SUDAN: The chief prosecutor at the ICC, the International Criminal Court, has accused a Sudanese government minister and a former militia leader of committing war crimes in Darfur.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Ahmed Harun and Ali Kosheib were responsible for 51 crimes including murder, rape, torture and attacks against the civilian population.
He asked pre-trial judges yesterday to issue summonses for the suspects, who are the first people to be accused by prosecutors of war crimes in the Darfur region in Sudan.
Mr Harun is humanitarian affairs minister in Sudan and previously held the post of minister for the interior. ICC prosecutors allege that in his former post he conspired with Mr Kosheib, allegedly a Janjaweed militia commander who led attacks on towns and villages where dozens of civilians were killed.
It is estimated that 200,000 have died and two million people have fled their homes in Darfur in the four-year conflict between government troops, state-backed militias and rebels. Human rights groups allege genocide has also taken place in Darfur. Mr Moreno-Ocampo yesterday said he could not rule out that the genocide charge would be introduced in the future.
"Our work sends a signal: those who commit atrocities cannot do so without impunity," he said, following a 20-month investigation into Darfur at the request of the UN Security Council.
Sudan rejected the prosecutor's evidence yesterday and said the court had no jurisdiction to try any Sudanese suspects, either rebels or those from the government side. "All the evidence the prosecutor referred to is lies given to him by people who bear arms against the state, bear arms against citizens and kill innocent citizens in Darfur," said justice minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi.
Human rights groups welcomed the findings, particularly since it is the first time the ICC has targeted a government minister.
UN human rights commissioner Louise Arbour, whose office has accused Khartoum of systematically failing to protect civilians and bring those responsible to justice, said she hoped the move would be a "strong deterrent" against more bloodshed.
Former rebels in Darfur also welcomed the ICC action.
Al-Tayyib Khamis, spokesman for the only rebel group to sign a 2006 peace deal, said: "This process of bringing the people who perpetrated crimes in Darfur to justice . . . is a historic moment for us and for our families in Darfur."
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC investigation was continuing and his office would monitor the spillover of violence from Darfur into Chad and the Central African Republic. He said evidence collected showed Mr Harun funded the Janjaweed from an unlimited budget that was not publicly audited and was seen personally delivering arms, ammunition and well-guarded boxes to the militia in Darfur.
He said Mr Kosheib was seen giving orders to the Janjaweed, personally inspecting a group of naked women before they were raped by men in military uniforms and personally participating in summary executions, one involving at least 32 men.