Security Council presses Sudan to cooperate in ending impunity for Darfur crimes

The Security Council today urged the Sudanese Government and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure that those responsible for crimes committed in the war-wracked region are held to account.

Sudan is obligated under Council resolution 1593 of March 2005 to fully cooperate with the ICC and to arrest and surrender those indicted by the Court.

In a statement read out by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad of the United States, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council for this month, the 15-member body also took note of the efforts made by the Court’s Prosecutor to bring to justice the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Earlier this month the Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the Council that Sudan is “deliberately” attacking civilians. “Despite promises and denials, over the last five years, millions of civilians have been targeted by officials who vowed to protect them. Impunity reigns,” he reported.

In addition, despite arrest warrants being issued last April for Ahmad Harun, former Sudanese Minister of State for the Interior and now the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, and Ali Kushayb, a leader of a pro-Government Janjaweed militia, the two men – accused of committing war crimes – have yet to be apprehended.

An estimated 300,000 people have died, either through direct combat or disease, malnutrition or reduced life expectancy, since the fighting between rebels, Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen began in 2003, while another 2.7 million people have become displaced.