US Official Names RSF Among Global Perpetrators of Racial Discrimination

New York – Sudanhorizon

The U.S. Special Representative for Combating Racism, Desirée Cormier Smith, has implicated the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in acts of racial discrimination, according to U.S. State Department standards. This statement was made during the second annual Global Anti-Racism Heroes Awards presentation.

In a press release from the U.S. State Department published on Monday, Smith highlighted that in Sudan, the warring parties have once again engaged in ethnically targeted violence, stating that “the RSF has committed ethnic cleansing” against tribal groups in Darfur, the same communities that have endured the brunt of the Darfur genocide more than 20 years ago.

Notably, the RSF was the only rebel group specifically named and accused of racial practices in Smith’s address during the 2024 awards ceremony honouring global anti-racism champions.

The awards recognised “six distinguished civil society leaders who displayed extraordinary courage in facing some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”

One of the honourees was a leader from Ghana who made significant efforts to provide marginalised pastoral groups (the Fulani) access to essential services such as education and clean drinking water.

The U.S. State Department initially focused the award on Europe but now acknowledges that racial and ethnic conflicts are global issues. The conflicts rooted in race, ethnicity, and identity are worsening worldwide, with references made to the plight of Muslims in Burma and the devastation of the Rohingya persecution.

The situation in Gaza was also mentioned briefly, with attention drawn to the religious and social factors fueling the conflict there.

Turning to Sudan, the U.S. representative specifically cited the RSF’s ethnic cleansing of communities that have been subjected to genocide in Darfur over the past two decades.

The award recipients included Dentisuli Tayiru from Ghana, Tanya Duarte from Mexico, John Leerdam from the Netherlands, Elvis Shakjiri from Macedonia, Urmila Choudhury from Nepal, and Tomasa Yarhui Jacome from Bolivia.

The report praised these individuals for demonstrating exceptional courage, strength, leadership, and commitment to advancing human rights and combating systemic racism, discrimination, xenophobia, and gender-based violence.