Sudan’s Hemedti embraced abroad as he terrorises civilians at home
Al Jazeera
Paramilitary leader welcomed on Africa tour while Sudanese civilians accuse his fighters of atrocities.
On January 6, Sudanese paramilitary leader Mohamad Hamdan Dagalo, better known as “Hemedti”, visited the memorial in Kigali that commemorates the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Hemedti toured the museum solemnly, his sympathy-filled face belying the fact that his paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are accused of similar atrocities in Sudan’s civil war.
Hemedti’s visit to Rwanda was part of a tour to meet African heads of state from late December to early January. South Africa, Uganda, Djibouti, Rwanda and Ethiopia all greeted Hemedti warmly, and Kenya rolled out a red carpet for him.
His tour dispelled rumours that he might be seriously wounded or killed in a conflict in which his fighters have killed thousands of civilians across Sudan, seized homes, looted cars, plundered aid, robbed banks and raped indiscriminately as a weapon of war.
Despite civilians testifying to these atrocities, Hemedti was received across Africa like a head of state, raising fears that he will keep terrorising civilians with regional backing, local monitors and experts told Al Jazeera.
