US Sec Blinken: SAF and RSF both guilty of ‘horrific’ war crimes in Sudan

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken condemned the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for unleashing “horrific violence, death, and destruction across Sudan” since the outbreak of fighting on April 15, accusing both parties of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, in a statement issued yesterday.

Acknowledging the disproportionate impact the ongoing war has had on civilians in Sudan, Blinken states: “the RSF and allied militias have terrorised women and girls through sexual violence, attacking them in their homes, kidnapping them from the streets, or targeting those trying to flee to safety across the border, […] Masalit civilians have been hunted down and left for dead in the streets, their homes set on fire, and told that there is no place in Sudan for them.”

The Secretary of State condemns both parties very clearly: “Based on the State Department’s careful analysis of the law and available facts,” Blinken says, “I have determined that members of the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes in Sudan.  I have also determined that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.”

He called on both sides of the conflict to stop the war immediately and comply with their obligations under international law, adding that “arms and funding flowing to the warring parties only prolong a conflict that has no acceptable military solution”.

Blinken reiterated his country’s commitment to “building on this determination and using available tools to end this conflict and cease committing the atrocities and other abuses that are depriving the Sudanese people of freedom, peace, and justice.”

The statement follows the ‘indefinite’ suspension of ceasefire negotiations through the US-Saudi-brokered Jeddah platform, which ended in a deadlock earlier this week.

The full statement can be accessed here.