A report released on November 5, 2009 by the United Nations Panel of Experts on Sudan reveals continuing human rights violations in Darfur and underscores the urgent need to reform Sudan's repressive national security law.

The African Union should support the High-Level Panel on Darfur's call for prosecutions to provide justice for victims in Darfur. The panel’s recommendation to create a “hybrid court” – along with establishing a truth and reconciliation commission and strengthening the domestic criminal justice system – could usefully supplement justice efforts in Darfur, but not replace International Criminal Court cases.

The Obama administration's new Sudan policy, announced this morning, represents a positive step toward improving human rights and securing justice in Sudan. The policy aims to end conflict in Darfur and ensure implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

On October 19, 2009, the International Criminal Court (ICC) will begin a hearing to assess whether charges of war crimes against Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, a rebel leader in Darfur, Sudan, should be confirmed.

(New York, October 9, 2009) – The award of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama should encourage him to apply his stated principles to both foreign and domestic human rights policy.

The Sudanese government should end attacks by its armed forces on civilians in Darfur and make the major human rights reforms envisioned in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Special Envoys to Sudan, concerned governments, and United Nations and African Union officials meeting in Moscow today should press Sudan's government to make these legal and policy changes a matter of urgent priority.

What is surprising is the recent assault on the ICC from within the African Union, despite, as outlined in a recent communiqué of its Peace and Security Council, its "unflinching commitment to combating impunity." Several of the AU's North African members - who are not, incidentally, parties to the ICC - are trying to undercut its support on the continent.

The government of Southern Sudan should increase the numbers of police and security forces in volatile areas of Jonglei state, where brutal inter-ethnic violence killed at least 185 civilians last week.