"Now, we have a common task - to end the culture of impunity," said ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo on receiving the report compiled by the UN-appointed International Commission of Inquiry. This found that crimes against humanity and war crimes had been committed, including mass killings of innocent civilians, systematic rape of girls and women, torture, destruction of villages and burning of family homes. "I will closely monitor ongoing crimes in Darfur as well as efforts to prevent and stop them," he added. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than two million others were driven from their homes in the conflict raging since the rebels took to arms in early 2003, partly in protest against the distribution of economic resources.
Earlier today the ICC, based in The Hague, received thousands of documents collected by the Commission. Moreno Ocampo said he would analyze them and assess the crimes and the admissibility of the cases. Appointed to determine whether genocide had occurred, the five-member Commission found that although no genocidal policy had been pursued, "international offences such as crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur may be no less serious and heinous than genocide."
In Sudan's capital, Khartoum, the UN mission reported that tens of thousands protested and some of them attacked the perimeter fence of the UN Development Program (UNDP) compound. When that failed, they threw stones into it until a group of elders and community leaders passed a letter into the building for transmission to the Secretary-General. Earlier, a group of students threw stones at a rental car with UN markings. No casualties were reported. A similar demonstration was planned for Port Sudan today and on Sunday a protest took place in El-Fasher in North Darfur.
In Darfur yesterday, Kofi Annan's Special Representative Jan Pronk continued his tour amid reports of continued insecurity. In North Darfur, some 800 people at the Abu Shouk camp for displaced persons demonstrated to protest against the large number of rapes around the camps and the continued lack of security.
In South Darfur, tribesmen entered Kalma camp at the weekend and harassed the population. The local police, claiming there was no wrongdoing, refused to take action. Later, members of the African Union civilian police unit dispersed the armed men, following requests from humanitarian organizations. The UN mission said that in Nyala, South Darfur's main town, police continued to demand fuel and food as incentives to carry out security patrols despite the clear understanding that this is a responsibility of the Government of Sudan.
Note: The UN will find it difficult to impose its authority in Darfur province and the outrages against the local population may continue for some time yet. Sudanjem is the website of the Sudan Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
