A Sudanese court has sentenced Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, and 15 others to death in absentia over the killing of a regional governor and atrocities committed in Darfur.
The ruling was delivered on Sunday by a court in the army-controlled city of Port Sudan and marks the first judgment against the RSF’s senior leadership since war broke out between the paramilitary group and the Sudanese Armed Forces in April 2023.
Sudan’s state news agency SUNA reported that Hemedti and the other defendants were convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and attacks on civilians and public facilities.
Those sentenced include Hemedti’s brother and deputy, Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, along with several RSF officers and Arab tribal leaders from West Darfur.
Killing of West Darfur governor
The case centred on the killing of West Darfur governor Khamis Abbakar in June 2023, shortly after the RSF and allied militias seized El-Geneina.
Abbakar was killed hours after publicly accusing the RSF and its allies of carrying out attacks against civilians.
Videos circulated at the time showed Abbakar in RSF custody, while footage of his killing and the mutilation of his body later emerged.
His death came amid an RSF-led campaign of ethnic violence against the predominantly non-Arab Massalit community in El-Geneina and surrounding areas.
UN experts estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed during the violence in El-Geneina, with the Massalit community bearing the brunt of the atrocities.
Human Rights Watch and other investigators have documented killings, widespread sexual violence, burning, pillage and the forced displacement of Massalit civilians by the RSF and allied militias.
The RSF has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide and war crimes.
The court said the case would be referred to Sudan’s Supreme Court for review. Sudanese authorities will also seek the arrest and extradition of those convicted through Interpol and other international channels.
An International Criminal Court (ICC) official said this month that investigators had obtained evidence linking atrocities in El-Geneina and El-Fasher to higher levels of leadership, but did not identify individual suspects.
UAE support under scrutiny
The RSF developed from the Janjaweed militias accused of committing widespread atrocities during the earlier conflict in Darfur.
The group’s external support has faced growing international scrutiny, particularly allegations that the United Arab Emirates has supplied it with weapons.
Amnesty International has identified Chinese weaponry it says was re-exported by the UAE and used by the RSF. The organisation has also documented UAE-manufactured armoured vehicles equipped with French defence systems being used by the paramilitary group.
Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied arming or supporting the RSF.
Rights groups have warned that the continuing flow of foreign weapons into Sudan is prolonging the conflict and exposing civilians to further atrocities.
Hemedti and Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan previously shared power after jointly leading the October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s transition towards civilian rule.
Their alliance later collapsed amid disagreements over the integration of the RSF into the regular armed forces and control of Sudan’s political and military institutions.
The dispute erupted into open warfare on 15 April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and left nearly 12 million forcibly displaced.
Sudan is now experiencing the world’s largest humanitarian and internal displacement crisis, with almost 34 million people requiring humanitarian assistance in 2026.
The sentences cannot be enforced unless Hemedti and the other defendants are taken into custody.
However, the ruling represents the first formal judgment against the RSF’s senior leadership over atrocities committed during Sudan’s current war.
