The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced Sudanese militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, to 20 years in prison for atrocities committed during the Darfur civil war over two decades ago.
Kushayb, 76, was convicted in October on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was one of the leaders of the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia that terrorised Darfur, killing hundreds of thousands of people.
Standing quietly in a light blue suit and tie, Kushayb listened as presiding judge Joanna Korner delivered the sentence on Tuesday. “Abdal Raman not only gave the orders which led directly to the crimes but… also personally perpetrated some of them,” Judge Korner said.
Kushayb is the first person to be tried by the ICC for atrocities committed during the Darfur civil war, which lasted from 2003 to 2020 and has been described as one of the world’s gravest humanitarian disasters, with allegations of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the region’s non-Arab population.
During the trial, survivors recounted how their villages were burned, men and boys were killed, and women were forced into sexual slavery. Judge Korner noted that Kushayb had ordered soldiers to “wipe out and sweep away” non-Arab tribes, instructing them, “don’t leave anyone behind. Bring no one alive.”
The charges against Kushayb focused on attacks committed between 2003 and 2004, when the Arab-dominated Sudanese government armed the Janjaweed to suppress a rebellion by black African ethnic groups. The militia systematically targeted non-Arab villagers accused of supporting rebels, leading to widespread accusations of genocide.
Today, Darfur remains a key battleground in Sudan’s ongoing conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, whose roots lie in the Janjaweed.
