Over 30 Sudan companies blocked

Businesses and individuals barred from the US financial and business system.

darfur water carrier
The situation in Darfur generated hundreds of thousands of refugees [EPA]
The action brings to seven the number of Sudanese individuals denied access to the US financial system under an executive order aimed to combat human rights abuses in western Sudan.

Thirty-one companies owned or controlled by the Sudanese government were also barred from the US financial system and from doing business with American companies or individuals.

Following is a partial list of targeted Sudanese individuals and companies identified by the US treasury department.

Individuals:





  • Ahmad Muhammed Harun, Sudan’s state minister for humanitarian affairs: Harun played a central role in coordinating and planning military operations in Darfur between 2003 and 2005 while serving as state minister for the interior, the US treasury department said.

    In the 1990s, he was responsible for massacres in the Nuba Mountains and was nicknamed “the Butcher of Nuba,” the department added. Harun has been accused of war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

  • Awad Ibn Auf, Sudan’s head of military intelligence and security: Like Harun, Auf acted as a liaison between the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militia accused of attacking and brutalising innocent civilians in Darfur, the treasury said. Auf and Harun provided the Janjawid with logistical support and have directed attacks, it said.
  • Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, or JEM, a rebel group that has refused to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement: The treasury department blamed JEM for violence and suffering in Darfur and said Ibrahim is personally responsible for rebel activity aimed at further destabilising the region.

Companies

  • GIAD Industrial City, which the treasury said has supplied armoured vehicles to the Sudanese government for military operations in Darfur.
  • Sudatel, the national telecommunications company.
  • Five petrochemical companies: Advanced Petroleum Company, RAM Energy Company, Bashaier, Hi-Tech Petroleum Group and Hi-Tech Chemicals.
  • Azza Air Transport Company, which the treasury accused of transferring small arms, ammunition and artillery to Sudanese government forces and Janjawid militia in Darfur.
Source: News Agencies