The International Criminal Court has issued a dire warning about the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan’s Darfur region, where war, hunger, and displacement have engulfed millions in suffering beyond description.
As Sudan’s civil war rages into its third year, Darfur stands on the edge of collapse. Addressing the UN Security Council, Nazhat Shameem Khan, Deputy Prosecutor of the ICC, painted a grim picture of widespread atrocities what she described as “an intolerable state of human suffering.” She urged world leaders not to turn away, asserting that the situation bears all the hallmarks of ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Since the eruption of conflict in 2023, over 40,000 people have died, and more than 13 million have been uprooted. Khan recounted chilling accounts of famine sweeping through communities, hospitals and aid convoys under siege, and basic human necessities water and food being weaponized against civilians. “There are simply no words to match the depth of pain in Darfur,” she said.
The fighting between Sudan’s regular army (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a direct offshoot of the infamous Janjaweed militia has left entire towns in ruins. Civilian homes, schools, and medical centers have been wiped out, and those fleeing for their lives often find only more suffering across borders.
In neighboring Chad, ICC teams have collected testimonies from survivors. What they’ve uncovered is harrowing: rape used systematically as a tool of terror, civilians abducted for ransom, and entire communities deliberately starved. Khan revealed that prosecutors now hold reasonable grounds to believe these acts are part of a continuing pattern of war crimes.
Though the international community responded to earlier atrocities in Darfur by referring the situation to the ICC in 2005, little has changed for those still suffering. In fact, Khan warned, the violence today may be even more ferocious than in the past.
The ICC is nearing its first verdict related to Darfur, in the case of Ali Kosheib, a former Janjaweed commander accused of mass crimes in West Darfur. However, Khan emphasized that one conviction is not enough. “To those committing unspeakable crimes today: you may feel safe in the shadows, just as Kosheib once did. But justice is coming, and his trial is only the beginning.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations and global humanitarian agencies have grown increasingly alarmed. A recent UN report accused both the SAF and RSF of deploying heavy weaponry in densely populated areas and using humanitarian access as a political tool. ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan has also stated that both sides may be guilty of crimes that include genocide.
Displacement continues on a massive scale, with over four million people forced to flee. Places like the Zamzam camp, once a haven for the displaced, have now reportedly fallen into the hands of the RSF. Images show long trails of exhausted families children, women, and elderly trekking through barren landscapes in search of safety that may never come.
Echoing global concern, both the late Pope Francis and his successor Pope Leo XIV have lifted their voices in prayer for Sudan. Just a month after ascending to the papacy, Pope Leo appealed for an immediate halt to the violence, calling on all factions to “safeguard civilian lives and choose dialogue over destruction.” He urged the global community to step up efforts to deliver lifesaving aid to a population “crushed by violence and abandoned by the world.”
As the crisis in Darfur enters yet another brutal chapter, the ICC’s urgent plea is clear: the suffering is unimaginable but it is not invisible. The time to act is now.