ICC: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Committed in Sudan’s Darfur, Deputy Prosecutor Tells UN

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has declared that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in Sudan’s Darfur region, amid escalating violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan delivered a stark briefing to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, warning that the conflict, ongoing since 2023, has reached an “intolerable state.”

“The depth of suffering and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur have reached an intolerable state,” Khan said, citing evidence gathered through independent investigations. “We have reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and are continuing to be committed in Darfur.”

Khan’s remarks come amid growing international concern over the scale of atrocities unfolding in West Darfur, where more than 40,000 people have been killed and approximately 13 million displaced since the civil war reignited last year between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The ICC’s latest probe has centered on West Darfur, particularly testimonies from victims who fled across the border to Chad. Khan highlighted grave allegations, including the targeting of hospitals and aid convoys and the systematic use of rape and sexual violence as tools of war.

“People are being deprived of food and water. Rape and sexual violence are being weaponized. Abductions for ransom have become a common practice,” she reported.

Famine is intensifying, with aid unable to reach those in urgent need due to attacks on humanitarian operations and widespread insecurity.

Earlier this year, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan indicated that both the SAF and RSF might be culpable for war crimes and crimes against humanity—echoing findings from the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan. That mission warned in June that both sides had escalated their use of heavy weaponry in civilian areas and had deliberately manipulated humanitarian aid for military advantage.

In January, the U.S. government under President Joe Biden also declared that the RSF and allied militias were committing acts of genocide in the region.

Darfur has long been a focus of ICC investigations. The court first opened a case in 2005, after the UN Security Council referred the situation amid widespread killings by the Janjaweed militia, the RSF’s precursor. That earlier conflict left over 300,000 dead.

The ICC’s first verdict on those historic atrocities is expected in the coming months in the case of Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known as Ali Kosheib, whose trial concluded in 2024. Kosheib is accused of overseeing mass killings, rape, and the destruction of villages during the 2003-2004 genocide.

Deputy Prosecutor Khan made it clear that justice for past crimes is only the beginning.

“To those who are inflicting unimaginable atrocities on Darfur’s population—they may feel a sense of impunity at this moment, as Ali Kosheib may have felt in the past,” she said. “But we are working intensively to ensure that the Ali Kosheib trial represents only the first of many in relation to this situation at the International Criminal Court.”

As the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur deteriorates further, international legal mechanisms and political pressure are once again being mobilized in hopes of ending the cycle of impunity and delivering justice to victims of Sudan’s long-running conflicts.