PORT SUDAN — A Sudanese court has sentenced Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, to death in absentia over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the 2023 killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdallah Abakar, marking the first court ruling against the paramilitary group’s top leadership since Sudan’s civil war erupted.
The Anti-Terrorism and Crimes Against the State Court in Port Sudan also handed death sentences to 15 other senior RSF officials, including Hemedti’s brother and deputy, Abdel Rahim Dagalo. The defendants were tried in absentia because they remain outside the control of Sudan’s military-led government.
The charges stem from the June 2023 assassination of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abakar, who was abducted and killed shortly after publicly accusing the RSF of carrying out genocide against non-Arab communities in Darfur. Prosecutors linked the killing to a broader campaign of violence that has devastated the region since fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF in April 2023.
The ruling comes days after a United Nations fact-finding mission concluded that the RSF committed acts amounting to genocide during its assault on El Fasher in North Darfur. Investigators documented widespread killings, sexual violence, forced displacement, abductions, and the deliberate starvation of civilians, alleging the abuses formed part of a systematic campaign against targeted communities. The RSF has consistently denied allegations of war crimes and genocide.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also reported progress in its investigations into atrocities committed in Darfur, saying prosecutors have gathered evidence linking crimes on the ground to senior military and political leaders. While no new ICC arrest warrants have been announced, officials say the evidence increasingly points to command-level responsibility.
Although the death sentence is symbolically significant, analysts note that it is unlikely to be enforced unless Hemedti is captured. The RSF continues to control large areas of Darfur and other parts of western Sudan, while the country’s civil war shows little sign of ending despite renewed international efforts to broker a ceasefire.
The conflict has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. According to the United Nations, tens of thousands of people have been killed, more than 13 million displaced, and millions face famine and severe food insecurity as fighting continues across Sudan.
