Darfur war crimes to be tried

2005-06-30 09:40

New York - Plans by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate war crimes committed in Sudan's violence-plagued Darfur region are "rapidly advancing", the main court prosecutor said on Wednesday, despite the Sudanese government's lukewarm reception to the process.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first ICC prosecutor ever to address the United Nations (UN) security council, said his office had found evidence of widespread killing, rape and destruction, warranting bringing the Darfur case to the Hague-based tribunal.

"Crimes include the killing of thousands of civilians, the widespread destruction and looting of villages, leading to the displacement of approximately 1.9 million civilians," said Moreno Ocampo, also noting evidence of widespread rape and sexual assault.

Between 180 000 and 300 000 people have been killed in Darfur since an uprising by rebels in early 2003 prompted a scorched-earth campaign by "janjaweed" militias, widely believed to be backed by the government in Khartoum.

Taking matters into their own hands

But in June, the Sudanese government established its own controversial, special court to try Darfur criminals and Elfatih Erwa, the Sudanese ambassador to the UN, on Wednesday confirmed his government's desire to handle the case domestically.

"We believe in Sudan we should end impunity and we believe any people who commit atrocities should be brought to justice. We will do this work and then we will see legally where the ICC will come," said Erwa.

Moreno Ocampo said the ICC investigation will rely on co-operation from the international community to bring those responsible for crimes in Darfur to justice and noted the ICC is a "complementary system".

"We will request information from the Sudanese authorities, and try to establish an independent monitoring system," said Moreno Ocampo. "But at the same time we are planning our own investigation."

Landmark case

Asked whether the Sudanese government would turn over suspects to the ICC, Erwa said: "Let's see whether there are suspects."

This is the first time the UN security council has referred a case to the Hague-based tribunal.

US opposition to the court delayed for weeks a resolution that sent the Darfur crisis to the ICC, and was only overcome when the council agreed to exempt American nationals operating in Sudan from possible prosecution by the ICC.

Richard Dicker, from the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch, said the security council's backing remains essential.

Dicker said: "My main concern is that the council fully and strongly backs this prosecutor's investigation and not leave him to just dangle in the wind, when the going gets tough with Sudan."

- AFP