THE HAGUE: The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court warned Monday that atrocities committed in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
After 18 months of siege, bombardment and starvation, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of the city on October 26, dislodging the army’s last stronghold in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
The ICC prosecutor’s office (OTP) voiced “profound alarm and deepest concern” over reports from El-Fasher about mass killings, rapes, and other crimes allegedly committed.
“These atrocities are part of a broader pattern of violence that has afflicted the entire Darfur region since April 2023,” said the OTP in a statement.
“Such acts, if substantiated, may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute,” the founding text of the ICC, added the OTP.
