Sudan court sentences RSF chief Hemedti to death over West Darfur atrocities

A Sudanese court in the army-controlled city of Port Sudan has sentenced Rapid Support Forces leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, to death after convicting him of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The ruling also imposed death sentences on 15 other senior RSF figures. The case centres on atrocities committed in West Darfur during Sudan's ongoing civil war.

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The verdict was delivered in absentia, and Hemedti's whereabouts are not publicly known. The Sudanese court said the convictions related to crimes committed in West Darfur, while the RSF has repeatedly denied accusations that it committed war crimes. The Sudan Founding Alliance, a political coalition that includes the RSF, reportedly rejected the ruling.

No immediate response from Hemedti himself was reported. The judgment comes as Sudan remains in a severe humanitarian crisis after fighting that began on 15 April 2023 between the army and the RSF. The conflict started after a power struggle between army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Hemedti, who had previously operated alongside the army before the two sides turned against each other.

The war quickly spread from Khartoum across the country and has displaced millions of people. West Darfur has been one of the most closely watched theatres of the conflict because of repeated allegations of ethnically targeted killings, sexual violence, looting and mass displacement, particularly against non-Arab communities such as the Massalit in and around el-Geneina. The court's genocide finding gives the case exceptional legal and political weight, because it targets the head of a powerful armed group while the war is still active.

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It also underscores the continuing split between Sudan's military authorities and the RSF, which remains a major force in the country's west. The case is unfolding against a shifting battlefield. After the army launched a counteroffensive, it retook Wad Madani and later recaptured the presidential palace in March 2025, pushing the RSF out of most of Khartoum.

That did not end the war, however, and much of the fighting moved westwards. The RSF consolidated its position across much of Darfur, and the conflict has continued to reshape control on the ground even as legal proceedings advance in Port Sudan. What remains unclear is whether the death sentences will have any immediate practical effect, given that the defendants were tried in absentia and their locations are unknown.

It is also not clear how the RSF and its allies will respond beyond rejecting the ruling. The case is likely to remain significant both for Sudan's wartime accountability efforts and for the wider struggle over power, territory and legitimacy in the conflict.

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