ICC prosecutors probing reports of mass killings in Sudan's al-Fashir

THE HAGUE: International Criminal Court prosecutors said on Monday they are collecting evidence of alleged mass killings and rapes after paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized al-Fashir - the last stronghold of the military in Sudan's Darfur region.

The ICC has been investigating alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur since 2005 when the case was first referred by the U.N. Security Council, long before the current civil war erupted in 2023.

"Within the ongoing investigation, the office is taking immediate steps regarding the alleged crimes in (al-Fashir) to preserve and collect relevant evidence for its use in future prosecutions," the ICC prosecutors said in a statement.

More than 70,000 people have fled al-Fashir so far, and survivors have told Reuters about the separation and killing of men who left the Darfur city for safety.

Experts have said the reported violence bears the hallmarks of previous episodes in Darfur that were widely labelled as genocide. The fate of almost 200,000 people thought to be trapped in the city remains unknown.

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross told Reuters at the weekend that history was repeating itself in Darfur with the RSF's capture of al-Fashir, giving it de facto control of more than a quarter of Sudan.

Last month, the ICC, based in The Hague, convicted the first Janjaweed militia leader to have been put on trial for atrocities committed in Darfur more than 20 years ago.

The ICC can prosecute suspected perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and in some cases the crime of aggression if committed on the territory of one of the court's 125 member states, or by nationals of ICC members or when a case is referred by the U.N. Security Council.