Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the conflict, which began nearly two years ago and is considered the world’s biggest current humanitarian catastrophe, had escalated beyond a war crimes and ethnic cleansing determination he made in December 2023.

Blinken said that based on more recent reporting, he found that the Rapid Support Forces group is committing genocide.

“The RSF and RSF-aligned militias have continued to direct attacks against civilians,” Blinken said. “The RSF and allied militias have systematically murdered men and boys — even infants — on an ethnic basis, and deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence.”

“Those same militias have targeted fleeing civilians, murdering innocent people escaping conflict, and prevented remaining civilians from accessing lifesaving supplies,” he said in a statement. The genocide determination has no legal implication by itself, but it was accompanied by a Treasury Department announcement that RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, also known as Hemedti, had been targeted for sanctions as well as seven RSF-owned companies in the United Arab Emirates, including one handling gold likely smuggled out of Sudan.

The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and a U.S. ally, has been repeatedly accused of arming the RSF, something it has strenuously denied despite evidence to the contrary.

The RSF and Sudan’s military began fighting each other in April 2023.

Their conflict has killed more than 28,000 people, has forced millions to flee their homes and has left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country.

Other estimates suggest a far higher death toll in the civil war.

Emirati officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night. The RSF did not immediately acknowledge the sanctions nor a request for comment from The Associated Press passed through an intermediary.

Blinken said his determination was not intended to support either side in the conflict but rather to promote accountability for war crimes and other atrocities.

However, some experts believe the RSF is directly to blame for the situation.

“The RSF is responsible for some of the most heinous atrocities being committed anywhere in the world today,” said John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry, a US-based watchdog group. “Today’s actions by the Biden administration are an important start to creating that accountability, which hopefully can provide leverage both for deterring future human rights crimes as well as for helping to drag the RSF into treating ceasefire negotiations more seriously.”

By Agencies

The post US says Sudanese rebel force has committed genocide, and it imposes sanctions on the group’s leaders appeared first on KahawaTungu.

Taqaddum said in a statement“the meeting aims to address pressing issues related to protecting civilians, facilitating humanitarian aid delivery, and exploring pathways towards a peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict in Sudan.”

Despite series of letters sent by Taqadum to Sudan’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Hemetti, urging them “to engage in urgent discussions to address the humanitarian crisis and pave the way for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” there was no confirmation of al-Burhan’s attendance in the meeting.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Djibouti said last week the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-backed meeting, which was set to take place in Djibouti on 28 December 2023, has been postponed due to “technical reasons”.

The meeting, which was to be held under the chairmanship of Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh, and was scheduled to bring the two warring sides to negotiate a ceasefire and the resumption of humanitarian aid in Sudan is now pushed to unspecified date in early January.

Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemeti, has since been engaged in a series of meetings Yoweri Museveni in Kampala, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa where the two discussed “ways to achieve peace and stability in Sudan.”

He also met with President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti on Sunday and discussed “IGAD mediation efforts to continue for peace and stability in the region.”

However, in a statement on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of Sudan’s independence on Sunday, al-Burhan, who is also the Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, sent out harsh criticism against countries hosting RSF commander Hemeti “to stop interfering.”

“I am sending a message to the countries that receive those killers to stop interfering in the affairs of Sudan,” al-Burhan said a speech.

Taqadum’s statement on today’s meeting in Addis Abeba said despite the lack of confirmation from al-Burhan they are “in discussions with the military leadership to finalize arrangements for a meeting between the two parties.”

Thousands have been killed and millions displaced since the war broke out in Sudan between forces loyal to al-Burhan and Hemeti in April last year, which ended the civilian government led by former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok.

The post Sudan’s Former PM Abdallah Hamdok, RSF Leader Set to Meet in Addis Ababa appeared first on KahawaTungu.