Investigation Maps 25 Commanders at Sites of Reported Sexual Violence in Sudan
An investigation by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), a research group that uses open-source methods, has identified 25 commanders present at five sites during periods of reported sexual violence in Sudan, according to Al Jazeera. Open-source methods means working from publicly available material such as photographs, video and online posts rather than from access on the ground.
The investigation examines five locations and the periods in which abuse was reported there. It links the commanders' appearances and roles to evidence gathered by the United Nations, rights groups and Sudanese organisations. Its findings cover both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the army, as well as their allied forces. Commander sightings were independently verified by two analysts.
CIR's report identifies commanders who exercised authority where atrocities were reported.
According to CIR, Khademallah Khashmin Herika, also known as Shiraz Khalid, is a major who commands the RSF's female contingent. CIR describes remarks Herika made in a video posted on 26 October 2025 as "explicit incitement to rape."
The most senior RSF officer identified around the city of el-Fasher, CIR says, is Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the group's deputy commander. He is the brother of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. CIR verified his presence at the army's former 6th Infantry Division base on 26 October 2025, and at the Saudi Hospital on 4 November.
The hospital and the city are central to a separate body of findings. A United Nations fact-finding mission documented mass and gang rape during the RSF takeover of el-Fasher, including at the Saudi Hospital and el-Fasher University.
CIR's findings were published in a Sudan Witness report titled "Sexual violence as a weapon of war in Sudan," released on 26 October. The report traces how commanders moved between locations linked to wartime rape in Sudan.
Separately, the United Kingdom has sanctioned senior military commanders it suspects of atrocities, including conflict-related sexual violence, during the fall of El Fasher. Sanctions are official penalties that restrict a target's access to money, travel and dealings with the sanctioning country. The UK also announced new support for survivors, according to a statement reported on 27 October.
The war between the RSF and the SAF has produced allegations of sexual violence by fighters on both sides. The CIR investigation focuses on specific sites and commanders, and it says the commanders it names held authority where abuses were reported.
