A bipartisan group of senators this week revealed draft legislation that aims to prod the U.S. government into taking a more active diplomatic role in bringing about an end to the civil war in Sudan.
The legislation, led by Senate State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Chairman Chris Coons, D-Del., and Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, would require the State Department to regularly report to Congress on whether the mass human rights violations committed since spring 2023 by the Sudanese army and the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have risen to the level of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.
“It is time for Congress to act on Sudan,” Coons said in a statement about the bill, unveiled Wednesday. “Failing to act as the Sudanese people are forced to flee or die in their homeland is a choice that we do not accept. The Sudan Accountability Act will advance and protect the rights of all Sudanese, hold the perpetrators of war crimes and their supporters accountable, expand humanitarian access, and support efforts to bring an end to this disastrous conflict.”
