Sudan’s paramilitary elite come under harsher scrutiny following a court‑forensic verdict in Port Sudan. The Sudanese military court sentenced Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, shouting “Hemedti” in media, to death for crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes in West Darfur. The location of the hearing – the army’s occupied Port Sudan – added a layer of political tension to the proceedings.
Dagalo, who was absent from the court, was joined by 15 senior RSF officers, all receiving identical death sentences. The charges focus on large‑scale attacks on civilians in the regional capital, el‑Geneina, including the June 2023 murder of state governor Khamis Abbakar, and targeted looting, destruction of homes and schools, and mass displacement of the Masalit community.
Headquartered in Khartoum, the RSF remains in de facto control of much of western Sudan, allowing its leadership to evade extradition or custody. The court’s Special Judge Mohamed Al‑Amin ordered confiscation of all RSF assets and urged authorities to seek Interpol Red Notices to bring the accused to justice.
While the Sudan Founding Alliance – a coalition that includes the RSF – called the trial a sham, the United Nations and Human Rights Watch have outlined evidence linking the RSF to ethnic cleansing. In 2024, the International Criminal Court deputy prosecutor confirmed that “concrete evidence” tied RSF leaders to war crimes.
The sentencing marks a significant first for the RSF’s leadership, yet its effectiveness is unclear. With more than 150,000 people killed and 12 million displaced in the civil war, the trial remains a symbolic step amid a fragile ceasefire and ongoing humanitarian crisis.
