Amsterdam, Nov 4, (dpa/GNA) – Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC), have announced an investigation into possible war crimes committed in the Sudanese city of El Fasher.
The prosecution at the court’s headquarters in The Hague, said on Monday it felt “profound alarm and deepest concern” at the reports coming out of the city, which was overrun by members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia last week.
RSF fighters are said to be using severe violence against the population, including mass murders and rapes.
According to the indictment, such atrocities are “part of a broader pattern of violence that has afflicted the entire Darfur region since April 2023.”
Since April 2023, there has been a bloody power struggle between de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF, in the East African country.
The UN describes the situation in Sudan, as the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.
The prosecution in The Hague, is already investigating possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
The ICC called on people and organizations in the region, to collect information and possible evidence, and hand it over to the prosecution.
At the start of October, the ICC found a former leader of the Janjaweed militia guilty of similar crimes in Darfur.
The prosecutors said in the statement on Monday that this conviction, was “a warning for all parties to the conflict in Darfur, that there will be accountability for such atrocious crimes.”
GNA