Mutiny of RSF in a Perspective: Why The International Community Has To Take A Firm Stance Against Hemeti’s Dynasty?

The international community needs to understand the reality of military confrontations currently taking place in Sudan and to take serious note of the heinous crimes against humanity being committed by the mutineer. Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under the leadership of Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemmeti) and members of his direct family.

Since they fired the first bullet on the morning of April 15, throwing the country into a war that the Sudanese government has long sought to avoid for the good of the Sudanese people, RSF has been committing grave atrocities against civilians, diplomats and public amenities.

To put the crisis currently unfolding in Sudan in perspective, we have to look into how RSF came into existence and why it became a threat to the very survival of Sudan as a nation -state and the regional security.

Created in 2013 as the Border Guard to help the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) protect Sudan’s long and porous borders, RSF evolved into a sort of special force characterized by high mobility and flexibility.

By 2017, the Parliament passed an act making it a part of the regular armed forces that operates under the command of SAF and tasked to help fighting outlawed armed groups and human trafficking syndicates, besides its original mandate; protecting the country’s international borders.

The rise of Dagalo Dynasty:
When the Omer Al-Bashir Government was ousted in April 2019, following the victorious 18th December 2018 Revolution, the manpower of the RSF had been around 20,000 armed with light weapons and largely confined to the border states.

However, with Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, becoming Vice Head of the Transitional Council, formed in April 2019, following his decision to side with the Revolution, most of RSF personnel were brought to Khartoum, under the pretext of protecting their leader. Simultaneously a process

of mass recruitment into the RSF began and saw the total number of its soldiers grow to fivefold, with the introduction of new weaponry similar to what traditional armies have.

There is growing evidence that large numbers of citizens of neighboring countries were recruited, along specific ethnic lineages and including children. Holders of foreign IDs were found among those who were killed or captured fighting alongside the RSF in the past two weeks. In the same time the leadership of RSF, now exclusively entrenched in the hands of the Dagalo Dynasty (the deputy Commander of RSF is Hemmati’s brother while all other key posts are occupied either by his other siblings or cousins), accumulated mass wealth through taking control of major gold mines in Darfur and exporting fighters to Yemen and Libya, along with other business enterprise run by the family.

One nation, two armies?
With the signing of the, “Framework Agreement”, on December 5, 2022, between the military component, and a number of political forces, in preparation for the formation of a Civilian Transitional Government, the issue of integrating the RSF into the national army has emerged as a contentious issue. The RSF leadership insisted to remain a separate army parallel to the SAF for at least 10 years. The SAF maintains to complete the merger within two years inly. The rationale was that the existence of a single professional national army that monopolizes the use of weapons and protects civil rule, is a prerequisite for the establishment of a sound democratic system.

Amidst this fierce disagreement, the RSF began to mobilize large numbers of its forces, fully and heavily armed, in various parts of the capital, Khartoum and its environs, and some other cities including Merowi in the far North, where there are an international airport and important military base, without the approval of or mere coordination with the Command of SAF in an act of defiance.

On April 13, thus, the Sudanese army warned against the deployment of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) without its consent in the capital Khartoum and in the town of Merowi.

RSF fires the 1st bullet:

The unfortunate course of events, which began on Saturday, April 15, 2023 is, therefore, a result of mutiny by the RSF and its unprovoked attacks on several strategic locations in the capital and some other cities, beginning with an attack by the RSF on the residence of the President of the Transitional Sovereign Council/Commander in Chief of the SAF, located within the complex headquarters of the General Command of the Armed Forces.

The attack took place on the same day that a scheduled meeting between the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, the Commander-in-Chief of SAF and the Commander of the RSF was to take place, in an attempt to settle the disagreement on the question of integrating

RSF in SAF. This is clear evidence of RSF’s premeditated plan to seize power and take control of the national army.

The Armed Forces; were therefore, left with no option but to respond with full force to the aggressors driven by their national duty and responsibility to provide security to the population, which is the sovereign right and responsibility of any army, and to repel the attack and drive the RSF out of the vicinity of the General Command headquarters and other headquarters that the rebels attempted to capture, such as the Republican Palace, Khartoum Airport, and the National Radio and Television Station.

The President of the TSC and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has issued a decree to dissolve the RSF due to their insurgency, declaring them an anti-state rebel group that will be dealt with on that basis.

In the ongoing clashes with the disbanded remnants of the RSF, the armed forces have adopted a combat strategy to minimize casualties and damage among civilians and to private and public property. In addition, the competent authorities have taken all necessary measures to protect all premises and staff of diplomatic missions accredited in Khartoum.

Targeting the civilians:
After being defeated in the direct military confrontation, RSF resorted to methods of urban terrorism to terrify the population to give in for unsatisfied thirst for power.

Due to its lack of sufficient training in the fields of international humanitarian law and the internationally agreed on rules of engagement and in the light of its hasty massive enlargement, the mutineer RSF committed an incredible number of serious violations against civilians. Below are just few examples:

• Detaining the families of senior officers of the armed forces, senior state officials and university professors residing in the Airport neighborhood next to the Complex of SAF General Command, including women and children, as hostages, and using them as human shields in the worst forms of terrorism.
• Attacking civilian aircraft at Khartoum Airport and passengers, killing some of them and taking others hostage.
• Occupying hospitals and turning them into military bases, forcing medical staff to treat their wounded fighters while ignoring ordinary patients.
• Breaking into the homes of ordinary citizens and expelling them to use their homes for military actions, or detaining them as human shields; while using rooftops as sites for snipers. In some cases, the process of storming the private homes of citizens was filmed and presented as a military victory by falsely claiming that it was the residences of members of the Sovereign Council.
• Stealing citizens’ cars and private property.
• Establishing random and illegal checkpoints, targeting certain groups of citizens, confiscating government vehicles, and kidnapping and killing medical staff.
• Looting banks, stores, private and public companies.
• Occupation of some hotels, clubs and halls.
• Occupying police stations, attacking prisons, and releasing criminals and detainees.
• Targeting basic service centers, such as water, electricity and communications stations, hospitals and an oil refinery in an intentional strategy to inflicting maximum suffering on civilians.

Though protected by international law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomatic missions in Khartoum are not exempt from mutineer RSF’s atrocities. Here are some instances:

• Assaulting the Ambassador of the European Union in his residence on April 17, 2023.
• Attacking the French Embassy evacuation convoy on April 22, 2023.
• Killing the Assistant Administrative Attache’ at the Egyptian Embassy on April 23, 2023.
• Shooting at a US Embassy vehicle.
• Assaulting the Malaysian Ambassador and stealing his car.
• Numerous attacks on the headquarters of Diplomatic Missions, and shooting of bullets at the Indian Embassy in the Amarat area, Street 1, in addition to multiple reports from the embassies of Korea, Switzerland, Russia, Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria, Morocco, Spain, stationing the rebel militia forces near the headquarters of these Missions, and smashing their external surveillance cameras, in addition to the notification of the Korean Ambassador requesting evacuation of members of his community, due to rebel attack on his residence, and the destruction of protection caravans outside the headquarters of the Mission.

As a result of these irresponsible acts, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated especially in parts of the capital city. The clashes have caused a large number of civilians to move from their areas to other, safer cities and regions of Sudan. Living conditions in general are also worsened due to the food shortages, insecurity and lack of medical supplies, electricity, and potable water.

Currently, as the Government observes the 63-day ceasefire, the relevant authorities in Sudan are working tirelessly to improve the humanitarian situation by providing assistance to those affected, restoring and improving basic services such as health care, electricity and drinking water, and enhancing security.

It is pertinent to indicate that the government of Sudan including SAF have taken serious and pivotal measures to address the humanitarian suffering since the first day of the confrontations; these measures include the following:

• Adoption of a combat strategy aimed at minimizing casualties and damage among civilians and private and public properties, even if this will delay the complete defeat of rebel forces.
• The President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces issued a decision pardoning all officers and soldiers of the RSF who lay down their arms.
• The Sudanese Armed Forces, in cooperation with various national institutions, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have succeeded in evacuating foreign nationals and diplomatic missions from more than 40 countries.

I would like to conclude by quoting a Foreign Policy article by Yasir Zaidan on April, 24, 2023 entitled Hemeti’s Rise in Sudan Is a Threat to Regional Stability, quote:

“The best outcome of the ongoing war would be the Sudanese Armed Forces eliminating the RSF to prevent a second Somali scenario—where militants have long vied with the state for control—in a volatile region. Therefore, the international and regional actors should avoid addressing the fight in Sudan as a fight between two generals. Instead, it is a fight between the remains of national state institutions against a tribal, corrupt militia founded by the Bashir dictatorship”. Unquote

By: The Executive Director, Centre for Creative Leadership Africa (CCLA),

Mr. Adil Awadelseed, The Charge d’affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Sudan.