This Communication to the ICC Prosecutor argues that, while Sudan is not a State Party to the Rome Statute, the ICC may exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed in the whole of the Sudanese territory or committed by Sudanese nationals, by virtue of the existing Security Council referral made in 2005. 

 

In March 2005, the Security Council referred the situation in Darfur, rather than the whole of Sudan, to the Office of the Prosecutor, pursuant to Resolution 1593. This Communication shows that based on the conduct encompassed by that Resolution, the Court’s jurisprudence and own interpretation of the territorial and temporal parameters of Situations, and the design and purpose of the Security Council referral mechanism, Resolution 1593 provides jurisdiction over crimes committed post-April 2023 in Darfur as well as other regions in Sudan, insofar as there is a sufficient link between the situation referred in the Resolution and the crimes alleged in this Communication.

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The facts presented show longstanding discrimination against non-Arab groups, including entrenched hierarchies dating back to slavery, post-independence marginalisation, and earlier civil wars. Since April 2023, atrocities by both the RSF and SAF have been documented in West Darfur, Gezira State, and South Kordofan. These attacks exhibit the same strategic use of hate, identity-based targeting and persecution of communities such as the Fur, Masalit, and Nuba, repeating patterns of conduct consistent with earlier Darfur crimes, meeting the specific and contextual elements of persecution under Article 7(1)(h). Command structures, continuity of perpetrators, and similar patterns of conduct reinforce the link to the 2005 situation referred to the Court.  The submission requests that the ICC Prosecutor extend the scope beyond Darfur to other regions where like crimes are ongoing.