Sudan Court Sentences RSF Leader Hemetti to Death in Absentia Over Darfur Atrocities

PORT SUDAN, July 12, 2026 - A Sudanese counter-terrorism court has sentenced Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemetti, to death in absentia, alongside two of his brothers and 13 other defendants, over crimes committed during the conflict in West Darfur. The court found the defendants guilty of charges including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide linked to the violence in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State. Among the cases cited was the 2023 killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abakar, who was detained before being killed during intense fighting in the city. In addition to Hemetti, the court sentenced his brothers Abdelrahim Dagalo and Al-Qoni Hamdan Dagalo, as well as several senior RSF commanders, local leaders, and individuals accused of participating in the attacks. The court ruled that the convicted individuals were responsible for widespread attacks on civilians, destruction and looting of property, forced displacement, and assaults on residential neighbourhoods, schools, and places of worship. Authorities also ordered the confiscation of RSF assets in favour of the Sudanese government and directed state institutions to seek international arrest notices through Interpol for the convicted individuals. The court stated that the crimes fall under international law and are not subject to statutes of limitation or political pardons. The violence in West Darfur during 2023 resulted in large-scale civilian casualties and forced tens of thousands of members of the Masalit community to flee across the border into eastern Chad, creating one of the conflict’s largest displacement crises. Security and Humanitarian Affairs