Sudan’s RSF gets podium in Nairobi to deny rights abuses

They spoke on the day the UN Security Council was due to meet in New York to discuss a draft resolution on Sudan, as rights watchdogs called for a UN peacekeeping mission to protect civilians from harm.

The draft resolution, prepared by Sierra Leone and the UK, and circulated to other Council members, condemns the “ethnically motivated killings, sexual and gender-based violence…and destruction and looting of livelihoods and homes by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)…”.

It calls on member states to refrain from interfering with the war and to fully respect an arms embargo on Darfur, and on the warring parties to agree to a ceasefire.

Major General Omar Hamdam Ahmed, the head of the RSF delegation, accused the junta led by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) of undermining peace efforts.

“We have embraced and attended all initiatives such as the Jeddah and Geneva talks but SAF has always found ways to abscond these talks and are not interested in returning the country to civilian rule,” said Maj-Gen Ahmed told the Nairobi press conference at the Panafric Hotel, where the RSF staged a PowerPoint presentation of its war stances.

The SAF and RSF have been fighting since April 15, 2023. More than 20,000 people have died as a result of the conflict, either directly from injuries or from starvation or lack of access to medical care, according to reports by rights groups.

The presentation suggested the uncertainty of the search for peace in Sudan with the two sides digging in their heels.

Read: Sudan warlord accuses Egypt of targeting RSF troops

The Nairobi briefing is likely to elicit a terse response from Port Sudan, where the SAF, the de facto government of Sudan, is now holed up after relocating its offices from the capital Khartoum.

Burhan recently accused the United Arab Emirates and other unnamed countries of siding with RSF to perpetuate the war.

“A war is being waged by a group of rebels receiving political and logistical support at the local and regional level,” Burhan told an audience at the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

“You’ve all witnessed the crimes, violations and atrocities committed by these rebels targeting the Sudanese people and the Sudanese State,” he added, saying the RSF was engaging in “devastating aggression.”

Burhan has spoken in international arenas as the head of Sudan, although the RSF has also sarcastically given speeches virtually to mimic Sudan’s government. In addition, Burhan has also received State invitations to Moscow and Beijing, where he held talks with their leaders.

Read: Sudan army chief Burhan seeks political legitimacy on the back of damaging war

Gen Ahmed said that since May 2023, RSF has been cooperating with all the peace initiatives, but that its opponents were not serious and are bent on keeping power. Burhan had skipped the last round of talks, citing uninvited guests at the meeting, the UAE.

But RSF denies receiving any support from the UAE, saying: “We don't get any assistance from any country whatever.” This claim has been contradicted by evidence gathered by a UN panel of experts on Sudan, as well as by independent researchers.

RSF acknowledges that there have been some human rights violations in Al-Gezira state, south of Khartoum, where violence has recently raged. But the group claims the perpetrators are impersonators led by Abu Agla Keikel, an RSF commander it says who defected to the SAF in October.

Read: RSF accused of new massacres in Sudan

Row with Nairobi

For Nairobi, the presence of RSF could spark a diplomatic row with Burhan. But it is not the only country in the region to be accused of indirectly supporting the RSF. Uganda has also had to defend itself against such claims.

Nairobi did not immediately comment on the press conference, but President Ruto has in the past called for dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure an end to the war.

And he got flak from Burhan for that.

Earlier this year, Burhan suspended cooperation with the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) after it appeared to invite RSF. Burhan had previously refused President Ruto's mediation role under Igad, although he had visited Nairobi after which they agreed to continue pursuit of peaceful means, a dispatch indicated at the time in November last year.

Gen Ezzadin Elsaf Risi, a member of the RSF high command, defended President Ruto saying that he had been trying hard to get Burhan and RSF leader General Hamdan Dagalo to meet face-to-face and agree on a ceasefire, with no success.

In fact, Dr Ruto had launched a third track of talks earlier this year, targeting civilian movements with relative influence over the warring factions to seek peace. It didn’t work.

This strategy has been used by the United States. On November 10, US Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello met with some civilian groups in Cairo, seeing them as useful pushers.

“I have found reasons for hope about solving the crisis in Sudan from the last two days of meetings with Sudanese in Cairo, including Sufi leaders, various political coalitions, youth leaders focused on transitional justice, and humanitarian experts hoping to get food and medicine to all 18 states of Sudan,” he said.

The US special envoy was expected in Port Sudan on Monday to meet with Burhan.

Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused RSF of killing, injuring, and unlawfully detaining scores of civilians and raping women and girls in the Al Gezira state since October 20, 2024.

The HRW had called on the United Nations to deploy a peacekeeping mission in Sudan to act as a buffer zone and prevent further civilian casualties.

About 30 million Sudanese are facing starvation, but RSF maintains that they have been working with humanitarian organisations to deliver more than 570 food caravans of humanitarian aid to areas under its control, including West Darfur, Al-Gezira, Blue Nile and Kordofan.

RSF claimed that in October and November alone, over 2,873 people were killed by government airstrikes.

“The biggest challenge now is airstrikes in areas under our control by SAF and Egypt—which is now directly interfering in the internal affairs of Sudan,” said Mohammed Muktar Nur, the RSF legal spokesperson.  

The press conference raised the question of why the Ruto government could allow a group considered rebels in Sudan to move freely within the country.