Name: ICC sentences Sudan militia-leading ‘axeman’ Rahman to 20 years
Uploaded: 2025-12-10T00:42:32.028Z
Duration: 1 min 42 s
Description: The conviction, related to actions in 2003 and 2004, was the ICC’s first regarding crimes committed in Darfur.

The conviction, related to actions in 2003 and 2004, was the ICC’s first regarding crimes committed in Darfur.

The Hague

Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel Rahman, also known as Ali Khusheib, has been sentenced by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to 20 years in prison. He was convicted on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and orchestrating rape, for his role as a leader of the Janjaweed militia in Darfur, Sudan, during the conflict that began more than two decades ago.

The Janjaweed, supported by the Sudanese government under then-president Omar al-Bashir, were responsible for the deaths of nearly 300,000 civilians, according to the United Nations. The ICC has also charged Bashir with genocide, and a warrant for his arrest remains outstanding. Recent conflict in Sudan has seen the Rapid Support Forces, considered successors to the Janjaweed, accused of further atrocities, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of around 12 million people.

ICC sentences Sudan militia-leading ‘axeman’ Rahman to 20 years

Stand up, please, Abdel Rahman. An international criminal court verdict. The chamber sentences you to a joint sentence of 20 years. Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel Rahman, known as Ali Khusheib, was a leader of the so-called Gingerweed Militia in the Darfur region of Western Sudan during a war more than 20 years ago. He was convicted in October on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and the orchestration of rape. The Gingerweed was an armed group supported by the Sudanese government under the leadership of the then-president Omar al-Bashir. It targeted local rebels in Darfur, which accused the government of oppression and marginalization. The UN says the Gingerweed, along with Sudanese government forces from that era, were responsible for the majority of the atrocities and the death of nearly 300,000 civilians, either killed or who died as a result of the conflict. Bashir was charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court in 2010. The ICC has issued a warrant for his arrest. He was deposed in a military coup in 2019. A new conflict in Sudan started in 2023 when a power struggle broke out between the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and the Sudanese army. The RSF are considered a successor to the Gingerweed and are accused of ethnically motivated killings in Darfur and wider regions of southern Sudan. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced around 12 million people to flee their homes. Charles Stratford, Al Jazeera.

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