Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court named a former Sudanese minister and a militia leader as suspects in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's Darfur region.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million have been forced from their homes in Darfur since February 2003. It was then that ethnic African tribesmen began fighting the government, complaining of decades of neglect and discrimination.
Khartoum is accused of soliciting Janjaweed militias to retaliate. While the allegations continue to be officially denied, members of the pro-government Arab militia have reported that they received arms from the government.
The court launched an investigation in March 2005 but details of the case were not released until today.
Ahmed Muhammed Harun, a former junior interior minister responsible for Darfur, is suspected of helping to recruit Janjaweed militias that in turn were responsible for murders, rapes and torture, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Tuesday.
In total, Harun and Janjaweed militia leader, Ali Mohammed Ali Abd-al-Rahman, are suspected of 51 counts of war crimes, said Moreno-Ocampo.
In a 94-page document filed with the court's judges, Moreno-Ocampo said Harun recruited Janjaweed militia "with full knowledge that they, often in the course of joint attacks with the (Sudanese) armed forces, would commit crimes against humanity and war crimes against the civilian population of Darfur."
The document is not an indictment but it claims that the pair share criminal responsibility for the offences.
Prosecutors said the offences happened in four villages.
The "Janjaweed did not target any rebel presence within these particular towns and villages. Rather, they attacked these towns and villages based on the rationale that the tens of thousands of civilian residents in and near these towns and villages were supporters of the rebel militia," prosecutors said Tuesday
The strategy, "became the justification for the mass murder, summary execution, and mass rape of civilians who were known not to be participants in any armed conflict," prosecutors said.
"Application of the strategy also called for, and achieved the forced displacement of entire villages and communities."
After reviewing the documents, the judges can issue arrest warrants or summonses to force the suspects to appear in The Hague. If they are charged and convicted, both men face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
However, detaining the men may prove difficult as the court relies on other countries to carry out arrests. Sudan does not recognize the jurisdiction of the court and is not expected to arrest the men.
"They've already rejected entirely any suggestion that they'll cooperate with any international court," said CTV's Murray Oliver from Kampala.
Moreno-Ocampo said his investigators carried out 70 missions in 17 different countries and took statements from more than 100 victims and witnesses.
Because of ongoing violence, investigators were unable to go into Darfur.
With files from The Associated Press
