Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan of the Hague court warns of a civil war reaching an intolerable level.
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan presented her findings to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday regarding the intense conflict that started in 2023, which has resulted in over 40,000 deaths and 13 million displaced individuals.
Khan stated that the extent of suffering and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur “has reached an intolerable state,” with famine worsening and attacks targeting hospitals, humanitarian convoys, and other civilian infrastructure.
Expressing her difficulty in finding suitable terms to convey the depth of suffering in Darfur, Khan declared, “Based on our independent investigations, our office’s stance is unequivocal. There are reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and continue to be perpetrated in Darfur.”
The prosecutor’s office concentrated its investigation on crimes committed in West Darfur, with Khan interviewing victims who fled to neighboring Chad.
She described an unbearable humanitarian situation, marked by apparent targeting of hospitals and humanitarian convoys, while cautioning that “famine is escalating” because assistance cannot reach “those in dire need.”
Khan highlighted, “People are deprived of water and food. Rape and sexual violence are weaponized,” and noted that abductions for ransom have become “a common practice.”
In June, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan cautioned that both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had intensified the use of heavy weaponry in populated zones and weaponized humanitarian aid.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan informed the Security Council in January that there were grounds to believe both parties might be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in the region, as the Biden administration likewise determined that the RSF and its proxies were committing genocide.
The Security Council previously referred the Darfur situation to the ICC in 2005, during a period when approximately 300,000 people lost their lives in conflicts in the region.
In 2023, the ICC initiated a new investigation into war crimes in Darfur following the eruption of a new conflict between the SAF and RSF.
The RSF’s predecessor, the Janjaweed militia, was accused of genocide two decades ago in the expansive western region.
ICC judges are expected to deliver their first ruling on crimes committed in Darfur two decades ago in the case of Ali Mohamed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known as Ali Kosheib, following the conclusion of the trial in 2024.
Khan remarked, “I want to be clear to those on the ground in Darfur now, to those who are inflicting unimaginable atrocities on its population – they might feel a sense of impunity at this moment, as Ali Kosheib may have felt in the past.”
“But we are working assiduously to ensure that the Ali Kosheib trial is the first of many concerning this situation at the International Criminal Court,” Khan added.
