ICC sentences Sudanese militia leader Ali Kushayb to 20 years for Darfur war crimes
Abd-Al-Rahman, 76, also known as Ali Kushayb, was convicted in October of 27 counts, including murder, rape, torture and attacks against civilians in western Darfur between 2003 and 2004.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced Sudanese militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman to 20 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Darfur conflict two decades ago.
Ali, 76, also known as Ali Kushayb, was convicted in October of 27 counts, including murder, rape, torture and attacks against civilians in western Darfur between 2003 and 2004.
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The ruling marks the ICC’s first conviction related to the Darfur conflict.
Presiding judge Joanna Korner said Ali “personally perpetrated” beatings, including with an axe and gave orders for executions.
Quoting victims, she added he carried out a “campaign of extermination, humiliation and displacement.”
Korner described harrowing testimonies from survivors stating, “Days of torture began at sunrise… blood ran freely in the streets… There was no medical help, no treatment, no mercy.”
Prosecutor Julian Nicholls had urged the court to hand down a life sentence, calling Ali “literally an axe murderer… the stuff of nightmares.”
Ali, who consistently denied being a senior Janjaweed commander, had fled to the Central African Republic in February 2020 when Sudan’s new government announced cooperation with the ICC. He later surrendered, claiming he feared for his life, a claim rejected by the court.
Judge Korner said Abd-Al-Rahman’s voluntary surrender, age and good behaviour in detention were mitigating factors.
“The chamber would have pronounced a higher sentence had it not been for these circumstances,” she said, noting that the time served since his surrender in June 2020 will be deducted from the 20-year term.
The Darfur conflict erupted in the 2000s when non-Arab tribes rebelled against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, which responded by deploying the Janjaweed militia. The United Nations estimates 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced.
Current violence in Sudan, including a civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group tracing its roots to the Janjaweed, has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, triggering a humanitarian crisis.
Judge Korner said the sentence aimed to ensure “both retribution and deterrence,” stressing its relevance amid ongoing atrocities.
ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang described the conviction as symbolic, sending a signal to both victims and perpetrators that justice may be slow but inevitable.
Ali’s sentencing closes the ICC’s first trial addressing the Darfur conflict, while prosecutors are pursuing additional warrants linked to Sudan’s current crisis.
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