The International Criminal Court (ICC) has convicted former Darfur militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for atrocities committed in Sudan’s Darfur region between 2003 and 2004. The ruling marks the ICC’s first-ever conviction related to the Darfur conflict.
A three-judge panel found that Ali played a central role in the Sudanese government’s campaign to suppress a rebellion in western Sudan. Judges said he personally planned and participated in a series of brutal attacks targeting non-Arab ethnic groups. The court heard evidence that he ordered mass killings, directed village raids, and oversaw acts of rape and torture carried out by Janjaweed fighters under his command.
Presiding Judge Joanna Korner said Ali “encouraged and gave instructions that resulted in the killings, the rapes and destruction committed by the Janjaweed.” The panel unanimously agreed on the verdict, describing the crimes as part of a widespread and systematic campaign orchestrated by the government of then-President Omar al-Bashir.
During the trial, which began in April 2022, prosecutors presented evidence from 56 witnesses, including survivors who described harrowing experiences of violence. Witnesses recounted mass executions of prisoners, entire villages burned to the ground, and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. In one of the most chilling findings, the court said Ali personally ordered the summary execution of dozens of detainees in March 2004 and beat two prisoners to death with an axe.
Although four charges were dismissed, judges explained that those acts were already covered under other counts. Ali now faces a possible life sentence, with the exact punishment to be announced at a later date. Throughout the proceedings, he denied all charges, claiming he was not the man known as Ali Kushayb. The judges rejected his defence, pointing out that he had previously identified himself using both names in a video recorded when he surrendered.
Ali surrendered in 2020 to authorities in the Central African Republic after years in hiding and was later transferred to The Hague. His conviction comes as Darfur once again faces renewed violence, with the ICC warning that war crimes and crimes against humanity continue in the region. The original Darfur conflict, which began in 2003, claimed about 300,000 lives and displaced more than 2.7 million people.
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