In a battle that has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions from their homes, the United States declared on Tuesday that members of the Sudan Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and affiliated militias had committed genocide in Sudan and sanctioned the group’s head.
As the paramilitary group looks to increase its territory beyond the approximately half of the nation it presently controls, the actions strike a blow to the RSF’s aspirations to improve its reputation and establish legitimacy, including by establishing a civilian administration.
The measures were rejected by the RSF.
In the past, America wrongfully punished Nelson Mandela, the legendary African freedom warrior. When contacted for reaction, an RSF spokeswoman stated that today’s punishment of (RSF head) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo is rewarding those who initiated the war, which is equally incorrect.
Waves of racially motivated violence have resulted from the war in Sudan, and the RSF is mostly to blame. Additionally, it has conducted widespread looting activities around the nation, killing and sexually abusing individuals without cause.
The RSF blames the activities on rogue actors it claims it is attempting to control and denies causing harm to civilians.
According to a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the RSF and affiliated militias have persisted in attacking civilians. They have also systematically killed men and boys based on their ethnicity and specifically targeted women and girls from particular ethnic groups for rape and other sexual violence.
According to Blinken, the militias have also killed innocent persons leaving combat and targeted escaping civilians.
According to Blinken, the US is dedicated to punishing people accountable for these crimes.
Washington declared that Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of the RSF, would not be allowed to travel to the United States with his family and that any U.S. assets he may own would be frozen. Financial institutions and other parties that interact with him in specific ways run the danger of facing sanctions themselves.
Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, had not been sanctioned as efforts to bring the two sides to the negotiating table proceeded, although it had previously sanctioned other leaders and army officers.
In recent months, these endeavors have halted.
According to the Treasury, Hemedti is command responsible for the heinous and unlawful acts of his men since he is the RSF’s overall commander.
According to Blinken, penalties were also imposed on seven RSF-owned businesses in the United Arab Emirates and one individual for their involvement in the RSF’s arms procurement.
The businesses are a part of a vast banking and gold network that Dagalo and his family have developed that extends from the United Arab Emirates to Sudan and other nearby nations.
Dozens of aircraft have flown from the United Arab Emirates to Chad, most likely to resupply the RSF there, according to a Reuters report. Although a U.N. panel of experts found the claims credible, the UAE disputes them.
The RSF and Sudan’s army have been engaged in combat for nearly two years, resulting in a humanitarian catastrophe that makes it difficult for U.N. organizations to provide aid. Famine has been proclaimed in various places of Sudan, and over half of the population suffers from hunger.
Before a scheduled shift to civilian government, the army and RSF were engaged in a power struggle that led to the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023.
Blinken stated in the statement that neither of the belligerents has the authority to rule a peaceful Sudan in the future and is accountable for the misery and bloodshed in the country.
Leaders of the army as well as people and organizations connected to funding its acquisition of weapons have been sanctioned by the US. Blinken charged the army and RSF with war crimes last year after they carried out multiple indiscriminate airstrikes.
The RSF itself was exempt from sanctions, despite the fact that Hemedti and his previously sanctioned family members and generals are at the center of the force’s commercial and military activities.
Former U.S. official Cameron Hudson, who currently works at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, predicted that the RSF’s reputation would suffer as a result of the genocide verdict and penalties.
They are considering their long-term political survival and viability in Sudan, and these designations, the sanctioning of the leadership, and the organization’s atrocities make it more difficult to avoid that legacy in the future.
However, he argued that with two weeks remaining in President Joe Biden’s term, the actions are too late to significantly affect policy and may be more intended to put his government in the correct place in history.
The Trump administration will have to decide whether or not today’s decisions have any bearing.
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