US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and allied militias have committed genocide in their country's civil war.
Since April 2023, the RSF, led by Gen Mohamed Dagalo, has been engaged in a bitter conflict against the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan.
“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,” said Mr Blinken in a statement.
“Those same militias have targeted fleeing civilians, murdering innocent people escaping conflict, and prevented remaining civilians from accessing life-saving supplies.
“Based on this information, I have now concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan.”
More than 11.5 million people have been displaced by the conflict, according to the UN Refugee Agency. It began in the capital Khartoum and neighbouring city Omdurman and spread to other parts of the country, including the western region of Darfur, which has experienced decades of violence.
It has become one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world, with roughly half of the country’s population in need of assistance and protection.
Washington has long called for an end to the conflict and has repeatedly condemned both the RSF and SAF – including determining that both had committed war crimes.
But for the first time, Mr Blinken has determined that the RSF’s actions have gone beyond war crimes and amount to genocide.
In light of the new determination, Washington imposed sanctions on Gen Dagalo “for his role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people” and also placed sanctions on several companies associated with the RSF.
In October, the US imposed sanctions on Gen Dagalo's younger brother, Algoney Hamdan Dagalo Musa, a senior leader of the RSF, for his role in procuring weapons for the militia fighting a civil war against the country's army.
He is the subject of sanctions for “arming the RSF and directly contributing to the continuing siege of El Fasher in North Darfur that is putting the lives of hundreds of thousands at risk”, the US Department of State said in a statement.