Geneva: The Government of Sudan has renewed its call to the international community to designate the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as a terrorist organization due to the violations and crimes against humanity it committed against defenseless civilians during the war it waged since April 15, 2023. Attorney General Al-Fatih Mohamed Issa Tayfour, Chairman of the National Committee to Investigate Crimes and Violations of National Law and International Humanitarian Law, in his statement before the oral briefing of the Fact-Finding Committee on Sudan, held at the 59th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, called for condemning the behavior of the rebel militia, designating it a terrorist group, banning its activities and movements, and designating its leaderships as terrorist elements.
According to Sudan News Agency, the Attorney General called for condemning the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) actions for its involvement in systematic violations and genocide in Sudan, pressuring it to cease its support for the rebel militia, and obligating it to pay compensation for the losses incurred by Sudan and the Sudanese. He explained that the evidence collected by the National Committee confirms its involvement in supporting the rebel militia.
The Attorney General urged regional countries to cooperate with the National Committee in reaching victims and witnesses and recovering ransacked property, ruling out any alternative external mechanism, and enhancing complementarity between the Council and the National Committee. Tayfour recommended ending the mandate of the fact-finding mission and supporting the National Committee to complete its tasks.
In his statement to the Council, the Attorney General said that the rebel militia committed genocide and extrajudicial killings in Al-Gezira State and the areas of Al-Geneina, Ardamata, Al-Jumu’iya, Al-Saliha, Al-Obeid, Al-Nuhud, Al-Khuwai, and the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps, with the total number of deaths resulting from violations reaching 28,613 and the number of wounded 43,575.
The Attorney General stated that the rebel militia violated the rights of children by forcibly recruiting 9,000 of them and sending them to the battlefields, referring to its use of foreign mercenary gangs from more than 12 countries recruited by the UAE, in clear violation of international law and the UN Charter.
Tayfour revealed that investigations conducted by the National Committee revealed that the rebel militia committed 14,506 cases of enforced disappearance and detention, in addition to the liquidation of prisoners and the discovery of 965 mass graves. The rebel militia deliberately targets and systematically devastates civil objects using drones, including shelters for displaced persons (IDPs), airports, dams, power plants, Port Sudan port, fuel depots, hospitals, and prisons.
The Attorney General affirmed the independence of the investigations conducted by the National Committee, its commitment to all fair trial requirements and professional standards, and its adoption of an approach based on facilitating access to justice through field visits to interview witnesses and victims, without being bound by territorial jurisdiction. Tayfour indicated that the registered cases included crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and terrorism committed by the rebel militia. He pointed out that investigations were completed in 3,997 cases referred to national courts, with 1,093 of them adjudicated. He also stated that 619 fugitives were declared to surrender themselves to justice. The Committee also contacted six countries to extradite 17 suspects believed to be in these countries. He reiterated the emphasis on the integrity, competence, and willingness of national judicial bodies to achieve justice and prevent impunity.