Australia sanctions four Sudanese figures over rights abuses
Travel bans and financial restrictions target SAF and RSF leaders, plus an Islamist paramilitary group.
Australia placed financial sanctions and travel bans on four Sudanese individuals, including SAF Commander-in-Chief General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo Mousa. West Darfur governor Al-Tijani Al-Tahir Karshoum and RSF field commander Hussein Barsham also face sanctions. The Al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade, an Islamist paramilitary group aligned with the SAF, is also subject to financial sanctions.
The Australian government stated that both the SAF and RSF committed serious human rights violations and abuses, such as attacks on civilians, torture, sexual violence, and extrajudicial killings. "Those responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses must be held to account," the government said in a statement. The sanctions were enacted under Australia’s Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011.
The four individuals are now subject to travel bans preventing entry to Australia, and their assets are frozen. These measures build on previous sanctions against 13 individuals under the UN Security Council's framework. The conflict, which began on April 15, 2023, has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced over 14 million people, with nearly 34 million needing humanitarian aid.
Why it mattersFour Sudanese figures and one paramilitary group face Australian sanctions for alleged human rights abuses linked to the ongoing conflict.