and the terrorist threat, one of the challenges Sudan currently faces is how to interrupt the networks and cells of groups which operate across the region and prevent them using the country as a transit area or destination for their operations. The Horn of Africa is one of the most unstable regions in the world because of war and civil conflict. Somalia suffered from a long and devastating civil war that left the country very underdeveloped. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bitter war over their border which resulted in tens of thousands of casualties on both sides and the situation yet to be resolved. South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, is in a real crisis with a bloody ethnic conflict still going on.

A number of terrorist groups are quite visible and active in the countries around Sudan. To the west, Boko Haram’s activities are increasing in Nigeria and other west African countries; Daesh has a highly visible presence in Libya; al-Qaeda is active in the Maghreb region, and Daesh and other extremists operate in the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. The Somali Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen movement is roaming the Horn of Africa, although Kenya and Uganda witnessed the deadliest attacks by al-Shabaab several years ago. Conflicts and political instability produce an atmosphere conducive to the growth of extremism, but factors such as underdevelopment, lack of access to education and employment, and marginalisation can all fuel the tendency towards violent extremism.

Sudan has been the victim of terrorist attacks in the past. An extremist group attacked and killed two US embassy staff in Khartoum in January 2008, and several Sudanese police officers were killed in a raid on a terrorist training camp in eastern Sudan in December 2012. Sudan was one of the initiators and founders of a very important regional structure comprised of security agencies on the continent known as the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa. Among other things, CISSA is tasked with strengthening co-operation in countering terrorism and extremism by providing information and analyses on the security threats posed by extremist groups and suggesting possible courses of action.

Since 2000, Sudan has engaged in close co-operation with the United States in countering terrorism. This co-operation has been acknowledged and appreciated by the US itself in an annual report issued by the Department of State on international efforts to counter terrorist activity. Sudan has constantly featured in these reports as working closely with the United States in combating terror. More recently, the executive order issued on 13 January by the then President Barack Obama, in which he announced the easing of US economic sanctions on Sudan, referred to the actions taken by the Government of Sudan in addressing regional conflicts and jointly countering the threat of terrorism as one of the main factors behind the decision. Sudan’s experience in combating religious radicalisation through rehabilitating and reintegrating extremists into the mainstream has attracted much attention as being effective in addressing some of these issues.

Christopher Shays, a former Member of Congress who chaired the National Security Committee of the Government Oversight Committee, and Richard Swett, who is also a former Member of Congress and former US ambassador, attested to this fact in their article “Enough already on Sudan sanctions”, published on The Hill website on 23 January 2017. They stated:

“Sudan has been among the most stable and consistent partners of the U.S. intelligence community in the war against terror in this century as the State Department has annually reported”.

One of the factors Sudan counts on in its counter-radicalisation efforts and in fighting extremism is to invoke the Sufi background from which Islam in Sudan derives its moderation and tolerance.

I am glad that in recent months the British Government have taken some positive steps towards a policy of engagement with the Government of Sudan. We have seen senior-level exchange visits, most recently by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development led by FCO Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Simon McDonald and DfID Permanent Secretary Sir Mark Lowcock. I was pleased to hear Sir Simon say:

“Relations between the peoples of Sudan and the UK are deep and historic, and our meetings over the last two days reflected that breadth. In addition to Sudan-UK bilateral interests, we also discussed human rights, conflict, migration, humanitarian and development assistance, economic matters, and the situation in the region. I am confident that our bilateral relations have a positive future”.


On that note, I have two questions for the Minister. First, in the light of the positive engagement by the Government of Sudan with regional countries and the USA in relation to deradicalisation and rehabilitation of extremists, will our Government use their good relations with the new American Administration to lift permanently the remaining sanctions imposed on Sudan? Secondly, what are the Government doing to establish stronger economic ties with Sudan?