The International Criminal Court (ICC) will hold a public hearing on July 21 to consider a request submitted by the Office of the Prosecutor to withdraw charges against Sudanese national Abdallah Banda Abaka Nourain, one of the individuals accused of war crimes in Darfur, in a move that could close one of the oldest cases before the court.

In a statement published on its website, the court announced that Trial Chamber IV will convene at 2:30 PM The Hague time to hear remarks from the prosecution, defense, and participants regarding the request to withdraw the charges. The session will be broadcast via the court's website.

The case concerns the attack on September 29, 2007, against the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) peacekeeping base in Haskanita, North Darfur, which resulted in the death of 12 personnel and left eight others seriously injured. Banda voluntarily appeared before the court in June 2010, and after the Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed the charges against him on March 7, 2011, he was committed to trial. However, he subsequently failed to appear, leading Trial Chamber IV to issue an arrest warrant for him on September 11, 2014. The case has remained suspended due to his absence, as the court does not conduct trials in absentia.

The Office of the Prosecutor announced on Tuesday that it had requested authorization to withdraw three counts of war crimes against Abdallah Banda, concluding that the evidence no longer provides "substantial grounds" to believe in his criminal responsibility for the crimes attributed to him. The office stated that it submitted the request to withdraw the charges on October 5, 2023, and it remained confidential in compliance with the Chamber's orders until the documents were unsealed and the announcement was made this week.

The office attributed its decision to the significant degradation of evidence over time, the exhaustion of all investigative avenues, the inability to locate or secure the cooperation of several witnesses, problems regarding the credibility of key witnesses, and the emergence of new evidence favorable to the accused. It added, "With more than a decade having passed since the charges were confirmed and investigations reaching their final stages, it is unlikely that any further inquiries would change this assessment."

The Office of the Prosecutor explained its decision as an "objective assessment of evidence" and a commitment not to proceed to trial unless sufficient evidence is available. It noted that the withdrawal of charges—should the court approve—will conclude the Banda case without preventing the prosecution from re-filing charges in the future if new evidence emerges.

Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan stated that her office is aware of the impact of this decision on the victims who have waited years for justice, but remains committed to ensuring that no case is brought to trial unless it is based on sufficient evidence.

Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Nazhat Shameem Khan (AFP).

She added: "The request to withdraw charges concerns Banda alone and does not affect other cases related to Darfur crimes, nor does it impact investigations conducted by the Office of the Prosecutor regarding crimes committed during the current war in Sudan."

The request to withdraw charges comes as Banda remains active on the Sudanese military scene. Following the outbreak of war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, 2023, he joined the Joint Force composed of armed movements that signed the Juba Agreement, currently allied with the army. The 'Sudan Tribune' reported that he arrived in El Fasher in November 2023 at the head of a military force and announced his participation in the fight alongside the army, later taking part in military operations carried out by the Joint Force in Darfur. According to the newspaper, Banda sustained severe injuries during an RSF attack on the Malha area in North Darfur in March 2025, was transferred to Egypt for treatment, and subsequently returned to Omdurman.

The request to withdraw the charges comes amidst the complexities facing one of the oldest ICC files concerning Darfur, at a time when the Office of the Prosecutor continues its investigations into crimes committed in the region since the outbreak of war between the army and the RSF.

The UN Security Council referred the Darfur case to the ICC in 2005 under Resolution 1593, making it the first case ever referred to the court by the council. Subsequently, the court issued arrest warrants for several Sudanese officials, including former President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, who faced two warrants: one on March 4, 2009, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and another on July 12, 2010, for genocide. The court also issued arrest warrants for then-State Minister for Interior Ahmed Mohamed Haroun in April 2007, and former Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein on March 1, 2012, in addition to Abdallah Banda.

Throughout its tenure, the government of President Omar al-Bashir refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the court or hand over any of the wanted individuals, despite repeated demands by the Security Council and the ICC.

Following the fall of the al-Bashir regime on April 11, 2019, the transitional government announced its readiness to cooperate with the court. The Juba Peace Agreement signed in October 2020 stipulated cooperation with the ICC, and the Council of Ministers approved a draft law to join the Rome Statute in August 2021. Officials announced their commitment to handing over wanted suspects, but these pledges were never implemented prior to the October 25, 2021, coup.

Ali Kushayb during his sentencing hearing, where he was convicted of war crimes in Darfur on December 9 (AFP).

The fate of the arrest warrants issued for the ICC fugitives remains suspended, and authorities keep their whereabouts hidden, noting that al-Bashir resides somewhere in the north of the country.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, known as 'Ali Kushayb', is the first and only Darfur-related suspect to appear before the ICC. He turned himself in to the court in June 2020, and Trial Chamber I convicted him on October 6, 2025, of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, sentencing him on December 9, 2025, to twenty years in prison.

Kushayb’s conviction is the first issued by the court in Darfur cases since the file was referred over twenty years ago, and the sentence remains subject to appeal. As for Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, who served as Minister of Health after signing a peace agreement with the al-Bashir government, he voluntarily appeared before the court in 2009 in the same Haskanita attack case; the Pre-Trial Chamber refused to confirm the charges against him, ending the judicial proceedings without sending him to trial.