WASHINGTON, April 16 (UPI) — As the death toll continues to mount in Sudan, the Trump administration on Wednesday for the first time characterized the atrocities in that North African country as genocide, reaffirming a designation made by the former Biden administration in January.
“The Trump administration calls for accountability for the Rapid Support Forces for the genocide in Sudan, where they have murdered men and boys, and even infants on an ethnic basis, targeted fleeing civilians, and committed acts of brutal sexual violence against women and girls of other ethnic groups,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email.
Previously, the Trump administration had refused to directly acknowledge the determination of genocide against the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Jan 7 called the bloodshed in Sudan “the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe” when he declared it to be genocide.
The Trump administration’s acknowledgement comes a day after the two-year anniversary of the start of the Sudanese civil war between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces. According to the United Nations, the war has displaced 12.4 million people and fueled extreme famine.
Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, which partnered with the State Department in its initial investigation in Sudan, said in an interview before the Trump administration’s acknowledgement that such an action would be a major development, but much more needed to be done to stop the genocide.
“The capacity for conducting foreign policy is so low within the U.S. State Department that we’re just trying to figure out if the old policy still remains, because it hasn’t been formally contradicted yet,” Raymond said. “That’s how low the bar is.”
The 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” Raymond said the grounds for genocide in Sudan were established based on the el-Geneina massacres committed in 2023, in which there were targeted arson attacks on more than 100 villages.
“The U.S. has made a genocide determination as of January that genocide is occurring by the RSF against non-Arab African groups, primarily the Zaghawa, the Masalit and the Fur,” Raymond said.
Since 2023, the paramilitary group had continued targeting civilians, and most recently attacked camps for internally displaced refugees in North Darfur over the weekend. According to the U.N., 300 people were killed in that attack, including at least 23 children and 10 aid workers for Relief International.
Since the Trump administration took office, the main policy initiatives addressing Sudan have been the shuttering of USAID relief programs, including emergency response rooms and soup kitchen feeding programs, according to Raymond.
“When there are disruptions, even temporary, a week can mean the difference between life and death for populations in this state,” Raymond said. “For a kid who is in a state we call SAM — severe acute malnutrition — losing one week of consistent nutrition can mean death.”
Raymond said his research lab had been receiving reports from humanitarians on the ground after the recent attacks on North Darfur that claimed people fleeing the Zamzam camp had been experiencing famine conditions for almost a year and were unable to survive the journey to escape the killings.
“They are so weak that they are walking over to the side of the road and dying,” he said.
Until last year, the United States also continued to sell weapons to the United Arab Emirates, which has supplied arms to the RSF. According to Politico, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., “quietly blocked arms sales to the United Arab Emirates since late last year.”
Raymond said the sale of arms to the UAE violates the Leahy Law, which prohibits providing funds or assistance to foreign military units suspected of committing gross human rights violations. The International Court of Justice is currently hearing a case against the United Arab Emirates for complicity in genocide in Sudan.
In addition to halting arms to the United Arab Emirates, Raymond said the United States could take a number of actions to fulfill its obligation to punish and deter genocide under the Genocide Convention.
For example, the United States could place sanctions on the UAE for its role in arming the RSF. It also could participate in future international diplomacy efforts, such as a recent ministerial meeting in the United Kingdom to work for an immediate cease-fire in Sudan. Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not attend.
In addition, Raymond said, the United States could send a special envoy to relevant capitals, including Abu Dhabi, to address the genocide and announce that it is collecting intelligence and evidence to support accountability against those who are committing atrocities.
Besides the temporary halting of arms sales by Meeks, the Trump administration had not shown interest in taking any of those actions. Raymond said the United States was failing to adequately fulfill its obligation to prevent genocide, which could lead to history repeating itself.
“Not only is the genocide happening. We are at the final battle of the Darfur genocide that began 20 years ago,” Raymond said. “The consequence [of inaction] is that the RSF is in position to literally get away with completing the genocide that began with the Janjaweed 20 years ago.”
