ICC charges rebel leaders on deaths of 12 Darfur peacekeepers

[News_Editor]

ICC charges rebel leaders on deaths of 12 Darfur peacekeepers

2011-03-09 08:26:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (BNO NEWS) -- The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday confirmed that two rebel leaders are being charged with war crimes for the September 2007 attack that resulted in the death of 12 peacekeepers in Darfur.

The ICC committed Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus to trial after the Pre-Trial Chamber found 'substantial grounds' to believe that both men are criminally responsible as co-perpetrators for three war crimes allegedly committed during the attack on the Haskanita camp in South Darfur state.

During the attack, 12 peacekeepers were killed and eight others were wounded while serving with the African Union Mission in Sudan – a predecessor to the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission, known as UNAMID.

The Sudanese Liberation Army-Unity, which had broken away from the Sudanese Liberation Movement-Army, allegedly carried out the attack under the command of Jerbo, jointly with splinter forces of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, under the command of Banda.

The war crimes include violence to life and attempted violence to life; intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units and vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission; and pillaging.

An estimated 300,000 people have died and another 3 million have been displaced in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.

The ICC has charged a number of other individuals for alleged crimes committed in Darfur, including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who in March 2009 became the first sitting head of State to be indicted by the Court, which charged him with two counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity.

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