(On 19 January 2026, ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan addressed the United Nations Security Council on the Situation in Darfur, Sudan, virtually from The Hague. Below is a transcript of her remarks.)
Mr President, thank you for the opportunity to brief the Security Council today. It was my hope and intention to be with you today in the Council Chamber, in particular given the importance of this moment in Darfur, but I regret that I was not granted a visa in order to be able to provide my briefing in line with the mandate provided by the Council.
Please allow me to also express my thanks to his Excellency the Permanent Representative of Sudan to the United Nations for his attendance.
Mr President, Excellencies, since I last addressed this Council, the situation in Darfur has darkened even further. Darfuris, as we speak, are being subjected to collective torture.
The fall of El Fasher to the RSF has been accompanied by an organized, calculated campaign of the most profound suffering, targeting non-Arab communities in particular - rape, arbitrary detention, executions, mass graves, all perpetrated on a massive scale. Many of these crimes have been filmed and celebrated by those committing them. This dreadful situation is still ongoing, fuelled by a sense of complete impunity.
Our response to this must not be mere platitudes here in this Chamber but must represent real action on the ground.
As reflected in my report, the Office of the Prosecutor is working intensively, collecting evidence, accelerating its investigations, together with affected communities, both with respect to crimes committed in Al Geneina in West Darfur, and in El Fasher in North Darfur.
Mr President, Excellencies, based on information and evidence collected by the Office in this reporting period, including video, audio and satellite data, it is the assessment of the Office of the Prosecutor that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in El Fasher, including in particular in late October as a culmination of the siege of the city by the Rapid Support Forces.
Video material analysed by the Office shows a similar pattern of crimes previously seen being allegedly committed by the RSF in other areas of Darfur, including detention, mistreatment, and killings of persons from non-Arab tribes. Members of the RSF are seen celebrating direct executions and subsequently desecrating corpses.
Our work has been focused on corroborating these images with a range of other sources, in pursuit of individual criminal responsibility for these acts. This has included:
- Analysis of satellite imagery indicative of mass killing events and attempts to conceal crimes through the establishment of mass graves;
- Engaging with affected communities and identifying potential witnesses to obtain and corroborate preliminary collected information;
- Processing submissions received from civil society organisations and other partners which have further mirrored video evidence collected.
The picture that is emerging is appalling: organised, widespread, mass criminality including mass executions; atrocities which are used as a tool to assert control.
As also reflected in my report, with respect to Al Geneina, the Office has made significant progress in its investigative work.
We have conducted interviews with direct witnesses to attacks, in countries hosting Sudanese refugee communities. They have provided compelling evidence of attacks against camps for internally displaced persons, pillaging, indiscriminate targeting of civilian populations, detentions, gender-based crimes, and crimes against and affecting children.
The evidence shows that the patterns of atrocities in Al Geneina in 2023 have been replicated in El Fasher in 2025.
This criminality is being repeated in town after town in Darfur. It will continue until this conflict, and the sense of impunity that fuels it, are stopped.
As I emphasised to the Council in my last briefing, as part of our investigations, we are ensuring a thorough and effective approach to the investigation of gender-based crimes.
It is undeniable, based on our investigations, that sexual violence, including rape, is being used as a tool of war in Darfur. This is clear from our engagement with affected communities, from the accounts we have heard directly, and from our close cooperation with UN partners and other organisations documenting these atrocities. The systematic and effective investigation of these crimes will remain a key priority in the coming period.
In this context, we are aware, and have had discussions also with authorities from the Government of Sudan, on the cultural and gender barriers to reporting such crimes to us, and indeed to any relevant partner. This places a responsibility on us to ensure that our investigations and outreach are conducted in a cultural and gender-sensitive manner, requiring a close involvement of the Office of the Prosecutor's Gender and Children's Unit, and requiring an ongoing focus on ensuring that our investigators are gender competent and culturally aware.
We are also aware that there are reports of Rome Statute crimes allegedly committed by the Sudanese Armed Forces in Darfur, and we are ensuring documentation of such reports. All parties involved in the conflict must ensure they meet their obligation under international law, and must not target civilian populations and facilities.
We call on all those who may have further information in relation to alleged crimes in El Fasher, Al Geneina and across Darfur, to come forward and provide this to the ICC, in particular through the secure online platform OTPLink. This is the moment to ensure that all of our collective efforts and all information held by our partners and affected communities are used in pursuit of our active investigations.
Mr President, Excellencies, as we have intensified our investigations in Darfur, we have also seen a significant, if only a first, step towards justice in The Hague.
On the 6th of October 2025, Mr Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was convicted by the International Criminal Court of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur including murder, torture, and outrages upon personal dignity. The judges of the Trial Chamber unanimously convicted him of all charged criminal conduct. On the 9th of December, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for these crimes.
Mr Abd-Al-Rahman was found by the ICC judges to be the Janjaweed leader known as "Ali Kushayb", and confirmed his role as direct perpetrator and co-perpetrator, as well as confirming his responsibility for ordering the commission of these atrocities. They also confirmed his close connection to senior members of the Government of Sudan, including ICC fugitives Ministers Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein and Ahmad Harun.
The conviction and sentencing of Mr Abd-Al-Rahman represents several landmarks. It is the first conviction resulting from a referral by the Security Council to the Court, but also the first conviction in the Darfur situation as well as the first conviction on grounds of gender-based persecution at the ICC.
Of course, any relief brought by this moment must be set against the deep, ongoing suffering we see currently in Darfur. But Darfuris have underlined to us, again and again, that this trial and this conviction do indeed represent important, meaningful outcomes for the hundreds and thousands of victims who fled their homes in 2003 and 2004, and those who suffered at the hands of the Janjaweed.
It is our commitment to them, to all victims in Darfur, and to this Council today, that this first conviction will, in time, be seen not just as a landmark but as a catalyst for much broader, deeper accountability for crimes committed against the people of Darfur, through the work of the ICC.
Mr President, Excellencies, if we are to build on this progress; if we are to ensure that the conviction of Ali Kushayb sets the basis for further accountability, the expanded and active cooperation of our partners will be essential. The scale of suffering and criminality in Darfur at present can only be addressed if we work together.
In the last six months, we have seen some key steps forward in our cooperation with a range of partners, which have set the basis for progress made. They include:
- Strong collaboration with a number of African States, and in particular the Government of Chad, which has facilitated access to its territory, thus enabling the conduct of a number of interviews with members of affected communities;
- Deepened cooperation with our civil society partners, including through dedicated in-person events held in a number of States aimed at identifying ways to work more effectively together in the documentation of crimes committed in Darfur and;
- Expanded engagement with the United Nations Fact-finding Mission for the Sudan as well as other UN partners, in particular with respect to gender-based crimes.
Despite this notable progress, our investigations continue to face significant obstacles, including limited access to relevant witness populations, and the lack of safe access to crime scenes. Many potential witnesses face serious challenges related to their own safety, making it essential that any engagement with them is conducted in a manner that ensures robust protection against intimidation or reprisal.
In the face of these significant challenges, we need more support. I have highlighted in my report key areas where additional assistance and investment of resources are sought from States, international and regional organisations and our civil society partners. States in particular can play an even more central role in supporting our work, including by:
- Sharing satellite imagery and other audio-visual and digital information and intelligence relevant to the investigation;
- Supporting the identification, screening and interview of Darfuri diaspora in domestic jurisdictions, including through the provision of visas to Office staff to conduct such interviews; and by
- Seconding national experts in specialised technical areas in support of the analytical activities of the Office.
We welcome all possible additional cooperation that you can provide at this critical moment.
And I also reiterate my call for all efforts to frustrate our work, through sanctions or arrest warrants against ICC officials, to cease. We do not have time to waste in our efforts to deliver justice for Darfuri communities. The real hurdles to accountability are already high enough without purposeful attempts to prevent action towards accountability.
Mr President, Excellencies, in our engagement with Sudanese authorities in this reporting period, we have seen more progress, with further commitments for cooperation made. Indeed, the Government of Sudan has supported additional missions by the Office to Port Sudan, and has also responded promptly to some of the additional requests that we have submitted.
I was also pleased, upon the sentencing hearing in relation to Ali Kushayb, to welcome the Attorney-General of Sudan to the ICC, together with the committee established by Sudanese authorities for cooperation with the Office. The Attorney-General and I had candid discussions regarding the ongoing criminality in Darfur and across Sudan including the proliferation of gender‑based crimes throughout the conflict.
Our discussions were concrete, and positive, with promises of further cooperation that will make a real difference to our investigations. That promise is made not just to us but to this Council and to the victims of atrocities in Sudan, and we have every expectation that it will be honoured.
I want to also be clear on one key point: the Government of Sudan must work with us seriously, with focus, to secure the arrest of those individuals subject to ICC arrest warrants presently in Sudan: Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Ahmad Harun and Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein. I underline again that Mr Harun in particular must be given priority. Action must now be taken to bring him to trial or for him to surrender voluntarily.
Mr President, Excellencies, to conclude, I wish to share the words of the courageous Darfuri victims in the courtroom of the ICC at the trial of Mr Abd-Al-Rahman, "Justice and asking for justice is a human request for a person to be treated with dignity and justice and equity. The natural existence of a human being requires this to be provided for. And so when people see that there is injustice towards a number of people or a certain individual, and there's nothing that they can do, there will be chaos, panic, fear and terror."
That victim has now seen some justice. It is not enough, but the conviction of Ali Kushayb, based on the testimony provided by that witness and many other Darfuri survivors, has demonstrated that this Council, together with the ICC can provide a path to accountability for these crimes.
Our common task is now to widen the path that we have built, to allow more victims to walk down it so that they can receive the validation of truth-telling and justice that we saw at the ICC last October.
I have set out in my report and in this briefing how States and other partners can most effectively contribute to this work. I ask you to respond with the assistance we need. The greater the cooperation and support that our Office receives, the faster and more effectively we can deliver results.
We stand ready to work with all of you to deliver more for all victims, and to deliver a firewall of accountability to stop the further spiraling of atrocities in Darfur.
I thank you.
