Judges at the International Criminal Court yesterday sentenced a Janjaweed militia leader to 20 years in prison for atrocities committed in Sudan’s Darfur region, including beating detainees to death with an axe.
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd Al Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, was convicted in October on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and orchestrating rape and other atrocities carried out by Janjaweed militias more than 20 years ago.
In their sentencing, judges rejected defence arguments that Abd Al Rahman had limited authority and expressed empathy for the victims.
“Abd Al Rahman not only gave the orders which led directly to the crimes, but in Mukjar and Deleig also personally perpetrated some of them, using the axe he carried to beat prisoners,” presiding judge Joanna Korner said.
The trial chamber imposed a joint sentence of 20 years, a term that likely means the 76-year-old will die in prison.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, describing Abd Al Rahman as an axe murderer for killing two detainees held in a police station.
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