In a letter addressed to the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Sudanese citizens and international observers expressed their profound concern and deep outrage regarding the UK government’s policy towards Sudan.
Issued on September 22, 2025, the letter asserted that the UK’s policy of adopting “rigid rhetoric” has prolonged the war, entrenched impunity, and facilitated horrific crimes committed against defenceless civilians in Sudan.
According to the letter, field evidence, supported by data and independent international reports, clearly indicates that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia bears the greatest responsibility for violations against civilians.
Citing the November 2024 report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), the letter stated that the militia is responsible for 77 percent of the crimes against civilians, followed by other actors.
The letter noted that Sudanese government forces have attributed the lowest proportion of violations against civilians.
Human Rights Watch documented in its 2025 report that the RSF had burned 43 villages in North Darfur by June 2024 and committed widespread sexual violence in Khartoum, Bahri, Omdurman, and Al Jazeera State after December 2023, according to the letter.
It criticized what it described as a recurring pattern in UK statements that avoid directly naming the RSF for attacks against civilians. In addition, it cites a September 19, 2025 tweet from the Foreign Secretary, which mentioned civilian deaths in El Fasher but attributed blame broadly to “warring parties.”
The letter argued that such statements provide “implicit immunity” to RSF fighters.
“This recurring pattern in British official discourse grants the RSF implicit immunity to continue its crimes and encourages it to persist in using oppression and violence against civilian citizens to achieve its political objectives,” the letter stated.
The authors further raised concern about reports of the UK attempt to shield the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from criticism over its alleged role in supplying weapons to the RSF.
By referencing the UN findings and media investigations, including documentation by Amnesty International and other sources, the letter linked UAE to arms transfers and military support to the RSF militia.
“What is happening in El Fasher and what the RSF militia is perpetrating across Sudan is not merely a natural disaster but a deliberate criminal act that violates even the laws of war,” reads the letter.
The signatories urged that violations by all parties be condemned but emphasized that responsibility should not be distributed equally between the Sudanese Army and the RSF, calling for clear acknowledgment of the latter’s role in attacks against civilians.
Since the start of the civil war begun in Sudan in April 2023, the country has plunged into the world’s largest displacement crisis, with over 12 million people forcibly displaced, and leaving nearly 25 million in need of humanitarian aid.
