ICC Set to Deliver Verdict on Sudanese Militia Leader Ali Kushayb
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is scheduled to announce its verdict on Monday in the case of Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, a Sudanese militia leader accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Darfur conflict.
Charges Against Ali Kushayb
Ali Kushayb faces 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These charges include allegations of murder, rape, torture, and killings reportedly carried out in Darfur between August 2003 and April 2004. Prosecutors allege he was a senior commander of the Janjaweed militia, a group accused of systematic terror.
Prosecutors described him as an "enthusiastic participant" in a campaign of systematic terror. During the trial, former ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said Abd-Al-Rahman and his men “rampaged across different parts of Darfur,” inflicting “severe pain and suffering on women, children and men in the villages that he left in his wake.”
Kushayb's Defense and Flight
Rahman has denied all charges, claiming mistaken identity. "I am not Ali Kushayb. I do not know this person... I have nothing to do with the accusations against me," he stated during a December 2024 hearing.
In 2020, Abd-Al-Rahman fled to the Central African Republic after the new Sudanese government signaled willingness to cooperate with the ICC. He later surrendered, saying he feared being killed by local authorities. "I had been waiting for two months in hiding, moving around all the time, and I was warned that the government wanted to arrest me," he testified. "If I hadn’t said this, the court wouldn’t have received me, and I would be dead now.”
Background of the Darfur Conflict
The conflict in Darfur erupted when non-Arab tribes, alleging systematic discrimination, launched an armed rebellion against the Arab-dominated government. The United Nations estimates that approximately 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced during the conflict in the 2000s.
Implications and Context
The accused is believed to have maintained close ties with former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who remains wanted by the ICC for genocide and crimes against humanity. Bashir was toppled in 2019 but has not been handed over to The Hague.
In South Darfur, residents of the Kalma camp, now under RSF control, have reportedly pooled resources to rent a Starlink satellite connection to stream Monday’s verdict. The camp is currently battling a severe hunger crisis and a cholera outbreak.
