Attack on Darfur Peacekeepers May Be Warcrime, Says ICC Prosecutor
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor on Friday warned that a recent deadly ambush on U.N. and African Union troops in Sudan's Darfur could result in war crimes charges.
"The Prosecutor reminds all parties to the conflict that the ICC has jurisdiction in Darfur... and that the intentional directing of attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes," Fatou Bensouda said in a statement, issued in The Hague.
Seven Tanzanian troops were killed and 17 others were wounded after a joint patrol of United Nations and African Union peacekeepers came under heavy fire from an unidentified group in South Darfur on July 13.
"The office (of the prosecutor) will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those alleged to have committed such crimes should the national authorities fail to," Bensouda added.
She called on the Sudanese government to carry out a "prompt and full investigation and to hold those responsible to account".
About 50 peacekeepers belonging to the 20,000-strong UNAMID have lost their lives since its deployment five years ago.
The trial of two Darfur rebel leaders accused of attacking AU peacekeepers in 2007 are set to start before the ICC in May next year.
One of the men, Saleh Jerbo, however was reportedly killed in April in the war-ravaged western Sudanese region.
Jerbo, along with fellow Darfur rebel leader Abdallah Banda, faced three war crimes charges for allegedly leading an attack on AU peacekeepers in northern Darfur in September 2007.
Twelve peacekeepers died in the ambush.
At least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and two million people forced to flee their homes since non-Arab rebels first rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime in 2003, the United Nations says.
The government puts the death toll at 10,000.
Source: Agence France Presse
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