Sudanese refugees from al-Fashir, displaced by ongoing clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army, wait for food at the Tine transit camp in eastern Chad, on Sunday.Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says she is looking into reports that Canadian-owned companies have sold military equipment that ended up in the hands of a Sudanese militia linked to atrocities in Darfur.
The Globe and Mail has reported that armoured vehicles from Streit Group, a Canadian-owned company whose main factory is in the United Arab Emirates, have been deployed in military offensives by the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group that has massacred thousands of civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan.
A separate report by a CBC visual investigations unit said a series of verified photos showed RSF fighters carrying sniper rifles with the logo of Sterling Cross Defense Systems, an arms manufacturer based in British Columbia.
“Believe me, I am looking into this very seriously,” Ms. Anand told journalists on the weekend on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
Responding to questions from The Globe, she said she wants to ensure that Canadian companies are complying with the requirements of their export permits and federal laws, including the Canadian arms embargo on Sudan and a separate law that incorporates the terms of the international Arms Trade Treaty, which Canada signed in 2019.
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Ms. Anand described the arms treaty as “extremely stringent.” She added, “We’re making sure that the laws that I have just outlined are complied with.”
There has been no suggestion that the Canadian-owned companies are selling military equipment directly to the RSF. But if their sales went through a third country, Canadian laws would still apply. Under Canadian regulations, an export permit must specify the “end-user” of a military product.
“No Canadian companies are permitted to export arms to Sudan directly or through third countries,” Ms. Anand said.
“All permit applications for controlled items are reviewed very closely. We’ve made no extensions to this legal requirement and anyone who violates the law is going to be held accountable.”
Streit Group, whose founder and chairman is Canadian businessman Guerman Goutorov, was established in Ontario in 1992. It later relocated its main manufacturing plant to the UAE.
“My understanding is that this company has some minor footprint in Canada, but most of its operations and the production of these goods is outside Canada,” Ms. Anand said.
According to a federal government report on Canada’s compliance with the arms treaty, Canadian citizens are required to obtain a “brokering permit” if they are “arranging or negotiating” the sale of military equipment “from a foreign country to another foreign country.”
No such permits have been issued to Canadians for military goods or technology sent to Sudan since 2019, Global Affairs Canada says.
Asked whether her review of the issue would look at Canadian citizens abroad, Ms. Anand said: “We care about Canadian citizens abroad, of course.”
The Globe has sent multiple e-mails to Streit officials seeking comment on the evidence of Streit vehicles in Sudan, but the company has not responded. In the past, Streit has repeatedly denied that its exports have broken any laws or regulations.
Sterling Cross, in response to a query from The Globe, said it adheres to the policies and guidelines of Global Affairs Canada. It said the rifle project was completed in 2015.
Armoured vehicles from Canadian-owned company deployed in Sudan’s war zones
A series of photos and videos, some of them posted on social media by RSF members themselves, have shown RSF troops using Spartan armoured vehicles – a model manufactured by Streit Group. The images are from North Darfur and West Kordofan, two regions where the RSF has been killing civilians in a relentless offensive.
In a report last year, Amnesty International said Sudan’s military released a video clip of Streit Gladiator and Cougar armoured vehicles, which the army said it had seized from the RSF in North Darfur.
For more than 30 months, the RSF has been battling the Sudanese army in a brutal power struggle that has devastated the country and forced more than 12 million people to flee their homes.
Human-rights activists and the U.S. government have accused the RSF of genocide. They cite evidence that the RSF has killed thousands of civilians after capturing cities in Darfur.
“The RSF and allied militias have systematically murdered men and boys – even infants – on an ethnic basis, and deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence,” Antony Blinken, then the U.S. secretary of state, said in a statement in January.
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Nicholas Coghlan, a former head of Canada’s diplomatic mission in Sudan, has told The Globe that Canada would have an obligation to prosecute the Canadian owner of Streit if the export of the company’s vehicles to Sudan is confirmed, even if they were manufactured in the UAE.
There have been widespread reports that the UAE is the main supplier of weapons and other military equipment to the RSF, including drones and armoured vehicles. Many of the reports have been based on satellite images, flight tracking data, seized passports and other evidence. The UAE government has repeatedly denied the reports.
Human-rights groups and Sudanese-Canadian activists urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to put pressure on UAE leaders over the RSF weapons issue when he visited the country last week, but there is no indication that he did so.
On Friday, during his last day in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, journalists asked Mr. Carney whether he had expressed any concerns over the reported weapons shipments when he met the UAE government. He did not reply directly, saying only that he had talked to UAE leaders about their role in ceasefire negotiations.