International Criminal Court (ICC)’s deputy prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan, now says that a ‘breakthrough’ has been made in the investigation into crimes committed during Sudan's war in the Darfur region.
Speaking exclusively to Reuters, the official said the evidence is able to link the crimes to leadership in the country.
"We have got strong evidence linking what is occurring in Darfur with leadership levels. And we are very pleased to say that this is a breakthrough for us. We are confident that there are going to be results in at least a reasonable time," the prosecutor told the news agency, following a visit to eastern Chad to meet victims of the attacks.
Though she did not name the leaders linked to the crimes or the time frames for their prosecution, the remarks are a welcome development in the wake of a resurgence in attacks in the North Kordofan region.
The international court’s probe is focused on the 2023 attack on Al Geneina city and last year’s attack on El Fasher that left several people dead.
The two cities saw the most intense violence in the war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that continued for more than three years.
On Wednesday, a UN fact-finding mission revealed that Sudan's RSF forces carried out mass killings, abductions of women and girls, mass gang rapes and forced starvation in a city they besieged and captured last year.
The report found that the RSF and allies committed the war crime of starvation by imposing a prolonged siege on the city, impeding relief supplies, and shelling food production systems.
The findings are supported by the findings of another recent report by Amnesty International that confirmed that the RSF committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign to seize El Fasher in North Darfur state in Sudan.
The human rights organisation said the RSF’s crimes included murder, forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, other forms of sexual violence, enslavement, extermination and persecution and called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan, and the urgent deployment of an international force to protect civilians.
The fighting in Sudan has continued this year, with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) raising alarm over intensifying drone attacks killing civilians, and pushing the risk of deeper human suffering in El Obeid and in other places in Kordofan, where the same strategies are being deployed.
Last week, OCHA Chief Volker Türk called for an immediate end to the attacks on populated areas and critical civilian infrastructure.
“Civilians who wish to leave El Obeid must be able to do so safely. Whether they leave or remain, they must be protected and have access to essentials for survival. Humanitarian workers must be able to move safely and without impediment to reach people in need,” he said.
Notably, Sudan is not a party to the Rome Statute, and therefore not a member of the ICC; however, the UN Security Council gave the court jurisdiction over atrocity crimes committed in Darfur from 2005 onwards.
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