Yesterday, the U.S. officially determined that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and its proxies are committing genocide as part of the civil war in Sudan, which broke out in April 2023 between the RSF and Sudanese government forces. The Treasury Department also issued sanctions targeting the RSF’s leader, Gen. Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo, as well as seven RSF-owned companies based in the UAE. (Reuters)
Our Take
The civil war in Sudan has been raging for nearly two years, and while it is often inaccurately claimed to be ignored by the media—numerous outlets routinely report on the conflict—it has not elicited the same kinds of widespread popular engagement and calls to action in the West that other major conflicts, like the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, have.
Nevertheless, the impact on the civilian population has been just as horrific. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, driven much of the country into a widespread famine and forced more than 11 million people to flee their homes. There is strong evidence that both of the warring parties have committed war crimes. But the RSF has specifically been accused of targeting communities in Darfur based on ethnicity, killing civilians and committing sexual violence against women there. Evidence of those atrocities forms the basis of the U.S. determination of genocide.