French weapons in Sudan 'in violation of UN embargo': Amnesty

Military equipment built in France is being used in Sudan on armoured vehicles supplied by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in "violation of the UN arms embargo" on the Darfur region, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) built and supplied by the UAE and spotted by Amnesty in Sudan were fitted with Galix defence systems- made in France by companies KNDS and Lacroix.

"Our research shows that weaponry designed and manufactured in France is in active use on the battlefield in Sudan," Amnesty's Secretary General Agnes Callamard said in a statement.

Fighting has intensified in recent weeks in Sudan's civil war, which pits the country's army under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by general Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, a former ally.

Both sides have been accused of war crimes and more than 11 million people have been forced from their homes in what the UN calls the world's worst displacement crisis.

The conflict in Sudan has nevertheless been overshadowed internationally by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The French-made Galix system has been spotted mounted on Nimr Ajban APCs supplied by the Emirates to the RSF, Amnesty said, also providing pictures of destroyed vehicles fitted with the system.

Galix is made up of sensors connected to a battery of launchers which can be loaded with ammunition such as smoke, decoys or projectiles, Lacroix says on its website.

"The Galix suite is not only for the purpose of self-defence (passive action) but also to actively neutralise hostile personnel," the company states.

"Any use (of Galix) in Darfur would be a clear breach of the UN arms embargo," Callamard said, calling on Paris to "immediately stop the supply of this system to the UAE" by the manufacturers.

Galix is fitted to more than 5,000 military vehicles worldwide, including some used by the French army.

France's SGDSN authority, which controls arms exports, told AFP it had not seen the Amnesty report and declined to comment.

KNDS and Lacroix also declined to comment.

A United Nations arms embargo has been in place on Sudan's Darfur region since 2004.

Amnesty has urged that the ban be extended to the whole country.

"If France cannot guarantee through export controls, including end user certification, that arms will not be re-exported to Sudan, it should not authorise" exports to countries such as the UAE, the group said.