While the heat is on Defence for arms sales to Israel, the government is mute on its role enabling the atrocities in Sudan. President of Australians for War Powers Reform Andrew Bartlett reports.
A great deal has been said about Australian military exports to Israel during the genocide in Gaza and despite a series of denials from the Albanese government, there is clear evidence that some exports are continuing.
But there is now credible evidence that Australia may be contributing to serious atrocities in another conflict zone – Sudan – where appalling civilian massacres have been documented over the past two years.
As an example of how grave the situation is in Sudan, in February the BBC reported that 6000 civilians were killed in one city in just three days.
In November last year, multiple media outlets published satellite images of the city of El Fasher in which piles of dead bodies could be seen from space.
A brutal militia group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is actively engaged in a massive civil war against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
According to the UN, both sides have committed severe atrocities, war crimes, and human rights violations since the war began.
Why is Australia involved?
But how on earth is Australia involved?
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is accused of providing weapons and resources to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.
Despite this, Australia continues to export military equipment to the UAE – in fact, almost $300 million worth in the last five years.
If there is even a slight chance that our exports are being used to slaughter large numbers of unarmed civilians, you’d think the government would at the very least properly investigate this possibility.
But there are no signs that the government has taken any action, and getting straight answers from them about our arms trade with the UAE is like pulling teeth.
Human rights groups and civil society groups have both warned the government about this possibility and asked questions about the trade, but the result has been PR doublespeak.
Defence plays a deadbat
In December, Greens Senator David Shoebridge grilled senior defence officials in Senate estimates about exports to either Sudan or the UAE, but he got no answers.
For half an hour the officials simply recited policy documents but did not provide any meaningful answers about the transfer of sensitive goods to this bloody conflict.
One official said he didn’t know if there were any existing exports permits for Sudan and that he would have to go back and check the records.
They were asked, given the civilian bloodshed, whether any permits were under review. No answer was forthcoming.
Under the Arms Trade Treaty, which Australia has signed, states are prohibited from transferring military equipment if they are likely to be used in attacks directed against civilians.
Our organisation, Australians for War Powers Reform, has also sought answers on these matters and has faced blatant stonewalling.
Wong and Marles duck
We wrote to Foreign Minister Penny Wong in November and received a response from the Defence Department which did not address any of the questions raised.
We have also contacted Defence Minister Richard Marles on two occasions and have not received a response.
In August last year, 64 civil society organisations, including the ACTU, Amnesty International, The National Council of Churches and The Human Rights Law Centre, called for a parliamentary review of Australia’s growing arms export sector, to ensure compliance with the Arms Trade Treaty.
This call too has fallen on deaf ears.
The level of secrecy and the complete lack of accountability is unacceptable.
The Australian community does not want weapons or other military equipment being used in a brutal civil war, where civilians are targeted en masse.
At present there is no reliable way to establish if our exports are making their way to Sudan and that’s for one reason only – the government won’t tell us.
ICC weighs in
This week the International Criminal Court reported a breakthrough in its investigation of atrocities in Sudan.
The court says it now has concrete evidence linking the RSF militia to war crimes and that charges were likely to follow.
The ICC system is notoriously slow, and charges will not stop war crimes in the near future.
The Albanese government should act immediately to thoroughly investigate our involvement and cancel or pause any suspect export permits.
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Andrew Bartlett is the President of Australians for War Powers Reform and a former Senator for Queensland