Published On 10/6/2026
Yesterday, Tuesday, 12 victims of the Sudanese war filed the first criminal complaint of its kind before the judicial authorities in Kenya against members of the Rapid Support Forces, accusing them of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, in a step that is the first attempt to prosecute leaders and members of the force outside Sudan under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
The complaint was submitted by the Global Legal Initiative (LAW) and the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies, through a Kenyan law firm, to the Director of Public Prosecutions in Nairobi, demanding that an investigation be opened against 10 members of the Rapid Support Forces suspected of having ties to Kenya or the presence of some of them on its territory.
The charges relate to crimes committed in and around Khartoum between April 2023 and March 2025, during the period when the Rapid Support Forces were imposing their control over large areas of the Sudanese capital.
According to the complaint file, the victims were subjected to detention in conditions described as inhumane, including deprivation of food, drinking water, and health care, in addition to being subjected to beatings, burning, electric shocks, suffocation, and sexual violations, including rape and sexual slavery, while some detainees were forced to transport bodies from inside detention centers.
Human rights organizations quoted one of the victims as saying that members of the Rapid Support Forces violently interrogated him, detained him in the dark for weeks, and tried to force him at gunpoint to assault one of his cellmates.
Characteristics of genocide
Executive Director of the Global Legal Initiative, Antonia Molefe, said that the complaint represents an opportunity for Kenya to demonstrate its commitment to combating impunity, calling on the Kenyan authorities to use the International Crimes Act of 2008 to prosecute those accused of committing the most serious international crimes regardless of where they occurred.
She added that the Rapid Support Forces destroyed the lives of millions of Sudanese and killed tens of thousands, noting that Kenyan public opinion realizes that some suspects “move freely to and from Kenya,” stressing that the country should not turn into a safe haven for war criminals.
In turn, the Kenyan lawyer, Willis Otieno, who filed the complaint, said that the available information indicates the existence of links between some of those sought for investigation and Kenya, stressing that the legal framework in the country allows the investigation of international crimes and the prosecution of their perpetrators.
This step comes at a time when the Rapid Support Forces are facing mounting accusations from the United Nations and international human rights organizations of committing violations that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the Darfur region, where international reports spoke of attacks bearing the characteristics of genocide.
The war broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, after disputes between the two parties escalated into open confrontations in Khartoum and other areas, which led to the death of tens of thousands and the displacement of millions. The United Nations describes the conflict as the largest humanitarian crisis the world is currently witnessing.
