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The US has accused Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) of committing genocide and imposed sanctions on its leader.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday that Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, was being punished for his role in “systematic” atrocities against the Sudanese people during the 20-month conflict.
He said the RSF and allied militias were responsible for killing “men and boys – even babies” as well as brutal sexual violence against women on ethnic grounds.
Militias have also attacked fleeing civilians and killed innocent people fleeing the conflict, Blinken said.
“Based on this information, I have concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan,” he said.
In response, RSF accused the US of double standards and an inability to deal effectively with the ongoing crisis.
“The decision … expresses the failure of (US President Joe) Biden’s administration to deal with the Sudan crisis and the double standards it followed (regarding the crisis),” Hemedti’s adviser, El-Basha Tbaek, said in a post on his X account.
He added that this could complicate the Sudanese crisis and hinder negotiations to address the root causes of the conflict.
The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023. and there is growing discontent about their conduct during the war.
The US has previously found the RSF and other militias engaged in war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in the West Darfur region, where the group has been accused of targeting and killing non-Arabs.
Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with the conflict leading to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
In May, the US special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, said that according to some estimates, up to 150,000 people had been killed in the conflict.
Famine has been declared in several parts of the country, with 24.6 million people – about half the population – in urgent need of food aid, according to experts.
Blinken said neither the RSF nor Sudan’s army were fit to rule Sudan.
“Both warring parties are responsible for the violence and suffering in Sudan and have no legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan,” he said.
The sanctions bar Hemedti and his closest family members from visiting the US, and all personal assets there are frozen.
Seven RSF-owned companies based in the United Arab Emirates and one other individual were also sanctioned for helping the paramilitary group procure weapons. The UAE has denied numerous accusations that it funds and arms the RSF.
Hemedti is believed to control one of the country’s most lucrative gold mines, Jebel Amer in North Darfur.
Almost all the sanctioned firms are related to gold trading. One of them, AZ Gold, imports gold from Sudan and then sells it.
The US Treasury said in a statement that one of Hemedti’s brothers, Algoni, maintained access to AZ Gold’s bank account in the UAE, which contained millions of dollars.
The sanctioning of Hemedti means all three Dagalo brothers, including his deputy Abdel Rahim and his younger brother and supply chief Algoni, are now under US sanctions.
The US has faced criticism for not doing enough to end the conflict in Sudan, despite its participation in the 2023 Jeddah talks. and more recently through the United for Advances in Saving Lives and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) group negotiations, so this is an important intervention of the outgoing Biden administration.
This designation could receive bipartisan support from Congress and shows the incoming Donald Trump administration how the US now views the RSF.
Hemedti is not known to have assets in the US, but the genocide designation will affect all of RSF’s business units.
US action may not have an immediate effect on the fighting on the ground, but it will certainly increase pressure on regional supporters to distance themselves and be wary of doing business with the RSF.
It could also complicate any attempt to establish any administration in RSF-controlled territories.
The RSF control about 50% of the country, including almost all of Darfur, Khartoum and other areas south of the capital, while the army has been forced to move to Port Sudan in the east.
It is unclear whether this designation will lead to renewed interest in the ceasefire talks. Recently, the Sudanese army hinted that it accepts Turkish mediation with the UAE on the conflict.
