The Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR) recognises the United Kingdom’s decision to sanction 15 senior figures affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied forces over suspected serious violations and abuses, including conflict related sexual violence. The measures, which include travel bans and asset freezes, come one year after the fall of El Fasher, following an 18 month siege in which hundreds of thousands of civilians were subjected to hunger, deprivation and insecurity. They also come as grave violations and humanitarian suffering continue across Sudan.
SAR considers the sanctions an important step towards individual accountability. The designation of individuals associated with different armed actors and violations in different parts of Sudan is significant, particularly in a conflict where civilians have suffered grave abuses by multiple parties. However, sanctions must be accompanied by credible investigations, prosecution of those responsible, meaningful support for survivors and sustained measures to prevent further violations.
The 15 individuals designated by the UK are Abu Zaid Talha Al Misbah, Hussein Abo Jalak, Awad Al Karim Ali Saeed, Abdel Moneim Abdel Basset, Ibrahim Gibril Omer, Abdallah Ali Ahmed, Ahmed Barrir Haj Ahmed, Siddiq Ali Wad Al Basha, Abbas Khater Bakhit, Khademallah Khashmin Herika, Hamdan Al Kajli, Abdelbagi Dahab Talbo, Mustafa Abdullah Ahmed Shenibat, Al Nour Ahmed Adam and Ali Rizqallah.
The designations cover allegations linked to several areas and incidents, including the siege and fall of El Fasher, the assault on Zamzam displacement camp and violations in Gezira State. Among those sanctioned are RSF commanders linked to alleged violations in Darfur, as well as SAF commanders and leaders of allied forces associated with abuses in areas under SAF control. The breadth of the designations is an important reminder that accountability in Sudan must address violations committed by all parties and affiliated forces, rather than being selectively applied to one side of the conflict.
The case of Al Nour Ahmed Adam, known as Al Qubba, is particularly significant in this regard. The UK identifies him as having played a prominent role in the RSF’s siege and attack on El Fasher. Human Rights Watch has also documented his presence during the 18 month siege and reported that he subsequently defected from the RSF and joined the SAF in April 2026. His subsequent change of allegiance cannot erase allegations relating to his conduct during the conflict. Accountability must follow individuals based on evidence of their actions and responsibilities, regardless of which armed formation they subsequently join.
The same principle must apply across the sanctions list. Sanctions designations are not substitutes for judicial determinations of criminal responsibility. Allegations must be subjected to credible, independent and impartial investigations capable of establishing individual and, where applicable, command or superior responsibility, with due process guarantees.
The anniversary of the fall of El Fasher provides a stark reminder of why such accountability is urgent. On 26 October 2025, violence in and around El Fasher reached a devastating peak following months of siege and escalating RSF attacks. Civilians were subjected to mass killings, ethnically motivated killings, summary executions, torture, disappearances, arbitrary detention, forced recruitment and widespread sexual and gender based violence. Entire communities were forcibly displaced, while restrictions on humanitarian access deepened hunger, insecurity and deprivation.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has documented more than 6,000 killings during the first three days of the RSF’s final offensive on El Fasher, including at least 4,400 people killed inside the city and more than 1,600 along escape routes. The UN has also documented mass killings, summary executions, rape and gang rape, abductions, torture, detention, disappearances, pillage and the recruitment and use of children in hostilities. It found reasonable grounds to believe that the RSF and allied militia committed a range of war crimes and warned that the broader pattern of violations could amount to crimes against humanity.
Independent investigations have reinforced these findings. Amnesty International documented crimes against humanity in and around El Fasher, including murder, extermination, forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, other sexual violence, enslavement and persecution. Its investigation also documented the destruction of predominantly Zaghawa villages in Abu Zerega in a pattern consistent with ethnic cleansing.
The violence in El Fasher cannot, however, be separated from the wider pattern of abuses taking place across Sudan. The UK’s latest sanctions recognise alleged violations connected to Darfur, Zamzam and Gezira, while the conflict continues to generate grave protection risks in other parts of the country. The continued use of drone attacks, attacks on civilian infrastructure, restrictions on humanitarian access and other methods of warfare demonstrates that civilians remain at risk and that accountability cannot be postponed until the conflict ends.
Conflict related sexual violence remains a particular concern. The UN documented rape, gang rape, abductions involving sexual violence and sexual assault during invasive searches in El Fasher, with women and girls from Zaghawa and other non Arab communities particularly exposed. Amnesty International likewise documented rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence. These findings demonstrate the urgent need for survivor centred justice and comprehensive services for survivors of sexual violence.
SAR recognises the United Kingdom’s allocation of £5 million to support survivors of conflict related sexual violence. The funding will support sexual and reproductive healthcare, maternal health services, psychosocial support and safe spaces for women and girls. SAR considers such support essential, but stresses that assistance to survivors must be accompanied by access to justice, effective remedies and protection from retaliation and further harm.
SAR also recognises the additional £10 million humanitarian package announced by the UK to respond to Sudan’s deteriorating humanitarian situation. The funding will support clean water and sanitation in displacement sites around Tawila and health, protection and other essential humanitarian services in El Obeid, where civilians face acute needs.
Humanitarian assistance and accountability must advance together. Civilians urgently require food, water, healthcare, protection and other essential services, while survivors require confidential medical, psychosocial and legal support. At the same time, humanitarian assistance cannot substitute for justice, and the international community must not allow the scale of humanitarian need to overshadow the responsibility of perpetrators for serious violations.
SAR calls for credible, independent and impartial investigations into alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations committed throughout Sudan. This must include investigation of violations committed in El Fasher, Zamzam, Gezira and other affected areas, as well as examination of individual and command responsibility wherever the evidence supports it.
SAR calls for evidence collected by Sudanese human rights defenders, survivors, witnesses, journalists, humanitarian organisations, UN mechanisms and international investigators to be preserved and protected. Sudanese civil society and human rights defenders remain indispensable to documenting violations, supporting survivors and ensuring that accountability processes reflect the experiences and priorities of affected communities.
SAR further calls on Sudanese, African and international accountability mechanisms to strengthen cooperation and ensure that available avenues of justice are pursued, including the work of the International Criminal Court on Darfur and other appropriate judicial and investigative mechanisms. States should also use universal or extraterritorial jurisdiction where appropriate and consistent with national and international law.
SAR calls on all parties to the conflict and their affiliated forces to immediately comply with international humanitarian and human rights law, protect civilians and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access. Attacks on humanitarian actors, civilian infrastructure and aid operations must end.
SAR also calls on States with influence over Sudan’s warring parties to use that influence to prevent further atrocities and to end support that enables continued violations. States must fully respect applicable UN sanctions and arms embargoes and take meaningful measures to prevent weapons, financing and other forms of assistance from contributing to further abuses.
One year after the fall of El Fasher, the victims of the atrocities committed there, in Zamzam, Gezira and communities across Sudan must not be forgotten. The continuing conflict demonstrates that accountability is not only about addressing past crimes; it is also essential to preventing further violations and protecting civilians from future atrocities.
SAR recognises the UK sanctions as a meaningful accountability measure, but stresses that they must be part of a sustained and comprehensive international response. Sanctions must lead to further investigation, evidence preservation and prosecution where criminal responsibility is established. Survivor support must be sustained, humanitarian access must be protected and those who continue to commit serious violations must face consequences.
For Sudanese civilians who have endured more than three years of war, justice cannot remain a promise deferred until the conflict ends. The international community must act now to protect civilians, support survivors and pursue accountability.
One year after El Fasher, the message must be clear: perpetrators of grave violations must not be permitted to evade accountability by changing affiliations, positions or locations. Justice must follow the evidence, regardless of the perpetrator’s allegiance.
Accountability is not an obstacle to peace. It is an essential foundation for a just and sustainable peace in Sudan.
Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR),
26 October 2026.