United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced Thursday that there are “reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity” continue to be committed in Darfur, the region in western Sudan engulfed in civil war.
Nazhat Shameem Khan, the ICC Deputy Prosecutor, told the United Nations Security Council that “based on our independent investigations, our office’s position is clear: we have reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Darfur.”
She did not name the party or parties accused of committing these crimes.
She added that “this conclusion is based on intensive activities carried out by the office over the past six months and in earlier periods.”
Khan explained that investigators from the ICC Prosecutor’s Office have recently focused on crimes committed in western Darfur, including through interviews conducted with victims who fled to neighboring Chad.
Addressing Security Council members, the Fijian judge said, “Our meeting comes at a time when it seems difficult to find the right words to describe the scale of suffering in Darfur.”
She pointed out that “the humanitarian situation has reached an unbearable level: hospitals, humanitarian convoys, and other civilian targets all appear to be deliberately targeted. Famine is worsening, and humanitarian aid is not reaching those most in need. People are deprived of water and food. Rape and sexual violence are being used as weapons. Kidnappings for ransom or to bolster armed groups have become common.”
Shameem Khan warned that the situation could deteriorate further and “things may get worse.”
Under a 2005 United Nations Security Council resolution, the ICC opened an investigation into crimes committed during the civil war in Darfur in the early 2000s, which left nearly 300,000 dead.
In 2023, the court launched a new investigation into suspected war crimes committed in the same region since fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.
Judges at the ICC are expected to issue the court’s first verdict soon regarding crimes committed in Darfur two decades ago, in the case of Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known by his nom de guerre Ali Kushayb, whose trial concluded in late 2024.
On this matter, Shameem Khan said, “I want to make it clear to those currently on the ground in Darfur, and to those committing unimaginable atrocities against the population, that while they may feel impunity—as was the case with Ali Kushayb in the past—we are working hard to ensure that his trial is only the first.”
However, the judge declined to provide further details about ongoing investigations, affirming that “significant, positive, and important progress” has been made.