The United States determined on Tuesday that members of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had “committed genocide” and imposed sanctions on the paramilitary group’s leader.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the determination was based on information about the RSF’s “systematic” murder of men and boys and the targeted rape of women and girls from certain ethnic groups.

“The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible,” Blinken said, announcing sanctions against RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, for his “role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people.”

Daglo had been designated “for his involvement in gross violations of human rights in Darfur, namely the mass rape of civilians by RSF soldiers under his control,” and he and his family members are now ineligible for entry to the United States, he said.

The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted after World War II, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

The US Treasury Department unveiled its own sanctions against Daglo on Tuesday, accusing the RSF of engaging in “a brutal armed conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces for control of Sudan.”

“Through its campaign in Darfur, Gezira, and other combat areas, the RSF has committed a litany of documented war crimes and atrocities,” it said.

As the overall commander of the RSF, Daglo “bears command responsibility for the abhorrent and illegal actions of his forces,” it added.

The Treasury designated seven companies and one individual linked to the RSF for their roles in procuring weapons for the group.

“The United States continues to call for an end to this conflict that is putting innocent civilian lives in jeopardy,” said deputy Treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo.

“The Treasury Department remains committed to using every tool available to hold accountable those responsible for violating the human rights of the Sudanese people,” he added.