Sudan condemns Uganda’s reception of RSF leader as ‘direct support for ‘genocide’

Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned Uganda’s reception of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, describing it as “direct support for the crimes of genocide” that Khartoum accuses the paramilitary group of committing.

In a statement, the ministry denounced Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s meeting on Friday with the RSF leader.

“This unprecedented step insults humanity before it insults the Sudanese people, and at the same time, it disregards the lives of innocent people killed due to the behaviour of Hemedti and his terrorist militia,” the Foreign Ministry stated.

The ministry added the “atrocities committed by the terrorist militia (RSF)” had been documented by the international community and condemned by regional organisations to which Uganda belongs, including the African Union.

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It added that hosting Hemedti “does not respect the minimum of humanitarian values and disregards the scale of crimes suffered by the Sudanese people”. 

The statement also said the move “contravenes the laws governing relations between member states of regional and international organisations” and “constitutes support for rebel forces against a legitimate system recognised internationally”.

However, the ministry acknowledged that the Ugandan government “has the sovereign right to receive whomever it wishes on its territory and to determine its bilateral relations in line with its national interests”. It said Sudan nevertheless expressed concern that the step signalled “a new policy supportive of the rebel Hemedti”.

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