ICC briefs Security Council on Darfur amid US dismantling threat

The International Criminal Court told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region demand urgent accountability, even as the Court itself faces an existential threat from Washington. The briefing came at a deeply fraught moment for international justice.

Darfur update takes center stage

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan presented the latest findings from the Court’s Darfur situation, which was first referred to the ICC by the Security Council in Resolution 1593 back in March 2005 — making it one of the longest-running situations in the Court’s history. Since Sudan’s war erupted in April 2023, the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has killed an estimated 150,000 people and displaced more than 11 million, according to UN figures. Darfur, already scarred by the genocide of the early 2000s, is once again at the center of the carnage.

Khan told Council members that his office has been gathering evidence of mass killings, sexual violence, and the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure. He urged member states to arrest individuals already subject to ICC warrants, including former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who died in custody in Khartoum in 2019 before ever facing trial in The Hague.

US pressure rattles the courtroom

But the session unfolded under a very specific shadow. Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a campaign to, in his words, “dismantle” the ICC, accusing it of overreach and threatening sanctions against Court officials. That’s a significant escalation, even by Washington’s historically complicated relationship with the institution — the US has never ratified the Rome Statute.

The timing wasn’t lost on anyone in the chamber. A senior diplomat from a European member state, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pressure was “deeply counterproductive at a moment when civilians in Darfur need protection, not political interference with the only international body actively investigating these crimes.”

Divisions on the Council

Still, the Security Council remains fractured on Sudan. Russia and China, both permanent members with veto power, have consistently blocked stronger enforcement mechanisms. Wednesday’s session produced no formal resolution. Several Western delegations called for expanded cooperation with the ICC and renewed pressure on both the SAF and RSF to allow humanitarian access. Others stayed largely silent.

The RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — known as Hemedti — faces accusations of ethnic cleansing in West Darfur. Neither the SAF nor the RSF has shown any willingness to engage with ICC processes.

What comes next

The ICC is expected to issue further updates on open arrest warrants and may announce new investigations in the coming months. Whether any of that translates into actual accountability depends almost entirely on political will that, right now, looks in short supply.

And with the US openly targeting the Court’s foundations, the next ICC briefing to the Security Council — scheduled for December — could look very different indeed.