ICC Prosecutor : Darfur is a huge crime scene

ICC Prosecutor : Darfur is a huge crime scene

ICC-OTP-20080605-PR319

 عربي

Situation: Darfur, Sudan


Today in New York, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo informed the United Nations Security Council that he will present in July a second Darfur case before the ICC judges.

“The entire Darfur region is a crime scene.  For 5 years, civilians have been attacked relentlessly. In their villages. Then into the camps. They cannot return. Their land has been usurped. To plan and commit such crimes, on such a scale, over such a period of time, the criminals had to mobilize and coordinate the whole state apparatus, from the security services to the public information bureaucracies and the judiciary.  Cover up of crimes by Sudanese officials, pretending that all is well in Darfur, blaming crimes on others, is a characteristic of the criminal system at work. We have seen it before, in Rwanda, in the former Yugoslavia, in my own country Argentina during the military dictatorship’.

“The victims are being attacked by the Sudanese officials who have to protect them. If the international community is persuaded to look away and fails to recognize the situation for what it is - the execution of a massive criminal plan to destroy entire communities in Darfur - it would be a final blow to the victims.” The Prosecutor said, asking the UNSC to issue a statement requesting full cooperation of the Sudanese with the Court.

 He also mentioned that one year after the first arrest warrants were issued by the ICC, the Government of Sudan has not complied with Resolution 1593, has not arrested Ahmed Harun and Ali Kushayb, a militia Janjaweed leader. They remain free and involved in criminal acts against civilians in Darfur.

“They are fugitives from the ICC” the Prosecutor said.  ‘Ahmed Harun is still Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs; he is a member of the committee overseeing the deployment of UNAMID peacekeepers. Impunity is not an empty word. Ahmed Harun is attacking civilians; he is hindering the delivery of aid and the protective functions of the peacekeepers.  The international community is sending firefighters and the Government of the Sudan is promoting the arsonist’ added Luis Moreno Ocampo.

 “As long as Harun and Kushayb remain free in Sudan, the criminal system will remain at work.  Girls will continue to be raped.  Schools will be attacked. Land will be usurped. Entire groups will disintegrate. Impunity emboldens the criminals.”

 The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely.   The Office of the Prosecutor is currently investigating in four situations:  The Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda, the Darfur region of Sudan, and the Central African Republic, all still engulfed in various degrees of conflict with victims in urgent need of protection. 

Statement of the Prosecutor: English

In New York

Florence Olara, OTP Public Information Coordinator
+31 (0) 6 5029 4476 (cell)
Email: [email protected]

In The Hague:

Ms Nicola Fletcher, OTP Media Liaison
+31 (0)70 515 8071, cell: +31 (0) 65 089 0473
Email: [email protected]

Source: Office of the Prosecutor