US sanctions RSF commander accused of rights abuses in Sudan’s Darfur

Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla is accused of leading a campaign marred by sexual and ethnically motivated violence.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla, whom it says is responsible for human rights abuses in West Darfur.

The US Department of the Treasury outlined a series of sanctions against the commander, head of the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF’s) West Darfur operations, on Tuesday.

Barkalla, the department said, has been “a primary party responsible for the ongoing violence against civilians in Sudan since May 2023”.

Barkalla led a violent campaign in West Darfur marred by credible allegations of rights violations, including sexual and ethnically motivated violence, it said, blaming him for overseeing the “terror unleashed on the local population”. Specifically, Barkalla was involved in the kidnapping and killing of the region’s governor, Khamis Abbaka, the department added.

“The United States remains focused on supporting an end to this conflict and calls on both sides to participate in peace talks and ensure the basic human rights of all Sudanese civilians,” Treasury acting Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said in a statement.

The US sanctions against Barkalla come just days after a UN Security Council committee also blacklisted the commander, banning him from international travel and freezing his assets.

The UN committee imposed the same sanctions on the RSF’s head of operations, Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed.

In May, the US Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on Mohamed, as well as the group’s Central Darfur commander, Ali Yagoub Gibril.

Sudan has been gripped by a deadly conflict since April 2023 between its army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is also known as “Hemedti”.

UN experts have estimated that the RSF, with the support of Arab militias, has killed between 10,000 and 15,000 people in the West Darfur capital of el-Geneina alone.

The conflict has displaced more than 10 million people – including 2.4 million who have fled to other countries, creating one of the worst global humanitarian crises, according to UN data.

Nearly 25 million people – half of Sudan’s population – need aid as famine has taken hold in displacement camps.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies