The Hague, Netherlands – The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday sentenced former Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, to 20 years in prison. He was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur region.
This ruling is the first final judgment issued by the court in the Darfur case. The case was referred to it by the UN Security Council in 2005, according to Reuters.
Conviction on 27 charges
Ali Kushayb, a former leader of the Janjaweed militia backed by the Sudanese government, was convicted last October. He faced up to 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The charges against him included murder, torture, orchestrating rape, and persecution based on ethnicity and gender. These included attacks on civilians in villages such as Kodom and Deleij. These atrocities were committed in West Darfur between August 2003 and March 2004, as part of a widespread and systematic campaign against non-Arab communities such as the Fur and Masalit.
Despite Kushayb’s denial of the charges, claiming he was “the wrong man,” the judges confirmed his identity and role. This was based on survivor testimonies and conclusive forensic and documentary evidence.
