Child drawings of Darfur atrocities 'can be evidence'

More than 500 children's drawings illustrating the atrocities in Darfur can be accepted as evidence in a war crimes trial, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has agreed.

In August, The Independent revealed the remarkable pictures drawn by children as young as eight after they fled over the border to Chad. They showed attacks on Darfuri civilians by Sudanese government troops and Arab janjaweed militias.

Yesterday, the drawings were handed to the ICC, which is prosecuting a Sudanese minister and a militia commander accused of war crimes. They were backed up by written statements from children and adults given to the charity Waging Peace, which campaigns against genocide.

The ICC prosecutor's office in The Hague said: "We are in contact with Waging Peace to see how we could use [the pictures] in proceedings, for example to set the context for the judges as part of the presentation of evidence."

A spokeswoman said the young artists themselves would not be called to give evidence because the ICC did not want them to relive their trauma, but she added: "Compelling drawings like these are very important and can do much to raise awareness about the situation in Darfur. They tell a lot about the scale and the nature of the violence."

Louise Roland-Gosselin, the director of Waging Peace, presented the drawings at a 90-minute meeting with Gloria Atiba-Davies, the head of the ICC's Children and Gender Unit, and prosecutors.

The court has issued arrest warrants for Ahmad Harun, Sudan's former junior interior minister and now humanitarian affairs minister, and Ali Kushayb, a Janjaweed leader.