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	Application for an arrest warrant in the situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar by ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan International Criminal Court, agencies Afghanistan, Bangladesh/Myanmar   12 Mar. 2025   Situation in the Philippines: Rodrigo Roa Duterte in ICC custody   Today, 12 March 2025, Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte (“Mr Duterte”), born on 28 March 1945, was surrendered to the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC or “the Court”). He was arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines (“the Philippines”) in accordance with an arrest warrant issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I (“the Chamber”) for charges of murder as a crime against humanity.   On 10 February 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC (“the Prosecution”) applied for an arrest warrant against Mr Duterte for the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and rape. The Chamber, composed of Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera, assessed the material submitted by the Prosecution and found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Duterte is individually responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.   The Chamber found that there was an attack directed against a civilian population pursuant to an organisational policy while Mr Duterte was the head of the Davao Death Squad (DDS), and pursuant to a State policy while he was the President of the Philippines. Moreover, there are reasonable grounds to believe that this attack was both widespread and systematic: the alleged attack took place over a period of several years and resulted in thousands of deaths. In the arrest warrant, the Chamber focused on a sample of alleged incidents to facilitate its analysis.   Concerning Mr Duterte’s alleged role as the head of the DDS and subsequently as the President of the Philippines, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that he, jointly with and through other persons, agreed to kill individuals they identified as suspected criminals or persons having criminal propensities, including but not limited to drug offenders, initially in Davao and subsequently throughout the country..   http://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-philippines-rodrigo-roa-duterte-icc-custody http://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-office-prosecutor-arrest-former-philippine-president-rodrigo-roa-duterte   23 Jan. 2025   Afghanistan: ICC seeks arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over gender-based persecution. (UN News/ICC)   The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken an historic step towards addressing the “unacceptable” systemic repression of Afghan women, girls and LGBTQI+ individuals by the Taliban.   On Thursday, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for two senior Taliban officials: Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.   They are accused of crimes against humanity on the grounds of gender-based persecution under the Rome Statute of the court, which sets out the duty of every State signatory to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes.   “These applications recognise that Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban,” Mr. Khan said in a statement.   Since reclaiming power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have implemented a series of oppressive measures that have systematically stripped women of their rights, including barring them from employment, public spaces and education beyond the age of 12.   The ICC Prosecutor emphasised that these acts constitute severe deprivations of fundamental rights, including physical autonomy, freedom of expression and access to education – rights protected under international law.   Mr. Khan said the filings are supported by diverse evidence, including expert testimony, forensic reports and numerous decrees issued by the de facto authorities.   The ICC’s Afghanistan team, under the supervision of Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan and Special Adviser on Gender and Discriminatory Crimes Lisa Davis, has played a critical role in investigating these allegations, the prosecutor continu   These severe deprivations of fundamental rights were committed in connection with other Rome Statute crimes, Mr. Khan explained.   “Perceived resistance or opposition to the Taliban was, and is, brutally repressed through the commission of crimes including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enforced disappearance, and other inhumane acts,” he said.   He underscored that the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia – the Islamic legal system derived from the Quran – cannot be used to justify such violations of fundamental human rights.   “In making these applications, I wish to acknowledge the remarkable courage and resilience of Afghan victims and witnesses who cooperated with my Office’s investigations,” Mr. Khan noted.   “We remain unwavering in our commitment to ensure that they are not forgotten, and to demonstrate through our work, through the effective and impartial application of international law,” he affirmed, underscoring that “all lives have equal value.”   The Prosecutor also expressed gratitude to Afghan civil society and international partners for their support.   The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber will now determine whether these applications for arrest warrants establish reasonable grounds to believe that the named individuals committed the alleged crimes.   “If the judges issue the warrants, my Office will work closely with the Registrar in all efforts to arrest the individuals,” said Mr. Khan, also announcing that further applications against other senior Taliban leaders are forthcoming.   “Afghan victims and survivors have suffered injustice for too long,” he stressed.   http://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-afghanistan http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/01/1159366 http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/newsroom/open-society-welcomes-step-toward-justice-for-afghan-women-and-girls http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/23/afghanistan-icc-prosecutor-seeks-gender-persecution-charges   Nov. 2024   Application for an arrest warrant in the situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar - ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan   Since 14 November 2019, we have been investigating alleged crimes committed during the 2016 and 2017 waves of violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar, and the subsequent exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh.   After an extensive, independent and impartial investigation, my Office has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Defence Services, bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya, committed in Myanmar, and in part in Bangladesh.   My Office alleges that these crimes were committed between 25 August 2017 and 31 December 2017 by the armed forces of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, supported by the national police, the border guard police, as well as non-Rohingya civilians.   This is the first application for an arrest warrant against a high-level Myanmar government official that my Office is filing. More will follow.   Today’s application draws upon a wide variety of evidence from numerous sources such as witness testimonies, including from a number of insider witnesses, documentary evidence and authenticated scientific, photographic and video materials.   In collecting this evidence, the Office has benefitted from the crucial support of States, civil society partners and international organisations. In particular, the cooperation, the confidence and the steadfast commitment from the Rohingya community, the support of the Government of Bangladesh, and excellent cooperation from the United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar have been essential to advancing this investigation.   I wish in particular to express my deep, profound gratitude to the Rohingya. More than a million members of their community have been forced to flee violence in Myanmar. We are grateful to all those who provided testimony and support to my Office, those that have shared their stories, those that have given us information and material.   It is now for the judges of the International Criminal Court to determine whether this application meets the necessary standard for the issuance of an arrest warrant. In the event that the independent judges of the ICC issue the requested warrant, we will coordinate closely with the Registrar of the Court in all efforts to arrest the named individual.   http://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-application-arrest-warrant-situation-bangladesh http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1157536 http://iimm.un.org/en/reaction-icc-prosecutors-request-arrest-warrant-min-aung-hlaing http://iimm.un.org/en/evidence-escalation-brutal-atrocities-committed-myanmar-military-myanmar-mechanism-annual-report   28 Oct. 2024   Demand for International Criminal Court’s work unprecedented amid record high threats, coercive measures worldwide, ICC President tells UN General Assembly. (UN News)   Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, Tomoko Akane, President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said the past year has been marked by an unparalleled increase in demand for the Court’s work, along with unprecedented levels of threats, pressures and coercive measures which pose a serious threat to administering justice   “Let me be very clear on this. We cannot give up. We will not give up,” Ms. Akane told delegates. Presenting the criminal tribunal’s annual report of its activities from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2024, she said, it is “sadly” becoming increasingly more relevant in today’s world. “I say sadly, because this reflects a painful reality that countless innocent civilians live in pain and misery in all regions of the globe,” she added.   Stressing the Court is not a political institution, she said its judges will always be fully independent and impartial in carrying out their duties. “We are only bound by the law and we do not change the course of our actions due to threats, be them political or of another nature,” she said, adding: “We will continue abiding by our mandate undeterred, with integrity, determination, impartiality and independence at all times.”   The number of States parties to the Court will reach 125 — about two-thirds of the international community — on 1 January 2025, when Ukraine officially becomes a member after having deposited its instrument of ratification of the Rome Statute, the Court’s founding treaty, on 25 October.   Detailing the Court’s “extraordinarily busy period” for the past 12 months, she said there were outstanding arrest warrants against 20 individuals, including four arrest warrants issued concerning the Ukraine situation in 2024, when the report was submitted.   On 4 October 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber I unsealed six arrest warrants in the Libya situation, bringing the total to 26. This does not include many other warrants issued under seal and the enormous work done by the different Pre-Trial Chambers, she said.   While continuing to enhance its tracking capabilities, arrest warrants cannot be executed without States’ cooperation. “Again, the Court urges all UN Member States to assist the Court by cooperating on the arrest and transfer of individuals subject to outstanding ICC arrest warrants,” she said.   The Court’s first in absentia confirmation case is being held regarding the situation in Uganda on the charges against Joseph Kony. The victims of his alleged crimes have been awaiting justice for over 18 years.   At the trial level, Trial Chamber X convicted Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between 2 April 2012 and 29 January 2013 in Timbuktu, northern Mali, in the context of control by Ansar Dine and Al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM. The Chamber’s sentencing decision is scheduled for 20 November.   Hearings continued in the Yekatom and Ngaïssona and the Said cases from the situation in the Central African Republic and in the Abd-Al-Rahman case from the situation in Darfur.   During the reporting period, the Chambers issued 532 written decisions, in addition to oral and email decisions, and 158 hearings were held, she said. In 2023, 14 arrest warrants were issued, including those under seal.   Turning to the Court’s mandate towards victims of mass atrocities, she said reparations are an integral part of the tribunal’s proceedings. Reparations proceedings in the Katanga case concluded in April, with a closing ceremony held in Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, marking a historic milestone.   Reparations orders in several other cases are being implemented and about 24,000 individuals, 53 per cent more than in 2023, are directly benefiting from medical treatment, psychological rehabilitation, socioeconomic support, education and peacebuilding activities through the Trust Fund for Victims. Sixty-nine per cent of the beneficiaries are women.   “We are truly at a turning point in history. The rule-based approach to the conduct of hostilities and global affairs and the very notion of international criminal justice is under significant threat,” she said. “It is up to the international community to decide whether the rule of law at the international level should be defended or whether we ought to revert to the rule of power”.   Cooperation with United Nations crucial for advancing Global Justice   Philemon Yang, UN General Assembly President said that while the Court is separate from the United Nations, cooperation between the two institutions is crucial to advance global justice and promote international peace and security.   At the heart of the Rome Statute is the principle of complementarity, which recognizes that the Court functions as a court of last resort, only exercising its jurisdiction where national courts fail to do so.   “Accordingly, strengthening justice systems at the national level, including through capacity-building initiatives should be a priority for us all,” he said.   Noting the conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan have seen the potential commission of heinous crimes, he said it is vital that impunity in these situations is not tolerated.   “States must prioritize accountability, ensure justice for victims and restore a sense of security within affected communities,” he stressed.   http://press.un.org/en/2024/ga12548.doc.htm http://asp.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/asp_docs/ASP-23-STMT-PICC-ENG.pdf http://asp.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/asp_docs/ASP-23-STMT-PROS-ENG.pdf http://www.icc-cpi.int/news Visit the related web page
	Fears of genocide amid rape and torture in Sudan’s Darfur by Kaamil Ahmed OHCHR, Guardian news, agencies   Dec. 2024   Sudan: Famine expands as conflict drives catastrophic hunger to more areas. (IPC)   Twenty months into the conflict, Sudan continues to slide into a widening Famine crisis characterized by widespread starvation and a significant surge in acute malnutrition.   The IPC Famine Review Committee (FRC) has detected Famine in at least five areas and projects that five additional areas will face Famine between December 2024 and May 2025. Furthermore, there is a risk of Famine in seventeen additional areas.   Half of the population (24.6 million people) is facing high levels of acute food insecurity. This marks an unprecedented deepening and widening of the food and nutrition crisis, driven by the devastating conflict, which has triggered unprecedented mass displacement, a collapsing economy, the breakdown of essential social services, and severe societal disruptions, and poor humanitarian access.   According to the FRC, Famine (IPC Phase 5) detected in August 2024 in Zamzam camp, North Darfur state, has persisted and expanded to Al Salam and Abu shouk camps and the Western Nuba Mountains for the period October to November 2024. Between December 2024 and May 2025, Famine is projected to expand in North Darfur localities including Um Kadadah, Melit, El Fasher, At Tawisha, and Al Lait.   There is a risk of Famine in the Central Nuba Mountains (including in Delami, Western Kadugli, Um Durein, and Al Buram localities), and in areas likely to experience high influxes of IDPs in North and South Darfur. These include Tawila, Nyala Janoub, Nyala Shimal, Beliel, Shattaya, As Sunta, Buram, and Kas in South Darfur, as well as Medani Al Kubra and Sharg Al Jazirah in Al Jazirah State, Mayo and Alingaz in Jebel – Awilia, Khartoum state and Al Firdous in East Darfur state.   This latest IPC analysis shows that food insecurity is at worse levels than foreseen. Between December and May, 24.6 million people face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above). These results mark a stark increase of 3.5 million people compared to the number originally projected and correspond to over half of the population of Sudan.   This includes about 15.9 million people (33 percent) classified in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis), 8.1 million people (17 percent) in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), and at least 638,000 people (1 percent) in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe).   http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-117/en/   2 Dec. 2024   UN Resident Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, expressed grave concern over humanitarian aid organizations reports that Zamzam camp came under intense shelling during the evening of 1 December and again on 2 December.   “Civilians and civilian infrastructure are protected under international humanitarian law and should never be a target,” she underscored.   The shelling killed at least five people and injured 18, prompting the evacuation of a hospital and the suspension of healthcare operations in the camp, which is located near El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state.   Already grappling with a months-long siege, Zamzam camp, home to over half a million displaced people, has faced severe shortages of critical humanitarian supplies. Food security experts confirmed famine conditions in August 2024, in Zamzam.   “It is now 232 days since the siege of El Fasher began, which has resulted in unacceptable levels of human suffering,” said Ms. Nkweta-Salami. The violence has further devastated civilian infrastructure, including health clinics and shelters, exacerbating an already dire situation.   The UN and humanitarian agencies have strongly condemned the attacks on civilians and called for an immediate halt to violence. “Civilian protection is paramount,” said Ms. Nkweta-Salami.   The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has urged all armed groups to consistently grant safe passage for food aid to reach the camp. “We need all warring parties and armed groups to allow vital food and nutrition to arrive safely,” stressed Alex Marianelli, WFP’s Operations Deputy Country Director in Sudan.   With over 11 million people displaced across Sudan, including 5.8 million women and children, the escalating violence has deepened the world's largest displacement crisis.   Alert from MSF in Zamzam Camp, North Darfur   Sudan’s largest displacement site is under attack with intense shelling by RSF since yesterday evening. The attack has created a living nightmare for the displaced people in Zamzam camp, with casualties, panic and mass displacement.   On December 1st, MSF teams received 8 injured people, including women and children as young as 4 years old with severe injuries such as chest trauma and fractures. Four critically injured patients were referred to another facility this morning, just before shelling resumed to hit near the market and MSF field Hospital.   The situation is beyond chaotic: patients and medical staff are leaving the camp and trying to run for their lives. MSF’s hospital is now empty, with the last three ICU patients—still dependent on oxygen— evacuated under dangerous conditions.   “Not only have people been starving, but they are also now being bombarded and forced to flee again. We're concerned about their safety, including our staff, and we urgently call for the protection of patients, civilians, medical teams and health facilities, in Zamzam Camp.   Safe passage must also be guaranteed for those escaping this violence,” said Michel-Olivier Lacharite MSF’s Head of Emergency Operations.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/12/sudan-alarming-el-fasher-siege-hostilities-must-end-un-report http://www.unocha.org/publications/report/sudan/resident-and-humanitarian-coordinator-sudan-clementine-nkweta-salami-condemns-shelling-and-airstrikes-civilian-areas-parts-darfur-and-khartoum http://prezly.msf.org.uk/alert-from-msf-in-zamzam-camp-north-darfur   Nov. 2024   Militia fighters who raped and attacked minority groups in Darfur threatened to force them to have “Arab babies” and used ethnic slurs during their attacks, according to a new UN report.   The details of the latest UN fact-finding mission report are accompanied by claims from activists that the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary is attempting a genocide of non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur.   The report found fighters from the RSF responsible for sexual violence across Sudan, where they have been fighting the army for control since April 2023, with victims aged between eight and 75.   But in Darfur, and particularly against the Masalit ethnic group, victims said there was a clearly racial motivation to the violence.   The fact-finding mission quotes Masalit rape survivors who overheard the fighters stating their intent that “this year, all girls must be pregnant by the Janjaweed”.   Another from El Geneina said her attacker told her: “We will make you, the Masalit girls, give birth to Arab children.”   The city of El Geneina in the state of West Darfur, with its predominantly Masalit population, was the focus of heavy fighting and a long siege by the RSF fighters, who took control of the city in June 2023.   The report said that RSF fighters went door-to-door in Masalit neighbourhoods seeking men to kill. Women were assaulted, raped and subjected to other forms of violence then often told to leave Sudan for neighbouring Chad.   Caroline Buisman, coordinator for the Sudan fact-finding mission, said they found the RSF and allied militias had carried out war crimes against Masalit people, including sexual violence, torture, attacking civilians and forcible displacement.   “We found that rape and other forms of sexual violence committed by the RSF and its allied militias formed part of large-scale attacks which targeted, in particular, the Masalit community, on the basis of their ethnicity,” said Buisman.   Formalised into a paramilitary from militias known as the Janjaweed, the RSF and its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, came to prominence following popular protests that ended the three-decade dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir in 2019.   With a power base on the fringe of Sudanese society in Darfur, Dagalo was able to lodge himself into the centre of events in the capital Khartoum as the second-in-power in the transitional government, working alongside army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to sideline civilians until the two began tussling for control themselves last year.   In the 18 months since fighting began, the RSF and Sudanese army have fought bitter battles for power across the country, displacing around 14 million people according to the UN, while at least 19,000 people have been killed.   The RSF has seized almost the entirety of Darfur and embedded itself in Khartoum, forcing the government to relocate to Port Sudan. Services have crumbled, hospitals have been attacked and a lack of humanitarian access has made it difficult to deliver food and medicine to affected areas.   A report in May by Human Rights Watch also found evidence of racially motivated sexual violence, including many fighters using ethnic slurs, calling the women they attacked slaves and telling them they would rape Masalit women until they had their Arab babies.   It also cited an example of fighters leaving after being told a 15-year-old girl they wanted to rape was from a prominent Arab family.   Activists said that the RSF and the Janjaweed militias had a long history of using sexual violence that stretched back to its numerous attacks on non-Arabs in the early 2000s, a period of violence that is under investigation for genocide at the International Criminal Court.   Hala Al-Karib, regional director of women’s rights group Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, said conditions in Darfur had deteriorated since the ending of UN peacekeeping in the region in 2020, empowering Arab militias and their leaders.   “The RSF has used sexual violence as a tool for ethnic cleansing and there are definitely footprints of genocide, particularly in western Darfur. I don’t think the scale of what happened there is still fully known,” said Karib.   “The RSF has in a very structural way used gang rape and other forms of sexual violence and sexual slavery as a tool for landgrabbing, forced evictions and to break communities and kill any possibility of resistance to the utmost domination the RSF is seeking on the region.”   Marwa Gibril, a doctor and Darfuri activist, also said the RSF was using sexual violence across Sudan to break communities but with a particular ethnic focus in Darfur.   She said the tribes that RSF recruit from believed in their superiority over other communities because of their Arab heritage.   “To keep their superiority, they invade these areas and make sure that they kill the men and change the gene pool by raping women and having babies that are Arabs, not Masalit or Fur or any other black ethnicity,” said Gibril.   http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/nov/03/we-will-make-you-have-arab-babies-fears-of-genocide-amid-and-torture-in-sudans-darfur http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/sudan-un-fact-finding-mission-documents-large-scale-sexual-violence-and http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session57/A-HRC-57-CRP-6-en.pdf http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/15/sudan-fighters-rape-women-and-girls-hold-sex-slaves http://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/ffm-sudan/index http://www.unocha.org/news/ocha-urges-security-council-act-sudan-faces-unimaginable-suffering-amid-escalating-violence http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/ingos-working-sudan-sound-alarm-increasing-use-explosive-weapons-heavily-populated-civilian-areas   http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2024/11/13/warring-parties-target-local-aid-volunteers-fighting-escalates-sudan-err http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/11/sudan-un-experts-condemn-campaign-violence-against-civilians-amid-rising http://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/un-agencies-warn-spiraling-sudan-crisis-civilians-face-grave-risks-and-famine http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/x-rays-children-show-dire-impact-sudans-war http://www.msf.org/conflict-sudan http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2024/invisible-and-severe-death-toll-sudan-conflict-revealed http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/opinion/columnists/african-union-must-ensure-sudan-civilians-are-protected-4799370 http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/24/un-african-union-should-take-bold-action-protect-sudanese-civilians http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/10/sudan-rapid-support-forces-target-civilians Visit the related web page
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