Investigations have found war crimes are being committed in Sudan's Darfur region, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court said on Thursday.
Deputy ICC prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told the UN Security Council that "the humanitarian position has reached an intolerable state" in the war-torn region.
"Hospitals, humanitarian convoys and other civilian objects are apparently being targeted. Famine is escalating, and humanitarian aid is not reaching those in dire need of it," she said.
"People are being deprived of water and food. Rape and sexual violence are being weaponised, abductions for ransom or to bolster the ranks of armed groups have become common practice, and yet we should not be under any illusion things can still get worse.
"On the basis of our independent investigations, the position of our office is clear. We have reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity, have been and are continuing to be committed in Darfur."
Sudan was plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tension between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, then spread to other regions, including Darfur. About 40,000 people have been killed and nearly 13 million displaced, including to other countries, the UN has said.
The Darfur region was previously rocked a war that began in 2003, with hundreds of thousands of civilians killed and more than two million displaced.
Ms Khan said the ICC had closely tracked reports in recent weeks of the dire situation in North Darfur, where the capital El Fasher is being besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and its affiliates. The RSF has also attacked famine-hit Zamzam and other displacement camps in North Darfur.
There are also allegations of war crimes occurring in other parts of the country amid the conflict. A report by UN experts released in September last year concluded that both sides in the civil war may have committed war crimes.
The report, which was rejected by the military-run Sudanese government, recommended an arms embargo on the nation and the creation of an international peacekeeping force to protect civilians.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Company%20profile
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
SOUTH%20KOREA%20SQUAD
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
