The British government has placed fresh sanctions on military commanders suspected of committing war crimes and sexual violence in Sudan, including during the siege of Al Fasher.
Fifteen senior commanders from the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army (SAF), have been designated for a travel ban and asset freeze. The city of Al Fasher fell to the RSF a year ago after an 18-month siege of the city. Atrocities were committed in the days that followed, leaving entire communities devastated.
Two of the commanders sanctioned are Hussein Abu Jalak, an RSF colonel linked to atrocities during the siege of El Fasher, and Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, who served as an RSF major general during the takeover of El Fasher, but has since defected to the Sudanese army.
Sudanese army leaders were also sanctioned for their involvement in massacres in the city of Wad Madani in the Gezira State. This includes Brig Gen Ahmed Haj Barrir Ahmed and Abu Zaid Talha Al-Misbah, commander of the Al-Baraa bin Malik Battalion.
Abu Zaid Talha Al-Misbah was commander of the Al-Baraa bin Malik Battalion, an Islamist militia fighting alongside the SAF during the systematic campaign of violence against civilians in Gezira State.
The UK also announced £5 million to support the survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in Sudan, and a £10 million humanitarian aid package. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the perpetrators “must be held accountable” and that access to aid and food in Sudan were “in the hands of the RSF and SAF”.
“The war in Sudan has created a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said. “A year on from the atrocities in El Fasher, UK-funded investigations have shown that rape and starvation are still being weaponised against the people of Sudan.
“These are crimes against our humanity – the perpetrators must be held accountable and support from all external backers to the warring parties must end. El Niño may worsen an already desperate situation, but whether famine takes hold is in the hands of the RSF and SAF – they must stop attacking aid convoys and let food reach communities.”
A UK government-backed war crimes research unit, the Centre for Information Resilience (Cir), published its report on the atrocities committed in Sudan earlier this week. The report found that both sides in the conflict were involved in systematic starvation and conflict-related sexual violence against civilians in Sudan.
Cir identified five CRSV hotspots and 25 individual commanders whom there are reasonable grounds to believe are directly or indirectly responsible for CRSV perpetrated across them.
Siege tactics, drone attacks on civilian infrastructure and humanitarian operations, and the systematic obstruction of aid are regularly used as weapons of war, with Cir-sourced footage showing RSF fighters discussing shutting off water supplies to El Fasher and preventing traders from bringing food into the city.
Sexual violence is also rampant, with Cir reporting describing women and girls being abducted, repeatedly raped and held in conditions amounting to sexual slavery.