By Ena Cefo

In the recent October 2014 human rights atrocity in Sudan, the Sudanese army committed mass rapes of at least 221women in the Darfur town of Tabit. Human Rights Watch found that the Sudanese army carried out military operations of entering homes, arresting and beating residents, and raping women and young girls. The Sudanese government has routinely impeded human rights investigations in Darfur by not cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC), blocking UN investigators, journalists and humanitarian workers from entering and investigating, and pressuring the peacekeeping mission to withdraw from areas it deemed “stable.” In a hopeful move for Sudanese victims of governmental abuses, on March 9th, 2015, the ICC declared Sudan uncooperative and referred the matter to the UN Security Council to undertake all necessary measures. 

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April 10, 2015

By Stephen Levy

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on March 3^rd in support of a resolution that would “impose targeted sanctions in order to support the search for peace” in South Sudan if needed. The two sides of the conflict, the South Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, agreed to terms in early 2014, but have not, at least according to the U.N.S.C., truly sought to end the conflict. The U.N.S.C. stated that it would sanction any individual tied to violence or instability in the country. The U.S. ambassador, Samantha Power, who wrote an authoritative book on recent U.S. responses to genocide, wrote the resolution. The U.S. has also imposed sanctions on South Sudanese individuals on its own.

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March 31, 2015

By Catherine Kent

Chairman Baudouin Prot of Paris-based French bank, BNP Paribas, is now the second bank officer to step down after BNP Paribas spent 10 years (from 2002 to 2012) funneling money to nefarious regimes in Sudan, Iran, and Cuba, in violation of U.S. sanctions for which BNP Paribas paid the record-breaking fine of $8.9 billion this summer.. Mr. Prot, who had worked for BNP Paribas  for 30 years, had just been renewed as Chairman this year, and was not due to run again until 2017.

As the bank plead guilty to two criminal charges, it will also face a one year ban on its dollar-clearing business. Meanwhile, as top officers are stepping down and taking blame for this violation, industry sources are speculating that the bank might take this opportunity to find a new, fresh-minded leadership group for BNP Paribas – and hopefully one that will avoid violating U.S. sanctions in the future. 

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September 29, 2014