The United States government today took its strongest measures to-date against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Sudanese Arab militia group that controls about a third of Sudan, imposing financial sanctions on the RSF’s leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, as well as RSF-controlled companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In a statement explaining the decision, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared, “I have now concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan.” He wrote that the RSF “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.”
Blinken said that new U.S. sanctions were meant to hold Dagalo, widely known by his nickname “Hemedti,” accountable “for his role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people.”
“For nearly two years, Hemedti’s RSF has engaged in a brutal armed conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces for control of Sudan, killing tens of thousands, displacing 12 million Sudanese, and triggering widespread starvation… As the overall commander of the RSF, Hemedti bears command responsibility for the abhorrent and illegal actions of his forces.”
Dagalo “wantonly ignored commitments under international humanitarian law,” Blinken wrote. Dagalo and RSF soldiers also flaunted the 2023 Jeddah Declaration, which the U.S. brokered early in the war in an effort to stem the violence, and a ‘Code of Conduct’ approved by RSF leaders after U.S.-led talks in Switzerland in August 2024.
As a result, Dagalo will be banned from traveling to the United States and transacting business with U.S. entities.
This move, in the final days of the Biden Administration, poses a major obstacle to UAE efforts to rehabilitate the image of the RSF and normalize the group politically. The Gulf Arab monarchy has backed the paramilitary since 2019, as part of a regional campaign against Islamists in the region.
(Although Dagalo and the RSF were part of the Islamist regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, they turned on him in the final days of his rule, after secular pro-democracy protesters took to the streets en masse. With the help of UAE media companies, the RSF rebranded itself as pro-democracy, anti-Islamist reformers).
After the outbreak of Sudan’s civil war in April 2023, the UAE provided weapons and equipment to the RSF via an airbridge with eastern Chad. Equally importantly, the UAE sheltered RSF leaders, logistical and procurement operations, and media teams, and gave the UAE hope that it could eventually win international support and legitimacy. It also evacuated and provided medical treatment to wounded RSF fighters.
Today’s sanctions target some of the RSF’s Emirates-based companies (details below). In a statement, the U.S. Treasury Department revealed the names and identified the war-related activities of several UAE-based companies.
Blinken’s decision to declare the situation in Darfur a ‘genocide’ echoes a determination made by one of Blinken’s predecessors, U.S. Secretary of Colin Powell, who declared that there was a genocide in Darfur in 2004. In a speech to Congress, he accused the Janjaweed Arab militias of Darfur, which were armed by the Sudanese government, of perpetrating mass killings. The RSF emerged a decade later as formal legal paramilitary meant to absorb and institutionalize those same Janjaweed militias.
However, Blinken’s genocide determination differs from that of his predecessor in timing and delivery. Blinken pursued close relations with the UAE throughout his time in office, relying on the Emirates in talks over Gaza and Iran.
A special envoy whom Blinken appointed, former Congressman Tom Perriello, took the lead on U.S. policy, while Blinken himself focused on Gaza, Ukraine, and other issues. Perriello led a mediation effort in August 2024, which failed to result in a ceasefire but made progress negotiating improved humanitarian access.
Meanwhile, the UAE president received a warm welcome at the White House in September, despite the UAE’s ongoing support for the RSF, which undermined the U.S. peace push.
Cameron Hudson, a former U.S. diplomat and Sudan policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expressed skepticism about the timing and impact of the Biden Administration's decision. “This attempt to position the administration on the right side of history won’t work. It’s too late and too many people have died for that to happen,” Hudson wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Hudson, a regular commentator on the Sudanese conflict on X and on television, previously has criticized the U.S. Administration for being too soft on the UAE and the RSF. Hudson is seen by Sudanese observers as more supportive of the Sudanese Armed Forces, because he rarely criticizes the SAF compared to the RSF, whereas U.S. officials have stuck a more balanced tone in their communications about the war.
Writing on X today, Hudson said that Blinken should have acted months ago: “The fact is that this Administration had all the evidence they needed to make these announcements months ago when they could have had an impact on this war and they chose not to make them. With less than two weeks left in power, this is nothing more than a reflection of a guilty conscience.”
He added, “That said, it is not too late for these announcements to be impactful inside Sudan. As RSF and Hemedti attempt to reinvent themselves as legitimate political actors in a post-war Sudan, these determinations make it that much harder. The only hope is that the European Union and the International Criminal Court follow Washington's lead and expand these determinations so it is not just a US measure.”
Hudson called for even harsher measures against the RSF: “Hemedti is important, but the RSF needs to be outlawed in a way to prevent it from further recruiting or further expanding its business empire or further receiving support from outside actors.”
Sanctions on RSF companies
U.S. financial sanctions often have little direct impact on targeted individuals unless they have business ties with the United States, assets held in U.S. banks, or immediate relatives living in the United States.
Nevertheless, the U.S. has taken to using financial sanctions as a policy tool to convey its political stances and to coerce allies into joining campaigns to isolate or shame targeted entities. Moreover, U.S. sanctions sometimes make it hard for targeted entities to transact business internationally, because of the importance of the dollar as a global reserve currency and the wide reach of the U.S. banking system.
The U.S. Treasury Department issued a statement detailing new sanctions against several RSF-run companies:
“Capital Tap Holding L.L.C. (Capital Tap Holding), a UAE-based holding company that manages 50 companies over ten countries, has provided the RSF with money and military equipment. Sudanese national Abu Dharr Abdul Nabi Habiballa Ahmmed (Abu Dharr) is the owner and manager of Capital Tap Holding, and additionally owns or manages several other related companies sanctioned by OFAC [U.S. Treasury Department] today.
“Capital Tap Management Consultancies L.L.C. (Capital Tap Management) and Capital Tap General Trading L.L.C. (Capital Tap General) are Capital Tap Holding subsidiaries based in the UAE. Capital Tap Holding described Capital Tap Management as one of its companies, while Abu Dharr is the owner and manager of Capital Tap General.”
“Creative Python L.L.C. (Creative Python) is a UAE-based company, owned and managed by Abu Dharr, which serves as a cut-out to obfuscate Hemedti’s business dealings to avoid sanctions. The managing director of Creative Python handled financial transactions for Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa (Algoney), the RSF’s procurement director and brother of RSF leader Hemedti. OFAC sanctioned Algoney on October 8, 2024, pursuant to E.O. 14098.
“Al Zumoroud and Al Yaqoot Gold & Jewellers L.L.C. (AZ Gold) is a UAE-based gold purchasing company managed by Abu Dharr. AZ Gold has purchased gold from Sudan, presumably for the benefit of the RSF, and subsequently transported it to Dubai. Algoney maintained access to AZ Gold’s bank account in the UAE, which held millions of dollars.
“Al Jil Al Qadem General Trading L.L.C. (Al Jil Al Qadem) is a UAE-based company co-owned and co-managed by Abu Dharr. Al Jil Al Qadem has longstanding ties to the RSF. Hemedti’s brother and RSF commander, Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo (Abdelrahim), who OFAC designated on September 6, 2023, pursuant to E.O. 14098, was formerly the minority owner of Al Jil Al Qadem. Additionally, Al Jil Al Qadem has been the shareholder of Alkhaleej Co LTD (Alkhaleej), a financial institution which was controlled by the RSF and was an essential part of the RSF’s efforts to finance its operations. On January 31, 2024, OFAC designated Alkhaleej pursuant to E.O. 14098.
“Horizon Advanced Solutions General Trading L.L.C. – Sole Proprietorship (Horizon Advanced Solutions) is a UAE-based subsidiary of Capital Tap Holding. In early 2023, Horizon Advanced Solutions imported cargo from GSK Advanced Business Co Ltd, an information technology and security company managed by Algoney. On September 28, 2023, OFAC designated GSK Advanced pursuant to Executive Order 14098.
Separately, the brother of the RSF commander-in-chief, Algoney Dagalo, was already sanctioned by the U.S. in October 2024, for his role in procuring weapons for the RSF. This move was widely seen as a warning shot to the RSF leader. Another Dagalo brother, Abdelrahim, was sanctioned in September 2023.
The U.S. also has sanctioned leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the other warring party in Sudan, for fueling the war, acquiring new weapons, and failing to pursue peace. Likewise, the EU recently sanctioned SAF intelligence chiefs.
War increases miscarriages among Sudanese women
The ongoing war has caused a higher rate of miscarriages among Sudanese woman. A report in Al-Arabi Al-Jadid newspaper details several cases, including that of Asmaa Abdel Rahman (age 20), who endured an arduous journey fleeing from Nyala in late 2023, during which she suffered periods of severe hunger and thirst. She suffered a second miscarriage last year after carrying a 60-litre container of water from a public distribution point to the house where she was living.
Three doctors who spoke to the newspaper, including the head of the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate and surgery specialist Hiba Omar, explained that the reasons for the increase in miscarriages among displaced women and refugees include:
walking long distances to escape areas of intense fighting;
carrying heavy burdens;
lack of essential vitamins and nutrients;
diseases including malaria;
and becoming exhausted from working harsh professions, including cutting trees, making charcoal, and working as construction apprentices or helpers.
News in Brief
Intense clashes have taken place this week Omdurman and El Fasher.
10 civilians died and more than 30 were injured, including five with serious burns, due to an airstrike at the Sahraj Station in southern Khartoum, according to the Southern Belt Emergency Room. The grassroots aid group said this is the third time the area was targeted.
Five Sudanese refugees, including four girls and a boy, died of “suffocation” while using a charcoal stove (likely carbon monoxide poisoning) in a completely enclosed room in Benghazi, Libya, during a cold snap in the North African city, Darfur 24 reported, citing Suleiman Nasser Al-Taher, a member of the Sudanese community living in the city. Another similar incident occurred in Ajdabiya, eastern Libya, in December, killing 5.
Violations continued against civilians in villages in frontline areas of eastern Al-Jazira State, during recent back-and-forth fighting. A source in the Al-Fau area reported looting, killings, and waves of displacement from villages 33, 34, and 35 after their recapture by the RSF late last month (report in Arabic).
The Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Yasser al-Atta, launched a violent attack against the UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed during a speech in Omdurman, January 1, threatening to reach him in his home and cut off his hand. He said the UAE must pay blood money to Sudan for all the war’s ravages, and to victims.
Joint Force Media released a statement and videos claiming capture of smugglers bringing ammunition, fuel, weapons, and food to the RSF in the border area between Chad, Libya, and Sudan. Joint Force presence in the Chad-Libya-Sudan ‘triangle’ threatens a vital RSF logistical/commercial link with eastern Libya.
The Al-Tawisha Emergency Room in North Darfur State halted the work of eight communal kitchens that it operated displaced people. The grassroots aid group issued an appeal for assistance to help it continue this work.
Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, has appointed Mustafa Tambour, head of an allied armed group (a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement) as governor of Central Darfur State. The SAF do not control Central Darfur State, so he will serve as governor in absentia, and likely collect a salary and privileges for himself and other state employees.