Sudan: ICC believes war crimes & crimes against humanity are taking place now in Darfur. 5 killed in aid convoy attack. Fighting intensifies in Kordofan

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. 

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.

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.”

Read more in this report from The Associated Press
BY EDITH M. LEDERER
Dated 11 July 2025; 12:22 AM BST - full copy:

ICC believes war crimes and crimes against humanity are taking place now in Sudan’s Darfur region

The United Nations flag flies on a stormy day at the U.N. during the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

This June 2023 photo provided by the World Food Program shows internally displaced persons at the Wad Almajzoub farm camp in Wad Medani, Gezira state, Sudan. (Ala Kheir/U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs via AP)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — 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.”

Related reports

Fighting intensifies in Sudan's Kordofan region

Full story: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-kordofan-rapid-support-forces-humanitarian-crisis-574e767ae69562ab05d6a9d2e5bee1b5

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An attack on an aid convoy in Sudan's Darfur region kills 5, UN says

Full story: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-war-military-rsf-darfur-3403f58cde929bea2cc0a0036985da05

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Sudanese fleeing war are at risk of worsening hunger, UN warns

Full story: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-famine-hunger-refugees-un-darfur-conflict-bc3cc8260e92191078506849796f4072

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View original: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-darfur-icc-war-crimes-humanity-khan-e54744adc5b0a06eb6a44fe94d72683d

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Sudan: UNSC Report - July 2025 Monthly Forecast

UN Security Council Report
July 2025 Monthly Forecast 
Dated 30 June 2025 - full copy:

Sudan

Expected Council Action

In July, the Security Council is expected to receive the semi-annual briefing on the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) activities related to the situation in Darfur. ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan is expected to brief.

Background and Key Recent Developments

More than 17 years after the Council’s ICC referral on the situation in Darfur, through resolution 1593 of 31 March 2005, the first trial opened on 5 April 2022 with the case of  Prosecutor v. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (“Ali Kushayb”). Abd-Al-Rahman, reportedly a former leader of the Janjaweed militia, is accused of 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed between August 2003 and approximately April 2004 in Darfur. The ICC concluded the trial in December 2024, and a decision is expected later this year. (For more information, see our 27 January What’s in Blue story.)

Four arrest warrants issued by the ICC remain outstanding—against former Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir; former Sudanese Minister of State for the Interior Ahmad Muhammad Harun; former Sudanese Minister of National Defence Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein; and former Commander-in-Chief of the Justice and Equality Movement Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain. Pursuant to resolution 1593 and the ICCs’ subsequent orders, Sudan remains under an obligation to surrender the four remaining suspects to the Court. According to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), following the outbreak of fighting in April 2023, Bashir, Hussein, and Harun—who had all been in custody in Kober prison in Khartoum—were released. Subsequently, media reports accused Harun of mobilising supporters of the former Bashir regime to fight alongside the army in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan.

According to the ICC Prosecutor’s most recent report, submitted to the Security Council on 16 January pursuant to resolution 1593, the OTP has gathered sufficient evidence to establish reasonable grounds to believe that a wide range of crimes under the Rome Statute have been—and continue to be—committed in Darfur, in the context of the ongoing conflict in Sudan that began in April 2023. These include killings, pillaging, attacks against internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, indiscriminate targeting of civilian populations, gender-based crimes, and crimes against and affecting children. (Under the Rome Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over four crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.) Furthermore, the OTP has continued to preserve evidence and information regarding alleged crimes committed by the Sudanese warring parties in North Darfur.

In his 27 January briefing to the Security Council, ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan highlighted that the pattern of crimes, the perpetrators, and the targeted groups in the context of the ongoing conflict in Sudan closely resemble those from the 2003 conflict, which prompted the Council’s initial referral of the situation to the ICC. Khan emphasised the need to close the impunity gap and called for greater accountability. He expressed concern over widespread allegations regarding the targeting of women and girls, including reports of gender-based crimes. Khan confirmed that the OTP is taking steps to submit applications for arrest warrants in connection with crimes allegedly committed in West Darfur, while stressing that such applications will only be filed once the OTP is satisfied that there is a realistic prospect of conviction. He also underscored the importance of transferring Ahmad Harun to the ICC, noting its potential impact given the clear connection between Harun’s case and the recently concluded trial of Ali Kushayb.

In her remarks during the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide ad interim Virginia Gamba said that the Sudanese warring parties in the current conflict have committed serious human rights violations and that the risk of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Sudan remains very high. She noted that continued and targeted attacks against certain ethnic groups, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, remain of particular concern. Gamba highlighted that the RSF and allied Arab militias continue to conduct ethnically motivated attacks against the Zaghawa, Masalit, and Fur groups.

In a 16 May statement, ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan announced that he would temporarily step aside while the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services conducts an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied. In his absence, the OTP confirmed that Deputy Prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan and Mame Mandiaye Niang have assumed leadership responsibilities.

Human Rights-Related Developments

On 2 June, a humanitarian aid convoy comprising 15 trucks from the WFP and UNICEF came under attack in Al Koma, which is located approximately 80 kilometres from El Fasher. The attack resulted in the deaths of five personnel, injured several others, and destroyed multiple trucks and critical humanitarian supplies. A day earlier (1 June), a separate attack, reportedly attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), struck a busy market in Al Koma, killing 15 civilians and injuring dozens more. In a 4 June press release, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called for prompt and impartial investigations into both incidents, along with meaningful steps to ensure accountability. It also urged all parties to the conflict to take concrete measures to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to facilitate safe and unimpeded humanitarian access in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law.

In a 17 June press release, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) for Sudan warned that the civil war is intensifying, with devastating consequences for civilians caught in the conflict. The FFM reported the increased use of heavy weaponry in populated areas, with hospitals and medical facilities coming under siege, and a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence. It described the situation as “a grave human rights and protection emergency.” In El Fasher, civilians have been assaulted, detained, and killed, while villages have been attacked, burned, and looted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

During one RSF assault from 10 to 13 April, more than 100 civilians were reportedly killed. 

The FFM called on the international community to impose an arms embargo and to take concrete steps to ensure accountability for those responsible for serious human rights violations.

Key Issues and Options

An underlying issue for the Security Council remains how to effectively promote justice and accountability for both past atrocities committed in Darfur and the ongoing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law being perpetrated by Sudan’s warring parties across the country. 

Broadly, the continued violence, insecurity, and targeted attacks against civilians remain a major concern for Council members in the context of the current conflict. The failure to ensure accountability for crimes committed over the past two decades has contributed to the recurrence of violence and impunity in the current conflict.

A key challenge for the Council is how to strengthen cooperation between the ICC and relevant Sudanese authorities, as well as third states and international and regional organisations. This includes facilitating the execution of outstanding arrest warrants, supporting the ICC’s ongoing investigations, and enabling the safe collection and transmission of evidence. A pressing concern in this regard is the documentation, preservation, and analysis of evidence in a highly insecure and fragmented environment. 

The volatile political and security situation in Sudan and in some neighbouring countries has created numerous obstacles for the ICC, including the disruption of planned deployments, limited access to sources of information, and difficulties in maintaining contact with witnesses. Khan’s 16 January report also points to significant resource constraints faced by the OTP, which continue to adversely affect its ability to pursue investigations and carry out its mandate in relation to the situation in Darfur.

Amid growing political sensitivities and divisions among states regarding the ICC’s work, an issue for the Council is how to ensure the Court receives the necessary political backing and resources to advance its mandate, uphold accountability, and help break the cycle of impunity. In addition to the regular briefing in July, Council members supportive of the ICC’s work in Sudan could consider holding a joint press stakeout in connection with the meeting to publicly reaffirm their commitment to justice and accountability.

Council members could also consider inviting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk to brief on the broader human rights situation in Sudan. Additionally, members may wish to invite the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, who visited Sudan from 13 to 17 April, to share insights into the scale and nature of conflict-related sexual violence and the protection needs of affected populations. (For more information, see the Sudan brief in our June 2025 Monthly Forecast.)

Council Dynamics

The Council is divided on the work of the ICC. Denmark, France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and the UK are states parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC. These members have expressed strong support for the ICC’s efforts, including the conclusion of Ali Kushayb’s trial, and have commended the OTP for its continued pursuit of accountability for crimes committed in Darfur. Several have also endorsed the Prosecutor’s announcement of imminent applications for new arrest warrants linked to the current conflict in Sudan and called on the Sudanese authorities to enhance cooperation with the ICC.

On the other hand, Algeria, China, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, and the US are not states parties to the ICC’s Rome Statute and have expressed scepticism or outright criticism of the ICC’s role. Russia has been particularly vocal, accusing the Court of selective justice and political bias. Russia’s negative view of the ICC hardened following the Court’s announcement on 17 March 2023 that it had issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for allegedly committing the war crime of “unlawful deportation” and “unlawful transfer” of children from Ukraine to Russia.

During the Council’s 27 January briefing, Algeria, China, Pakistan, and Somalia underlined the importance of the principle of complementarity and supported Sudan’s judicial sovereignty. Algeria and Somalia also highlighted the need to revitalise Sudanese national justice institutions and to explore existing legal frameworks to administer justice, including African frameworks.

While the US has traditionally supported the ICC’s efforts concerning Sudan, it criticised the ICC for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes linked to Israel’s military actions in Gaza since at least 8 October 2023. 

In response, on 6 February, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC and Khan. On 5 June, the US also sanctioned four individuals serving as ICC judges for their roles in authorising investigations into US personnel in Afghanistan and issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials.

Several Council members, supportive of the ICC’s work on Darfur, have expressed concern over efforts to undermine the Court’s independence, including through the use of sanctions and political pressure. These members have condemned any attempts to intimidate the OTP, warning that such measures could hinder the Court’s ability to carry out its mandate not only in Sudan but also in other jurisdictions.

Download Complete Forecast: PDF

View original:  https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2025-07/sudan-36.php

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US finds war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Sudan war

Report from Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Dated Wed, 06 Dec 2023 - 23:49. Modified: 23:47 - here is a copy in full:

US finds war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Sudan war

Washington (AFP) – The United States said Wednesday that Sudan's rival forces have both committed war crimes in their brutal conflict and alleged a new ethnic cleansing campaign in scarred Darfur.

The US State Department has accused the Rapid Support Forces of carrying out ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity in Darfur © - / AFP/File

After months of rising concern and frustration at the failure of talks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented findings following an evaluation by the State Department.

Blinken said that both the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- whose longstanding tensions erupted into wide-scale violence on April 15 -- have committed war crimes.

The RSF has also carried out ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, he said, pointing to accounts of mass killings by the largely Arab force and its allied militias against the ethnically African Masalit people in Darfur.

Blinken said the campaign had "haunting echoes of the genocide that began almost 20 years ago in Darfur."

"Masalit civilians have been hunted down and left for dead in the streets, their homes set on fire and told that there is no place in Sudan for them," Blinken said, pointing as well to sexual violence.

Both the Sudanese army and the RSF "have unleashed horrific violence, death and destruction across Sudan," Blinken said in a statement.

The two sides "must stop this conflict now, comply with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, and hold accountable those responsible for atrocities," he added.

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, Burhan's former deputy, teamed up in October 2021 to derail a fragile transition to democracy in Sudan, where mass protests helped end decades of autocratic rule.

The violence erupted in April as the two failed to agree on the integration of the RSF into the army in line with a roadmap to civilian rule.

Darfur -- roughly the size of France and home to around a quarter of Sudan's 48 million people -- is deeply scarred by a scorched-earth campaign launched two decades ago by the RSF's predecessor, 

the Janjaweed militia © - / AFP/File

More than 10,000 people have been killed, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a monitor, with the United Nations saying 6.3 million more have been forced to flee their homes.

Echoes of scorched-earth Darfur war

Darfur -- roughly the size of France and home to around a quarter of Sudan's 48 million people -- is deeply scarred by a scorched-earth campaign launched two decades ago by the RSF's predecessor, the Janjaweed militia.

Then-dictator Omar al-Bashir used the Janjaweed to suppress non-Arab minorities -- a bloody campaign that eventually saw him charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.

Human Rights Watch in a recent report said that the RSF killed hundreds of Masalit civilians in early November in what had "the hallmarks of an organized campaign of atrocities."

Quoting survivors, they said the RSF and allied fighters "went on a rampage" through a camp of displaced people targeting the Masalit people after seizing a base from the army.

Blinken said both sides 'must stop this conflict now, comply with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, and hold accountable those responsible for atrocities' 

© Brendan Smialowski / AFP

The UN human rights office also called for an investigation into what it described as "six days of terror" against Masalit civilians.

Two decades ago, the Darfur bloodshed drew international outrage, including a US finding of genocide, but the latest violence comes amid a flurry of crises, including the Gaza war and fighting in Sudan's neighbor Ethiopia where the United States has also alleged war crimes.

Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the State Department to name a high-level envoy on the conflict who would "work with the Sudanese in support of their aspirations to establish a democratic, representative government."

The United States and Saudi Arabia have led negotiations aimed at ending the fighting, with the State Department initially hesitant to take actions that could alienate one side and break down communication.

But the two sides made no tangible progress when they met again a little over a month ago in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

"The talks broke down because both parties -- (the army) and RSF -- repeatedly refused to adhere to the commitments that they made at those talks," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

View report at France24: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231206-us-finds-war-crimes-and-ethnic-cleansing-in-sudan-war

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Related report

From The Guardian

By Patrick Wintour Diplomatic Editor

Dated Tuesday, 22 August 2023 17.25 BST

Last modified on Tuesday 22 August 2023 17.59 BST

This article is more than 3 months old

War crimes being committed in Darfur, says UK minister Andrew Mitchell

Africa minister says civilian death toll horrific and UK is to send evidence to UN

War crimes and atrocities against civilians are being committed in Darfur, western Sudan, the UK’s Africa minister Andrew Mitchell said on Tuesday, becoming one of the first western officials to identify that the fighting in Sudan has developed into more than a power struggle between two rival factions.

Mitchell said there was growing evidence of serious atrocities being committed, describing the civilian death toll as horrific in a statement released by the Foreign Office. “Reports of deliberate targeting and mass displacement of the Masalit community in Darfur are particularly shocking and abhorrent. Intentional directing of attacks at the civilian population is a war crime.”

He added the UK would do all it could to assemble credible evidence to present to the UN security council, the UN Human Rights Council and the international criminal court.

There had been an expectation that the US would have explicitly joined the UK in making a formal atrocity determination, but so far the State Department has held off, partly because the US does not want to jeopardise talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, designed to end the civil war between Sudanese Armed Forces and the independent Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Observers claim the larger power struggle that broke out in April, with fighting in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, has provided cover for RSF allied forces to undertake ethnic cleansing in west Darfur, reviving memories of the genocide committed in Darfur 20 years ago.

The attacks on the Masalit and other ethnic communities are led by the Janjaweed militias allied with the RSF. The RSF is commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

More than 300,000 Sudanese nationals have crossed the border into neighbouring Chad since the conflict broke out, according to the UN’s migratory agency.

Africa minister Andrew Mitchell is one of the first western officials to identify that the fighting in Sudan is more than a struggle between two factions. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Kate Ferguson, co-executive director of the human rights NGO Protection Approaches, welcomed Mitchell’s statement saying: “He is absolutely right to condemn not only the armed conflict between the SAF and RSF which is devastating Sudan but also to highlight the deliberate targeting and mass displacement of non-Arab communities in Darfur.

“These two related but distinct trajectories of violence require related but distinct solutions; this reality must be a cornerstone for the UK government and the entire international system in the pursuit of peace in Sudan.

The Saudi peace talks rely on progress being made between different bad faith actors over which Riyadh seems to have little leverage. Others say the true external players in Sudan are Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which are closely linked to the SAF and RSF respectively.

The ICC launched a new investigation into alleged war crimes in Sudan in July with ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan saying “we are in the midst of a human catastrophe”.

The UK has imposed sanctions on businesses linked to the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces in an effort to register its disapproval.

View original: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/22/war-crimes-being-committed-in-darfur-says-uk-minister-andrew-mitchell

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