Ex-Janjaweed leader Kushayb gets 20 years in first major ICC conviction on Darfur atrocities

THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced former Janjaweed commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, widely known as Ali Kushayb, to 20 years in prison after convicting him of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the height of the Darfur conflict.

Judges found the 76-year-old played a decisive role in attacks on non-Arab communities between 2003 and 2004, saying he personally carried out brutal beatings — including with an axe — and issued orders that led to murders, rape, torture and the displacement of entire villages.

His conviction in October on 31 counts marked the first successful ICC prosecution tied to the Darfur atrocities, nearly two decades after the court issued its first warrants.

Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, describing Kushayb as “an axe murderer” who terrorised civilians during Sudan’s counterinsurgency campaign.

Defence lawyers argued that he had been misidentified, but the judges rejected that claim and said time he has already spent in ICC custody since June 2020 will count toward his sentence.

The verdict represents a significant breakthrough for the ICC, whose Darfur investigation has long been hindered by Sudan’s political upheavals and by the refusal of successive governments to surrender suspects.

Several senior figures indicted alongside Kushayb remain at large, including former president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been wanted since 2009 on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Bashir has not been transferred to The Hague and remains under the protection of Sudan’s military authorities.

Other fugitives include Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein, a former defence and interior minister accused of coordinating attacks linked to the Janjaweed campaign, and Ahmed Haroun, a former state security official and later governor who is wanted for murder, persecution and other crimes committed in Darfur.

Their continued evasion of the court has drawn criticism from human rights groups, who say impunity at senior levels has contributed to renewed cycles of violence.

The sentencing comes as Darfur faces another wave of mass atrocities amid a devastating war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that traces its origins to the Janjaweed.

Fighting that erupted in April 2023 has displaced millions, with the RSF now controlling most of Darfur and pushing eastward, prompting warnings of famine and what aid agencies describe as one of the world’s fastest-deteriorating humanitarian crises.