Amnesty International on May 19 demanded the removal of a commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), known by his nom de guerre “Abu Lulu,” citing war crime allegations against him. Amnesty International’s regional director for East Africa, Tigere Chagutah, stated:
It is alarming to learn he has returned to combat without any investigation into the allegations. The RSF leadership must remove Abu Lulu from the battlefield and from their ranks immediately, and he must be investigated for the war crime of wilful killings.
The rights organization also called for the RSF to end attacks on civilians and allow them safe passage to flee the ongoing violence.
The Sudanese army and the RSF have engaged in a civil war for the last three years, causing one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, and mass killings. Al-Fatih Abdallah Idris AKA “Abu Lulu” was arrested in late October 2025 by the RSF following global outrage from a viral video appearing to show him executing unarmed civilians.
The 15 captives were killed during the RSF’s takeover of El Fasher city in the Darfur region. A UN report found that the RSF was responsible for at least 6,000 deaths in the two days preceding the execution of the civilian captives, with 1,400 deaths reported to have taken place along the city’s escape routes. The UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission into the Sudan war also concluded that the mass killings by the RSF during the takeover of El Fasher were consistent with the markers of genocide.
Reuters conducted an investigation this year, and reported that multiple sources confirmedthat Abu Lulu was released from detention and returned to the battlefield. Among other sources, a Sudanese intelligence official and another RSF commander witnessed him on a battlefield in Kordofan in March.
A spokesman for the RSF-led parallel government, known as the Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS), denied that Abu Lulu had been released. In a statement to Reuters, Ahmed Tugud Lisan said the claim was “untrue, malicious, and completely false.”
From JURIST, May 21. Used with permission. Internal links added.
Map: PCL
