Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus, commonly referred to asSaleh Jerbo (1 January 1977 – 19 April 2013), was the Chief-of-Staff of theSLA-Unity. He was indicted by theInternational Criminal Court to be tried, together withAbdallah Banda, for three counts ofwar crimes allegedly committed during theRaids on Haskanita againstAfrican Union peacekeepers within the context of theDarfur conflict inSudan. The case against him was droppedwithout prejudice after his apparent death on 19 April 2013.[1]
According to information from the International Criminal Court,[2] Saleh Jerbo was born on 1 January 1977 inShagag Karo,North Darfur. He was a member of theZaghawa tribe.
On the evening of 29 September 2007, groups led by Banda and Jerbo are alleged to have attackedAfrican Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) soldiers at the Haskanita Military Group Site inUmm Kadada in North Darfur. A total of 12 AMIS peace keepers were killed.
After the Darfur situation was referred to the ICC by theUnited Nations Security Council through itsResolution 1593 on 31 March 2005 the Darfur conflict has been under the jurisdiction of the ICC. The Prosecutor of the Court opened an investigation on 6 June 2005.
On 27 August 2009,summonses to appear were issued against Banda and Jerbo under seal. They were unsealed on 15 June 2010, immediately before the two suspects' voluntary initial appearance before the Court. They were charged with three counts of war crimes: violence to life,pillaging and attacking peacekeepers.
After the confirmation of charges hearing on 8 December 2010, the charges were confirmed and the suspects committed to trial on 7 March 2011.
On 22 April 2013,Radio Dabanga reported that Jerbo was killed in a battle on 19 April. The battle involved fighting between the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Justice and Equality Movement–Bashar (JEM–Bashar), the splinter group in which Jerbo held the position of deputy general commander. A spokesperson from JEM–Bashar confirmed the death, but one from JEM declined to do so.[3] The ICC dropped the charges against him as a result of his apparent death,without prejudice, so that the case against him would reopen if he were found to still be alive.[1]