ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for atrocities in Sudan
The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on January 27th that the office will be seeking arrest warrants for those responsible for atrocities in Sudan.
Africa News reported on January 28th that Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the ICC, has stated that war crimes are being committed in Darfur, the western region of Sudan, “as we speak and daily.”
This conclusion, according to Khan, is the result of “hard-edged analysis” based on evidence and information collected by his office.
War crimes are being used as a weapon for war, with “famine present, conflict increasing, children targeted, girls and women subjected to rape and the whole landscape one of destruction,” reported by the Associated Press.
Khan has previously said both the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in Darfur, all illegal under International Humanitarian Law.
The Biden administration, before it left office, determined that the RSF and its proxies are committing genocide in the civil war.
Human Rights Watch echoed these concerns with a major report in May 2024 which said the RSF carried out ethnically motivated attacks in Darfur in 2023, reported by the Associated Press.
Sudan was plunged into civil war in April 2023 following an escalation in tensions between military and paramilitary leaders which has resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe.
The international community has sidelined the Sudanese civil war and prioritized the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza but as the ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants, Sudan may return to the mainframe.
However, the ICC prosecutor has not given any details on the specific crimes or the people he wants arrested but these can be expected to be the leaders of the RSF.
The ICC also has an existing – unfulfilled – arrest warrant for former leader of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir who was deposed in 2019, for charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide of the Darfur region.
Africa News, Associated Press
