section_path: Human rights violations/Violations during the 2023 Sudan Conflict
section_name: Violations during the 2023 Sudan Conflict
paragraph_text: Violations during the 2023 Sudan Conflict
  
  During the 2023 Sudan conflict, the militia members have reportedly committed crimes such as looting of houses and evicting their residents, sexual violence, and repurposing churches and hospitals as shields. In a report released on 28 July 2024, Human Rights Watch documented widespread acts of sexual violence, including gang rape and forced marriages, committed by RSF in Khartoum since the onset of the conflict. The 89-page report, titled "Khartoum is Not Safe for Women", highlighted the severe impact on women and girls. Both the RSF and SAF obstructed humanitarian aid, exacerbating the survivors' plight. Despite the clear evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, neither party took meaningful steps to prevent or investigate these abuses. Human Rights Watch called for urgent international intervention to protect civilians, support survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable. The RSF has been trying to rehabilitate its image as a 'killer militia' by disciplining some of its fighters and building civil administrations. Few observers take these efforts seriously as atrocities committed by its fighters are so widely documented.
  
  In July 2023, authorities reported at least 88 cases of sexual assault on women across the country, most of them blamed on the RSF. NGOs estimated that the figure could possibly reach 4,400.
  
  On 12 November 2024, the U.S. sanctioned RSF commander in East Darfur Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla over serious human rights violations, including allegations of harm to civilians in conflict, sexual violence, and ethnically motivated attacks.
  
  On 7 January 2025, the U.S. government officially accused Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing genocide and imposed sanctions on the group's leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. These sanctions, which include asset freezes and a travel ban, are intended to hold the RSF accountable for widespread violence, including ethnic killings, rape, and forced displacement. Additionally, seven RSF-owned companies based in the United Arab Emirates were also sanctioned.