A Sudanese militia commander has been convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the brutal conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region more than two decades ago.
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, widely known as Ali Kushayb, was found guilty by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. He becomes the first individual held accountable by the ICC for atrocities committed during the Darfur war.
Kushayb was a senior leader of the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia accused of carrying out a campaign of terror in Darfur that left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced.
During the trial, Kushayb maintained his innocence, claiming he had been misidentified.
The Darfur conflict, which erupted in 2003 and continued until around 2020, has been described as one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history. Widespread reports of ethnic cleansing and genocide targeted the region’s non-Arab communities.
The ICC’s ruling marks a significant milestone in the long quest for justice for Darfur’s victims and may pave the way for future prosecutions related to the conflict.
