ICC convicts Darfur militia leader over past atrocities in Sudan

The Hague: The International Criminal Court on Monday convicted a leader of the feared Janjaweed militia of playing a leading role in a campaign of atrocities committed in the Sudanese region of Darfur more than 20 years ago.

It was the first time the court has convicted a suspect of crimes in Darfur. The three-judge panel ruled that the atrocities, including mass murders and rapes, were part of a government plan to violently snuff out a rebellion in the western region of Sudan.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd–Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, wearing a suit and tie and listening through a headset, showed no emotion as Presiding Judge Joanna Korner read out 27 guilty verdicts. He will be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum life sentence.

He was convicted of crimes for leading Janjaweed militia forces in Darfur that went on a campaign of killing in 2003-2004. “He encouraged and gave instructions that resulted in the killings, the rapes and destruction committed by the Janjaweed,” Korner said, adding that the verdicts were unanimous.

Abd–Al-Rahman pleaded innocent to all 31 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity when his trial opened in April 2022 and argued he was not the person known as Ali Kushayb.

The judges rejected that defence. They declined to deliver verdicts on four charges because they considered that the crimes were covered by other charges for which he was convicted.

The verdicts came as allegations of atrocities and famine continue to emerge from Sudan in a new conflict. In July, the ICC’s deputy prosecutor told the United Nations that war crimes and crimes against humanity continue in Sudan’s vast Darfur region where civil war has raged for more than two years.