Al-Monitor Discovers RSF Detaining Civilians, Years After US Trained Them
In a recent report, Al-Monitor details how Sudan's RSF, after overrunning areas near El-Fasher, is detaining hundreds of men and boys, calling them 'slaves.' This echoes years of well-documented RSF abuses, a group that morphed from the notorious Janjaweed militia, responsible for atrocities in Darfur. The glaring omission? The same international community now 'concerned' over these detentions
once found them convenient. From 2011 to 2017, the US, through USAID, funded training for RSF soldiers—then known as Border Guards and Central Reserve Police—to combat human trafficking, effectively legitimizing and professionalizing a militia with a brutal record. So, the 'rounding up' of civilians is suddenly news, but the 'rounding up' of US taxpayer dollars to train these very perpetrators
went largely unquestioned. (One might wonder if the 'human trafficking' operations they were trained to combat were, in fact, their own.) The cycle of funding problematic groups, looking surprised when they act problematically, and then reporting on the fallout as if it were an unforeseen tragedy is a media classic. Who knew giving a wolf a sheepdog whistle would lead to sheep going missing?