Sudan’s militia commander blames ‘impostors’ for alleged RSF crimes

The Deputy Chairman of the Sovereign Council and Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’, says that the perpetrators of the crimes during the revolution were “an invisible group disguising itself as RSF militiamen”.

He says at least 200 people have reportedly been arrested on charges of impersonating RSF members in an attempt to discredit his forces.

“My forces are no angels,” he says. “There may have been crimes in the past, but there is internal accountability,” he stressed.

In an interview with the Independent, the militia commander said that the decision to send his forces to Yemen was related to preserving the legal forces in Yemen adding that the RSF do much more, but “the good side is invisible as they stay up to their efforts for a month without stopping”.

“Who will guard Darfur? Who guards the homeless? Who will compensate them? Who will restore the rights of people? We are the ones who do that.”

He added, my priority is not ruling, “I swear to God that I see myself as Sudanese, I am a simple ordinary citizen, and I have no authority and our highest priority now is the success of the civilian government”.

Hemeti admitted that he owns a gold mine at Jebel Amer in North Darfur and some partnerships with others, explaining that he pays taxes, Zakat (Muslim alms), customs and export duties.

Gold mines

As reported by Radio Dabanga this week, ‘Hemeti’, has reportedly started arrangements to hand over the mining areas in North Darfur’s Jebel Amer to the Sudanese government.

A source close to the independent Sudanese news website El Rakoba said that Hemeti’s move must be seen in the framework of his support to the Hamdok government.

He claimed that Hemeti submitted his offer to hand over all mining areas in Jebel Amer in mid-October, but announcing the move was delayed by legal and military reasons.

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