UK sanctions 15 Sudan commanders and pledges aid for sexual-violence survivors

The United Kingdom announced sanctions on October 26 against 15 senior commanders from Sudan’s rival forces over suspected atrocities, including conflict-related sexual violence. The measures were accompanied by funding for survivors and humanitarian assistance in Sudan, according to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

Commanders from both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) were designated. Those sanctioned face asset freezes and travel bans, the department said. The announcement follows five earlier rounds of British sanctions targeting suspected perpetrators in the conflict and networks supporting them.

Among those named was Hussein Abu Jalak, a colonel in the RSF whom the FCDO tied to atrocities committed while El Fasher was under siege. It also designated Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as Al-Qubba, saying he had been present and played a prominent part in the siege and attacks on the city.

A £5 million allocation will fund services for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, the department said. The support covers sexual and reproductive healthcare, maternal health services, psychosocial assistance and safe spaces for women and girls.

Separately, the UK announced £10 million for the humanitarian response. That package is intended to improve water and sanitation access at displacement sites around Tawila, while supporting health, protection and other essential services in El Obeid, according to the FCDO.

The department placed the announcement one year after El Fasher fell to the RSF. It said an eighteen-month siege preceding the city’s capture had starved hundreds of thousands of civilians, and that civilians were massacred and women and girls subjected to sexual violence in the following days.

The FCDO cited UK-funded investigations by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) as documenting systematic starvation and conflict-related sexual violence against civilians by both sides. According to the department, CIR found that women and girls had been abducted and raped repeatedly, and that some were held in what it described as conditions of sexual slavery.

The department also described CIR-sourced footage in which RSF fighters discussed cutting water supplies to El Fasher and stopping traders from bringing food into the city.

Further CIR reporting released during the week of the announcement showed siege tactics continuing elsewhere in Sudan, the FCDO said. It cited drone attacks on civilian infrastructure and humanitarian operations, alongside systematic obstruction of aid.

The department linked heightened famine risk to attacks on markets, health facilities, displacement camps and other infrastructure, as well as impediments to aid delivery and El Nino-induced drought.