AMSTERDAM, 7 June 2005 — The International Criminal Court launched a formal investigation yesterday into suspected war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region, where tens of thousands of people have died since a rebel uprising began in early 2003.
“The investigation will be impartial and independent, focusing on the individuals who bear the greatest criminal responsibility for crimes committed in Darfur,” the ICC said in a statement, but did not name any suspects.
Human rights groups welcomed the announcement as bringing hope for justice to victims of killings, rape and displacement and urged the Sudanese government to support the investigation.
But Sudan said it would not welcome investigations by the ICC with a view to prosecuting people for suspected war crimes in the Darfur region, However, Majzoub Al-Khalifa, the head of the government’s Darfur talks team, said the ICC and others were welcome to send observers to trials in Sudanese courts. “If they want to observe what is going on from the ICC and others, they are welcome (but) if they want to start trials of the Sudanese this is not acceptable,” Khalifa said. “The investigation is part of the trial system.”
The UN Security Council voted in March to refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC, the world’s first permanent global criminal court established in 2002 to try cases of genocide and major human rights violations.
The referral, the first to the ICC by the Security Council, was made possible when Washington, which opposes the court, abstained from the vote after winning guarantees its citizens in Sudan would be exempt from prosecution by the court.
The Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003 when rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government, accusing Khartoum of discrimination against non-Arabs in the arid region.
Sudan’s government is accused of retaliating by arming the local Arab militia, who rebels accuse of burning villages and killing and raping civilians. Khartoum denies the charge.
About 180,000 people have died in Darfur through violence, hunger and disease since the fighting erupted and more than 2 million have fled their homes, creating a humanitarian emergency. The United States has called the violence genocide.
“The wheels of justice are finally beginning to turn on behalf of the people of Darfur who have been victims of mass slaughter, widespread rape and forced displacement,” said Richard Dicker, counsel for New York-based Human Rights Watch.
ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo called for cooperation from both national and international parties in his investigation into suspected crimes against humanity in Darfur.
In April, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave the ICC a sealed list of 51 people suspected of involvement in slaughter, rape and pillage, believed to include top Sudanese government and army officials, militia leaders and rebel and foreign commanders.
