Khartoum, Sudan
The Sudanese government said this week that it would block an International Criminal Court investigation into alleged war crimes in the Darfur region. Tens of thousands of people, mostly black villagers, have been killed or starved to death in an ethnic-cleansing operation believed to be supported by the Arab-dominated government. The ICC said it had thousands of documents of evidence, including interviews with refugees, to support charges of crimes against humanity. But rules adopted at the request of the U.S. allow any country to reject the court’s jurisdiction if it is investigating the crimes itself. Sudan said it is doing so, which means that the ICC will have to prove the Sudanese courts biased or ineffective before it can proceed.
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