A Sudanese court has sentenced the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to death for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide over atrocities committed in the West Darfur region.
The court in Port Sudan, a city under the army’s rule, convicted Dagalo—known as Hemedti—in absentia, along with 15 other senior RSF members, who received the same sentence.
The Sudan Founding Alliance, which includes the RSF, said the trial was a sham that does not even deserve comment.
The trial focused on alleged atrocities committed in el‑Geneina, including the June 2023 killing of state governor Khamis Abbakar.
The court also found the 16 defendants guilty of orchestrating attacks on civilians, widespread destruction and looting of property, and targeting schools, places of worship and residential neighbourhoods.
Among those sentenced were Hemedti’s brother and deputy Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, another brother Al‑Qoni Hamdan Dagalo, and the RSF’s West Darfur commander Abdul Rahman Juma Barkallah.
The RSF has not yet commented on the verdict but has previously denied accusations of war crimes during the conflict.
Special Judge Mohamed Al‑Amin ordered the confiscation of all RSF assets and instructed authorities to seek Interpol Red Notices for the arrest and extradition of those convicted.
This ruling is the first judicial conviction of the RSF’s leadership since the civil war broke out, though its impact remains unclear as the group continues to control large parts of western Sudan and its leaders are beyond the army’s reach.
Hemedti’s whereabouts are not publicly known.
UN investigators and human rights organisations have accused the RSF and allied Arab militias of carrying out ethnically targeted attacks against the Masalit population in Darfur.
Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court’s deputy chief prosecutor said they had concrete evidence linking RSF leaders to war crimes.
A Human Rights Watch report in May 2024 described a campaign around el‑Geneina between April and November 2023 that killed thousands and forced hundreds of thousands to flee, labeling the abuses as war crimes and crimes against humanity conducted as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign.
Both sides have been accused of committing human rights abuses and war crimes. Earlier this year, United Nations investigators found the Sudanese army and the RSF to have targeted civilians and vital infrastructure, such as medical facilities, in large‑scale attacks.
Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a fierce power struggle broke out between army leader Gen Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan and Hemedti.
More than 150,000 people have died and 12 million more are estimated to have fled their homes amid the conflict, while aid agencies say about 28 million people are facing acute hunger.
