Sudan court sentences RSF leader to death in absentia, state media says

A Sudanese court on July 12 sentenced paramilitary leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo and 15 others to death in absentia over the killing of a regional governor and alleged war crimes in Darfur, state media reported.

The ruling is the first against the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces since war broke out between the RSF and the Sudanese army in April 2023.

The court in Port Sudan, the Red Sea city that serves as the army's de facto capital, convicted Daglo and the other defendants of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and attacks on civilians and public facilities, state news agency SUNA reported.

Those sentenced include Daglo's brother and deputy, Abdelrahim Hamdan Daglo, as well as several RSF officers and tribal leaders from Arab communities in West Darfur.

The case centres on the killing of West Darfur governor Khamis Abbakar in June 2023, shortly after RSF forces seized El-Geneina, the state capital. Abbakar was killed hours after accusing the RSF and allied militias of attacks on civilians.

UN experts determined that between 10,000 and 15,000 people, mostly from the Massalit ethnic group, were killed in El-Geneina during the violence. The RSF has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide and other war crimes.

The court said it would refer the case to the Supreme Court for review and would seek the arrest and extradition of those convicted through Interpol and other international channels.

Sudanese army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Daglo jointly led the 2021 coup that derailed Sudan's transition to civilian rule. They later fell out over plans to integrate the RSF into the regular army, a dispute that led to war.

The conflict, now in its fourth year, has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 11 million and triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.