ICC warns of potential repeat of Darfur atrocities in Sudan’s El Obeid

The International Criminal Court (ICC) warned on Wednesday of the risk of a repeat of the atrocities committed in Sudan’s Darfur region two decades ago, this time in the central city of El Obeid.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the “most serious international crimes” potentially imminent in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State in southern Sudan.

She made the warning during her six-month briefing to the UN Security Council on the court’s work related to the situation in Darfur, which the council referred to the ICC in 2005, according to the United Nations.

In 2003, the armed Sudan Liberation Movement and Justice and Equality Movement launched a rebellion against Sudan’s government, accusing it of marginalising the Darfur region.

As the conflict in Darfur escalated, Western countries called for the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces to protect civilians. Khartoum initially rejected the proposal but agreed in 2004 to the deployment of African Union forces.

In 2005, the ICC opened an investigation into alleged war crimes in Darfur following a referral by the UN Security Council, but Sudan’s government refused to recognise the court’s jurisdiction.