U.S. and European media

December 7, 2022

Reuters: Sudanese Who Deny Darfur Crimes May Be Charged: ICC.  Sudanese officials who deny and deceive the world about crimes committed in Sudan's western Darfur region might face criminal charges, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Friday.  "(Bashir) used the state apparatus not only to commit massive crimes but also to dissimulate them, and therefore facilitate their continuation," ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the U.N. Security Council.  "My office is considering the criminal responsibility of Sudanese officials who actively deny and dissimulate crimes," he said, adding that the crimes in Darfur "are continuing."  Khartoum denies that Bashir or any other Sudanese government or military official committed war crimes in Darfur. It has refused to cooperate with the court.  Moreno-Ocampo said Sudanese officials who deny that crimes have been committed do not enjoy any immunity from the court.

Voice of America: ICC Prosecutor Details Efforts in Darfur Case.  The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at The Hague told the U.N. Security Council Friday that there have been some positive developments relating to his case against the President of Sudan for war crimes committed in the Darfur region of that country. But Luis Moreno-Ocampo also noted his frustration over the lack of cooperation from the Sudanese government and the continuation of crimes in Darfur.  "President al-Bashir, at risk of arrest, has not traveled to the territory of States Parties [to the Rome Statute] for high level events which he was planning to attend in South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria or Venezuela," he said. "He cannot attend the U.N. Climate Conference in Copenhagen. He has not attended the U.N. General Assembly or, recently, a meeting of the OIC [Organization of the Islamic Conference] Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation."  He said if the process of marginalization is maintained, it is a way towards ultimately implementing the arrest warrants. 

AFP: Terror of the child snatchers of South Sudan.  Girls and boys in south Sudan do not need bogeyman scare stories to make them behave: the child snatchers are real.  "They come with guns and steal our children, then kill the rest of us," said Aballa Abich, a tired-looking mother waiting for food aid deliveries in the troubled state of Jonglei.  "Day or night they can attack. We are frightened to let our children out of our sight," added Abich, who comes from the Anyuak people of Pochalla, one of several peoples in the ethnically divided region.  Hundreds of children have been abducted into slavery in a series of bloody clashes between rival groups -- including Abich's five-year-old nephew.  A series of bloody raids this year has left many people in shock, and there has been a sharp increase in attacks apparently deliberately targeting women and children.

Sudan Tribune: Rebels kill 17 Sudanese troops during fresh attack in Darfur.  Rebels in Darfur said today they killed 17 government troops when they repelled an attack by the Sudanese army against one of their bases in the western part of mountainous area of Jebel Marrah.  The Sudan Liberation Army led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur (SLA-AW) said they repulsed an attack by the government troops and militias against their position in Tourain Tawrah in West Darfur.  "Some 500 soldiers and Janjaweed militia attacked early this morning our position in Trourain Tawrah. The assailants arrived in vehicles, camels and horses," Nimer Abdelrahman, the SLA-AW military spokesperson told Sudan Tribune by telephone on Sunday.    The SLM/A-AW refuses to join the peace process in the Qatari capital Doha. However, the Paris based leader of the rebel group, Al-Nur engaged discussions with the Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole to find ways to reconcile their demand for security and the peace process.

Voice of America: Sudan Arrests Suspects in Attack on Rwandan Peacekeepers in Darfur.  Sudanese authorities say they have arrested a number of gunmen suspected of killing three Rwandan peacekeepers in western Sudan's Darfur region.  The suspects are accused of killing three Rwandan peacekeepers who were in a convoy escorting a water tanker in the northern Darfur town of Saraf Omra. The Rwandans were serving in Darfur as part of a joint U.N.-African Union mission, known as UNAMID.   The North Darfur governor says it appears bandits are targeting UNAMID convoys to try to steal their vehicles.  Armed robberies and kidnappings have increased in Darfur in recent months as UNAMID troops try to stabilize the area, which has been torn apart by almost seven years of civil war.

Sudan Tribune: Sudan arrests SPLM SG Pagan Amum and Yasir Arman.  The Sudanese opposition groups vowed to stage mass demonstration at the parliament on Monday despite a last minute ban made by the authorities on the rally raising fears of a confrontation between the two sides.  The Sudanese interior ministry issued a statement saying that the political parties did not receive proper permission to proceed with the mass protest and warned that those intending to take part in this "illegitimate" demonstration with legal action.  The move is a reversal in position by the government which has previously stated that political forces "are entitled to engage in any manifestation that is in accordance with the laws to express their opinion."  Eyewitnesses who asked not to be named told Sudan Tribune that thousands of heavily armed policemen took up positions in the capital since early morning hours in an apparent bid to curb the protests.

The Darfur Daily News is a service of the Save Darfur Coalition. To subscribe to the Daily News, please email [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Roberts at (202) 478-6181, or [email protected].