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Kenya files RSF complaint
Twelve Sudanese survivors filed what is described as the first criminal complaint of its kind before Kenyan judicial authorities on Tuesday, asking Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate members of the Rapid Support Forces over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in and around Khartoum between April 2023 and March 2025.
“Victims of alleged atrocities linked to the war in Sudan on Tuesday asked prosecutors in Kenya to investigate allegations of torture and sexual violence by members of a notorious paramilitary group”
The complaint targets ten RSF members and invokes universal jurisdiction, with Executive Director of Legal Action Worldwide Antonia Mulvey calling the filing “a landmark moment in country’s legal history” after it was submitted to Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions in Nairobi.
The filing was made on behalf of 12 survivors, who allege they were subjected to severe abuses including torture and sexual violence while in detention, and Kenyan authorities now have up to 30 days to review the complaint and determine whether to proceed with a formal investigation.
The victims were not present during the submission in Nairobi due to security concerns, and the complaint’s details remain confidential because of the need to protect victims and witnesses.
The complaint is supported by extensive evidence compiled over two years, including witness testimonies, and if it moves forward it could lead to arrest warrants and potential prosecution, including trials in absentia if suspects are not present.
Alleged abuses and legal push
Victims and their lawyers said the complaint describes detention in conditions described as inhumane, including deprivation of food, drinking water, and medical care, alongside beatings, burning, electric shocks, strangulation, and sexual violence including rape and sexual slavery.
In Nairobi, Kenyan lawyer Willis Otieno said the complaint offers Kenya an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to combating impunity, urging Kenyan authorities to use the country’s 2008 International Crimes Act to prosecute those accused of the most serious international crimes regardless of where the alleged offenses occurred.
The complaint also alleges that some detainees were forced to transport bodies from inside detention facilities, and it includes accounts that RSF members violently interrogated a victim, held him in darkness for weeks, and attempted at gunpoint to force him to assault another detainee.
Antonia Mulvey argued that the victims are unlikely to obtain justice in Sudan because the country’s justice system is currently “inaccessible, unavailable, and ineffective,” while the International Criminal Court’s mandate does not extend beyond Darfur.
The complaint comes as the RSF faces accusations from the United Nations and international human rights groups, particularly in Darfur, where UN reports have described attacks bearing characteristics associated with genocide.
Nairobi’s role and stakes
The filing places Nairobi in a position it has spent three years trying to avoid, after President William Ruto hosted RSF commander Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo for talks aimed at advancing peace efforts in Sudan, a move that sparked diplomatic tensions.
“Nairobi — A criminal complaint has been filed in Nairobi seeking the prosecution of members of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity”
The complaint seeks to open charges against ten RSF members, with some reportedly believed to be present in Kenya, and it frames the case as a test of whether Kenya’s legal architecture will be used to prosecute alleged atrocities committed abroad.
The stakes extend beyond the complaint itself, because the Director of Public Prosecutions is expected to determine within 30 days whether to open a formal investigation, a decision that could define Kenya’s emerging role in global accountability for atrocity crimes.
The allegations also connect to the broader conflict’s scale and humanitarian impact, with one report saying the war killed at least 59,000 people over the course of three years and that about 34 million people—almost two out of every three Sudanese—need assistance, according to the U.N.
For the complainants, the case is explicitly about accountability where international mechanisms are geographically constrained, with the ICC’s jurisdiction described as limited to Darfur and not extending to crimes committed in or around Khartoum.
