Sample Letter: Stand with the People of Sudan for Accountability and Civilian Protection

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Download the template here: Sample Letter to Representative.

Dear (Representative/Congressman/Congresswoman/Senator xxxxx),

My name is (xxxx), and I am from (state of xxx). I am extremely concerned and appalled by the current situation in Sudan. As you know, on April 15th, the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – led by Generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, respectively – launched brutal and indiscriminate attacks inside Khartoum and other areas using heavy machine guns, artillery fire, and military planes without regard for civilian safety.

As of this week, 420 people—including 264 civilians—have lost their lives, and over 3,700 have been wounded, largely in Khartoum. The actual numbers—particularly from remote areas such as Darfur—have yet to be documented. Humanitarian aid workers and diplomatic personnel have suffered attacks, as seen in the tragic deaths of World Food Program (WFP) workers in Kabkabiya town, as well as violence and looting in both Darfur and Khartoum. Despite calls from the international community for a truce, fighting continues to occur even as civilians remain trapped in dangerous situations and have nowhere to go. To make matters worse, the government has placed civilians at a greater risk of death by cutting power, access to the internet, and phone services in most cities, effectively depriving them of emergency services and other basic needs such as food and shelter.

If the situation remains unaddressed, Sudan will face the worst humanitarian crisis of our modern days and the high cost of human lives between the killings, destruction, and the lack of access to aid and life-saving assistance. We believe the current crises in Sudan are due to a lack of accountability and enforcement of the rule of law for the former regime’s past crimes, such as the genocide in Darfur and the military coup in Sudan that today’s military rivals had organized.

In October 2021, military forces led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo staged a coup, taking over the government by force, deposing Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok from power, and detaining several government officials and activists while dissolving the transitional government. Despite facing an uphill battle against military forces, the Sudanese people continued to rise up while peacefully resisting the military coup. However, the junta government met peaceful protests rejecting the coup with excessive force, imprisonment, and killing in the streets. Subsequently, attacks on innocent civilians in Darfur had alarmingly escalated in the aftermath of the coup and in the lead-up to this fighting, leaving the already vulnerable people more prone to insecurity, disease, starvation, and death during this critical time. There have been reports of violence in South Kordofan, Marawi, and the Blue Nile too.

The fighting in Sudan today is an indirect result of the international community’s lack of serious accountability measures against the military generals in Sudan who formerly worked together to overthrow the civilian government. The United States has condemned and called for a halt to the fighting, yet more practical accountability measures need to stop the war and to ensure the restoration of a civilian-led government; it will be essential to exert pressure on Sudanese military officials. The US and the UNSC have the tools to address the situation effectively.

I appreciate the United States’s efforts in condemning the recent fighting and the 2021 coup and calling for the end of this conflict. However, to end this war, restore a civilian-led government, and promote peace and stability, I urge you in your roles to demand that the US must hold the military leaders in Sudan accountable by imposing criminal and financial accountability. As a member of your constituency, I implore you to be our voice and a voice for the people of Sudan in their time of critical need by urging the US government to take the following measures:

• Push Sudan to immediately stop the fighting and open unimpeded nationwide access to humanitarian agencies so they can deliver life-saving assistance.
• Press the Sudanese government to restore power, water, internet, and phone access to preserve lives without further delay.
• Urge the US government to impose targeted sanctions, asset freezing, and travel bans on individuals responsible for the current crisis, the coup, and ordering excessive force against civilians to ensure they face accountability for their actions.
• Call on the US government to prioritize accountability, the promotion of human rights, and life with dignity for the people of Sudan.

It is imperative that the US stands with the people of Sudan in this difficult time and works with allies to bring a civilian-led government that will bring about democracy and sustainable peace. As members of your constituency, we look up to you and kindly urge you to be our voice and a voice for those voiceless in Sudan by supporting US efforts to end the crisis in Sudan and support bipartisan legislation that will impose targeted sanctions on the military junta to cut their access to arms and funding to save lives before it is too late. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

(Name)