UN Sanctions Brother of RSF Chief Over Sudan Atrocities
New York – The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four additional individuals accused of fueling Sudan’s civil war, including the brother of Rapid Support Forces leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, as international pressure mounted over atrocities linked to the conflict in Darfur and beyond.
The measures, adopted under the Security Council’s 1591 sanctions regime and co-sponsored by the United States, Britain and France, target Algoney Hamdan Dagalo, a senior figure within the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), for what officials described as his central role in procuring weapons and military equipment for the group.
Dagalo, the brother of RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, was identified as playing a key role in sustaining RSF operations, including in El-Fasher, where widespread abuses have been documented during the group’s siege of the city.
A February report by the U.N. Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan detailed what it described as grave violations committed during the assault on El-Fasher, including systematic starvation, torture, killings, rape and deliberate ethnic targeting on a large scale.
In addition to Dagalo, the council imposed sanctions on three Colombian nationals — Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero and Mateo Andres Duque Botero — for their alleged roles in recruiting former Colombian military personnel to fight for the RSF in Sudan.
According to evidence cited by U.N. officials, Colombian recruits provided tactical and technical support to RSF forces and served as infantry fighters, artillery operators, drone specialists, drivers and military trainers. Some were also accused of involvement in training children for combat.
The recruits were reported to have taken part in multiple battles across Sudan, including in the capital Khartoum, Omdurman, Kordofan and El-Fasher.
British Minister of State for Africa Jenny Chapman said the sanctions reflected a broader determination to hold those responsible for abuses accountable.
“We are cracking down on those who facilitate and profit from this conflict,” Chapman said in a statement. “We are determined that all individuals responsible for these atrocities will be held to account.”
She added that Britain, working with allies, would continue efforts to push Sudan’s warring parties toward negotiations, secure humanitarian access and pursue justice for victims.
The 1591 sanctions regime, established in 2005, includes travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargoes against individuals and entities accused of obstructing peace efforts in Sudan’s Darfur region. Diplomats said the latest measures were approved unanimously by all 15 members of the Security Council sanctions committee.
In February, Britain, France and the United States secured sanctions against four RSF commanders linked to atrocities in El-Fasher, signaling growing international concern over the deepening conflict.
Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, a power struggle that has triggered one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, displacing millions and devastating large parts of the country.
