Warrants sought in peacekeeper attacks

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The International Criminal Court prosecutor requested arrest warrants Thursday for rebel leaders in the deadly attacks on Darfur international peacekeepers.

The request for warrants, the first for killing peacekeepers, arise from an attack in September by rebel forces on an African Union base in which 12 peacekeepers and civilian police officers from the AU mission in Sudan died, Human Rights Watch said in a news release.

Laws of war and the statute of the International Criminal Court, seated at The Hague, Netherlands, prohibit attacks against international peacekeeping missions as long as the missions aren't directly involved in hostilities.

"Civilians rely on peacekeepers for protection and any hope for restoring security for civilians in Darfur depends on peacekeepers being able to do their job," Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, said in the release. "These warrant requests send a strong message that such crimes will not be tolerated."

The war crimes charged against the suspects include murder and causing severe injury to peacekeepers; intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission; and pillaging, the human rights organization said.