Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of recent trends of mass violence and killings of peaceful protestors by Sudanese security forces; and whether her Department has plans to take steps in response to this matter.

We remain concerned at the political crisis and continued violent repression of protesters in Sudan. We continue to show our support for a return to the democratic transition and maintain pressure on the Sudanese military to end violence against protesters. On 4 January, the Troika (UK, Norway, US) and EU issued a statement urging all sides to engage in dialogue to end the crisis and we welcome that the UN are now facilitating talks. With our Sudan Quad (UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE, US) partners we released a statement on 8 January urging all political actors to seize this opportunity. Since the 25 October coup, British Embassy staff in Khartoum, the UK Special Representative to Sudan and South Sudan and other FCDO officials have also engaged with all parties to encourage dialogue and demonstrate support for the democratic transition.

Although details cannot be verified at least 70 protesters have been killed since the coup and killings continue. An integral part of our advocacy for a return to Sudan's democratic transition has been our calls for ordinary Sudanese to be able to protest without fear of violence, and for accountability for all human rights violations. This includes statements with the Troika and Quad, as well as by the Foreign Secretary and me. We also helped to secure a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in November to maintain scrutiny on the situation. With partners we continue to consider all options to maintain pressure on the Sudanese military to protect human rights, recommit to the democratic transition and deliver people's demands for freedom, peace and justice. This includes the possibility of measures to deliver accountability such as sanctions. However it is longstanding convention not to speculate on the specifics of such options.