The UN Security Council committee on Friday sanctioned two Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leaders, Osman Mohamed Hamed and Abdulrahman Juma Barakallah, for their actions, including committing acts of violence, widespread human rights violations, and attacks on civilians that threaten the security, peace, and stability of Sudan.

The imposed sanctions include asset freezes and international travel bans as per Resolution 1591 (2005) established by the Security Council Committee concerning Sudan. UK Ambassadors in the UN said on X (formerly Twitter) that Barkalla, as the major general of the RSF and West Darfur Commander, and Mohamed, as the major general and head of RSF operations department, are “threatening the peace, security or stability” and committing human rights abuses in Sudan.

A January UNSC final report also indicated Barkallah’s suspected involvement in the ethnically targeted violence in El Geneina and Ardamatta, including the assassination of the Abakarthe Wali of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abakar in June 2023. Another recent UN fact-finding mission also revealed RSF’s perpetration of sexual violence in the country.

Since the war broke out between the RSF led by Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, many people have lost lives and millions of others have been displaced. RSF has been accused of targeting civilians’ homes and committing other atrocities such as killing hundreds of people, including children, women, and the elderly, in El-Fasher and Northern Kutum areas of Dar Zaghawa.

Being the first UN sanctions under resolution 1591, they follow a month after the United States sanctioned a senior leader of the RSF, Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, for his involvement in RSF efforts to procure weapons and other military materiel that have enabled the RSF’s ongoing operations in Sudan, including its assault on El Fasher. Recently, the Sudan region has witnessed a surge in the humanitarian crisis due to the ongoing clashes between the two factions, with more refugees leaving the country.