HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CALLS FOR URGENT STEPS TO HALT ATROCITIES IN DARFUR

17 February 2005



The most urgent need in Darfur is for concrete measures to end the current violence and restore security and dignity to its people, including taking the issue to the International Criminal Court (ICC), United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour told the Security Council on 16 February. Read more ...

Briefing the Council on the work of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, the High Commissioner said murder, torture, enforced disappearances, destruction of villages, rape and forced displacement continue to be committed against the people of the western Sudanese region.

“These crimes have been and, it appears, continue to be perpetrated, on a widespread and systematic basis, by Government officials and Janjaweed leaders or those under their command”, she said, adding that members of rebel groups were also responsible for war crimes.

“The Commission, in my view, eloquently and powerfully argues that referral to the ICC is the best means by which to halt ongoing violations and prevent future ones”, she said.

Mrs. Arbour argued that the ICC could be activated immediately. “With an already existing set of well-defined rules of procedure and evidence, the Court is the best suited institution for ensuring speedy investigations leading to arrests and demonstrably fair trials”, she said.

Speaking on the Commission’s conclusion that the Government of Sudan had not pursued a policy of genocide, the High Commissioner recalled that the panel had also recognized that only a competent court could determine, on a case by case basis, whether individuals, including Government officials, ordered or participated in atrocities motivated by the genocidal intent to exterminate a protected group, in which case they could be found guilty of the crime of genocide.

“It is, in my view, important to stress that nothing in the Commission’s report precludes the possibility of individuals being convicted of acts of genocide in relation to the events in Darfur”, she said. “Personal criminal responsibility is not determined by government policy”