HU Statement on Genocide Determination in Sudan

In a long-awaited decision this week, the Biden administration has determined that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan. The administration also acknowledged the war crimes committed by the opposing Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

We welcome this determination as an important step; however, because it comes on the cusp of a government transition, it will be crucial for the incoming Trump administration to enforce the associated sanctions, including against RSF’s leader, Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa (“Hemedti”). The U.S. must hold those responsible for the atrocities in Sudan to account.

The conflict between RSF and SAF has evolved into the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, leaving approximately 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, forcing more than 12 million people from their homes, and putting half the population into acute food insecurity and more than half a million Sudanese in famine conditions.

As outlined in our recent transition memo, the United States should go beyond this determination to adopt a whole-of-government approach to ending the war in Sudan as well as increase unrestricted funding to mutual aid groups, like the country’s Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), to address the humanitarian crisis. This continued commitment to the Sudanese people is essential to protecting civilians, preventing the conflict from spilling over into neighboring countries, and allowing the United States to further its role as a global leader in advancing peace and freedom.