ICC to open 2 new Darfur cases
2007-12-04 21:11
The Hague - The International Criminal Court will open two new investigations into crimes committed in Darfur next year, the ICC prosecutor said in a speech made public on Tuesday.
In an address on Friday to the court's assembly of state parties, made public only Tuesday, prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo announced his office was looking into new cases in Darfur centring on crimes targeting refugee camps and attacks on peacekeepers and aid workers.
"We will seek to identify which individuals bear the greatest responsibility for the ongoing crimes committed against the persons displaced; we will also seek to identify which individuals bear the greatest responsibility for attacks against peacekeepers - such as happened in Haskanita - and humanitarian personnel," the prosecutor said.
In Haskanita in September armed men overran African Union peacekeepers and killed 10 soldiers.
In the "ongoing crimes" against the 2.5 million displaced persons Moreno Ocampo identifies Sudanese minister Ahmed Haroun, already wanted by the court for other war crimes in Darfur as a "key actor".
"Ahmed Haroun is controlling the victims inside the camps, controlling their access to food, humanitarian aid, and security; attacks against the civilians and the displaced in particular take upon multiple forms; women are raped; emerging local leaders are targeted; displaced are surrounded by hostile forces," the prosecutor said.
He stressed that while Haroun was a pivotal figure "he is not alone" in committing crimes.
In a speech to the UN Security Council Wednesday Moreno Ocampo is expected to give more details about the kind of people targeted in the new investigations.
Last May, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Haroun and pro-government Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib, who face a long list of charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Sudan has refused to hand them over.
More than two million people have fled their homes and at least 200 000 have died from the combined effects of famine and conflict since Khartoum enlisted militia allies to put down a local revolt in 2003, according to the United Nations.
The ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes court, was asked by the Security Council in 2005 to investigate and prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.
- SAPA