UN sanctions 4 commanders in Sudan's paramilitary force accused of atrocities in Darfur

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on four commanders of Sudan’s warring paramilitary force suspected of atrocities against civilians that U.N. experts said showed “hallmarks of genocide.”

The four commanders in the Rapid Support Forces, which have been at war with the Sudanese military since 2023, were added to the blacklist for their activities in el-Fasher, especially on Oct. 26, the day the paramilitary force took over the North Darfur capital.

The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on the four commanders in December, and Tuesday’s designations follow a report last week by U.N.-backed human rights experts. They reported that the RSF carried out mass killings and other atrocities in el-Fasher after an 18-month siege, during which they imposed conditions “calculated to bring about the physical destruction” of non-Arab communities.

U.N. officials say several thousand civilians were killed in the RSF takeover of el-Fasher, the Sudanese army’s only remaining stronghold in the vast western Darfur region. Only 40% of the city's 260,000 residents managed to flee the onslaught and thousands of them were wounded, the officials said. The fate of the rest remains unknown.

Those now facing U.N. travel bans and financial freezes include the forces' commander, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, his brother and deputy commander Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, and another deputy commander, Lt. Gen. Gedo Hamdan Ahmed.

According to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions on Sudan, RSF deputy commander Dagalo was identified as being at a base in el-Fasher on the day of the paramilitary takeover.

“Footage believed to be of Dagalo shows him giving direct orders to his fighters to not take captives but to kill everyone,” the committee said. “Dagalo has previously been described as playing a key role in many of the offensives that the military and RSF undertook in Sudan’s border regions, and is seen as the commander in control of the RSF.”

The committee said the violence included targeted executions of non-Arabs and reports of widespread sexual violence, including gang rapes in front of relatives, and kidnappings, including of medical staff being held for ransom.

Ahmed, also known as Abu Nashuk, was one of six generals in el-Fasher and was seen in video footage alongside Dagalo on Oct. 26 when the RSF committed mass killings of civilians, the U.N. committee said.

The U.N. also slapped sanctions on RSF Brig. Gen. Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, known as Abu Lulu and “the Butcher of el-Fasher,” calling him “a key perpetrator” of the violence on the day of the takeover.

“He gave orders to his men to kill innocent people, and video footage shows him executing civilians and boasting about killing over 2,000 people,” the committee said. It said videos were shot by the paramilitary forces themselves.

"Abu Lulu has filmed himself smiling and killing people while they begged for mercy, as well as videos where he makes ethnically targeted executions,” the U.N. said. “Footage shows him shooting at unarmed men and posing among corpses showing the people he has killed.”

Among a total of 10 people sanctioned this week was RSF field commander Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed, also known as Al Zeir Salem, who also appeared in a video in el-Fasher on Oct. 26.

Cameron Hudson, a former U.S. diplomat and Sudan expert, said Wednesday in a post on X that all 10 were either members of the RSF or the Janjaweed. The RSF, which was formed in 2013, grew out of the Janjaweed militia, which fought in Darfur since the early 2000s in a ruthless campaign against the region’s non-Arab tribes and rebels. He urged the U.N. to “sanction the entire group as what they are: terrorists.”

Hudson told The Associated Press the sanctions are “an important step in the U.N. reasserting a role for itself in Sudan” and it should see it as a moment to redouble efforts to end the fighting and ensure accountability for the RSF offenses.

Associated Press writer Sam Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.