UNITED NATIONS — The International Criminal Court believes war crimes and crimes against humanity are continuing to take place in Sudan's vast western Darfur region where civil war has raged for more than two years, the tribunal's deputy prosecutor said Thursday.
Nazhat Shameem Khan told the U.N. Security Council that the depth of suffering and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur "has reached an intolerable state," with famine escalating and hospitals, humanitarian convoys and other civilian infrastructure being targeted.
"People are being deprived of water and food," she said. "Rape and sexual violence are being weaponized. Abductions for ransom or to bolster the ranks of armed groups have become common practice."
"And yet we should not be under any illusion," Shameem Khan warned the U.N.'s most powerful body. "Things can still get worse."
Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions, including Darfur. Some 40,000 people have been killed and nearly 13 million displaced, including to other countries, according to U.N. agencies.
ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan told the Security Council in January that there were grounds to believe both government forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.
The Biden administration, just before it left office in January, determined that the RSF and its proxies were committing genocide.
Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as the ICC chief prosecutor pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, which he categorically denies.
Deputy prosecutor Shameem Khan, who is not related, said the ICC has closely tracked reports in recent weeks of the dire situation in North Darfur, whose capital El Fasher is besieged by RSF and their affiliates. The RSF, which controls the capitals of all other states in Darfur, has also attacked famine-hit Zamzam and other camps for displaced Sudanese in North Darfur.
"On the basis of our independent investigations, the position of our office is clear, we have reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and are continuing to be committed in Darfur," Khan told the council.
This conclusion, she said, is based on documentary, testimonial and digital evidence collected by ICC investigators during the past six months, including at refugee camps in neighboring Chad. Over 7,000 items of evidence have been collected to date, she said.
Khan emphasized to the council and to victims that the ICC considers the situation in Darfur "of the utmost importance" and will not be deterred until justice is delivered to the perpetrators.
Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations that identify as Central or East African. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.
Khan said those in Darfur now "inflicting unimaginable atrocities on its population" should know that while they may feel a sense of impunity, Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb is currently on trial and the ICC hopes it will be the first of many.
"However, we also have a duty of confidentiality to the court," Khan said. "I am not able to share more details of the nature of our progress or of specific outcomes hoped for. I can only assure you that the progress we have made is concrete, positive and significant."
