The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday presented evidence of repeated war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur region, highlighting atrocities in El Fasher and the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan addressed the U.N. Security Council via video link, citing video, audio and satellite data collected during the reporting period.
“Based on information and evidence gathered by the office, including video, audio and satellite imagery, it is the assessment of the prosecutor’s office that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in El Fasher, including in October during the city’s siege by the Rapid Support Forces,” Khan said.
Video evidence reportedly shows a pattern of abuse similar to earlier atrocities in other parts of Darfur, including arbitrary detention, mistreatment and executions targeting civilians from non-Arab tribes.
“The patterns of atrocities in El Geneina in 2023 have been replicated in El Fasher in 2025. This criminality is being repeated town after town,” Khan added, emphasizing that sexual violence, including rape, is being deliberately used as a tool of war.
Khan also highlighted the October 2025 conviction of Ali Mohammed Abdul Rahman, marking the first Security Council referral to the ICC resulting in a conviction and the first based on gender-based persecution.
Despite challenges such as limited access and concerns for witness safety, she noted improved cooperation with African states and Sudanese authorities, including missions to Port Sudan.
“The systematic and effective investigation of these crimes will remain a key priority,” she said.
Khan’s briefing came amid a diplomatic clash with the United States, which denied her a visa to attend in person due to sanctions. “I regret that I was not granted a visa to provide this briefing in line with my mandate,” she said.
Many Council members expressed support for Khan and lamented the visa denial. In response, U.S. Deputy Envoy Jeff Bartos reaffirmed Washington’s opposition to ICC jurisdiction over the U.S. or its allies and warned that the U.S. would continue to escalate protective measures.
The ICC’s findings underscore the scale of the ongoing crisis in Sudan, where a civil war between the Sudanese army and the RSF since April 2023 has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and triggered the world’s largest displacement and hunger emergency.
Reports of mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and looting followed the RSF’s seizure of El Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in Darfur.
Footage reviewed by the ICC showed RSF fighters detaining, abusing and executing civilians, then celebrating killings and desecrating corpses, patterns consistent with atrocities in El Geneina in 2023, where UN experts estimate 10,000 to 15,000 civilians were killed.
Khan called on Sudanese authorities to fully cooperate with the ICC and ensure the surrender of individuals with outstanding warrants, including former President Omar al-Bashir, ex-ruling party chairman Ahmed Haroun and former Defense Minister Abdul Raheem Mohammed Hussein.
She urged prioritizing Haroun’s arrest; he faces multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity charges for his role in recruiting the Janjaweed militia, which later became the RSF.
Haroun escaped prison in 2023 and has reportedly resumed rallying support for the Sudanese army.
“The evidence paints a picture of appalling, organized, widespread mass criminality,” Khan said. “It will continue until this conflict and the impunity that fuels it are stopped.”
