Death Penalty

On 12 July 2026, the Anti-Terrorism and Crimes Against the State Court in Port Sudan sentenced General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (‘Hemedti’), commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and fifteen others to death in absentia (See also here and here). The convictions relate to the killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdallah Abakar in June 2023 and a broader campaign of violence in and around El Geneina, with charges including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide (See here and here). A few days before the sentences, a United Nations Fact-Finding mission had found that the RSF and allied militias committed mass killings, sexual violence, and ethnically targeted attacks against the Masalit and other non-Arab communities, while similar grave crimes have been documented elsewhere in Darfur. The RSF denies targeting civilians, claiming its operations were directed against military forces and armed groups. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) also face credible allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law.