The United States determined on Tuesday that members of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan and it imposed sanctions on the group’s leader in a conflict that has killed thousands and driven millions from their homes. has been removed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the RSF and affiliated militias continued direct attacks against civilians, systematically killed men and boys along ethnic lines, and deliberately raped women and girls from some ethnic groups. Aimed for. Other forms of sexual violence.
Militias have also targeted fleeing civilians and killed innocent people fleeing the conflict, Blinken said.
“The United States is committed to holding those responsible for these atrocities accountable,” Blinken said.
Washington announced sanctions on RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, barring him from traveling to the United States and freezing any US assets he holds.
The Treasury Department said in a separate statement, “For nearly two years, Hemedti’s RSF has been engaged in a brutal armed conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces for control of Sudan, resulting in thousands of deaths, displacement of 12 million Sudanese, and widespread starvation. Was born.”
Sudan’s army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in conflict for more than 18 months, leading to a humanitarian crisis that has left UN agencies struggling to deliver relief.
The war broke out in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.
