UN sanctions paramilitary leaders over Sudan atrocities

The UN Security Council has announced new sanctions on four leaders of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces over atrocities committed in the western Sudanese city of el-Fasher. The deputy commander, Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo and Brigadier General Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, more commonly called Abu Lulu, who became known as the “Butcher of el-Fasher”, are among those proscribed. The others are RSF deputy commander Gedo Hamdan Ahmed and field commander Tijani Ibrahim.

The RSF’s capture of the city in October was one of the most brutal chapters of Sudan’s nearly three-year civil war. Last week a UN fact-finding mission concluded that the violent takeoverbore the hallmarks of a genocide. The RSF has admitted that “violations” were committed in el-Fasher and says it is investigating them, but insists the scale of the atrocities has been exaggerated by its enemies.

The UN said Dagalo, brother of RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, had overseen operations on the day the RSF captured el-Fasher, citing atrocities carried out by his forces including mass killings and ethnically targeted executions. This is the fourth time Dagalo has been sanctioned – following earlier designations by the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union. The Sentry group, an investigative American non-profit organization which seeks to disable networks that benefit from violent conflicts – has said it is encouraging to see alignment in targeting officials, but far more is needed to impose real financial consequences on the RSF and the networks that sustain it.

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Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023,as fighting between the RSF and the army has escalated into what the UN describes as a “war of atrocities”, leaving tens of thousands dead and triggering the world’s worst hunger and displacement crisis. For 18 months, the RSF besieged el-Fasher – the capital of North Darfur and the last major city they did not control in the western region of Darfur – before taking the city on 26 October.

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