THERE are “reasonable grounds” to believe war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in western Sudan, said the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.
Targeted sexual violence against women and girls of specific ethnicities was named as one of the most disturbing findings to emerge from an ICC investigation into crimes committed in Darfur.
War broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, leading to what the UN calls “devastating civilian casualties”.
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said it was “difficult to find appropriate words to describe the depth of suffering” in the region.
Her conclusions have been drawn from “over 7,000 evidence items collected to date”, she said, praising “brave” survivors for sharing their testimony.
The UN Security Council first gave the ICC a mandate to investigate and prosecute crimes in Darfur two decades ago, with the body opening multiple investigations into war crimes and genocide committed in the region from July 2002 onwards.
The ICC launched a fresh probe in 2023 after the nationwide conflict between the army and the RSF broke out across the country, interviewing victims who had fled fighting in Darfur to neighbouring Chad.
Ms Khan described an “inescapable pattern of offending”, and stressed that the team was working to translate such crimes into evidence for the court.
She said that those committing crimes in Darfur “may feel a sense of impunity at this moment”.
But the ICC was working to ensure that “many” people would face justice at the ICC over what was happening in the region, she warned.
Allegations of war crimes have persisted throughout the past two years, and in January 2025 the US determined that the RSF and allied militias had committed a genocide against the region’s non-Arab population.
The RSF has denied the claims, and said it was not involved in what it describes as a “tribal conflict” in Darfur.
