Belarus, China, Iran, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, and the Ukraine transfer major conventional weapons to Sudan, according to the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database. The United States has maintained multiple sanctions against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s government since 1989 because of human rights concerns and Sudan’s support for international terrorism.

According to Khartoum’s own reports to the U.N. Comtrade, China supplies approximately 72% of Sudan’s small arms and light weapons (61,607,440 weapons from 2001 to 2008). For more on third-party enablers, click here.

According to the United Nations, over two million people died, four million were uprooted, and some 600,000 people fled the country as refugees in the period of 1983-2005.

Though Abyei once produced 25 percent of Sudan’s annual oil, the three main oil fields in Abyei – Heglig, Bamboo, and Diffra – have dramatically decreased production since 2004. They now produce about only five percent of the country’s oil. Moreover, in July 2009, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Heglig and Bamboo were outside of Abyei territorial boundaries, leaving only Diffra, which produces about one percent of Sudan’s oil, in Abyei.

Senator Brownback introduced the bill in 2005 with 38 co-sponsors in the Senate. The DPAA passed the Senate by unanimous consent on November 18, 2005. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) introduced the bill in the House, where it passed 416-3.