Rhino: Sudanese politicians have argued that imposing US sanctions only on the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) could be seen as absolving the Sudanese military and allied Islamist militias of responsibility for abuses, warning that this could allow their “crimes” of aerial bombings and targeted physical killings based on ethnicity and identity to continue. Sudan flights
On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo as a person who is destabilizing Sudan and undermining the goal of democratic transition. The State Department also issued another resolution accusing the RSF of committing genocide in Sudan.
Instrument of innocence:
Ayoub Nahar, advisor to the RSF commander, told Eram News that the US resolutions are a “blank check” for the Islamic Movement and the Sudanese army, and will encourage them to continue committing crimes against civilians, as the resolutions provide cover for war criminals wanted by the International Criminal Court.
He emphasized that the grounds on which the sanctions were based apply to Al-Burhan, and perhaps even more so, explaining that they are unfair and unjust decisions, given that there are two parties to the conflict, and the sanctions are supposed to cover both of them.
Nahar said that the Islamic Movement, which started the war to block the democratic civilian transition, was the one who obstructed the civilian transition in Sudan, and the army continued to obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid while the RSF committed to cooperate with UN agencies in this regard.
He added that “the reasons for the decisions apply to the army commander, and he should have been punished for this, not Hemedti, who adhered to the civilian transition, retracted the October 25 coup, and stood against those who started the war.”
“The sanctions give Burhan and the Islamic Movement militias the green light to commit more crimes, because the decision is a moral boost for them, and they consider it an acquittal for the crimes they committed, which encourages them to commit more,” he said.
He pointed out that the United States will bear responsibility for the blood spilled and the results of the military escalation that may occur in the coming days, noting that “the Islamic Movement has remained indifferent to the international community and Washington, noting that it refused to go to the Geneva negotiations, which represented a strong slap to the United States that would not have happened without the American leniency with Burhan,” he said.
Hemedti’s advisor expressed his hope that the US administration will rectify matters by pressuring to stop the war, achieve peace and establish independent mechanisms to achieve justice, noting that the RSF had previously agreed to the UN Commission of Inquiry in Sudan, while the army and the Islamic Movement rejected it.
He emphasized that the RSF has no objection to appearing before the courts and has no objection to coordinating with the United Nations for humanitarian access.
Strengthening militias:
For his part, Abdul Jabbar Ibrahim, a leader of the Sudanese Republican Party, considered that “the US decisions go in the direction of strengthening the Muslim Brotherhood militias, indicating that Washington, with its decisions, has done a service to the global organization of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
He added on the “X” platform that “the Biden administration is the worst administration dealing with the Sudanese file, as it has done nothing of value to a people who have been groaning under the weight of hunger, displacement, murder and rape for nearly two years.”
He explained that imposing sanctions on any of the parties to the war on its own represents an imbalance of the warring forces; thus, it is considered support for the other side, noting that “if sanctions had to be imposed, the US administration should have imposed them on both sides, limiting their combat capabilities and thus leading to the cessation of the war.”
Ibrahim added that “the RSF responded to all international calls for negotiations, and its leadership authorized the delegations to take major decisions and allowed the entry of humanitarian aid, unlike the army, which rejected all calls for negotiations and withdrew from the Jeddah Declaration, which the Biden administration used as a pretext to impose sanctions,” he said.
The Biden administration’s actions “theoretically” strengthen the Muslim Brotherhood militias and weaken the Rapid Support, but in practice they will have no effect on the field, he said.
