The ICC has been investigating allegations of war crimes in Darfur for more than 20 years, since the previous round of violence in the 2000s.

“What we see are patterns of crime that, in fact, were the same patterns of crime 20 years ago, when the Security Council first referred this situation to us,” he said.

Khan said the ICC investigation included witness accounts, testimonies and corroborative evidence such as videos, photographs and forensic evidence.

Previous investigations have led to seven arrests and six separate cases brought before the court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Among those charged is former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

He remains at large, having been overthrown in a coup in 2019. He is believed to be held in a secure medical facility in Sudan.

Four others face arrest warrants but have not been detained.

Last year, the ICC sentenced a former militia leader to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2004.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was a senior figure in the Janjaweed, a government-backed group that targeted Darfuri civilians who were not part of the country’s majority Arab population.

The Janjaweed were one of the groups that became the RSF, a paramilitary force that was once aligned with the Sudanese army, but which it now fights against.