International Criminal Court prosecutor calls for world to ‘stop the bleeding’ in Sudan before region spirals out of control
NEW YORK CITY — The International Criminal Court prosecutor said Monday that violence in Sudan has escalated over the past six months, with widespread reports of rape, crimes against children and abuse.
“Terrorism has become something that everyone has to face, and the fear is not only of those with guns, but also of those who are running away, often with nothing and are hungry,” Karim Khan told the UN Security Council.
The war between rival military factions has been raging for more than a year in Sudan. Since it began in April 2023, an estimated 19,000 people have been killed, more than 10 million have been internally displaced, and more than 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, making it the largest displacement crisis in the world.
The country is facing a famine due to the ongoing severe food crisis, with many families reportedly going hungry for days already.
Khan said the ICC prioritizes investigating allegations of crimes against children and sexual crimes. “Serious human rights violations, serious violations of personal dignity” continue to be motivated by “the provision of weapons, financial support from various sectors, and political compromises that have led to inaction by the international community,” he added.
His comments came during the latest semi-annual briefing to the UN Security Council on the tribunal's activities related to Darfur, nearly 20 years after the Council referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court. Arrest warrants issued by the tribunal against former president Omar al-Bashir, former ministers Ahmad Mohamed Harun and Abdel Raheem Mohamed Hussein, and former chief commander of the Justice and Equality Movement Abdullah Banda Abaker Nouren remain pending.
Khan said the failure to execute arrest warrants against the accused had several unintended consequences, including “a climate of impunity and violence that erupted in April (2013) and continues to this day, where the warring parties think they can get away with murder and rape; a sense that the scope of the Security Council’s powers and the powers of states are too limited, that they are too preoccupied with the epicentres of conflict and hot wars in other parts of the world; that we have forgotten the suffering of the people of Darfur, that we have forgotten our responsibilities under the UN Charter; (and) a sense that Darfur or Sudan are lawless zones where people can act arbitrarily, based on their worst inclinations, their worst instincts, the politics of hate and power, the opportunity to seek profit.”
He called on lawmakers to “support” genuine calls for justice.
In comments aimed at both sides of the war – Sudan’s armed forces and Rapid Support Forces – as well as “those who provide funding, arms, command and certain advantages”, Khan said his office was investigating and “using our resources as effectively as possible to ensure that the events that have taken place since April last year are within the principles of international humanitarian law and that all human lives are treated with equal value”.
He said that after “a lot of hardship,” Sudanese authorities were finally cooperating with ICC investigators, allowing them to enter Port Sudan, collect evidence and work with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese army and the country’s de facto leader.
“But one swallow does not make summer happen,” Khan added, as he stressed the need for “continued deepening cooperation with the Sudanese military, with Gen. Al-Burhan and his government moving forward.”
“One concrete way that can demonstrate commitment to accountability and zero tolerance for non-punishment is to properly enforce court orders,” he said, including arresting former minister Haroon and handing him over to court.
However, Khan said recent major efforts to engage with the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces had so far proved futile.
Meanwhile, he said ICC investigators had made several visits to neighboring Chad and collected “valuable testimonies” from displaced Sudanese citizens living there as refugees.
They met with representatives of Sudanese civil society in Chad, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Europe, he added, “to collect and preserve their stories and their narratives, to analyze and piece them together, to see what crimes, if any, have been committed and who is responsible for this hell on earth that is stubbornly and continuously being unleashed on the people of Darfur.”
Khan said his office has been using technological tools to gather and compile evidence from phone calls, videos and audio recordings, and this is “proving to be crucial in breaking through the veil of impunity”.
He added that the joint efforts of investigators, analysts, lawyers and members of the civic community had made significant progress, and expressed hope that he would soon be able to announce that arrest warrants had been sought for individuals believed to be most responsible for crimes in the country.
Meanwhile, Khan has sounded the alarm about what he describes as “a trapezoid of chaos on that part of the continent.”
“If we draw a line from the Mediterranean Sea of Libya, down to the Red Sea of Sudan, then draw a line to sub-Saharan Africa, then draw a line to the Atlantic Ocean, where Boko Haram is causing instability, chaos and misery in Nigeria, then draw it back to Sudan, (we) will see a map and countries that are at risk of instability or instability because of the combination of that chaos and misery,” he continued.
He warned members of the UN Security Council that, in addition to concerns about the rights of the people of Darfur, “we are reaching a tipping point where a Pandora’s box of ethnic, racial, religious, sectarian (and) commercial interests will be unleashed.”
“They will no longer be subject to the political influence of the world’s major states or even this council,” he added. “Serious action is needed to stop the bloodshed … in Sudan.”
