(ICC)Prosecutor accuses Sudanese state of Darfur crimes

Source: Reuters

EL FASHER, Sudan (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court prosecutor said on Thursday he would seek new indictments next month against top officials, accusing Sudan's "entire state apparatus" of involvement in crimes in Darfur.


Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo's address to the U.N. Security Council coincided with a visit by envoys to Darfur, scene of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Khartoum has accused Moreno Ocampo of wrecking prospects for peace in Darfur, and Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir told a visiting U.N. Security Council delegation that certain groups were exploiting the crisis for their own ends.

Judges at the ICC, set up in 2002 in The Hague as the world's first permanent court to try individuals for war crimes, issued arrest warrants for two Sudanese suspects in April last year, but Khartoum has refused to hand them over.



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UN Security Council gets firsthand look at Darfur By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago



EL FASHER, Sudan - The U.N. Security Council got a firsthand look Thursday at the worsening conflict in Darfur, which has killed up to 300,000 people and forced 2.5 million to flee their homes.

Facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, the council delegation met with officials from the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force that has struggled to get up to its full strength of 26,000 troops since its January launch.

The force — key to helping protect civilians in the many camps of displaced Darfurians — now stands at 9,000 troops.

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"We listened to women about what life is like in those camps, that was important," Kumalo said. "We would not disrespect them and leave them and say, 'Let's go look in your houses.'"

Kumalo told reporters that while there was an impression at the U.N. headquarters that the Sudanese government was responsible for many of the problems, there is also the reality that the U.N.-AU mission is "horribly underserved and under-resourced."

"People in those camps were telling us, 'The U.N. must come and protect us.' With what? After what I heard here, with what," Kumalo added, blaming the international community for lack of support.

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