Sudan court sentences RSF commander to death over West Darfur killings Submitted by MEE staff on Mon, 07/13/2026 - 18:55 Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and fifteen others have been convicted of crimes against humanity and genocide Sudan's Rapid Support Forces commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, along with 15 other defendants, were sentenced to death in absentia by a state court in Port Sudan, on 12 July 2026 (Ashraf Shazly/AFP) Off On Sunday, the anti-terrorism and crimes against the state court in Port Sudan sentenced Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, and 15 other defendants to death in absentia. According to the Sudan Tribune, they were convicted for their roles in the killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdullah Abakar, crimes against humanity, war crimes, prohibited warfare, and genocide in el-Geneina. Presided over by special judge Mohamed al-Amin, the ruling constitutes the first judicial conviction of the paramilitary group’s leadership since the outbreak of Sudan’s war on 15 April 2023.
The trial centred heavily on the 2023 assassination of Governor Khamis Abakar, a day after he denounced an RSF shelling on the el-Jamarik neighbourhood. Human Rights Watch concluded in 2024 that actions in the capital of West Darfur, el-Geneina, constituted ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide against the Masalit people and other non-Arab communities. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Although video footage circulated online of Abakar’s body being mutilated by known RSF soldiers, the paramilitary group repeatedly blamed the Sudanese Armed Forces and denied responsibility.
Middle East Eye reported in June 2023 that around 1,500 people were killed in el-Geneina in the first two months of the war, forcing tens of thousands of Masalit residents to flee el-Geneina and West Darfur on foot to seek refuge across the border in eastern Chad. The case Among the trial’s defendants were two brothers of Hemedti: RSF deputy leader Abdel Rahim Hamdan Dagalo and Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, also known as al-Qoni. The court also handed down convictions to Abdel Rahman Juma Barkallah, the RSF commander in West Darfur, and al-Tijani al-Tahir Karshoum, the state’s former deputy governor.
[Darfur Network for Human Rights] A Sudanese court has sentenced Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, to death in absentia over the 2023 killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdallah Abakar. The ruling, issued Sunday by the Anti-Terrorism and Crimes Against the State Court sitting in Port Sudan, marks the first court verdict against the RSF leader since war broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group in April 2023. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was convicted in absentia along with 15 RSF commanders and allies.
A court sentenced the Rapid Support Forces leader Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo and 15 others to death over killing a regional governor and war crimes.
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