Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Collins of Highbury on 13 September 2024 (HL Deb cols 1811–16), what steps they are taking (1) to pursue accountability for ongoing atrocities and other violations of international human rights law in Sudan; (2) to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) with its ongoing Darfur investigations; and (3) to ensure that the ICC has the financial resources needed in its regular budget to carry out its mandate (a) in Darfur and (b) across its docket.

In October 2023, the Human Rights Council adopted the UK-led resolution to establish an international and Independent Fact-Finding Mission to investigate evidence of human rights abuses and violations in Sudan. Following publication of its first report in September, the UK co-led renewal on 9 October 2024 of the Fact-Finding Mission's mandate for a further year, with the Resolution passing by a higher vote margin this year. The UK continues to support the work of the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) to gather open-source evidence on the ongoing fighting, with a view to supporting future accountability efforts. We continue to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor's ongoing work to investigate the allegations of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. Our practical support to the ICC more broadly includes witness protection; sentence enforcement; commitment to the ICC's reform process; and work to ensure that the Court has the resources it needs to operate effectively.