This is a first in Sudan, in the grip of violent conflict since April 2023. Military equipment manufactured by the KNDS-France and Lacroix groups was spotted by Amnesty International in Sudan, on armored vehicles supplied by the United Arab Emirates. “Our research shows that weapons systems designed and manufactured in France are used on the battlefield in Sudan”says the secretary general of the NGO Agnès Callamard in a press release. This is a “violation” of the European Union arms embargo, estimates the NGO.
According to the organization's analysis, Nimr Ajban personnel carriers, manufactured in the United Arab Emirates by the national group Edge, are used by the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo in Sudan, especially in Darfur. These armored vehicles are equipped with the Galix self-protection system, designed by KNDS-France and Lacroix. Equipped with sensors, it can detect a threat and is equipped with several smoke or ammunition launchers (for clearing out or “neutralizing personnel” located near the vehicle), Lacroix explains on its website.
To support its analysis, Amnesty International publishes three photos of vehicles equipped with these Galix systems. Verified by franceinfo, these date from June 2019, April 2023 and November 2023. It is difficult to know to what extent this equipment, present in Sudan since 2017, has been used since the start of the conflict, in April 2023.
“The Galix system is deployed by the RSF in this conflict, and any use in Darfur would constitute a clear violation of the UN arms embargo. The French government must ensure that Lacroix Défense and KNDS-France cease immediately to provide this system to the United Arab Emirates”denounces Agnès Callamard.
Requested by AFP, the General Secretariat of Defense and National Security (SGDSN), responsible for controlling exports of war materials, did not read the report and did not comment, just like KNDS-France and Lacroix. Contacted by franceinfo, the ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Armed Forces did not respond either.
Sudan is subject to an EU embargo on arms sales, while the UN has imposed one since 2004 for the Darfur region alone. The NGO calls for its extension to the entire Sudanese territory. “If France cannot guarantee through export controls, including end-user certification, that weapons will not be re-exported to Sudan, it should not authorize these transfers”pleads Amnesty.
The war in Sudan, which has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, has pitted the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, against the FSR paramilitaries of his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo. Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminate bombing of populated areas, deliberately targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid.
