On January 15, army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced a probe into the alleged abuses committed by his forces in Gezira state.
The Sudanese army also released a statement addressing the allegations of reprisal killings in Gezira.
“The Armed Forces condemn the individual violations that recently took place in some areas in Gezira state following the cleansing [of the RSF] of Wad Madani,” the statement read.
“At the same time, the army affirms its strict adherence to international law and its keenness to hold accountable anyone involved in any violations that affect anyone in the Kanabi area,” the statement added.
Dalia Abdelmonem, a Sudanese political commentator and former journalist, told Al Jazeera the army’s statement ticked all the boxes in terms of promising to bring about accountability for the abuses in Wad Madani. Yet, it must behave better for the sake of securing international support to defeat the RSF.
“This is a perfect opportunity for the army to show it is a bonified army and it will only target the RSF [moving forward] and not civilians and that it will no longer abuse, torture or commit summary executions, said Abdelmonem.
“It has to say, ‘We will put a stop to all of that,’” she told Al Jazeera.
Since the war, the RSF has demonstrated little ability to govern territories under its control, with fighters often looting, kidnapping for ransom and generating chaos, according to a recent report by International Crisis Group, a think tank based in Brussels, Belgium.
Many Sudanese, therefore, view the RSF as an existential threat to the state despite their acute concerns and traditional opposition towards the army, which stems from its poor human rights record and refusal to fully surrender power to a civilian authority after al-Bashir was toppled by a popular uprising in 2019.
While the army has regained popularity during the war, Baldo is not optimistic that an investigation will lead to accountability for atrocities committed in Wad Madani since human rights violations are a systemic issue in the army.
He referenced the beheading in February and said the army promised to investigate that incident, but nobody was held accountable.
“If [I see] the commanders who oversaw the killings [of civilians] in the Kanabi held to account, then I will believe [an investigation] happened. I’ll believe it if I see the results,” he told Al Jazeera.
