The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, a leader of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia to 20 years imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the catastrophic conflict in Darfur more than two decades ago.
The ICC said in a statement that to determine this sentence, the chamber considered the gravity of the crimes and the personal circumstances of the convicted person, and other factors, including the degree of participation, intent of the convicted person, and the harm caused to victims.
Abd-Al-Rahman, 76, showed no reaction as Presiding Judge Joanna Korner passed the sentence. He was handed sentences ranging from eight years to 20 years for each of the counts for which he was convicted before the court imposed the overarching joint sentence of 20 years.
She said that Abd-Al-Rahman “not only gave the orders that led directly to the crimes” in attacks that largely targeted members of the Fur tribe perceived as supporting a rebellion against Sudanese authorities, he “also personally perpetrated some of them using an ax he carried in order to beat prisoners.”
Korner stated that the chamber has “taken the age factor into consideration … albeit to a limited extent.”
She stated that his “good behaviour and good character” in detention was viewed as “insufficient” to reduce his sentence, adding that it is “strongly contradicted by the preponderance of the evidence.”
The defence’s argument that Abd Al Rahman held a subordinate rank and had limited authority was also dismissed. The chamber viewed as “not extraordinary” examples of him ordering the Janjaweed to spare the life of civilians, including a “very ill soldier or policeman in 1986.”
Other defence arguments that he had ordered the Janjaweed to spare women from rape in the West Darfur village of Arawala were also disregarded.
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known by the nom de guerre Ali Kushayb, was convicted in October of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity that included ordering mass executions and bludgeoning two prisoners to death with an ax in 2003-2004.
At a hearing last month, prosecutors sought a life sentence. Prosecutor Julian Nicholls told judges at the sentencing hearing in November, “He committed these crimes knowingly, willfully, and with, the evidence shows, enthusiasm and vigor.”
Abd–Al-Rahman is the first person convicted by the ICC for atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region, where trial judges ruled that the Janjaweed crimes were part of a government plan to stamp out a rebellion there.
The ICC has a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment, but judges have the discretion to raise that to life in extremely grave cases. Abd-Al-Rahman’s time in detention before and during his trial will be deducted from the sentence.
Abd-Al-Rahman’s crimes were committed more than two decades ago, but violence continues to plague Darfur as Sudan is torn apart by civil war.
Sentence Imposed As Deterrent
Korner said that ICC sentences are imposed as a deterrent to prevent other crimes in the future. “Deterrence is particularly apposite in this case given the current state of affairs in Sudan,” she said.
ICC prosecutors are seeking to gather and preserve evidence from a deadly rampage last month in a besieged city in the region.
The latest alleged atrocities in famine-hit el-Fasher “are part of a broader pattern of violence that has afflicted the entire Darfur region” and “may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the ICC statement said, noting that evidence could be used in future prosecutions.
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