US determines Sudan paramilitary committed genocide, sanctions leader

The Biden administration on Tuesday sanctioned the top general of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and determined the paramilitary group has committed genocide in the country, as well as crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

While the U.S. sanctions target the RSF, it also accuses the opposition Sudanese Armed Forces of committing war crimes and described the nearly nine months of fighting across the country as a “conflict of unmitigated brutality” that has caused the world's largest humanitarian catastrophe.

“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,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“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 U.S. issued sanctions against the RSF’s top general, Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, known as Hemedti, for his role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people. Hemedti was also sanctioned for “involvement in gross violations of human rights in Darfur, namely the mass rape of civilians by RSF soldiers under his control.”

Under the sanctions, Hemedti and his immediate family members are ineligible to enter the U.S.

Sanctions were also imposed on seven RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates and one individual for their roles in procuring weapons for the paramilitary forces.

The actions by the Biden administration are part of an eleventh-hour push to address the war in Sudan, which has fallen in priority on the global stage behind efforts to address Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and broader conflicts in the Middle East.

The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023 between Hemedti and his RSF forces against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. It has spiraled into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with 638,000 Sudanese experiencing famine, 30 million in need of humanitarian assistance and tens of thousands dead, according to the State Department.

Blinken said despite the sanctions targeting Hemedti and the RSF, the U.S. neither supports nor favors the SAF.

“Both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan,” he said.

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