The International Criminal Court has found former Sudanese militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, widely known as Ali Kushayb, guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during brutal attacks in Darfur in the early 2000s.
The court ruled that Abd-Al-Rahman was responsible for multiple atrocities, including rape, murder and torture, which took place between August 2003 and at least April 2004.
Presiding judge Joanna Korner said, “The chamber is convinced that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crimes with which he has been charged.”
Wearing a blue suit, waistcoat and a bright red tie, Abd-Al-Rahman listened calmly to the verdict, occasionally taking notes. Korner narrated disturbing details of widespread assaults and killings, including one incident in which Abd-Al-Rahman forced about 50 civilians onto trucks, beat some with axes, and then made them lie on the ground before ordering troops to execute them.
“The accused was not only giving orders... but was personally involved in the beatings and later was physically present and giving orders for the execution of those detained,” Korner told the court.
Prosecutors described Abd-Al-Rahman as a senior figure within the Janjaweed militia, which was notorious for carrying out widespread violence across Darfur.
They said he “enthusiastically” participated in various attacks. Abd-Al-Rahman, believed to have been born around 1949, denied all charges and insisted that the court had the wrong person.
“I am not Ali Kushayb. I do not know this person... I have nothing to do with the accusations against me,” he said during a December 2024 hearing. But the judges concluded that he was indeed the man known as Ali Kushayb, rejecting testimonies from defence witnesses who tried to dispute his identity.
Abd-Al-Rahman fled to the Central African Republic in February 2020 after Sudan’s transitional government declared its willingness to cooperate with the ICC. He later surrendered, saying he feared for his life.
The violence in Darfur began when non-Arab communities took up arms against Khartoum, accusing the government of systemic discrimination. In response, authorities mobilised the Janjaweed, drawn largely from nomadic Arab tribes.
The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced during the conflict.
Throughout the trial, ICC prosecutors outlined how Abd-Al-Rahman and his fighters “rampaged across different parts of Darfur”. Then-prosecutor Karim Khan said he “inflicted severe pain and suffering on women, children and men in the villages that he left in his wake”. Khan has since left office amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Abd-Al-Rahman is considered close to former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who faces genocide and war crimes charges at the ICC. Bashir, who ruled Sudan for nearly three decades, was deposed in 2019 after months of nationwide protests. Although he remains in Sudanese custody, he has not been handed over to The Hague.
The ICC is also preparing new arrest warrants linked to the ongoing war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which evolved from the Janjaweed. The current conflict has displaced millions, killed tens of thousands, and pushed the country to the brink of famine.