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Sudan and South Sudan - Security Council, 9697th meeting
- Adoption of the agenda
- Reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan and South Sudan
The international community must tackle the climate of impunity that is fuelling mass violence in Sudan, the Security Council heard today as it considered the work of the International Criminal Court in investigating crimes committed in that country.
“Terror has become a common currency” in Sudan, Karim Khan, Prosecutor of that Court said, detailing the human rights abuses, including rapes and crimes against children, during his semi-annual briefing to the Council. Pointing to the provision of arms, financial support and political triangulations enabling this, he said these abuses are also fuelled by “this feeling that Darfur or Sudan is a law-free zone in which people can act with abandon”, with nothing more than “a flicker of attention from the Council” every six months.
The Council also heard from the representative of Sudan, who highlighted his Government’s political will and commitment to engage with the Court within the principle of judicial complementarity. Citing a 2021 memorandum of understanding signed between his Government and the Office of the Prosecutor, he pointed to domestic efforts to strengthen judicial capacity, including steps undertaken to join the Rome Statute. Sudan seeks further cooperation with the Court, he said, highlighting the Sovereign Transitional Council’s establishment of a committee to coordinate with the Court. Drawing attention to the increase in sexual and gender-based violence in the areas targeted by the Rapid Support Forces, he said such violence is used to destabilize safe areas. The establishment of gender units within the family protection centres has led to documenting 191 instances of sexual violence.