The Associated Press reports that International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo issued a new report today to the UN Security Council describing evidence that high officials in the Sudanese government are directly linked to the ongoing genocide in Darfur. The report said a pre-trial hearing would be held next month.
Evidence of Sudanese government involvement in the genocide comes as little surprise, since one of the two men indicted by the ICC for crimes in Darfur – Ahmad Harun – continues to serve as Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, and the other – Ali Kushayb – was recently released from Sudanese prison. However, Moreno-Ocampo's report, encompassing testimony from more than 100 witnesses from 18 countries, could replace the Cassesse commission report as the most exhaustive, conclusive record of the atrocities perpetrated in Darfur, and serious charges against “the highest officials of the [Sudanese] government,” as AP suggests the report may recommend, would materially ratchet up the pressure on the Sudaneese government to end its cooperation with the janjaweed.