International Criminal Court drops case against Darfur militia leader

THE HAGUE, July 23 - Judges at the International Criminal Court terminated proceedings against the former leader of an armed group in Darfur on Thursday after prosecutors withdrew the charges against Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain.

The prosecution said the evidence against Banda, who had been charged with war crimes over a 2007 attack on African Union peacekeepers, had deteriorated in the time since the charges were confirmed over a decade ago in 2011.

"There are no longer substantial grounds to believe that Mr Banda is responsible for the charged crimes," the prosecution said.

The judges said the withdrawal of the charges and the termination of the case does not prevent prosecutors from bringing a similar case against Banda later.

Banda had been leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, one of the two main armed groups in Darfur during a conflict that erupted in 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan's government.

In response, Sudan's then-government mobilised Arab militias known as the Janjaweed to crush the revolt, unleashing violence that the U.S. and human rights groups said amounted to genocide.

The United Nations Security Council referred the case to the ICC in 2005.

In 2023 a new war broke out in Darfur and across Sudan pitting the army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, widely seen as successors to the Janjaweed.

The ICC has so far only held one trial over Darfur atrocities and sentenced a Janjaweed militia leader to 20 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

There are three publicly known outstanding ICC arrest warrants for suspects wanted over the 2003-2005 Darfur conflict, including former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir who faces accusations of genocide. REUTERS