The International Criminal Court’s decision to put two Darfur rebel leaders on trial for the deaths of 12 African Union peacekeepers in 2007, may help make attitudes towards the court more positive in Sudan.

This will be the court’s first trial for war crimes committed in the Darfur region. Abdallah Banda and Saleh Jerbo, who are not in custody, voluntarily surrendered to the court last June and urged other war crimes suspects to surrender to justice.

Two years ago, the Sudan International Defence Group (SIDG) – a non-governmental committee of Sudanese citizens, concerned about the negative effects that ICC arrest warrants could have for the peace process in Sudan, petitioned the court not to issue arrest warrants for rebel commanders. The SIDG says there are still negative perceptions about the ICC amongst the people in Sudan, but that is changing.

The Secretary General of the SIDG, Mohammed Alansari, said the referral of the Darfur situation to the ICC by the UN Security Council in 2005 and the prosecution investigations that followed, seemed “wrong to African culture”. Today, people are asking more questions about the ICC and generally start to believe that the court is “not a bad thing”, he added. The SIDG conducts investigations: advising officials, compiling reports from victims and rebels, submitting this information to the court.

The ICC is the first permanent international court that provides for victims to be legally represented in trials. Alansari says the SIDG has to overcome alot of problems such as a lack of resources and funding to travel to far-distant areas to interview victims, particularly in southern Sudan, which he describes as a “very difficult situation”. Many victims, he says, feel they have been neglected by the UN and the US and appeal to NGOs for protection.

Alansari said the SIDG had carried out over 800 investigations over the past 3 years and helped set up mediation commissions which have yielded positive results. He said the SIDG’s mission is to interview as many victims as possible, adding that he wants the international community to have a clear picture of how people feel about the role of the ICC in Sudan. The trial of Banda and Jerbo is expected to mark a new phase in the country, in forming public perceptions of the court. It will take on added significance, if other new indictments are issued.

Both men described themselves as revolutionaries when they appeared in court last year, saying they would clear their names in the case. They both deny charges of violence to life, intentionally directing attacks against peacekeepers and pillaging.

A date for the trial of Banda and Jerbo will be set later. Three other people are wanted for war crimes in Darfur: Sudanese government minister Ahmad Harun, Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb, and Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir, who prosecutors accuse of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.

The UN says at least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 1.8 million people forced to flee their homes since non-Arab rebels first rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime in 2003.

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Earlier IJT editions:

• International Justice Tribune, 123 (2 March 2011)
• International Justice Tribune, 122 (16 February 2011)
• International Justice Tribune, 121 (2 February 2011)
• International Justice Tribune, 120 (19 January 2011)
• International Justice Tribune, 119 (14 December 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 118 (1 December 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 117 (17 November 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 116 (2 November 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 115 (20 October 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 114 (4 October 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 113 (21 September)
• International Justice Tribune, 112 (8 September 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 111 (25 August 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 110 (14 July 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 109 (30 June 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 108 (16 June 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 107 (2 June 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 106 (19 May 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 105 (5 May 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 104 (21 April 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 103 (7 April 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 102 (24 March 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 101 (10 March 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 100 (24 February 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 99 (10 February 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 98 (27 January 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 97 (13 January 2010)
• International Justice Tribune, 96 (23 December 2009)
• International Justice Tribune, 95 (9 December 2009)
• International Justice Tribune, 94 (25 November 2009)
• International Justice Tribune, 93 (11 November 2009)
• International Justice Tribune, 92 (28 October 2009)
• International Justice Tribune, 91 (14 October 2009)
• International Justice Tribune, 90 (30 September 2009)
• International Justice Tribune, 89 (16 September 2009)