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The International Criminal Court handed down a 20-year sentence on Tuesday to a Sudanese militia commander for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the civil war in the country two decades ago.
The court had previously found Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known as Ali Kushayb, guilty on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including acts of rape, murder, and torture, in the Darfur region from 2003 to 2004.
The 76-year-old stood unemotionally in a blue suit and tie as presiding judge Joanna Korner delivered the sentence.
Abd-Al-Rahman was identified as a prominent member of Sudan’s notorious Janjaweed militia, who was found to have actively participated in numerous war crimes during the civil war.
Korner said that Abd-Al-Rahman “personally perpetrated” beatings, including using an axe, and issued orders for executions. She referenced testimonies from victims who reported that he had undertaken a “campaign of extermination, humiliation and displacement.”
Korner recounted in court the distressing accounts from victims about the hardships they faced under the Janjaweed.
Prosecutor Julian Nicholls requested a life sentence, telling the court, “You literally have an axe murderer before you. This is the stuff of nightmares.”
Abd-Al-Rahman denied being a high-ranking leader within the Janjaweed militia, which was a predominantly Arab paramilitary group supported by the Sudanese government to target mainly black African tribes in Darfur two decades ago.
He escaped to the Central African Republic in February 2020, after a new Sudanese government announced its intention to cooperate with the ICC’s investigation.
He stated that he voluntarily surrendered because he was “desperate” and feared that authorities would kill him, a claim the court did not accept.
Korner mentioned that this voluntary surrender, along with his age and good behaviour in detention, mitigated the sentence.
The time he has already spent in detention since June 2020 will be deducted from the sentence.
