The United States has formally declared that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces have committed genocide during the country’s ongoing civil war, marking the second time in less than 30 years that genocide has been perpetrated in Sudan.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, announced the determination on Tuesday while imposing sanctions on the RSF commander Mohammad Hamdan Daglo – known as Hemedti – for his role in what he described as “systematic atrocities”, many perpetrated in west Darfur.
While both the RSF and rival Sudanese Armed Forces have been accused of committing war crimes during the civil war which broke out in 2023, and which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, Blinken detailed a pattern of systematic ethnic violence in which RSF had killed civilians as they tried to flee, and blocked access to essential supplies.
Blinken said that the state department had conducted months of deliberation over the genocide designation. “Based on this information, I have now concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan,” he said.
Blinken’s announcement on Tuesday has come amid heightened global scrutiny of US positions on international conflicts. Just days earlier, Blinken had dismissed suggestions that events in Gaza constituted genocide, responding: “No, it’s not” in an interview with the New York Times.
A paramilitary force that emerged out of the notorious Janjaweed militias that committed atrocities in Darfur in the 2000s, the RSF was deployed by the former Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019 to crack down on pro-democracy protesters during Sudan’s revolution that saw Bashir’s fall in 2019.
In 2023, an uneasy alliance between Hemedti and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Sudanese army general who became head of the country’s ruling transitional council, broke down, triggering a devastating civil war between the RSF against Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces, and ensuing famine.
Some of the most serious allegations relating to Hemedti and the RSF have once again focused on Darfur, where where up to 15,000 people died in well documented RSF attacks on El Geneina in west Darfur in 2023 targeting the non-Arab Masalit and other ethnic groups.
In his statement Blinken said: “I also determined that members of the RSF and allied Arab militias had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
“The RSF and RSF-aligned militias have continued to direct attacks against civilians. 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.
“Those same militias have targeted fleeing civilians, murdering innocent people escaping conflict, and prevented remaining civilians from accessing lifesaving supplies. Based on this information, I have now concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan.
“The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities. We are today sanctioning RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, known as Hemedti, for his role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people. We are also sanctioning seven RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates and one individual for their roles in procuring weapons for the RSF.”
The latest genocide determination follows the US declaration in 2004 that the RSF’s forerunner had committed in Darfur in the early 2000s.
The treasury department simultaneously announced sweeping sanctions against Hemedti and eight connected entities, including UAE-based companies accused of providing weapons and financial support to his forces.
The measures include visa restrictions that will bar Hemedti and his family from entering the United States, specifically citing “gross violations of human rights in Darfur, namely the mass rape of civilians by RSF soldiers under his control”.
The war between RSF and the Sudan Armed Forces, which has so far killed tens of thousands and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, including perpetuating a mass famine for hundreds of thousands and forcing 12 million people from their homes, according to UN estimates. The SAF was not implicated in US sanctions or in the genocide determination.
Last month, rights activists reported at least 127 people, mostly civilians, were killed by barrel bombs and shelling from both sides. On Sunday, an airstrike which targeted a market area for the third time in less than a month, left more than 30 wounded, with five in critical condition, according to local volunteer rescue workers.
Among the sanctioned entities is Capital Tap Holding, a UAE-based company that allegedly channeled money and military equipment to the RSF. Its owner, Abu Dharr Abdul Nabi Habiballa Ahmmed, and several related companies were also targeted for helping the paramilitary group evade previous sanctions.
The genocide determination, which follows earlier findings of war crimes and crimes against humanity, could pave the way for additional international action against the RSF and its supporters.
