ICC Demands Investigation of U.N. Darfur Mission 'Manipulation'

The ICC's chief prosecutor asked the United Nations Tuesday to investigate allegations that its Darfur mission had been covering up crimes by Sudanese forces against civilians and peacekeepers.

Fatou Bensouda, who presented the U.N. Security Council with her latest report on the situation in the Sudanese region, spoke of allegations that the U.N.-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) had "been subject to manipulation."

Those efforts were reportedly made, Bensouda said, "with the intentional effect of covering up crimes committed against civilians and peacekeepers."

The accusations were set out in several media outlets, most notably by former UNAMID spokeswoman Aicha El-Basri in the American magazine Foreign Policy.

Calling for "a thorough, independent and public inquiry," Bensouda said it was "hoped that the council and indeed the U.N. as a whole take immediate and concrete steps to establish the full facts and take appropriate action if the allegations prove to be well-founded."

Bensouda added that "the responsibility for this manipulation may lie with a handful of individuals" but that it nonetheless "impugns the credibility of the mission as a whole."

It "deprives advocates of peace and justice of an essential tool for evaluating the ever-evolving situation in Darfur," she said.

Several Security Council members, including France and Britain, supported the request for an investigation in discussions that followed.

In her report, Bensouda denounced attacks against civilians by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which she called a new version of the Janjaweed militia.

The Janjaweeds, a pro-government force recruited among the area's Arab tribes, are accused of genocidal killings and atrocities against civilians that have occurred in Darfur since 2003.

Bensouda also criticized the council's inability to enforce its resolutions and arrest those who face charges at the ICC, including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir, she said, moves freely on a regular basis between several African nations that are members of the International Criminal Court.

"What is needed is a dramatic shift in this council's approach to arresting Darfur suspects," Bensouda said.

UNAMID is charged with protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid for the Darfur region, where violence has left nearly 300,000 dead and two million displaced.