Sudanese Activists Are Fighting US and UAE Complicity in Sudan’s Genocide

In April 2023, Sudan’s two predominant army factions broke out into an all-out struggle that has devastated a lot of the nation within the practically two years since. The 2 factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Speedy Assist Forces (RSF), had beforehand labored collectively to repress the favored revolution that ousted Omar al-Bashir in 2019, collectively committing the June 2019 Khartoum bloodbath and overseeing the 2021 coup earlier than turning in opposition to one another in a bloody energy battle. The present struggle ought to subsequently be understood as a counterrevolutionary struggle, smothering the 2018 Sudanese Revolution that had put ahead the potential of a civilian, democratic various to army rule and revived hopes within the wave of revolutions that had unfold throughout the Center East and North Africa since 2011.

Although each army factions have dedicated struggle crimes all through the course of this struggle, the SAF — the state army — has positioned itself because the “lesser evil” nationally and internationally to achieve favor and legitimacy, a declare that Sudanese activists proceed to push again in opposition to. Quite a few international and regional international locations have backed the SAF, together with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and Russia, amongst others. Alternatively, regional powers, particularly the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have sustained the struggle via their assist of the RSF. In January 2025, after 21 months of struggle in Sudan, the Biden administration issued sanctions first on the RSF, then on the chief of the SAF, elevating questions as to the timing of those sanctions and to double requirements compared to Israel’s struggle crimes. Nonetheless, the struggle in Sudan additionally quantities to genocide, and deserves consideration and accountability. Now, President Donald Trump’s halting of USAID funds is compounding an already extreme starvation disaster brought on by two years of struggle. Activists within the Sudanese diaspora are working to make clear the roles of these concerned within the struggle and to construct campaigns, particularly in opposition to the UAE’s continued fueling of the struggle.

On this roundtable, Shireen Akram-Boshar speaks to members of the Sudanese Resistance Entrance (SuRF), a corporation of Sudanese activists, concerning the U.S.’s sanctions, the connection between the RSF and SAF, and the function of the UAE and different regional and international powers in sustaining the struggle in Sudan. Midday Elsaeyed is a Sudanese organizer and author who works on political schooling and consciousness as a member of SuRF. Salome Ayuak is an organizer, member of SuRF and author devoted to constructing solidarity amongst Africans on the continent and within the diaspora within the pursuit of liberation. Mazen Alsafi is an unbiased filmmaker and organizer and a central committee member of SuRF. By movie and design, Alsafi wields tradition as a weapon of resistance, utilizing visible storytelling to problem oppression and amplify revolutionary actions.

These interviews have been edited for size and readability.

Shireen Akram-Boshar: On January 7, the U.S. introduced in an announcement that it had concluded that Sudan’s Speedy Assist Forces (RSF) and its allied militias have dedicated genocide in Sudan. Within the assertion, the U.S. declared sanctions in opposition to RSF chief Mohamed “Hemedti” Dagalo, and on a number of RSF corporations. One week later, the U.S. additionally imposed sanctions on the top of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. What had been your reactions to those statements? Why do you assume these sanctions had been imposed now, and can they make a distinction?

Midday Elsaeyed: The U.S. sanctions and genocide designation present how severe the disaster in Sudan is, however we are able to’t depend on imperialist instruments to free our folks. Sanctions prior to now, like these throughout al-Bashir’s rule, damage the Sudanese folks excess of they damage the regime. They crushed the economic system, remoted the nation and pushed folks deeper into poverty, whereas the regime discovered methods to adapt and even strengthen its grip on state funding inside an elite circle.

Concentrating on either side of the battle with sanctions units a harmful precedent for additional U.S. interventions underneath the guise of accountability, used as a framework to embolden deeper financial restrictions or political manipulation. Imposing sanctions with out addressing the battle’s historical and systemic roots oversimplifies a fancy scenario, and sidelines Sudan’s sovereignty. Such actions usually justify imperialist meddling whereas leaving core problems with militarization, exploitation and international dependency unresolved. Concentrating on Hemedti and al-Burhan may appear like accountability, nevertheless it dangers being one other symbolic transfer that leaves civilians scuffling with the identical corrupt methods in place.

Salome Ayuak: My response to america’ sanctions on the RSF and SAF is rooted in a deep skepticism formed by historic patterns of U.S. involvement in Sudan. These sanctions evoke reminiscences of 2004 and the U.S. response to the Darfur disaster, which additionally concerned requires intervention.

The RSF’s rise to energy is a direct consequence of a long time of imperialist intervention. Within the lead-up to the partition of South Sudan in 2011, the U.S. actively funneled arms and different army sources into the area, taking part in all sides to deepen inside divisions. Many of those weapons finally ended up within the arms of the RSF, equipping them to consolidate energy and commit atrocities. This isn’t a relic of the previous; arms shipments from U.S. allies just like the UAE proceed to maintain the RSF’s operations at this time. The U.S. authorities’s declaration of genocide now conveniently ignores its function in creating the circumstances for such violence, permitting it to place itself as an ethical arbiter whereas deflecting duty for the chaos it sowed.

Overseas intervention, financial management and army manipulation have formed the nation’s struggles. In 2018, the Sudanese Revolution was a problem to this technique, however the counterrevolution adopted swiftly. In April 2019, RSF chief Hemedti helped take away Omar al-Bashir — not for the folks, however to safe energy. He and SAF chief al-Burhan labored collectively to suppress the uprisings that continued after al-Bashir’s ouster, with the RSF massacring over 100 civilians at a sit-in in Khartoum on June 3, 2019. Their alliance quickly collapsed, revealing a battle between army leaders, each supported by international pursuits.

Elite peace deals — ceasefires, power-sharing agreements and IMF-driven reforms — only serve to legitimize military control while sidelining Sudan’s grassroots movements. These agreements uphold the identical constructions that created Sudan’s disaster, rewarding army teams for his or her violence. True peace lies in supporting Sudanese-led actions for justice, self-determination and liberation.

Akram-Boshar: On January 11, the SAF recaptured Wad Madani, a key metropolis in Sudan, from the RSF. Whereas there was reduction and celebration that the RSF’s brutality within the metropolis was ending, Sudanese activists additionally cautioned in opposition to the concept the SAF takeover was the “liberation” they had been hoping for. The concept that the RSF is particularly answerable for the genocide and 21-month struggle in Sudan means that the SAF are the “lesser evil” or extra fascinating power to stay in management in Sudan. However a have a look at the RSF’s origins suggests in any other case. May you speak concerning the relationship between the RSF and the SAF traditionally? How do Sudanese folks on the bottom in Sudan, and within the diaspora, understand the 2 forces?

Ayuak: The RSF and SAF are deeply intertwined traditionally, rising from the identical methods of violence and repression which have outlined Sudan’s fashionable historical past. The RSF originated from the Janjaweed militias, armed and supported by the SAF throughout the Darfur battle to hold out genocidal campaigns. In 2013, the RSF was formalized underneath Hemedti and have become a part of the state’s safety equipment, demonstrating the SAF’s function in institutionalizing these militias. This historic relationship reveals that the SAF and RSF are usually not basically completely different forces however quite extensions of the identical oppressive constructions.

Each the SAF and RSF have perpetrated violence in opposition to civilians to consolidate their energy. The SAF, underneath leaders like Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has a protracted report of concentrating on marginalized areas reminiscent of Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. In Abyei, the SAF used northern militias to displace the Dinka Ngok communities and exploit the area’s oil sources, prioritizing energy and financial pursuits over the well-being of the folks. Equally, the RSF’s brutal actions in Darfur and later in Khartoum throughout the 2019 massacre comply with the identical sample of state-sanctioned violence.

The notion that the SAF may provide liberation obscures their historical past of complicity in Sudan’s struggling. This framing additionally detracts from the continued work of grassroots resistance committees and neighborhood councils, which have been on the forefront of revolutionary actions demanding civilian management. Sudanese activists reject elite peace offers that legitimize army actors like al-Burhan and Hemedti. Agreements such because the 2020 Juba Peace Settlement [signed between the post-Bashir transitional government and several armed groups] usually sideline civilian efforts by specializing in power-sharing amongst armed teams and imposing financial reforms that hurt the folks, such because the elimination of gasoline subsidies and IMF-driven austerity measures.

The SAF’s recapture of Wad Madani is just not a step towards liberation however a continuation of the identical oppressive constructions that the SAF and RSF have at all times embodied. Organizers argue that true liberation requires dismantling these militarized our bodies and centering the calls for of civilian-led actions.

Akram-Boshar: Sudanese activists have decried the UAE for its involvement within the 21-month struggle in Sudan. The UAE has repeatedly denied its function, however proof in opposition to it’s mounting. Whereas the U.S. statements in early January uncared for to say the function of the UAE, the nation’s function in prolonging the struggle has develop into unimaginable to disregard. However Sudanese activists within the diaspora have been organizing to deliver consideration to the UAE’s culpability, whereas calling for a boycott of the UAE. What has the UAE’s function been in sustaining the struggle? Why is the U.S. ignoring it?

Elsaeyed: The UAE has had a longstanding monetary and army relationship with the RSF earlier than the present struggle in Sudan. This partnership consists of the trade of gold for weapons, and deployment of RSF troopers to combat for the UAE in Yemen. Proof of their involvement is not simply an accusation; it is well-documented. Not solely do RSF fighters use UAE-manufactured weapons, however flights of Emirates planes have been repeatedly documented touring to and from RSF strongholds, delivering cargo and transporting the injured. There have been reports of tons of gold being smuggled out of Sudan, with the UAE taking part in a central function on this illicit commerce.

Regardless of this overwhelming proof, the U.S. and different Western imperial powers have remained obscure and unwilling to immediately deal with the UAE’s function within the battle. This silence persists even after formal accusations had been made by the Sudanese authorities to the UN Safety Council, clearly laying out the UAE’s complicity in fueling the struggle. The pursuits of the UAE embrace useful resource and land grabs in resource-plentiful Sudan. Gold, agricultural land and livestock exist in a lot abundance that they’ve been fueling the Gulf states’ incursions in Sudan for many years. The U.S.’s reluctance to confront the UAE is pushed by strategic pursuits, significantly because the UAE was lately declared a major defense partner, and is essential to the U.S.’s Center East technique, together with in its efforts to counter Iran. The UAE’s function is thus neglected or downplayed, enabling it to proceed its involvement with out dealing with any accountability, a lot lower than a stern warning. This not solely shields the UAE but additionally highlights the double requirements of Western international coverage in Sudan.

Ayuak: The U.S. and UAE’s pursuits are deeply aligned as co-conspirators in sustaining a system of worldwide exploitation and management. The U.S. gives a lot of the army {hardware}, intelligence and geopolitical assist that allows the UAE to behave in Sudan and throughout the area. U.S. weapons are routinely utilized by the UAE to suppress resistance actions, not simply in Sudan but additionally in Yemen, Libya, and elsewhere. Each powers are united of their quest to take care of regional instability as a device for financial achieve, utilizing battle to safe commerce routes, exploit pure sources and suppress the political company of the folks within the area. This management is just not solely about entry to sources like gold in Sudan, but additionally the geopolitical leverage it gives in a broader regional technique that features every little thing from the occupation of Palestine to undermining Yemen’s sovereignty.

The resistance to this technique requires extra than simply symbolic boycotts; it calls for a structural rethinking of how imperial powers, led by the U.S. and backed by regional actors just like the UAE, perpetuate war for profit. Boycotts of the UAE, whereas important, have to be half of a bigger technique that immediately challenges the U.S.-UAE axis, exposing their shared function within the struggling of Sudanese folks and dismantling the imperialist system that sustains it. Solidarity with Sudan, Palestine, Yemen, and past is crucial, not only for instant political achieve, however for difficult the worldwide methods of violence and management that the U.S. and UAE each perpetuate.

Akram-Boshar: What have campaigns in opposition to the UAE’s function seemed like? Have they gained traction or successes so far?

Mazen Alsafi: The UAE has performed a central function in fueling the struggle in Sudan, arming the RSF with weapons which have devastated cities, displaced thousands and thousands and entrenched counterrevolutionary violence. Regardless of intensive documentation of the UAE’s arms shipments, worldwide establishments have didn’t act. Many organizations and campaigns have labored tirelessly to reveal the UAE’s complicity, elevating essential consciousness and laying the groundwork for additional motion. Nonetheless, consciousness alone is just not sufficient — we should escalate our efforts into direct disruption of the provision chains sustaining the counterrevolutionary struggle. Governments and international our bodies have confirmed both unwilling or incapable of imposing an arms embargo, which is why the Sudanese Resistance Entrance is advancing a Individuals’s Arms Embargo — a marketing campaign to immediately disrupt the provision chains sustaining the struggle.

SuRF has already been a part of a broad coalition concentrating on establishments complicit within the UAE’s imperialist interventions, together with tutorial establishments like New York College (NYU), which maintains deep monetary and political ties with the UAE. The UAE financially supports NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus, an extension of its soft power strategy, while at the same time funding and arming counterrevolutionary forces in Sudan. As a part of our bigger December marketing campaign centering the 2018 Sudanese Revolution and its calls for, we known as for NYU to divest from its partnerships with the UAE, recognizing that such ties immediately allow a regime that bankrolls struggle, repression and imperialist enlargement in Sudan and past.

In recent months, organizations have successfully exposed and disrupted arms shipments to Israel, revealing the fabric methods by which logistics networks facilitate the occupation of Palestine. Investigative research and direct action have brought to light how shipping companies transport military goods, forcing corporations to confront their complicity. We search to use related strategies in exposing and difficult the circulate of weapons from the U.S. and UAE to the RSF, making certain that these networks are usually not allowed to proceed unchecked. This requires constructing a united entrance with labor unions, anti-imperialist organizations, Sudanese diaspora networks and solidarity actions which have taken motion in opposition to imperialist-backed militarism in Palestine, Yemen, and past.

The Individuals’s Arms Embargo is a cloth intervention — not only a name for sanctions or an ethical condemnation, however a method to undermine imperialist war-making via collective motion. This implies mass political schooling, direct mobilization at ports and embassies, and coalition-building with organizations that share our aim of dismantling the networks that gasoline this struggle. These wanting to participate on this marketing campaign can be a part of our analysis efforts, mobilize of their cities and assist forge the united entrance essential to chop off the UAE and U.S. function in Sudan’s destruction.