Omar al-Bashir

Oct. 6 (UPI) — The International Criminal Court convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman for committing human rights atrocities as the infamous leader of the Sudanese militia known as the Janjaweed.

Prosecutors hailed the conviction of Abd-Al-Rahman, also known by his nom de guerre Ali Kushayb, as the first verdict against a militia leader for waging a brutal campaign of ethnically motivated violence two decades ago against the civilian population in Sudan’s Darfur region.

The conflict in Darfur is considered the first genocide of the 21st century and unfolded between 2003 and 2020, when ethnic-based rebel groups took up arms against Sudan’s autocratic government. In response, the Sudanese government unleashed its own militias including the Janjaweed, whose name means “devils on horseback.”

The United Nations estimates that roughly 300,000 people died and another 400,000 were forced to flee to neighboring Chad.

The panel of judges overseeing the case in The Hague found that Al-Rahman was responsible for overseeing thousands of government-allied forces that carried out mass executions, torture and the burning and pillaging of entire villages.

“The conviction of Mr Abd-Al-Rahman is a crucial step towards closing the impunity gap in Darfur,” Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said in a statement. “It sends a resounding message to perpetrators of atrocities in Sudan, both past and present, that justice will prevail, and that they will be held accountable for inflicting unspeakable suffering on Darfuri civilians, men, women and children.”

First charged in 2007, Al-Rahman was on the run for 13 years before surrendering to authorities in the Central African Republic. He has denied the charges and his defense argued during the trial that he had been misidentified.

The court’s prosecutors are still pursuing warrants against Sudan’s former President Omar al-Bashir, former Interior Minister Ahmad Harun and ex-Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Hussein.

Tigere Chagutah, a regional director for Amnesty International, said in a statement following the verdict that the conviction should serve as a warning to those involved in the current conflict in Sudan, where the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces is accused of committing genocide.

“This long overdue verdict goes some way in providing justice for the victims of Ali Kushayb and should serve as a significant milestone in the pursuit of justice for crimes committed in Darfur more than two-decades ago,” Chagutah said.

July 11 (UPI) — War crimes are likely being committed in Sudan, with rape and sexual violence being used as weapons, the International Criminal Court said in a report to the United Nations.

“There is an inescapable pattern of offending, targeting gender and ethnicity through rape and sexual violence,” ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told U.N. ambassadors this week.

Khan said the ICC has “reasonable grounds to believe” both war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in the northeast African country, which has been plagued by an active civil war for approximately two years.

A team of ICC prosecutors is currently attempting to collect evidence of reported crimes in the Darfur Region in the western part of Sudan.

In February, U.N. officials called for $6 billion to help combat starvation and sexual violence in Sudan. A report at the time said “civilians are paying the highest price” in the country with a population of more than 50 million people.

Sudan’s military has been at war since April of 2023 with the Rapid Support Forces, a breakaway militant group run by Gen. Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa. The conflict has seen millions of people displaced, with tens of thousands killed since the country’s then-President Omar al-Bashir was removed from office in a civilian coup.

The two sides have continued attacks against each other, with civilians often becoming collateral damage.

In March, Sudan’s military recaptured the presidential palace.

A month later, an RSF attack killed over 100 people in Darfur. Figures provided by U.N. officials at the time showed over 24,000 people had been killed in the conflict with more than 700,000 refugees from the Darfur region jammed into two camps.

In January, the United States sanctioned Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accusing the leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces of undermining peace efforts.

Khan, this week, said the ICC has so far collected more than 7,000 pieces of evidence from refugee camps in neighbouring Chad. The prosecutor also called on the international community to “ensure there is no gap in our efforts to hold perpetrators accountable.”

The ICC was first given a mandate in 2002 by the U.N. Security Council to pursue war crimes in Darfur, with several subsequent investigations.