Sudan: ICC Drops Abdallah Banda Prosecution for Alleged 2007 Darfur Crimes After Evidence Collapses

What the report says

AllAfrica, citing Dabanga, reported that the International Criminal Court has formally dropped its long-running case against Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain, a former commander in Sudan’s Justice and Equality Movement “Collective Leadership” faction. At a public status conference in The Hague on Tuesday, ICC prosecutors told Trial Chamber IV that the evidence related to the September 2007 attack on the African Union Mission in Sudan base at Haskanita, North Darfur, no longer offered a realistic chance of conviction.

The case concerned alleged war crimes including violence to life and pillaging after an assault that killed 12 peacekeepers. Prosecutors said the case had weakened over many years, especially after two key witnesses became unusable: one was found to have engaged in serious dishonesty, while another raised credibility concerns and later stopped cooperating. Further inquiries, including efforts to find new witnesses and revisit existing evidence, did not repair the case and in some respects undermined the original prosecution theory.

According to the report, internal and external reviews concluded that conviction was unlikely. Prosecutors said their duty was not to pursue a trial they no longer believed could meet the required standard of proof, even while acknowledging the effect on victims. The chamber authorised withdrawal of the charges in June, without prejudice, meaning charges could be brought again if sufficient new evidence emerges.

The decision is significant because the Haskanita case was among the ICC’s Darfur-related efforts to address alleged atrocities committed during Sudan’s long conflict. The prosecution stressed that abandoning the Banda case did not lessen the gravity of the attack or the suffering of victims, and said broader Darfur investigations continue.