International Criminal Court has "concrete evidence" linking RSF leaders to war crimes in Darfur, Sudan

"The International Criminal Court (ICC) has "concrete evidence" linking leaders of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to recent war crimes in the Sudanese state of Darfur, the ICC's deputy chief prosecutor says.

Nazhat Shameem Khan told the BBC the ICC had reached a "breakthrough" in its investigation into the massacres of civilians in the cities of el-Fasher and el-Geneina." Read full story.

From BBC News

By Thomas Mukhwana

Africa correspondent

Published Thursday 09 July 2025 - full copy:

International court tells BBC of breakthrough in Sudan war crimes probe

IMAGE SOURCE, AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES 

Image caption, Tens of thousands of people fled el-Fasher after the city was seized by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has "concrete evidence" linking leaders of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to recent war crimes in the Sudanese state of Darfur, the ICC's deputy chief prosecutor says.

Nazhat Shameem Khan told the BBC the ICC had reached a "breakthrough" in its investigation into the massacres of civilians in the cities of el-Fasher and el-Geneina.

"It may take time for justice to develop, to be brought to the court, but we will get there," Khan said, adding that RSF leaders have also been linked to crimes against humanity.

The siege and takeover of el-Fasher marked one of the bloodiest episodes in the ongoing war between the RSF and Sudan's army.

More than 6,000 people were killed in el-Fasher as the RSF seized the city in October last year, the United Nations says, while the paramilitary group is accused of carrying out a similar massacre in el-Geneina.

The group has repeatedly denied carrying out widespread killings anywhere in Darfur.

Khan said: "We have now found concrete evidence that links what is happening on the ground through linkage evidence to specific persons in leadership mode."

However, she did not give a timeline on when charges might be brought against those responsible for the atrocities in the war, which began in April 2023.

"We cannot say how quickly or how long it's going to take," she said.

"But we can say that progress has been significant and that we have achieved a breakthrough."

The ICC, based in the Dutch city of The Hague, is a global court with the power to bring prosecutions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Khan spoke to the BBC after visiting refugee camps in eastern Chad, where those who had fled the fighting in Darfur told her of the atrocities they had suffered.

Tens of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes in el-Fasher and the UN said the violence there bore the "hallmarks of genocide".

The RSF has denied widespread allegations that killings in the city were ethnically motivated and follow a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries targeting non-Arab populations.

The group insisted the scale of the atrocities had been exaggerated but acknowledged that some violations had occurred in the city.

Shortly after the capture of el-Fasher, RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said the group was investigating any atrocities. The probe is ongoing, the RSF said recently.

The ICC has been investigating allegations of war crimes in Darfur for more than 20 years since the previous round of violence in the 2000s.

"What we see is patterns of offending that in fact were the same patterns of offending 20 years ago when this situation was first referred to us by the Security Council," she said.

Khan said the ICC investigation included witness accounts, testimonials and corroborative evidence such as videos, photographs and forensic evidence.

Previous investigations have led to seven arrests and six separate cases being brought before the court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Those charged include Sudan's former President Omar al-Bashir.

He remains at large, having been ousted in a coup in 2019. It is believed he is being held in a secure medical facility in Sudan.

Four others face arrest warrants but have not been detained.

Last year, the ICC sentenced one former militia leader to 20 years in prison after he was successfully convicted of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed in Darfur from 2003 to 2004.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was a senior figure in the Janjaweed, a government-backed group which targeted Darfuri civilians who were not part of country's majority Arab population.

The Janjaweed was one of the groups which developed into the RSF, a paramilitary force once aligned with Sudan's army, but which it is now fighting.

View original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9928zr2m5xo

Ends  

Briefing: ICC Sudan

UN Security Council Report 

A new story has been published in What's in Blue on: 

Briefing: ICC Sudan 

Dated Tuesday 8 June 2021 

Tomorrow (9 June), the Security Council will convene in person to receive the semi-annual briefing of the ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, related to the Court’s work on Darfur. Bensouda, who will participate via videoconference, will provide her final briefing to the Council, as her nine-year term as ICC Prosecutor ends on 15 June. (On 12 February, Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, who most recently served as the Special Adviser and head of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD), was elected to succeed her.) 

Sudan is not a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC. The Security Council referred the situation in Darfur, Sudan, to the ICC in resolution 1593, adopted on 31 March 2005. (Algeria, Brazil, China, and the US abstained on the resolution.) The Council invited the ICC Prosecutor to update it every six months on actions taken pursuant to resolution 1593. The investigations regarding Darfur focus on allegations of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur since 1 July 2002. 

During her briefing tomorrow, Bensouda is likely to update Council members on the status of the suspects in the Darfur situation. Following the surrender and transfer to the Court of Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (also known as Ali Kushayb) in June 2020, four ICC arrest warrants remain outstanding against former President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Ahmad Muhammad Harun, Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, and Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain. Since July 2020, Al Bashir has been on trial in Sudan for charges relating to the 1989 military coup that brought him to power, including for allegedly undermining the constitutional order and the use of military force to commit crimes. Haroun and Hussein have been under arrest in Khartoum since April 2019, while Banda remains a fugitive from the Court and his whereabouts are unknown. The Office of the Prosecutor is in an ongoing dialogue with the government of Sudan aimed at ensuring accountability for the ICC suspects and justice for the victims in Darfur. Sudan remains under an obligation to surrender the four remaining suspects in the Darfur situation to the Court, pursuant to resolution 1593 and the subsequent orders of ICC judges. 

Bensouda is also expected to inform the Council of the Court’s recent judicial activities. On 26 May, the confirmation of charges hearing in the case The Prosecutor v. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (“Ali Kushayb”) concluded before Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC. According to the Prosecution, Abd-Al-Rahman is suspected of 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed between August 2003 and at least April 2004 in Darfur. He was transferred to the ICC’s custody on 9 June 2020, after surrendering himself voluntarily in the Central African Republic. On 2 June, the Appeals Chamber dismissed five grounds of appeal and confirmed the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber, which found no changed circumstances that would warrant his release from detention. The Pre-Trial Chamber is expected to deliver its written decision on Abd-Al-Rahman’s case within 60 days of the conclusion of the confirmation of charges hearing. 

Council members are likely to be interested in hearing further details about Bensouda’s seven-day visit to Sudan which began on 29 May. Bensouda reportedly met with Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and other government officials and travelled to Darfur to meet affected communities. The Office of the Prosecutor, led by Bensouda, last visited Sudan between 17 and 20 October 2020 after more than a decade. During her recent visit, Bensouda emphasised the need to address the outstanding ICC arrest warrants, including against Al Bashir. She called for the expeditious handover of Haroun as his case is related to that of Abd-Al-Rahman. She further stressed the need for continuous cooperation between the transitional government and the ICC to achieve justice in Darfur. Bensouda last briefed the Council on 10 December 2020 (S/2020/1192) [ https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/document/s-2020-1192.php ], where she noted that “developments in the Sudan give renewed hope for justice and accountability in Darfur”. 

Tags: Darfur, ICC, Insights on Africa, Justice and Criminal Accountability, Sudan 

View Original: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2021/06/briefing-icc-sudan.php

Pictured: Fatou Bom Bensouda is a Gambian lawyer and international criminal law prosecutor. She has been the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor since June 2012, after having served as a Deputy Prosecutor in charge of the Prosecutions Division of the ICC since 2004. Before that she was Minister of Justice and Attorney General of The Gambia from 1998 to 2000. She has held positions of Legal Adviser and Trial Attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Wikipedia.