Since the war in Sudan began just over two years ago, hardly a week passes without one of the belligerents committing horrific atrocities against civilians. In April, hundreds of people in displacement camps were killed near El-Fasher in the west and Atbara in the north, among other areas, amid a stream of videos showing scenes of torture, summary executions, looting, and civilian and aid worker intimidation. Drone attacks have targeted civilian infrastructure, including airports and power stations in Port Sudan, while retaliatory targeting and killings have been reported in the capital Khartoum.
All in all, some 150,000 people have been killed, over 11 million displaced, and much of the country’s infrastructure has been reduced to ruins. Those trapped in the crossfire between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) face the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, marked by famine, epidemics, and atrocities including genocide.
This is not the first war Sudan has seen in modern times. It is not the first time atrocities, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide have been committed. This is not the first time the international community has called for protecting civilians and holding perpetrators accountable—whether it is the genocide in Darfur in 2003-2005, the war in the South through the 1980s and 1990s, or the conflict in the regions of Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011.
The failure to hold perpetrators accountable in the past has allowed these crimes to continue and directly enabled the very actors driving today’s conflict
Yet, justice has never been delivered and impunity has only fueled further violations. The failure to hold perpetrators accountable in the past has allowed these crimes to continue and directly enabled the very actors driving today’s conflict.
Both the SAF and RSF have committed heinous crimes, not just since the war began two years ago, but even earlier when they ruled together as part of the military transitional council after Omar al-Bashir’s fall in 2019. Together, they oversaw the June 3, 2019 Khartoum massacre when security forces killed over 100 peaceful protestors who were demanding civilian rule. Then they imposed an internet blackout to hide the details of the crackdown from the world and blocked any avenue for accountability.
The impunity with which the war belligerents have been acting has been enabled by the involvement of other states in the war. The United Arab Emirates, a key US ally, has supported the RSF by supplying arms in breach of the United Nations’ Security Council Resolution 1556 on arms embargo. Russia supports both the SAF and RSF, plundering Sudan’s gold in exchange for missiles to the RSF. Simultaneously, it provides diplomatic backing to SAF as it seeks to establish a naval foothold in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Egypt has been at the forefront of supporting SAF through its air force while also facilitating weapon transfers into Sudan. Saudi Arabia, Chad, Iran, Kenya, Libya, Russia, Somalia, and Turkey are involved as well, all driven by their respective geostrategic and economic interests.
Such alliances undermine efforts exerted to advance accountability inside Sudan and in international arenas. Meanwhile, as these deals are made, Sudanese civilians bear the brunt of destruction, death, poverty, and instability.
Civilians on the negotiation table
Civil society actors, both inside and outside Sudan, have been essential throughout the war. They documented violations, amplified victims’ voices, advocated for justice, and shaped accountability mechanisms. However, they need greater support to expand their impact.
Standing firmly against the war and the ongoing cycle of impunity means condemning violence against civilians and ensuring that all perpetrators are held accountable. The international community must do its part by supporting local, regional, and international investigative mechanisms to ensure that these crimes are documented. Documentation is essential for seeking justice through the International Criminal Court (ICC), domestic courts, or through hybrid courts (which apply a mix of domestic and international laws) that might be established in the future.
Standing firmly against the war and the ongoing cycle of impunity means condemning violence against civilians and ensuring that all perpetrators are held accountable
Over the last five years, efforts to bring warlords to the negotiation table to solve the political deadlock and end the war have intensified. However, civil society actors have often been excluded from these initiatives. Among them are the Resistance Committees, which led the charge in ousting Omar al-Bashir in 2019, and the Emergency Response Rooms who have continued to provide essential aid throughout the war. Their inclusion is vital, as these groups are the true voice of the Sudanese civilians—those enduring this war, who are working toward peace, and who will be indispensable in rebuilding the devastated country.
A legacy of atrocities
The absence of accountability was a defining feature of former President Bashir’s 30-year rule. Alongside his Islamist allies, who continue to be influential within SAF today, he empowered the Janjaweed militias, the precursor to the RSF, to commit genocide in Darfur in 2003-2005 and beyond.
Even though justice was one of the main three demands of the December 2018 revolution, neither Bashir nor his regime’s key figures faced justice for their crimes. After ousting Bashir, the transitional government remained under the dominance of both the RSF and SAF, both practically an extension of the old regime. As a result, no one was held accountable.
Fueled by such impunity, the atrocities committed during the current war are a continuation of Bashir’s crimes
Fueled by such impunity, the atrocities committed during the current war are a continuation of Bashir’s crimes, which were often committed along ethnic, religious, and racial lines. Take what happened in Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State. The city, located some 180 kilometers south of Khartoum, was overrun by RSF in December 2023 and retaken by the army a year later. Following both episodes, its civilian population suffered crimes of unspeakable brutality, including mass rape and summary executions.
The shifts in control of Wad Madani coincided with the change of allegiance of one prominent militia leader, Abu Aqla Keikal, the leader of the Sudan Shield Forces. Keikal was the main RSF commander in Gezira State for over a year, overseeing mass atrocities and the displacement of more than 500,000 people, with his soldiers bragging about their crimes in videos they posted online. Yet, when Keikal defected to the army a few months before it retook Gezira, it seemed like all his sins were forgiven and he was given a hero’s welcome.
This episode laid bare both the RSF and SAF’s blatant disregard for accountability, justice, and civilian protection.
Even when SAF attempted to take measures of accountability, its efforts proved hollow. The attorney general, for the first time since the war began, recently lifted the immunity of 294 security personnel for offenses including allegations of murder, bodily harm, looting, intoxication, and drug use. Referring them to court, however, was little more than a performative gesture, as not a single charge filed fell under Chapter 18 of Sudan’s 1991 Criminal Act, which addresses war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Instead, the cases have been framed as “isolated offenses.” Meanwhile, figures like Keikal remain untouchable, as the charges primarily targeted lower-ranking soldiers.
Militia havoc
Sudanese politics have been plagued with militia activity for over four decades with wildly varying allegiances, composition, and objectives. In the past, militias were mostly ideological like the Islamist Popular Defense Forces. However, increasingly, militias have been formed along ethnic lines, like those operating in Darfur, and have been able to mobilize on local issues and be powerful at the national level, like the Sudan Shield Forces led by Keikal. The RSF, which draws fighters and support from Arab tribes in Sudan and the Sahel, is the poster child for this trend and has shown that such groups can have great political and military success and wealth.
Over the years, these militias, and the central governments that created and nurtured them, have consistently obstructed efforts for accountability by striking peace deals that granted them a share of power. Doing so allowed for the repetition of atrocities over the years.
These peaceful protestors can no longer rely on the state to guarantee their protection from these militias
That is why the peaceful protestors who brought down Bashir’s regime six years ago have been calling for the dissolution of all militias, particularly the RSF, as well as reforming the Sudanese army. Instead, SAF empowered the RSF once Bashir fell, brought back the extremists, and created more militias.
These peaceful protestors can no longer rely on the state to guarantee their protection from these militias. This might lead civilians to arm themselves to protect their families, property, and community. There is a real concern that Sudan’s future could be even more dangerous and unstable with more weapons spread in the community.
The need for international action
In its final days, the Biden administration issued sanction determinations against SAF leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of RSF Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and most importantly against entities in the UAE that have been supporting the RSF. Canada followed suit and announced sanctions in March 2025 against the two warlords alongside other individuals and entities affiliated either with the SAF or RSF. Despite condemning the widespread attacks on civilians and the sexual violence committed by both the SAF and RSF, the EU only sanctioned Hemedti and his brother Abdel Rahim Hamdan Dagalo in March 2025.
The Trump administration, the EU, Canada, and the international community as a whole, should continue the same pattern. They should work with the African Union and the United Kingdom to act similarly, and all should support the work of the UN Human Rights Council Fact Finding Mission to document atrocities. Along the same vein, they should coordinate with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)-African Union Joint Fact Finding Mission.
In her January remarks at the United Nations Security Council briefing by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea stated that the US views the failure to achieve accountability decades ago as the key reason conflict persists in Sudan, and emphasized that perpetrators must be held accountable. This encouraging rhetoric must be matched by concrete actions on the ground.
For example, the RSF continues to lay siege on the city of El-Fasher, in Northern Darfur, and have recently carried out a deadly assault against civilians in Zamzam and Abu Shouk refugee camps, leaving hundreds of people dead including women, children and medical staff. This attack could have been prevented had the June 2024 UNSC Resolution 2736 demanding the RSF end its siege been enforced.
The ICC is investigating the abhorrent crimes committed during the war, including the RSF’s 2023 ethnic cleansing campaign in West Darfur. However, the court still has no jurisdiction outside of Darfur, as per its 2005 mandate. And while the UN Human Rights Council Fact Finding Mission has advised to expand the ICC investigation beyond Darfur, such a move is likely to be vetoed in the UN Security Council. Russia, which supports both belligerents, has previously vetoed a resolution to protect civilians in November 2024, and the US has sanctioned the ICC over Israel, casting doubt on its will to support it for another case. Additionally, the Sudanese government, led by SAF, will not accept such a move.
However, no matter how hard and inconvenient it may be for those in power, real accountability is the only way to break the cycle of conflict in Sudan. Accountability inside Sudan is possible, but only if the steps toward a fully democratic civilian-led government are taken. And this is the goal we must all commit to and work tirelessly to achieve.
Mohaned Elnour is a Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP working on religious minorities and freedoms in Sudan.