ICC prosecutor urges world to ‘stem the bleeding’ in Sudan before region spins out of control

Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, briefs the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Sudan and South Sudan. (UN)
Short Url
Updated 05 August 2024
Follow

ICC prosecutor urges world to ‘stem the bleeding’ in Sudan before region spins out of control

  • Karim Khan warns this part of Africa is ‘reaching a tipping point, in which a Pandora's box of ethnic, racial, religious, sectarian (and) commercial interests will be unleashed’
  • Since the war in Sudan began in April 2023, 19,000 people have been killed, more than 10m are displaced internally, and more than 2m have fled to other countries

NEW YORK CITY: Violence in Sudan has continued to escalate in the past six months, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said on Monday, with reports of rapes, crimes against children and persecution on a massive scale. 

“Terror has become a common currency,” Karim Khan told a meeting of the UN Security Council, “and the terror is not felt by the people with guns but by people who are running, very often with nothing on their feet, hungry.”

War between rival military factions has been raging in Sudan for more than a year. Since it began in April 2023, about 19,000 people have been killed. More than 10 million are displaced within the country and more than 2 million have fled to neighboring countries as refugees, making it the largest displacement crisis in the world.

The country is on the brink of famine as a severe food crisis looms, with many families reportedly already often going days without food.

Khan said the ICC is prioritizing investigations into allegations of crimes against, and affecting, children, and gender crimes. These “profound human rights abuses, mass violations of personal dignity” continue to be fueled by the “provision of arms, financial support from various sectors, and political triangulations that lead to inaction by the international community,” he added.

His comments came during the latest semi-annual briefing to the Security Council on the court’s Darfur-related activities. Almost 20 years after the council referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC, arrest warrants issued by the court against former president Omar Al-Bashir, former ministers Ahmad Mohammed Harun and Abdel Raheem Mohammed Hussein, and the former commander-in-chief of the Justice and Equality Movement, Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain, remain outstanding.

Khan said that such failures to execute arrest warrants for indicted individuals have contributed to several unwelcome consequences, including “the climate of impunity and the outbreak of violence that commenced in April (2023), and that continues today, (in which) belligerents think they can get away with murder and rape; the feeling that the bandwidth of the (Security) Council, the bandwidth of states, is too limited, it’s too preoccupied with other epicenters of conflict, hot wars in other parts of the world; that we’ve lost sight of the plight of the people of Darfur, we have somehow forgotten our responsibilities under the UN Charter; (and) the feeling that Darfur or Sudan is a law-free zone in which people can act with abandon, based upon their worst proclivities, their worst base instincts, the politics of hate and power, the opportunities to profit.”

He called on council members to “back in substance” the call for justice.

In comments directed toward both of the warring factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as “those who are funding them, supplying them with weapons, giving orders, gaining certain advantages,” Khan said his office is investigating and “using our resources as effectively as we can to make sure that the events since April of last year are subjected to the principle of international humanitarian law and the imperative that every human life must be seen to have equal value.”

He said that after “a great deal of difficulty,” Sudanese authorities are finally cooperating with ICC investigators who have been able to enter Port Sudan, collect evidence and engage with Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the country’s de facto leader.

“But one swallow does not a summer make,” Khan added as he underscored the need for “continuous, deepening cooperation with the Sudanese Armed Forces, with Gen. Al-Burhan and his government moving forward.”

He said that “one concrete way in which that commitment to accountability, and this lack of tolerance for impunity, can be evidenced is by properly enforcing court orders,” including the arrest of former minister Harun and delivering him to the court.

However, Khan said that the most recent significant efforts to engage with the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces have so far proved to be fruitless.

Meanwhile, he said, ICC investigators have visited neighboring Chad several times and collected “very valuable testimonial evidence” from displaced Sudanese citizens living there as refugees.

They have met representatives of Sudanese civil society in Chad, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Europe, he added, “to get and preserve their accounts and their stories, to analyze it and to piece it together, to see what crimes, if any, it shows and who is responsible for the hell on earth that is being unleashed so stubbornly, so persistently against the people of Darfur.”

Khan said his office has used technological tools to gather and piece together various forms of evidence from phones, videos and audio recordings, and that this is “proving to be extremely critical to pierce the veil of impunity.”

The collective efforts by investigators, analysts, lawyers and members of civil society have resulted in significant progress being made, he added, and he expressed hope that he will soon be able to announce that arrest warrants have been requested for individuals believed to be most responsible for the crimes in the country.

Meanwhile, Khan sounded a broader alarm over what he described as “a trapezium of chaos in that part of the continent.”

He continued: “If one draws a line from the Mediterranean of Libya, down to the Red Sea of Sudan, and then draws a line to Sub-Saharan Africa, and then all the way to the Atlantic, with Boko Haram causing instability, chaos and suffering in Nigeria, and then back to Sudan, (we) see the map and the countries that risk being unsettled or destabilized by this concentration of chaos and suffering.”

He warned the members of the Security Council that in addition to the concerns about the rights of the people of Darfur, “we’re reaching a tipping point in which a Pandora’s box of ethnic, racial, religious, sectarian (and) commercial interests will be unleashed.”

He added that “they will no longer be susceptible to the political powers of the great states of the world, or even of this council. It requires some real action now to stem the bleeding … in Sudan.”


Lebanon says at least three killed in Israeli strike on Baalbek

Updated 57 min 37 sec ago
Follow

Lebanon says at least three killed in Israeli strike on Baalbek

  • A ministry statement said body parts were recovered from the site

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said at least three people were killed in an Israeli strike Thursday on the main eastern city of Baalbek.
“The Israeli enemy strike... in Baalbek killed three people, in an initial toll,” a ministry statement said, adding that “body parts were recovered from the site and their identities are being verified.”


Cafe in Libya champions recycling and sustainability

Updated 14 November 2024
Follow

Cafe in Libya champions recycling and sustainability

  • Lamma, which means “gathering” or “hangout” in Arabic, has become a cultural hub for locals and other visitors
  • Its central mission, its owner said, is raising awareness of an eco-friendly lifestyle in Libya

TRIPOLI: In Libya’s capital, a cafe’s sleek exterior gives little hint of the vibrant space inside, built entirely from recycled materials to promote sustainability in a country recovering from years of war.
Lamma, which means “gathering” or “hangout” in Arabic, has become a cultural hub for locals and other visitors, featuring an art gallery that showcases Libyan artists, and hosts events and workshops.
But its central mission, its owner said, is raising awareness of an eco-friendly lifestyle in Libya, where green initiatives are scarce as people grapple with the aftermath of a gruelling conflict.
“We use materials that were abandoned in the streets, such as rubber from tires, wood from trees and construction waste” to build the cafe, said Louay Omran Burwais, an architect who designed and founded Lamma.
“The idea is to show people that what is thrown in the street and may seem ugly or useless is actually still valuable,” he told AFP.
Libya was hurled into war after a NATO-backed uprising led to the overthrow and killing of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, followed by years of fighting between militias, mercenaries and jihadists.
Power remains split between a UN-recognized government and a rival authority in the east.
Behind the long, narrow door into Lamma, visitors are greeted with a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes.
The plant-covered walls contrast with a web of suspended metal scraps, alcoves and slide tunnels that children swoop down through.
“There are no places like this in Libya,” said Roula Ajjawi, Lamma’s art director. “We base everything on one aspect that we consider very important: recycling.”
Families gather at Lamma on Thursdays, the start of the Libyan weekend, when the cafe holds art workshops for children.
Others borrow books from the venue’s small library.
Burwais says his team hopes recycling and other eco-friendly practices, which remain rare, start up in Libya, which currently has no recycling facilities.
Visitors to Lamma will recognize familiar everyday objects repurposed throughout the space, Burwais said, but they will “start seeing them differently. We are here to foster a new mindset.”
In Libya, the plastic, metal, and glass left from over a decade of civil war destruction are rarely, if ever, reused or recycled, Ajjawi said.
More often, they are abandoned in nature and on the streets, occasionally washed into the Mediterranean by rain and wind.
But with initiatives like Lamma, objects once destined for the landfill are transformed into works of art — a concept now catching on with locals.
“I love this place,” said Riyad Youssef, now a Lamma regular. “The food is great, the service is excellent, and I appreciate the commitment to reducing waste. Every idea here is amazing.”


Turkiye probes event spending in opposition-run cities

Updated 14 November 2024
Follow

Turkiye probes event spending in opposition-run cities

  • The office said late on Wednesday it would investigate “irregular spendings“
  • The Ankara chief prosecutor’s office has also launched an investigation into two concerts

ISTANBUL: The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office has opened a probe into allegations of illicit expenditures at some public events organized by the Istanbul municipality, marking the latest legal challenge to opposition-run districts in Turkiye.
The office said late on Wednesday it would investigate “irregular spendings” to determine whether the public experienced financial harm, without elaborating.
The Ankara chief prosecutor’s office has also launched an investigation into two concerts organized by the Ankara municipality on Republic Day celebrations on Oct. 29.
The municipalities, which are Turkiye’s two largest cities and both run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), deny the allegations.
Speaking at a career fair on Thursday, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — who is seen as a potential future challenger to President Tayyip Erdogan — said the probes amounted to “reputation assassination.” The Istanbul municipality did not comment further on the probe when contacted by Reuters.
Late last month the CHP mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district was arrested and accused of belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), charges he and his party reject.
Since then, the interior ministry dismissed and replaced elected mayors from the pro-Kurdish DEM party in some southeastern cities for alleged ties to militants, charges they and their party also deny.


Israeli attacks on Syria’s Damascus kill 15, state media says

People check the damage following a reported Israeli strike in the Mazzeh district of Damascus on November 14, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 14 November 2024
Follow

Israeli attacks on Syria’s Damascus kill 15, state media says

  • The buildings are located in the suburbs of Mazzeh and Qudsaya, both west of the capital, the SANA report said

DUBAI: Fifteen people were killed and 16 injured in Israeli attacks on a number of residential buildings in suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, state news agency SANA reported, citing a Syrian military source.
The buildings are located in the suburbs of Mazzeh and Qudsaya, both west of the capital, the SANA report said.
Israeli army radio said the targets of the attack in Damascus were a headquarters of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad and what it described as other assets, without elaborating.
Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since last year’s Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israeli territory that sparked the Gaza war.
Commanders in Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards based in Syria have been known to reside in Mazzeh, according to residents who fled after recent strikes that killed some key figures from the groups.
Mazzeh’s high rise blocks have been used by the authorities in the past to house leaders of Palestinian factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 


UN resolutions back Palestinian sovereignty, compensation for Lebanon, Syria

Updated 14 November 2024
Follow

UN resolutions back Palestinian sovereignty, compensation for Lebanon, Syria

  • US, Argentina, Canada, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau vote against both resolutions
  • Palestinian representative: Israel allowed to act ‘above the law with brazen impunity’

LONDON: The UN Economic and Financial Committee has approved resolutions calling on Israel to compensate Lebanon and Syria for an oil slick, and to hand sovereignty to the Palestinians over their natural resources.

The US, Argentina, Canada, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau voted against both resolutions.

The slick occurred after the Israeli Air Force struck storage tanks near the Jiyah electric power plant in 2006, covering two-thirds of Lebanon’s coastline with oil.

The draft resolution was introduced by Uganda’s representative, who highlighted the disastrous impact the slick has had on biodiversity and the local economy.

It reiterated the UN General Assembly’s “deep concern” over the negative impact the incident has had on Lebanon’s long-term sustainable development, and reaffirmed a UN report that damage to the country caused by the slick amounted to $856.4 million in 2014.

The resolution was passed by 161 votes in favor to seven against, with nine abstentions. It called for “prompt and adequate compensation” from Israel to Lebanon and Syria, which was also affected by the slick.

Lebanon’s representative thanked his country’s supporters at the UN, the World Bank and elsewhere.

He said the slick had hindered Lebanon’s ability to implement the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and Israel’s use of chemical and toxic substances in its ongoing military campaign could cause long-term agricultural, economic and biodiversity damage.

He called for an investigation into Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and for further compensation.

The Ugandan representative also introduced a draft resolution calling on Israel to “cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of the natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.”

The draft also recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to seek compensation for any illegal activity by Israel or Israeli settlers that exploits or damages their natural resources.

It cited an International Court of Justice advisory opinion from July 19, and reaffirmed “the principle of the permanent sovereignty of the peoples under foreign occupation over their natural resources and the applicability of the Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in time of war.”

The committee passed the resolution with 159 states in favor. Seven countries opposed the motion, with 11 abstentions.

The Palestinian representative said Israel must be held accountable for crimes committed against her people and on their territory, saying it has “for over a year” violated the UN Charter with its “incomprehensible” acts in Gaza.

She added that Israel has been allowed to act as a state “above the law with brazen impunity, classifying all Palestinians as terrorists to justify its acts.” 

The Syrian delegate said genocide, destruction and displacement committed by Israel “have also threatened to set fire to the entire region and beyond.” He blamed the US for preventing the UN Security Council from taking firm action.

The Algerian delegate said people living under occupation should have sovereignty over their natural resources, and damage caused by Israeli aggression will take years of reconstruction to undo.