Sudanese civilians, rights defenders urge UK to act on RSF war crimes submission
June 3, 2025 (LONDON) – Over 100 Sudanese civilians, victims, refugees, and international human rights defenders have formally urged the United Kingdom government to take action on a legal submission detailing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.
A letter, signed by 108 Sudanese and international individuals, was delivered on Tuesday to the UK Government and the Office of the Attorney General. It specifically targets the War Crimes Unit of the UK Metropolitan Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The letter expresses “deep urgency and unwavering resolve” in supporting a 142-page dossier submitted to Scotland Yard on May 5, 2025. This submission, made on the second anniversary of the war in Sudan, provides “compelling evidence of systematic massacres, targeted attacks on civilians, and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and other acts that amount to genocide,” according to the letter, which cites recognition by the United States government. The dossier also points to evidence of international actors’ complicity in enabling these atrocities.
The signatories called upon UK authorities to treat the submission with “the seriousness it demands”. They urged that the evidence, deemed “compelling” by former international judge Sir Howard Morrison, not remain confined to bureaucratic archives but be shared with the International Criminal Court and subjected to full investigative and judicial scrutiny. The letter also pressed for close collaboration with international mechanisms to actively contribute to prosecuting those responsible.
The letter states that the leadership of the RSF, including its commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemetti”, and their international supporters, bear “direct and indirect responsibility” for these crimes. It invokes the doctrine of command responsibility, stating it “compels action against those who knew or should have known about such violations and opted to ignore them or failed to prevent or punish them”.
Reminding the UK government of its international legal and moral obligations, the signatories highlighted decades of impunity for violence in Darfur and Sudan, noting that the current war has “reignited the worst horrors of the past”. “The Sudanese people deserve justice,” the letter asserted, defining it as “a tangible process of reckoning, redress, and non-repetition”.
The signatories called on UK institutions to immediately share the dossier and evidence with the ICC, open a formal investigation into RSF leadership under UK universal jurisdiction frameworks, publicly support international accountability efforts, and ensure transparency with the Sudanese public regarding the case’s progress.
“To remain silent, or to act with hesitance, is to allow the machinery of atrocity to continue its march unchecked,” the letter concluded. “The Sudanese people will not be silenced. We will not stop demanding justice. And we will never forget those we have lost”.