International Criminal Court Prosecutor Says First Darfur Cases Are Almost Ready
New York, Dec 14 2006 5:00PM
The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) informed the Security Council today that he is almost
ready to bring cases about some of the worst war crimes committed in the Sudanese region of Darfur during the past three
years.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he will submit evidence to ICC judges by February at the latest and, ahead of that step, he is
now introducing measures to protect victims and witnesses.
According to the text of his statement to the closed-door Council meeting, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said that his first case
will focus on a series of incidents in 2003 and 2004, when conflict emerged in Darfur as Government forces and allied
militia clashes with rebel groups seeking greater autonomy.
“The evidence provides reasonable grounds to believe that the individuals identified have committed crimes against
humanity and war crimes, including the crimes of persecution, torture, murder and rape, during a period in which the
gravest crimes occurred in Darfur,” he said.
In a press statement released following his briefing, the Prosecutor said “perhaps most significant, the evidence
reveals the underlying operational system that enabled the commission of these massive crimes.”
The Council referred the Darfur issue, along with the names of 51 suspected perpetrators, to the recently established
ICC in March 2005, after a UN inquiry into whether genocide occurred in Darfur found the Government responsible for
crimes under international law and strongly recommended referring the dossier to the court.
The probe also found credible evidence that rebel forces were responsible for possible war crimes, including the murder
of civilians and pillage.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2 million others forced to flee their homes in Darfur, an
impoverished region roughly the size of France on Sudan’s western flank.
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said his office had taken more than 100 formal witness statements and screened hundreds of potential
witnesses since the start of its investigation, travelling to 17 different countries to pursue inquiries.
He also said his office is closely following recent reports of continuing violence in Darfur, despite the signing of the
Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) in May by some of the parties to the conflict, and an apparent spillover into neighbouring
Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR).
“Violent clashes between factions inside the [rebel] movements, as well as between the different movements, have led to
significant numbers of civilians being killed,” Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said.
“There are also disturbing reports of a repetition of similar patterns associated with earlier crimes, including reports
of attacks on civilian locations by armed militias, supported by elements of the Sudanese security forces. Incidents of
rape and sexual assaults continue to be reported at very high levels.”
The ICC is designed to be a court of last resort, used when a nation’s own justice system is unable or unwilling to
investigate and prosecute war crimes. During his briefing the Prosecutor said the information he had received so far
from the Sudanese Government about individuals who had been arrested “do not appear to render the current [ICC] case
inadmissible.”
Established by the Rome Statute of 1998, the Court can try cases involving individuals charged with war crimes committed
since July 2002. It is based in The Hague.
ENDS