UK police handed dossier of war crimes committed by RSF in Sudan
A 142-page file was handed to the Metropolitan Police's war crimes unit, documenting killings, torture and sexual violence committed by the RSF during Sudan's ongoing civil war, the Guardian reported on Monday.
It was compiled by a London-based group of lawyers with a specialism in international law and directed to SO15, the Met's counterterrorism unit.
The RSF has been at war with the Sudanese army since April 2023. The conflict has killed thousands, displaced more than 10 million people and left over 12 million facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
Last year an independent enquiry carried out by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre found that there is 'clear and convincing evidence' that the RSF and its allied militias 'have committed and are committing genocide against the Masalit', a Black African community.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
West Darfur state was the site of intense ethnic-based attacks by the RSF and its allied Arab militias against the Masalit in 2023.
The United States has also accused the RSF of genocide, and sanctioned its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo - widely known as Hemeti - for his role in "systematic atrocities".
The dossier submitted to the Met police stated: 'Direct and circumstantial evidence makes it clear that the RSF leadership either knew, or at least should have known, that the war crimes were being committed by the RSF in Darfur. Therefore, they have a case to answer under international criminal and humanitarian law.'
Howard Morrison, a former judge at the International Criminal Court, lent his support to the submission.
'A novel approach'
'The novel approach through the highly regarded offices of SO15 adds great impetus to the potential accountability of those responsible for the atrocities that have been visited upon numerous victims in Darfur,' Morrison said.
Lucia Brieskova, the lead lawyer, said: "We believe this submission will contribute to the fight against impunity suffered by many in Darfur in Sudan."
In the coming days, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will decide whether it has jurisdiction in a case brought by Sudan's government accusing the United Arab Emirates of complicity in genocide.
Khartoum says that the UAE has violated the Genocide Convention through financial and military support of the RSF.
The UAE denies aiding the paramilitary group, and believes that the ICJ does not have jurisdiction in the case due to the Gulf state's opting out of Article Nine of the Genocide Convention.
Sudan's government accuses the RSF and allied militias of perpetrating genocide, murder, theft, rape and forcible displacement.
A recent report by Amnesty International found that the RSF had inflicted widespread sexual violence on women and girls during the country's ongoing civil war, including rape, gang-rape, and sexual slavery.
Middle East Eye has reported previously on how women across the Darfur region - some as young as 12 - have been the victims of sexual assault perpetrated by men wearing RSF uniforms.
Last year, a report by the UN's independent international fact-finding mission for Sudan found that both warring parties had committed a range of war crimes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
12 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Hamas files second appeal to overturn UK terror designation
The Palestinian group Hamas on Tuesday filed an appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC) to challenge the British government's refusal to remove the group from the UK's list of banned terrorist organisations. Hamas has instructed barristers Franck Magennis and Daniel Grutters to launch the appeal against UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's decision to reject the group's request to take it off the list of banned terrorist organisations. Magennis is a barrister at Garden Court Chambers and Grutters is a barrister at One Pump Court Chambers. Fahad Ansari, director of Riverway Law - which has since rebranded as Riverway to the Sea - is also supporting the barristers in the challenge. The lawyers involved in the case stressed that Hamas did not pay them or the experts and lawyers who provided evidence for its submission, as it is illegal to receive funds from a group designated as a terrorist organisation. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The UK Home Office did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication. Earlier this year, Mousa Abu Marzouk, head of Hamas' foreign relations office, instructed Magennis and Grutters to appeal a controversial decision by former UK home secretary Priti Patel to proscribe the group in its entirety in 2021. 'Biased and legally flawed' Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, had already been proscribed in the UK more than two decades earlier, but Patel extended the ban to the entire organisation, arguing that no distinction remained between its political and military wings. But in July, Cooper rejected the application to overturn Hamas's designation as a terrorist organisation. The appeal argues that his decision is "biased, legally flawed and politically motivated", noting that the home secretary had publicly labelled Hamas "barbaric". "The decision to ban Hamas is part of the logic justifying Israel's ongoing genocide. For Yvette Cooper to have cited Britain's supposed opposition to violence in the region is an insult to everyone's intelligence, and to people in Gaza in particular," Magennis said in a statement. "Palestinians are human, and they feel terror when Britain backs Israel's genocide. Yvette Cooper is complicit in the slaughter, and her latest decision to maintain the ban on Hamas shows it." Israel's war on Gaza: Who are Palestine Action? Read More » In its original application, Hamas argued that the proscription hinders the group's ability to broker a political solution to the conflict, stifles discussions aimed at securing a long-term settlement, and criminalises ordinary Palestinians living in Gaza. Its submission included expert testimony from Oxford-based Israeli academic Avi Shlaim, who urged the UK to take a "more nuanced position on Hamas" by delisting it as a terror organisation. When a proscribed group challenges its designation, the home secretary has 90 days to respond. Under Section 4 of the Terrorism Act, any organisation designated as a terrorist group may appeal to have its name removed from the government's list of banned organisations. Individuals who have been impacted by a group's proscription can also apply to the home secretary to have it deproscribed. The home secretary also has the discretion to add or remove any group engaged in armed conflict from the proscribed list. The power to designate a group as a terrorist organisation has come under renewed fire after Cooper designated Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. The direct action group denied the claims made against it and successfully sought a judicial review to oppose the ban.
Middle East Eye
14 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
UK declines to share stance on Britons fighting for Israeli army
British MPs have warned that the government must not allow British nationals to fight in the Israeli military after it emerged that Israel is mulling the recruitment of Jewish youths from abroad to fight in its army due to severe manpower shortages. Middle East Eye asked the Home Office and the Foreign Office what the government's stance on UK nationals enlisting in the Israeli military is. The Home Office declined to comment and referred MEE to the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office declined to comment and referred MEE to the Home Office. Scottish National Party MP Chris Law told MEE: "The UK government must warn against enlistment and ensure that anyone who ignores these warning and does enlist is subsequently held accountable to international law." Army Radio reported this week that the Israeli government was looking at a possible campaign to reach out to the diaspora to fill vacancies within the ranks of the military. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The broadcaster said the military was currently struggling with a shortfall of 10,000 to 12,000 troops, driven largely by the refusal of ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve. Attempts to recruit the conservative minority, who have traditionally enjoyed exemption in return for pursuing religious study, have so far failed to yield results. Dozens of Palestinian children from Gaza to be brought to UK for treatment Read More » Law said: "The fact that the IDF have been reduced to pursuing international recruitment is testament to the fact that they are finding it difficult to recruit within Israel itself. 'Why anyone would wish to travel to Israel to enlist in their illegal occupation is beyond me." Independent MP Ayoub Khan called for dual nationals to be stripped of their British citizenship if they enlist in the Israeli military. "If UK dual nationals choose to enlist in the IDF during a conflict that international bodies and courts have described in terms of war crimes, ethnic cleansing, plausible genocide," he told MEE, "then they must be held to the same standard as others who have joined foreign forces accused of such crimes. "By participating in actions that raise such grave concerns, they demonstrate a disregard for fundamental human rights and values, and therefore pose a potential threat to the safety and principles of our society." Khan added: "It would only be fair and consistent to strip such individuals of their British citizenship and right of return, just as has been done with others who travelled abroad to participate in violence or join organisations engaged in crimes against humanity. "Parity must exist and justice cannot be applied selectively." 'It would only be fair and consistent to strip such individuals of their British citizenship' - Ayoub Khan MP Existing Israeli army recruits have increasingly been dropping out of service since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, citing physical and psychological trauma. In July, Israeli daily Maariv reported that senior commanders said there was a gap of about 7,500 soldiers. Independent MP Adnan Hussain told MEE: "The UK cannot allow its citizens to contribute, directly or indirectly, to the commission of atrocities. "If a British citizen is actively serving in the IDF while it carries out acts amounting to genocide or war crimes, that individual risks being complicit in some of the gravest crimes under international law," Hussain warned. "There is no impunity for those who operate under a foreign flag." 'Prosecutions must follow' The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported on Sunday that the army estimates it will need about four months to complete its planned operation to occupy Gaza City. Hussain urged the British government to "take concrete steps to investigate whether British citizens currently serving in the IDF have participated in unlawful operations. MPs urge UK to disclose if it holds spy plane footage of Al Jazeera journalists' killings Read More » "If credible evidence emerges, prosecutions must follow," he said. "The law demands it and victims of genocide deserve it." In January this year, the Israeli military advised dozens of soldiers against travelling abroad after reportedly tracking around 30 war crimes complaints and legal actions targeting its personnel for their roles in operations in Gaza. In April, a team of prominent legal experts submitted a war crimes complaint against 10 British nationals accused of committing war crimes while serving in the Israeli military to the Metropolitan Police. But it is understood that the Met is not conducting any investigations directly related to Israel and Gaza. And in June, Ministry of Defence officials said the UK was "currently" involved in training members of the Israeli army on British soil.
Al Etihad
a day ago
- Al Etihad
Trump meets European leaders at White House for talks to end war
18 Aug 2025 23:30 Washington (AFP, dpa)European leaders including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday amid ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Following a bilateral meeting between Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office, the pair convened with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnland's Alexander Stubb. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also attended the meeting, with Trump stating that he would subsequently call Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting, which began with live televised statements from each participant, is set to focus on security guarantees for Ukraine, although Merz and Macron insisted that a ceasefire must take effect first. The talks come days after Trump hosted Putin in Alaska last week. Putin accepts Western security guarantees for Ukraine Trump said Putin had at summit talks last week accepted that there would be security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any peace deal. "In a very significant step, President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine and this is one of the key points that we need to consider and we're going to be considering that at the table, also who will do what essentially," said Trump as he opened talks with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. "I think the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We're going to help them and we're going to make it very secure," he said.
