While the Sudanese people bear the devastating consequences of war—driven by the greed of the two major militias, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), along with their global backers—the Sudanese embassy in London continues to promote and lobby for support for the army.

Despite the catastrophic toll of the conflict—over 12.9 million people displaced, hundreds of thousands killed, and genocides, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both militias—the embassy disgracefully attempts to whitewash the Sudanese army’s crimes. Instead of advocating for peace, it actively distorts the reality of Sudan’s war, spreading misinformation that misleads public opinion.

On Monday, 13 January 2025, Guardian columnist and author Nesrine Malik published an article titled, “We Ignore Sudan at Our Peril. This Campaign of Mass Murder and Rape Will Have Global Consequences“. In her piece, Malik shed light on the war in Sudan, with a particular focus on the RSF’s crimes and its ties to the United Arab Emirates. However, the Sudanese army’s atrocities received little mention.

In response, the Sudanese embassy in London sent a letter titled “Sudan’s Army Deserves the World’s Support“, published by The Guardian on Wednesday, 29 January 2025. This letter sought to defend the army while dismissing critical analysis of its role in the war.

To counter the embassy’s misleading claims, MENA Solidarity drafted a 300-word response, co-signed by Sudanese and British organisations in Britain, and submitted it to The Guardian, in accordance with the newspaper’s editorial guidelines. However, the response was not selected for publication.

Publishing this letter is crucial. The embassy’s narrative cannot go unchallenged, and readers deserve access to alternative perspectives to fully understand the situation in Sudan. Without this, public opinion risks being shaped by state-sponsored propaganda rather than the lived reality of millions suffering under this brutal war.

Below is the letter in full:

The Sudanese embassy’s letter, “Sudan’s army deserves the world’s support”, presents a skewed narrative of the war. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) created and armed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), fighting alongside them in Yemen. Gen. al-Burhan himself repeatedly described the RSF as emerging “from the womb of the army“. 

Both forces have committed atrocities against peaceful revolutionaries since 2018, including the 2019 sit-in massacres across Sudan, the 2021 coup, and continuing to this day.

The claim that the SAF is Sudan’s sole protector ignores its own record of war crimes in Darfur, South Sudan, the Nuba Mountains, and South Kordofan, and elsewhere. The UN fact-finding mission (October 2023) reported that both sides have committed “war crimes and/or crimes against humanity”.

The notion that the SAF embodies “nationhood” is contradicted by the documented widespread civilian suffering in army-controlled areas and the millions displaced by the fighting, regardless of which faction controls the territory.

Despite the embassy’s denial, reports from Human Rights Watch and the UN confirm that both the SAF and RSF receive external support, including weapons.

The claim that the army controls 70% of Khartoum and most states is disputed by on-the-ground reports. Likewise, the claim that gold smuggling is solely the RSF’s doing is false—both factions exploit Sudan’s resources to fund war.

The reality is that the Sudanese embassy in London represents ONLY the 2021 coup regime. This war is not about protecting Sudan but a counter-revolutionary struggle between two factions of the old regime for wealth and power. The only solution is to stop the war, achieve a people’s revolution for democracy and end decades of military dictatorship and exploitation.

Signatories:

• Louise Regan, Chair of the International Committee, NEU
• Khalid Sidahmed, Vice Chair of Portsmouth TUC
• Anne Alexander, Co-editor, MENA Solidarity Network
• Dr Anna Livingstone – Treasurer Officer for the Barts Health Unite Branch
• Bahir Lattoe – Secretary of Barnet Trades Council
• Dr. Kambiz Boomla – Treasurer Officer for Tower Hamlets Trades Council
• Sudan’s Doctors for Human Rights
• Sudanese Diplomats Association
• Sudanese Initiative Against War (Sudan’s People Liberation Movement- Revolutionary Democratic Front- UK, Sudanese Women’s Union in the UK and Ireland, Sudanese Ba’ath Party- UK and Ireland, Sudanese Front For Change- UK, Sudanese Communist Party – UK and Ireland, Unionist Alliance Party Sudan, Socialist Democratic Unionist Party)

Resources and background:

Learn about the war in Sudan:

• Read this article.
• Listen to this interview .

Take action:

• Access our Stop the War in Sudan toolkit and sign the postcard addressed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging the British government to support the Sudanese people.
• Share this motion with your union branch and advocate for its adoption: Model Motion – Stand with Sudan: Stop the War, Support the People

Download resources:

• ‘Reject both sides in Sudan’s war’ Sudan Update February 2025 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Famine is the new war’ Sudan Update September 2024 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Stopping Sudan’s hidden war’ Sudan Update March 2024 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Why is there a war in Sudan?’ Sudan Update May 2023 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Stop the war in Sudan’ Sudan Update April 2023 – download the leaflet >>here
• Stop the war in Sudan / Refugees welcome A4 poster – download >>here