THE HAGUE — Judges at the International Criminal Court terminated proceedings against Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain on Thursday after prosecutors withdrew the charges. The prosecution said there are no longer substantial grounds to believe that Mr Banda is responsible for the charged crimes.

Prosecutors stated that the evidence against Banda had deteriorated since charges were confirmed in 2011. The office cited setbacks including two key witnesses who are no longer considered credible and a new witness whose testimony could help clear Banda. The prosecution acknowledged that the withdrawal of charges would impact 103 victims in the case who have been waiting for over 15 years for justice.

Judges found that the prosecution had not demonstrated that the evidence deteriorated to an extent such that the case could no longer proceed to trial. The judges ruled that proceeding to trial with a prosecutor who refuses to present the case would contravene the Chamber’s obligation to ensure a fair and efficient trial. The judges said the withdrawal of charges does not prevent prosecutors from bringing a similar case against Banda later.

Banda was charged with war crimes over a 2007 attack on African Union peacekeepers in northern Darfur. The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber initially confirmed the charges against Banda on March 7, 2011, after a comprehensive review of the evidence. This review included testimony from multiple witnesses and documents linking him to the alleged attack. Banda is wanted for trial before the International Criminal Court for three counts of war crimes allegedly committed during the Haskanita raids against African Union peacekeepers.

Banda had been a leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, one of the two main armed groups in Darfur during the conflict that erupted in 2003. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain is a Sudanese military commander indicted for war crimes. A study titled Situation in Darfur, Sudan, Prosecutor v Banda (Abdallah Abakaer Nourain), Judgment on the appeal of Mr Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain against Trial Chamber IV’s issuance of a warrant was published in 2015 in Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS).

The United Nations Security Council referred the Darfur case to the ICC in 2005. The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that was established in 2002. The ICC has held one trial over Darfur atrocities and sentenced a Janjaweed militia leader to 20 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Court has only secured one conviction in the Darfur situation, involving Ahmad Harun, a former Sudanese minister, who was convicted of war crimes in 2015 and sentenced to 4 years in prison.

There are three publicly known outstanding ICC arrest warrants for suspects wanted over the 2003–2005 Darfur conflict, including former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. Omar al-Bashir faces accusations of genocide but has not been handed over to face justice in The Hague. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes during the Darfur conflict. A new war broke out in Darfur and across Sudan in 2023, pitting the army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The termination of proceedings marks a significant development in the ICC's long-standing involvement in the Darfur situation, which began with a referral from the United Nations Security Council in 2005. With only one conviction secured in the Darfur situation to date, the withdrawal of charges against a high-profile suspect reflects the challenges the court faces in prosecuting complex war crimes cases where evidence may deteriorate over time. The impact on the 103 registered victims shows the human cost of prolonged legal proceedings and the difficulties in delivering justice more than 15 years after the alleged crimes.