ICC Advances Darfur Probe; UN Reports Atrocities by Both Sides

The International Criminal Court has obtained concrete evidence linking leaders of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces to war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. ICC deputy chief prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the court reached a breakthrough in its investigation into civilian massacres in el-Fasher and el-Geneina.

"We have now found concrete evidence that links what is happening on the ground through linkage evidence to specific persons in leadership mode," Khan told the BBC.

She added that current patterns of offending match those from 20 years ago. More than 6,000 people were killed in el-Fasher when the RSF seized the city in October 2025, the United Nations reported. A UN fact-finding mission report released on 8 July 2026 found evidence of widespread atrocities by both the Sudanese army and the RSF.

RSF fighters carried out most systematic attacks on civilians in Darfur, where people were targeted on ethnic grounds, the report stated, adding that such acts may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. RSF fighters and affiliated groups also committed rape, gang rape, sexual slavery and other abuses during the capture of el-Fasher, according to the mission.

The UN said the violence in the city bore the hallmarks of genocide.

The ICC has investigated Darfur allegations since the previous round of violence in the 2000s, leading to seven arrests and six cases brought before the court. Last year the court sentenced former militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman to 20 years in prison for 27 counts committed in Darfur from 2003 to 2004.

Sudan's former President Omar al-Bashir faces charges but remains at large and is believed held in a secure medical facility in Sudan.

Four other individuals charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity have outstanding arrest warrants. The UN Human Rights Council ordered an urgent investigation on 6 July 2026 into alleged crimes during fighting in el-Obeid. The UK's Human Rights Ambassador Eleanor Sanders warned the city could face atrocities similar to those in el-Fasher.