ICC Convicts Sudan Militia Commander Al Rahman of Darfur War Crimes

The Hague, Netherlands: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has delivered a landmark verdict, convicting Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, of 27 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur, Sudan, between August 2003 and April 2004. The judgment marks the first ICC conviction arising from the Darfur conflict and the first-ever conviction for gender-based persecution as a war crime.

The Janjaweed militia commander was found “guilty beyond any reasonable doubt” of crimes including murder, torture, rape, and forced displacement of civilians, carried out under a state-backed policy by the Sudanese government against non-Arab tribes such as the Fur.

Presiding Judge Joanna Korner, along with Judges Reine Alapini-Gansou and Althea Violet Alexis-Windsor, highlighted that the crimes were strategically coordinated at the highest state level, with the government utilizing public resources to train, arm, and fund the Janjaweed militia.

The ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor emphasized that this verdict also represents a historic recognition of gender-based crimes, with Al Rahman convicted of rape as a war crime and crime against humanity, and of the persecution of Fur males on political, ethnic, and gender grounds. Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the judgment addresses intersecting forms of discrimination and sets the stage for reparations for victims.

Al Rahman had surrendered to the ICC in 2020, after the fall of the government led by former President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, who, along with other top officials, remains under pending warrants for Darfur atrocities. The ICC has now scheduled proceedings for sentencing and reparations, reinforcing the international community’s commitment to accountability for crimes against humanity.

The Darfur conflict was referred to the ICC by the UN Security Council in 2005, recognizing the crisis as a threat to international peace and security, and thousands of civilians had been killed in the violence orchestrated by state-backed militias.