The United Kingdom on Monday sanctioned 15 senior commanders from both sides of Sudan’s war, the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, for suspected atrocities including conflict related sexual violence during the siege and fall of El Fasher. The designations impose a travel ban and an asset freeze on each person named. Among them are Hussein Abu Jalak, an RSF colonel linked to atrocities during the siege, and Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as Al-Qubba, identified as present and playing a prominent role in besieging and attacking the city, the Foreign Office said.
The announcement follows the release of UK funded reporting by the Centre for Information Resilience, which documented what London describes as a campaign of systematic starvation and conflict related sexual violence against civilians by both sides. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said rape and starvation are still being weaponised against the people of Sudan, that the perpetrators must be held accountable, and that support from all external backers to the warring parties must end. He warned that El Nino may worsen the situation, but whether famine takes hold depends on the RSF and SAF stopping attacks on aid convoys and letting food reach communities.
London paired the sanctions with money. Five million pounds will support survivors of conflict related sexual violence, funding sexual and reproductive healthcare, maternal health services, psychosocial support and safe spaces for women and girls. A further 10 million pounds will support the humanitarian response, including clean water and sanitation in displacement sites around Tawila and health and protection services in El Obeid, where conflict and access restrictions have left civilians in acute need.
El Fasher fell to the RSF a year ago after an eighteen month siege that starved hundreds of thousands of civilians. In the days that followed, civilians were massacred and women and girls were subjected to horrific sexual violence, the Foreign Office account says. The new CIR reporting finds the same tactics still in use across Sudan: siege methods, drone attacks on civilian infrastructure and humanitarian operations, and systematic obstruction of aid. Today’s designations follow five previous rounds of UK sanctions connected to the conflict. They land on the same morning Sudan’s government reported a fresh RSF drone strike on five power stations in three eastern states, covered separately on this site as a developing item.