In a major escalation of the legal and political battles surrounding Sudan’s civil war, a Sudanese court has sentenced the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, to death.
The ruling, handed down by the Anti-Terrorism and Crimes Against the State Court in the army-controlled city of Port Sudan, convicted the RSF commander—widely known as Hemedti—of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
The landmark conviction, which was delivered in absentia, focuses directly on the horrific atrocities committed in the West Darfur region since the outbreak of hostilities in April 2023. The tribunal found Hemedti and 15 other senior RSF figures and allied tribal leaders guilty of orchestrating systematic, ethnically targeted attacks against civilians in the state capital of El Geneina. These coordinated campaigns resulted in mass casualties, widespread sexual violence, forced displacements, and the targeted destruction of schools, residential neighborhoods, and places of worship belonging to the non-Arab Massalit community.
Notably, the trial centered heavily on the June 2023 abduction and murder of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdallah Abakar. The governor was killed hours after publicly accusing the RSF of perpetrating a genocide against civilians in the region. Among those sentenced to death alongside Hemedti were his brother and RSF deputy commander, Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, and the RSF’s former West Darfur commander, Abdel Rahman Juma Barkallah.
In addition to the death sentences by hanging, the court ordered the immediate confiscation of all assets and funds belonging to the Rapid Support Forces and its affiliated companies. Highlighting the gravity of the charges, the presiding judge emphasized that these international crimes are not subject to any statute of limitations and cannot be subject to a political pardon.
While the ruling is the first judicial conviction to reach the RSF’s top leadership since the conflict began, Hemedti’s current whereabouts remain unknown. The court has instructed authorities to issue Interpol red notices to demand the international arrest and extradition of all those convicted.
The RSF has previously denied accusations of committing war crimes. Meanwhile, representatives of the Sudan Founding Alliance, a political coalition linked to the RSF, have rejected the ruling. Legal experts and observers note that while the decision represents a significant moment of symbolic accountability, its enforcement remains highly unlikely given the ongoing active warfare and the deep political division across the country.
ABJ/APA