Mark Simonoff
Legal Adviser
New York, New York
January 29, 2024
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Madam President. And thank you, Prosecutor Khan, for your report and for your briefing to the Council today on the Court’s ongoing investigations and prosecutions related to the situation in Darfur.
Twenty years ago, this body began receiving reports of very similar patterns of violence in Darfur when former President Bashir chose to combat rebellion through the collective punishment of communities.
Never punished for their role in atrocities, some of the same actors are victimizing some of the same communities that survived genocide 20 years ago, while taking advantage of the ethnic divisions and unresolved grievances exacerbated by decades of conflict to mobilize support for the current fight.
We see the Rapid Support Forces deploying the same methods of violence we condemned in the early 2000s, murderous attacks on civilians along ethnic lines, widespread sexual violence, and burning and looting of villages. Also, a feature of past violence, Sudanese Armed Forces bombing in Khartoum, across Darfur and in many other areas puts civilians at further risk.
Across Sudan today, airstrikes, shelling, and obstruction of humanitarian aid have led to the devastating civilian casualties, a growing humanitarian and displacement crisis, and the destruction of infrastructure. The ethnically targeted attacks by the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias in Darfur echo the genocide that began over 20 years ago.
The reports are appalling: Rapid Support Forces and affiliated Arab militias targeting non-Arab groups, particularly the Masalit, in attacks on communities and IDP sites. RSF and allied forces going into communities and hunting men and boys, shooting people desperately fleeing their homes, and stealing everything of value while burning the rest.
The attacks in El Geneina and Ardamata alone have left thousands, mostly Masalit civilians, dead. Although some have managed to flee to safety, the streets have been choked with bodies of those who could not escape.
The deliberate, systematic sexual violence committed against women and girls across Sudan is an outrage to our shared humanity. Across Darfur, in Khartoum, and in many other cities and villages, reports indicate that women and girls are attacked in their homes or kidnapped from the streets and subject to rape and gang rape.
Eyewitnesses have seen handcuffed women and girls on the back of trucks being transported towards Darfur.
In addition to justice, this dire situation demands immediate, unfettered, and sustained access for survivors to vital medical and psychosocial services.
In December, Secretary Blinken announced his determination that the RSF and allied militias are responsible for crimes against humanity and, in Darfur, ethnic cleansing, and that members of the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces committed war crimes.
Given the situation, we appreciate that this situation is a priority for the Office of the Prosecutor. We also welcome the concrete steps the Office is taking to advance accountability as outlined in the report, including creating a dedicated team of experts and staff for Darfur, making multiple visits to the region for evidence collection and victim outreach, and deepening the Office’s engagement with Sudanese civil society organizations and experts.
Atrocities are not the inevitable consequences of war, but the result of choices made by leaders, including ignoring their obligations under international law.
The International Criminal Court is a critical tool in the ongoing fight against impunity. In July, we welcomed the Prosecutor’s announcement that atrocity crimes committed during the current fighting may be subject to investigation and prosecution. We also continue our long-standing support for accountability in the existing cases before the Court, including with respect to the ongoing trial of former Janjaweed commander…
This article was originally published by a usun.usmission.gov . Read the Original article here. .