ICC prosecutor drops charges against Darfur rebel leader

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — International Criminal Court prosecutors Tuesday recommended judges drop charges against a rebel leader in Sudan’s Darfur region over a deadly 2007 attack on African Union peacekeepers, saying there were “no longer substantial grounds” to prosecute him.

Abdallah Banda had faced three counts of war crimes for his alleged role in an assault on the Haskanita military base in north Darfur, which claimed the lives of 12 AU peacekeepers.

But prosecutors said that “due to the significant deterioration of evidence over time, and the exhaustion of available investigative avenues, there are no longer substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Banda is responsible.”

Banda, whose exact age is unclear but who was born in 1963, initially appeared before the ICC in 2010 and told judges that others accused of similar crimes should come to the court, based in The Hague, to plead their innocence.

A trial, initially scheduled for 2014, was scrapped and a warrant issued for Banda’s arrest after the court concluded it was unlikely he would attend voluntarily.

In the more than a decade after he “absconded from justice,” according to the prosecutors’ statement, the case had weakened to the point there were no longer grounds to continue.

“Witnesses becoming unavailable or uncooperative, serious credibility issues regarding some other key witnesses, and recently obtained exculpatory evidence have undermined the case against Mr. Banda,” the office of the prosecutor said in a statement.

Prosecutors made the request to drop the case as far back as October 2023 but the demand was confidential and has only just been approved for publication.

“We do not take this decision lightly,” said ICC deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan.

“We acknowledge the impact it will have on the victims who have been waiting for years for justice,” she added.

She vowed to continue her probe into alleged crimes in Darfur, which remains a “key priority” for prosecutors.

Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir remains wanted by the ICC over his role in the bloody 2003 Darfur conflict, which pitted ethnic African minority rebels complaining of discrimination against his Arab-dominated government.

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By Agence France-Presse