Canada sanctions individuals and entities affiliated with Sudan warring parties

Yesterday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced sanctions against two individuals and four entities affiliated with the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for undermining peace, security, and stability in Sudan. 

The individuals subject to Canadian sanctions are RSF Deputy Commander Abdelrahim Dagalo and head of the Islamic Movement in Sudan Ali Karti. The four entities subject to sanctions are Al Junaid Company and GSK Company, affiliated with the RSF, and Defence Industries System and Zadna International Investment Company Limited, affiliated with the army. 

GSK, a Sudanese technology company, is an RSF front organisation controlled by Dagalo, the brother of RSF commander Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’. Al Junaid Company is involved in procuring military equipment for the RSF, one of six companies sanctioned by the European Union on January 19. 

Zadna International Co for Development Ltd, a significant component of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)’s commercial empire, is allegedly involved in military money-laundering. The company was also sanctioned by the UK in July. 

Defense Industries System is reportedly Sudan’s largest defence enterprise, generating an estimated $2 billion in revenue via hundreds of subsidiaries across various sectors of Sudan’s economy. 

Joly stated that it continues to work with its partners to ensure that those responsible for human rights violations are held accountable. This includes Canada’s support for the UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission established in October 2023 to investigate alleged human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law in Sudan. 

The Canadian FA Ministry said that the sanctions are consistent with similar measures taken by international partners, including the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. Today’s sanctions also build on Canada’s existing sanctions with respect to Sudan, imposed under UN law. 

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on three companies on January 31, in an effort to identify and isolate funding sources supporting the SAF and RSF. 

Canada also welcomed the announcement in July 2023 that the International Criminal Court was investigating alleged violations of the Rome Statute arising from the current conflict as part of its pre-existing jurisdiction in Darfur. 

The FA Ministry noted widespread reports of sexual and gender-based violence, especially against women and girls in Darfur and expressed deep concern about reports of ethnic cleansing carried out by the RSF in Darfur. 

The new sanctions were issued under the Canadian Special Economic Measures Act in response to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which has been ongoing for over one year, recently called “the world’s worst, most complex and cruel crisis.”