US sanctions Sudanese RSF commander for his responsibility in human rights abuses in Western Darfur

MADRID 12 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United States Administration has announced sanctions against a commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Abdulrahman Juma Barakalá, whom the Treasury Department holds responsible for human rights abuses in the Western Darfur area, in the far west. from Sudan.

Juma Barakalá is identified as the leader of RSF operations in Western Darfur, hostilities around which “credible allegations” of human rights abuses have emerged, including against civilians, reports of sexual violence linked to the conflict and motivated by ethnic issues.

“This action occurs in compliance with the designation by the United Nations Security Council on November 8 of Barakalá and his fellow RSF commander, Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed, who had already been designated by the Treasury Department in May 2024,” US authorities said in a statement.

With this move, the Joe Biden Administration underscores its “commitment to holding accountable those who attempt to facilitate these horrific acts of violence against vulnerable civilian populations in Sudan,” said Acting Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Bradley T. Smith. .

“The United States remains focused on supporting an end to this conflict and calls on both sides to participate in peace talks and guarantee the basic human rights of all Sudanese civilians,” Smith added.

Due to these sanctions, all assets and interests of Juma Barakalá in the United States or in the possession of Americans are blocked. In addition, all transactions carried out by Americans or in national territory that involve Juma Barakalá or any of its properties are prohibited.

Juma Barakalá was already sanctioned last June by the European Union in a round of measures that included five other leaders not only of the RSF, but also of the Sudanese Army for indiscriminate attacks and abuses against the civilian population in the framework of the war that devastated the country and has truncated its political transition.

Specifically, the European Union pointed out Juma Barakalá for alleged abuses against civilians such as ethnically motivated murders, selective attacks against activists and human rights defenders, sexual violence related to the conflict, and looting and burning of communities.

The civil conflict in Sudan broke out in mid-April 2023 due to strong disagreements regarding the integration process of the paramilitary group – now declared a terrorist organization – within the Armed Forces, a situation that caused the definitive derailment. of the transition opened in 2019 after the overthrow of the Omar Hasan al Bashir regime.