The Office of the Prosecutor if the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in The Netherlands has said that it is “taking immediate steps regarding the alleged crimes in El Fasher to preserve and collect relevant evidence for its use in future prosecutions”.
In a statement today, the Office of the Prosecutor expressed its “profound alarm and deepest concern” over recent reports emerging from El Fasher about mass killings, rapes, and other crimes allegedly committed during the course of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks. “These atrocities are part of a broader pattern of violence that has afflicted the entire Darfur region since April 2023. Such acts, if substantiated, may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute,” the ICC Prosecutor’s Office says.
ICC Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, briefs the UNSC (File photo: UN / Manuel Elías)
“The Office recalls that under UN Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005), the ICC has jurisdiction over crimes being committed in the ongoing conflict in Darfur. The Office is investigating crimes allegedly committed in Darfur since the outbreak of hostilities in April 2023. As reflected in the most recent Report to the UN Security Council, the Office is working intensively, including through repeated field deployments, deepened engagement with victims groups and civil society, and enhanced cooperation with national authorities and international organisations,” the statement says.
Within the ongoing investigation, the Office is taking immediate steps regarding the alleged crimes in El Fasher to preserve and collect relevant evidence for its use in future prosecutions. The recent conviction by ICC judges of Janjaweed leader Mr Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (also known as Ali Kushayb) for similar crimes committed in Darfur in 2004 is a warning for all parties to the conflict in Darfur that there will be accountability for such atrocious crimes.
The Office calls upon all individuals and organisations engaged in the pursuit of justice and accountability to submit, through the secure OTP Link platform, any information or evidence related to recent and prior events in El Fasher.
