Security Council Briefing on Darfur and the ICC

ICC Deputy Prosecutor Najat Shamim Khan briefed the Council remotely on the Office of the Prosecutor's 43rd report under Resolution 1593, reporting a "paradigm shift" in the Darfur investigation: interviews of key witnesses now draw a direct link between recent crimes in El Fasher and El Geneina and high-level perpetrators, and the Office warns — jointly with the UN human-rights office — that the "most serious international crimes may be about to take place" in El Obeid. Nominally a report on Darfur atrocities, the meeting's real fault line was the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court itself.

The defining divide is whether the ICC should be defended and expanded, or delegitimised and removed from Sudan. In practice it breaks down like this:

• Defend the Court — Denmark, France, UK, Greece, Latvia, Panama, Colombia, Liberia + the chair (DRC): cooperation is "an obligation, not an option"; several (Denmark, France) want the ICC mandate expanded to all of Sudan.
• Delegitimise / withdraw the file — the United States and Russia: the US calls the ICC an "intolerable threat" it is running a campaign to "dismantle"; Russia calls it a "Hague pseudo-court" and demands the Darfur (and Libya) files be withdrawn.
• Sovereignty middle — China, Pakistan, Bahrain, Somalia: back accountability but stress Sudanese-led justice, complementarity and "no undue expansion" of the mandate.
• The invited party (Sudan) — inverts the usual host-state stance: presses the ICC to move faster, issue RSF arrest warrants, and extend investigations to the UAE ("Abu Dhabi regime") as financier.

Colour key — a delegation's colour follows its name through the whole page and matches its dot in the plot: Defend the Court Sovereignty middle Delegitimise African / regional Sudan (invited party) ICC / briefer

Khan briefed from eastern Chad, having just met displaced Darfuris in refugee camps. Her report set out concrete investigative progress alongside stark early warning:

• A "breakthrough." Crucial witness interviews now "draw a direct link between recent crimes committed in Darfur to high-level perpetrators"; the Office has "secured vital evidence" to hold "senior contributors to attacks to account." She stressed regulations bar her from naming any pending arrest applications.
• El Obeid early warning. The Office is "united with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights" that "the most serious international crimes may be about to take place in El Obeid" — "we cannot say we did not know" (full quote below).
• Evidence base. Over 130 interviews of victims plus satellite imagery, documentary, audiovisual and digital material; strengthened findings that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed in both El Geneina and El Fasher.
• The Ali Kushayb milestone. The conviction and sentencing of Ali Abd-Al-Rahman ("Ali Kushayb") for war crimes and crimes against humanity; reparations proceedings now under way, with a call for contributions to the ICC Trust Fund for Victims.
• Cooperation, uneven. The Government of Sudan's cooperation is "on a positive trajectory" (team deployed to Port Sudan); the RSF has provided none — "a clear violation of the terms of Security Council Resolution 1593."
• Headwinds. No access to Darfur territory; significant witness-protection needs; and — pointedly — "the coercive actions taken against the ICC do have an impact on our operations."
• Procedural note. An application to withdraw charges against Abdallah Banda, to be addressed in a status conference the following week.

Cutting across the camps — including several who otherwise clash sharply over the Court:

• El Obeid must not become another El Fasher. Near-universal — Denmark, UK ("on the precipice of an atrocity"), France, Greece, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and the briefer all name the imminent risk and demand civilian protection and safe passage.
• Sexual and gender-based violence and crimes against children must be prioritised. Named by almost every delegation as a specific investigative and prosecutorial focus.
• The Ali Kushayb conviction is a milestone; reparations must follow. Broad support for the Trust Fund for Victims, including from states that referred the situation in 2005.
• The RSF's total non-cooperation violates Resolution 1593. Stated across camps; even sovereignty-minded delegations single out the RSF.
• External support is prolonging the war and must stop. Widely shared in the abstract (US, France, Denmark, Pakistan) — though who is named breaks along a fault line (below).
• The enforcement record is thin. Universally acknowledged: in 20 years, one conviction and unexecuted warrants (al-Bashir, Haroun, Hussein) — though defenders, rejectionists and Sudan draw opposite conclusions from it.

Four fault lines run through the debate. Each names the poles, who anchors them, and the line that captures each side. (Every delegation's full stance is in the reference grid.)

Every delegation ranked from the one that argued hardest for the Court to the one that argued hardest against it. Each is scored on two rubrics of seven indicators: For is how much it put on the record backing the Court, Against is how much it put on the record opposing it. Net is For minus Against, which gives the direction. On record is the two added together — the total argued, either way — and that is what positions a dot horizontally, which is why France (94 for) and the United States (75 against) both sit to the right while facing opposite directions. The claim is ordinal — read it as "argued more than", not as a measurement. Full rubric, per-quote evidence and caveats are on the methodology page.

Ties are shown as "7=" and are a finding, not an error: the United Kingdom and Liberia reach the same total in different registers — institutional warmth with soft verbs on one side, enforcement demands with no institutional layer on the other. Click both dots in the plot to compare the breakdowns.

These quotes were checked against the meeting audio (English channel) on 16 July 2026 and match the recording. Still an ASR transcript, not an official UN record.

"The Office of the Prosecutor is united with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in a collective view that the most serious international crimes may be about to take place in El Obeid. We cannot say we did not know. We cannot say it could not be expected."

"This is a paradigm shift. It is a breakthrough. And it sends a clear message to those who lead these attacks… you are mistaken."

"We encourage all current states parties to the Rome Statute to withdraw from this power-hungry institution, which has grossly exceeded its legal authority."

"We call on our colleagues on the Council to consider the withdrawal of the Darfur file, as well as the Libyan file, from the ICC… for such a dialogue, the Hague pseudo-court is merely an obvious obstacle."

"Cooperation with the Court is an obligation. It's not an option… We call on the United Nations Security Council to extend the jurisdiction of the ICC to the entire territory of Sudan."

"Justice delayed is justice denied… expediting accountability procedures and issuing arrest warrants against those responsible for these crimes has become a necessity."