US Commission on International Religious Freedom Designates Sudanese Militia, RSF as Extremist Entity

Washington – Sudanhorizon

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has issued new recommendations regarding extremist entities for 2026, adding the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to its list for the second consecutive year.

The Commission’s 2026 annual report, which submits recommendations to the US President, Secretary of State, and Congress, states that it has added the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces to its list of extremist groups. However, the Commission did not include Sudan as a country in its 2026 report, which covers the year 2025, in any of its various designations.

The report states that the key findings, recommendations, and analyses contained within it are based on research conducted by USCIRF, including travel, hearings, meetings, and briefings. These findings were approved by a majority vote of the commissioners, with each commissioner, as required by law, having the option to include a statement reflecting their personal views.

The 2026 annual report recommends that the U.S. State Department designate seven non-state actors as entities of particular concern for committing serious violations of religious freedom. The State Department had already designated six of these groups as terrorist organizations in December 2023: al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, the Islamic State in the Sahel (ISIS-Sahel), the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM). The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) added a new terrorist organization designation for 2026: the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Regarding the reasons given for designating the RSF, the report stated that the RSF had steadily consolidated its territorial control over El Fasher and expanded its influence throughout Darfur and parts of Kordofan in 2025. It further stated that the RSF had committed mass atrocities and widespread human rights abuses, with detrimental effects on religious freedom and religious and ethnic diversity in the country.

The report stated that survivors, aid organizations, and international investigators confirmed summary executions of unarmed civilians, targeted killings of non-Arabs, widespread arbitrary arrests, abductions, and widespread sexual violence. Rapid Support Forces fighters also looted and destroyed civilian infrastructure, including places of worship such as churches and mosques, as well as hospitals and markets. They imposed sieges on civilian areas, cutting off food, medicine, and humanitarian aid, and enforced communications blackouts to isolate survivors and obstruct independent media coverage.

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