The United States has accused Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of killing people and imposed sanctions on its leader.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, is being punished for his role in systematic atrocities against the people of Sudan during the 20-month conflict.
He said the RSF and allied forces were responsible for the killing of “men and boys – even babies”, as well as brutal racial violence against women.
Soldiers also target fleeing civilians and kill innocent people fleeing the war, Blinken said.
“Based on this information, I now conclude that members of the RSF and allied forces committed genocide in Sudan,” he said.
In response, RSF accused the US of double standards and failure to deal effectively with this ongoing crisis.
“The decision… reveals the failure of the [US President Joe] The Biden administration is dealing with the Sudan crisis and the double standards that followed [with regards to the crisis],” said Hemedti’s mentor, El-Basha Tbaeq, in a post on his X account.
He added that this could complicate the Sudanese crisis and prevent negotiations to address the causes of the conflict.
The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023, and there has been a growing outcry over its conduct during the war.
The US had previously determined that the RSF and other militias had been involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region, where the group was accused of targeting and killing non-Arabs.
Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with the conflict leading to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
In May, the US special envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, said that some estimates suggested that as many as 150,000 people had been killed in the conflict.
Famine has been declared in many parts of the country, with 24.6 million people – almost half of the population – in urgent need of food aid, according to experts.
Blinken said that neither the RSF nor the Sudanese military are ready to run Sudan.
“Both rebels are responsible for the violence and suffering in Sudan and they have no authority to rule a peaceful Sudan in the future,” he said.
The sanctions prohibit Hemedti and members of his immediate family from visiting the US, and any personal belongings there are prohibited.
Seven companies owned by the RSF based in the United Arab Emirates and one other individual are also being punished for helping the militant group buy weapons.