Sudan: RSF Paramilitary Group is Committing “Genocide,” US says

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US Biden administration this week accused the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing genocide against the people of Sudan amid the ongoing civil war in the country, BBC News reports.

The war in Sudan began in April 2023 as a fight for power erupted between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces. That power struggle has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and massive displacement of civilians. 

The RSF now controls around half of the country, including almost all of Darfur, Khartoum, and other areas south of the capital, while the Sudanese army has been pushed out to Port Sudan in the east, BBC News reports.

In a statement Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was informed that the RSF and allied militias had murdered “men and boys – even infants.” The RSF has also murdered civilians trying to escape the war, he said. “Based on this information, I have now concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan,” Blinken said.

Blinken went on to announce sanctions against RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo for “systematic” atrocities, including the rape of women on ethnic grounds, that have been committed against the Sudanese people since the war began. The sanctions prevent Dagalo and his family from traveling to the US and freezes any assets they may have there. The genocide designation will also impact all sales of weapons to the RSF.

At the same time, Blinken said the Sudanese Army is also unfit to rule Sudan. “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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