Sudanese rebel chiefs accused of war crimes
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UNITED NATIONS - The International Criminal Court's pretrial judges have summoned three Sudanese rebel leaders to appear before the tribunal in The Hague to face charges of ordering a deadly attack against African Union peacekeepers in Darfur more than 18 months ago, sources close to the court say.
It is the first time that Darfur's rebels have been charged with war crimes since the court began investigating mass violence in that Sudanese region in 2005. Until now, the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has focused on the Sudanese government's role in atrocities, and has issued arrest warrants for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, a top aide, and an allied militia leader.
The court's pretrial judges issued a sealed ruling May 7 that there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that the three rebel officers committed war crimes when they led a raid Sept. 29, 2007, on an African Union compound in the town of Haskanita. Twelve peacekeepers were killed, and eight others were seriously wounded.
The ruling, which was made public yesterday, asserted that the officers were in command of splinter factions from Sudan's main rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement.
One of the accused commanders, Bahar Abu Garda, who heads the breakaway rebel United Resistance Front, is to appear today before the court, where he is charged with three counts of war crimes.
