INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT SENTENCES SUDANESE MILITIA LEADER, ALI TO 20 YEARS FOR WAR CRIMES

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced Sudanese militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, widely known as Ali Kushayb, to 20 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur more than two decades ago.
The 76-year-old was convicted in October on 27 counts linked to brutal attacks carried out in 2003 and 2004, making him the first person tried by the ICC for atrocities from the Darfur conflict. Kushayb, a senior leader of the Janjaweed militia, was found to have participated in killings, village burnings and widespread sexual violence targeting non-Arab communities.
The Darfur conflict killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions, and its legacy continues today as similar patterns of violence re-emerge in Sudan’s ongoing civil war involving the Rapid Support Forces, an offshoot of the Janjaweed. While the ICC hopes the sentencing will serve as deterrence, experts doubt it will change conditions on the ground. Several ICC warrants, including one for former President Omar al-Bashir, remain outstanding.