The International Criminal Court has sentenced Sudanese militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman widely known as Ali Kushayb to 20 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Darfur conflict more than two decades ago.
Convicted in October on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Kushayb, 76, is the first individual tried by the ICC for crimes linked to the Darfur civil war. Prosecutors identified him as a top Janjaweed leader, part of a government-backed militia accused of terrorizing Darfur’s non-Arab communities through mass killings, village burnings, and systematic sexual violence. Kushayb maintained that he had been misidentified.
Appearing in court in a pale blue suit, he listened silently as presiding judge Joanna Korner outlined how he not only ordered the crimes but “personally perpetrated some of them.” The charges focused on atrocities committed between 2003 and 2004, at the height of a conflict that spanned from 2003 to 2020 and left hundreds of thousands dead. Survivors testified that his forces were instructed to “wipe out and sweep away” non-Arab tribes and to ensure no one was spared.
The Janjaweed were armed by Sudan’s then-government to quash a rebellion led by Black African groups. Their campaign led to widespread accusations of genocide allegations that still echo today as Darfur once again becomes a battleground in Sudan’s current civil war between the national army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group whose roots lie in the Janjaweed.
Rights groups, the UK, and the US have accused the RSF of continuing ethnic cleansing in Darfur since fighting erupted in 2023, allegations the RSF denies. Judge Korner said the ICC’s sentence aimed to deliver both “retribution and deterrence,” stressing the urgency of accountability amid Sudan’s ongoing violence.
Experts caution, however, that the conviction may do little to influence the current conflict. Many victims of the original Darfur war remain displaced, and several high-profile suspects including former President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the ICC for genocide have yet to be brought to The Hague. Bashir, ousted in 2019, is reportedly held by the Sudanese military in the country’s north.
