NEW YORK CITY: The International Criminal Court has “reasonable grounds to believe” that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in Darfur, its deputy prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan, told the UN Security Council on Thursday.
The humanitarian situation in the region has reached an “intolerable” level, he warned.
Speaking in New York, Khan described an escalating crisis marked by widespread famine, targeted attacks on hospitals and aid convoys, and sexual violence.
“People are being deprived of food and water,” she said. “Rape and sexual violence are being weaponized. Abductions have become common practice. Things can still get worse.”
Her comments came amid escalating violence in Sudan’s Darfur region, where the Rapid Support Forces, one of two main rival military factions in the country, and allied groups have been accused of targeting civilians at displacement camps such as Zamzam and Abu Shouk, and during attacks on the regional capital, Al-Fashir.
Khan said the findings of the ICC were based on extensive evidence gathered from various sources over the past six months, including field missions to refugee camps in Chad, and cooperation with civil society organizations and UN fact-finding agencies.
“We have collected over 7,000 evidence items, documentary, testimonial and digital, supporting our conclusion,” she added.
Highlighting gender-based crimes as a key focus of the investigations, Khan detailed ongoing efforts to increase the visibility of such violations, which remain “underreported and insufficiently recognized.”
A dedicated team is working with Darfuri women and girls to gather testimonies of sexual violence, she said, adding: “There is an inescapable pattern of offending targeting gender and ethnicity through rape and sexual violence. These crimes are being given particular priority.”
There were signs of growing cooperation with the court from the Sudanese government, including a recent visit to Port Sudan that allowed investigators to identify potential new witnesses, Khan said, and a second visit is planned in the near future.
But she urged Sudanese authorities to take bolder steps, particularly in the execution of ICC warrants for the arrest of senior officials, including the former president, Omar Bashir, as well as Ahmad Harun and Abdul Raheem Mohammed Hussein, former officials wanted by the ICC over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Darfur conflict of the early 2000s.
“Transferring Mr. Harun now would carry exceptional weight,” Khan said. She noted that the charges against him closely resemble those at the heart of another ongoing case, against Ali Mohammed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, a former Janjaweed militia leader accused by the ICC of orchestrating war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Darfur conflict. A verdict in that case is expected this year.
Khan urged the Security Council and the wider international community to act collectively to address the crisis and break what she described as a “seemingly never-ending cycle of violence fueled by impunity.”
She added: “Every single state here is appalled by what is happening in Darfur. Let us take our report as a blueprint. With your support, we can not only deliver justice but prevent this cycle of violence.”
Despite mounting challenges, including limited resources and obstruction on the ground, Khan said the ICC remains determined to pursue accountability in Darfur.
“We need your support now more than ever before,” she said. Though the ICC’s progress is “never sufficient, relative to the scale of the suffering,” if it can be reinforced through international support, “justice delivered collectively can reduce suffering and lay foundations for peace,” Khan added.
“If we can come together, if we can agree that such suffering needs the support of all those who are able to provide it, I believe the present crisis can ultimately demonstrate how justice delivered collectively can set the foundations for the reduction of suffering and the beginning of work towards peace.”
