In accordance with Section 5 (g) of its Guidelines, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) concerning the Sudan makes accessible a narrative summary of reasons for the listing for individuals and entities included in the sanctions list.
Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla was listed on 8 November 2024 pursuant to paragraph 3(c) of resolution 1591 (2005).
Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla, Major General of the RSF and West Darfur Commander, is being designated for engaging in actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Darfur, including acts of violence and human rights abuses. The RSF’s attacks in Darfur have put hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk due to intense fighting, lack of humanitarian access, and targeted violence toward civilians and human rights activists.
In May and June 2023, representatives of civil society in El Geneina, West Darfur, faced targeted threats and killings by the RSF and allied militia. On August 4, 2023, gunmen in RSF uniforms also abducted and killed human rights activist and lawyer Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah and his colleague Adam Omer in Nyala, South Darfur.
The Governor of West Darfur, Khamis Abakar, was killed on June 14, 2023, and was last seen with Barkalla (see S/2024/65, para 71). Videos on social media showed Abakar being forced into a building by RSF soldiers, followed by a second video hours later showing Abakar’s dead body and troops in RSF uniforms celebrating around it.
Between May and November 2023, the RSF and its allied militia carried out at least 10 attacks against civilians in the West Darfur towns of El-Geneina and Ardamata, killing thousands of people and burying them in more than 13 mass graves. Women and girls were also reportedly raped and sexually abused during these attacks.