Prosecutors move closer to Darfur trial

A Sudanese rebel arrives at the abandoned village of Chero Kasi in Darfur less than an hour after Janjaweed militiamen set it ablaze. Photograph: Scott Nelson/Getty Images

Mark Tran and agencies
Friday December 15, 2006Guardian Unlimited

A proposed war crimes tribunal for Darfur moved a step closer to reality today, after the chief prosecutor for the international criminal court (ICC) said he was ready to present evidence to judges.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the UN security council of his plans to submit the case to the court's judges in February. Under the Rome statute, that created the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal, the judges will decide whether the case should proceed after reviewing the evidence.

"The evidence in this emerging first case points to specific individuals who appear to bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity including persecution, torture, murder, and rape," the ICC said on its website.

The security council referred the situation in Darfur to the prosecutor in March 2005. More than 200,000 people have died and about 2.5 million people displaced in three years of fighting between African rebels and government troops, allied with the Janjaweed Arab militia. The conflict has spread into neighbouring Chad and the central African republic and is now in "free fall," with the prospect of 6 million people going without food or protection, the outgoing UN humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, said last week. >>>cont

LinkHere