Sudan court sentences RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to death in absentia

A Sudanese court in Port Sudan sentenced Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – known as Hemedti – and 15 co‑defendants to death in absentia. The defendants were convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and attacks on civilians for the June 2023 killing of West Darfur governor Khamis Abbakar and the mass killings in El‑Geneina that killed an estimated 10‑15 000 people, mostly from the Massalit community.

The ruling, the first against RSF leadership since the army‑RSF war began in April 2023, will be referred to the Supreme Court for review. The court also ordered that Interpol be contacted to seek the arrest and extradition of those sentenced. The conflict, which pitted the RSF against Sudan’s army after a fallout between Dagalo and army chief Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan—once allies in the 2021 coup—has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than 11 million people and created what the United Nations calls the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.