Designating the Rapid Support Forces as a Terrorist Organization
By: Babiker Hamdeen
The recent sanctions imposed recently by the UN Security Council, which include a travel ban and asset freeze on Abdel Rahim Dagalo, deputy commander of the Rapid Support Forces militia, and others, represent a positive step towards international accountability. However, they are certainly insufficient to confront a criminal militia that systematically and deliberately commits serious human rights violations.
This militia relies on excessive violence, repression, coercion, looting, and pillaging as its primary means of control. It seeks to subjugate and enslave the people by force, without any humanitarian or moral restraint. Its involvement in war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide against Sudanese communities, particularly in Darfur, Khartoum, Gezira, Kordofan, White Nile, and other regions, has been proven.
This militia also operates both public and secret prisons and detention centers in Darfur and Kordofan, where it holds thousands of innocent civilians in harsh and inhumane conditions. They are subjected to torture and deliberate deprivation of food, water, and healthcare, resulting in daily deaths of detainees. These acts constitute grave crimes under international humanitarian law.
Even more alarming is the continuous flow of weapons to this militia, including drones, and its reliance on mercenaries from numerous countries. This poses a serious threat to national, regional, and international peace and security. The scale and severity of the crimes committed by this militia far exceed, in terms of threat, harm, and human and societal damage, many of the crimes attributed to internationally designated terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Boko Haram.
Protecting civilians and upholding human dignity requires moving beyond partial condemnation and individual sanctions against militia members to a decisive international stance that puts a definitive end to these crimes and prevents their recurrence.
Therefore, this necessitates taking more comprehensive and effective measures, namely:
Designating the Rapid Support Forces militia as a terrorist organization in accordance with international law.
Prosecuting all its leaders and members with judicial warrants at the regional and international levels, foremost among them Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti).
Expanding the scope of sanctions to include regional and international financiers and supporters, foremost among them the United Arab Emirates, and all those who provide support or facilitation.