ICC demands investigation of Unamid in Darfur

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, requested the UN on Tuesday to investigate allegations that Unamid intentionally covered up crimes in Darfur.Bensouda presented the UN Security Council (UNSC) with the ICC’s 19th and latest report on the situation in Darfur on Tuesday. In a concomitant statement, she pointed to allegations that Unamid “had been subject to manipulation, with the intentional effect of covering up crimes committed against civilians and peacekeepers, in particular those committed by the Government of Sudan”. She called for “a thorough, independent and public enquiry”. “While the responsibility for this manipulation may lie with a handful of individuals, it impugns the credibility of the mission as a whole and deprives advocates of peace and justice of an essential tool for evaluating the ever-evolving situation in Darfur.” The prosecutor expressed her hope “that this Council and indeed the United Nations as a whole would take immediate and concrete steps to establish the full facts and take appropriate action if the allegations prove to be well founded.” Several UNSC members supported the request for an investigation. In April this year Radio Dabanga published a series of interviews with former Unamid spokeswoman, Aicha Elbasri, in which she revealed that Unamid had misinformed the UN by withholding important details about Darfur. Unamid “observes government forces indiscriminately bombing entire villages, targeting civilian and military targets alike. However these observations are never publically reported in the regular updates by the UN Secretary General to the UNSC.” Elbasri reported that “the UN did not tell the world that the Sudanese government failed to disarm the Janjaweed militias; that it, conversely, reintegrated them into paramilitary forces under new names, and let them continue committing their widespread, systematic attacks directed against the civilian population in Darfur. In order to satisfy the Sudanese government, the word Janjaweed did not appear in more than 30 reports by the Secretary-General except once, and that was in 2008.” Inability The ICC report in particular criticised UNSC’s inability to enforce its resolutions, and arrest those indicted by the ICC, including the Sudanese President. “The Office notes with great concern that despite the fifty-five UN Security Council resolutions adopted on the Sudan since 2004, hardly any of them have been implemented. Repeated demands from the Security Council to the Government of the Sudan, ranging from disarming the Janjaweed to ending aerial bombardments, to ending impunity and bringing justice and accountability to the victims, have gone deliberately unfulfilled.” President Omar Al Bashir, the report said, moves freely on a regular basis between several African nations that are members of the International Criminal Court. “What is needed is a dramatic shift in this Council’s approach to arresting Darfur suspects”. The UN-AU Mission in Darfur (Unamid), established in 2007, is charged with protecting civilians, securing humanitarian assistance, monitoring and verifying implementation of agreements, contributing to the promotion of human rights and the rule of law, and assisting an inclusive political process in Darfur. File photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid Related:Sudan Leaks: ‘UN Security Council was misinformed about Janjaweed’ (10 April 2014) Sudan Leaks: Unamid spokesperson ‘resigned to tell the truth about Darfur’ (9 April 2014) Sudan Leaks: UN admits Darfur reports slanted to please Sudan (8 April 2014) Sudan Leaks: ‘UN withheld key information on ethnic cleansing in Darfur’ (7 April 2014)