The US Congress has returned to convening its sessions after a week-long holiday on Thanksgiving. The governing body awaits tackling an agenda saturated with outstanding issues that lawmakers have vowed to address quickly.
One of the most prominent files to be handled by Congress is the subject of sanctions against “destabilizers” in Sudan.
Despite the agreement reached between Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Chairman of the Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, members of Congress did not abandon their insistence to present the draft of individual sanctions to “obstructers of democracy, peace, and accountability in Sudan.”
As soon as the Senate met on Monday evening, it began discussing the defense budget bill and the amendments attached to it, such as the mentioned sanctions bill that Democratic Senator Chris Coons included in the budget bill.
Coons had introduced a draft resolution imposing sanctions on any military officials found responsible for obstructing Sudan’s democratic transition.
“The legislation mandates the imposition of targeted sanctions against individual actors that undermine a civilian-led democratic transition, peace, and human rights in Sudan,” said a statement released by Senator Coons.
The member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee further condemned the brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters after the 25th of October coup.
“This is unacceptable and unconscionable, and those responsible must be held accountable for the blood on their hands,” he said.
Coons, who the US president had previously entrusted with tasks related to the Horn of Africa, considered that the Sudanese people will decide whether the agreement between Hamdok and Al-Burhan “constitutes progress for the country.”
