International Sanctions and Human Rights

The U.N. Security Council has imposed travel bans and asset freezes on four senior leaders of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, including overall commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, over alleged mass killings and other atrocities in the Darfur city of el-Fasher that U.N.-backed experts said bore 'hallmarks of genocide.' The designations focus on the RSF’s Oct. 26, 2025 seizure of el-Fasher after an 18‑month siege, during which U.N. officials say several thousand civilians were killed and only about 40% of the city’s roughly 260,000 residents managed to flee. The sanctions committee cites video footage, much of it filmed by RSF fighters themselves, that appears to show commanders ordering troops to 'kill everyone,' executing unarmed non‑Arab civilians, boasting of killing more than 2,000 people, and engaging in ethnically targeted murders, kidnappings and widespread sexual violence. Those blacklisted include Dagalo’s brother and deputy Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, Lt. Gen. Gedo Hamdan Ahmed, Brig. Gen. Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris — described as 'the Butcher of el-Fasher' — and field commander Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed. The move, which follows similar U.K. sanctions and a stark report from U.N.-backed human-rights experts last week, increases pressure for broader international accountability over Sudan’s war and raises questions about how effective targeted sanctions alone will be in deterring further attacks on civilians.