A delegation from the International Criminal Court (ICC), comprising representatives from various sections of the Court, including the Registry, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Victims Participation and Reparations Section, visited Gagaa Camp for Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.
During a meeting with the Court’s delegation, refugees described the Court’s proceedings as slow, pointing out that no suspects had so far been arrested and that only one accused person had been tried after voluntarily surrendering himself.
The refugees told the delegation that, in their view, “the slow pace of proceedings has contributed to encouraging perpetrators to commit further crimes across Sudan.”
For its part, the delegation stressed that the Court was doing everything within its capacity to bring those accused of crimes to trial.
The delegation explained that the Court does not have an army or an enforcement force to arrest perpetrators, and therefore continues to rely on states to carry out such arrests.
Last July, the ICC Deputy Prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan, announced progress in investigations into crimes committed in Geneina, El Fasher and surrounding areas in the context of the ongoing war.
