Updated: 9 December 2025 14:38:30
20-Year Sentence: ICC Convicts Ali Kushayb
moatinoon
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday sentenced Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known as Ali Kushayb, to 20 years in prison after finding him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sudan’s Darfur region between 2003 and 2004.
The verdict follows his earlier conviction on 27 counts, including murder, rape, torture and attacks against civilian populations, as one of the most prominent leaders of the Janjaweed militia, accused of widespread atrocities during the Darfur conflict.
The ruling also includes the first-ever international conviction related to sexual violence in the context of crimes committed in Darfur. The court additionally ordered submissions on reparations for victims.
Presiding Judge Joanna Korner confirmed the sentence, stressing that Abd-Al-Rahman had actively participated in multiple crimes, personally beat victims — including with an axe — and issued orders for summary executions.
Ali Kushayb, born in 1949, was a senior field commander in the Arab Janjaweed militias armed and supported by the regime of ousted President Omar al-Bashir to suppress the rebellion in Darfur. He led numerous attacks on villages in Wadi Salih, Mukjar, Bindisi and other areas.
He remained at large for years after the ICC issued its first arrest warrant for him in 2007, before surrendering voluntarily in the Central African Republic in 2020 following the fall of the Bashir regime. The UN Security Council had referred the Darfur situation to the ICC in 2005.
During the trial, the court heard harrowing testimonies from survivors describing “days of torture beginning at sunrise, with blood flowing in the streets and no medical care or mercy.” Judges confirmed that Kushayb “walked on the heads of wounded men, women and children.”
Prosecutors had requested a life sentence, but the judges issued a reduced term citing his advanced age, good conduct in detention, and his decision to surrender in 2020. Time spent in custody since June 2020 will be deducted from the sentence.
Judge Korner said the ruling aims to deliver retribution and deterrence, stressing the importance of deterrence amid Sudan’s worsening conflict, where tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced.
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang described the conviction as “a message to victims in Sudan — and to those committing crimes today — that justice may be delayed, but it will eventually prevail.”
The ICC prosecution hopes to issue additional arrest warrants related to the ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose origins trace back to the Janjaweed militia.
moatinoon
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday sentenced Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known as Ali Kushayb, to 20 years in prison after finding him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sudan’s Darfur region between 2003 and 2004.
The verdict follows his earlier conviction on 27 counts, including murder, rape, torture and attacks against civilian populations, as one of the most prominent leaders of the Janjaweed militia, accused of widespread atrocities during the Darfur conflict.
The ruling also includes the first-ever international conviction related to sexual violence in the context of crimes committed in Darfur. The court additionally ordered submissions on reparations for victims.
Presiding Judge Joanna Korner confirmed the sentence, stressing that Abd-Al-Rahman had actively participated in multiple crimes, personally beat victims — including with an axe — and issued orders for summary executions.
Ali Kushayb, born in 1949, was a senior field commander in the Arab Janjaweed militias armed and supported by the regime of ousted President Omar al-Bashir to suppress the rebellion in Darfur. He led numerous attacks on villages in Wadi Salih, Mukjar, Bindisi and other areas.
He remained at large for years after the ICC issued its first arrest warrant for him in 2007, before surrendering voluntarily in the Central African Republic in 2020 following the fall of the Bashir regime. The UN Security Council had referred the Darfur situation to the ICC in 2005.
During the trial, the court heard harrowing testimonies from survivors describing “days of torture beginning at sunrise, with blood flowing in the streets and no medical care or mercy.” Judges confirmed that Kushayb “walked on the heads of wounded men, women and children.”
Prosecutors had requested a life sentence, but the judges issued a reduced term citing his advanced age, good conduct in detention, and his decision to surrender in 2020. Time spent in custody since June 2020 will be deducted from the sentence.
Judge Korner said the ruling aims to deliver retribution and deterrence, stressing the importance of deterrence amid Sudan’s worsening conflict, where tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced.
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang described the conviction as “a message to victims in Sudan — and to those committing crimes today — that justice may be delayed, but it will eventually prevail.”
The ICC prosecution hopes to issue additional arrest warrants related to the ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose origins trace back to the Janjaweed militia.
