The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced Ali Muhammad Ali Abdulrahman, better known as Ali Kushayb, a former commander of the Janjaweed militia, to 20 years in prison for committing atrocities in the Darfur region.
The 76-year-old was sentenced on Tuesday, 9 December 2025 following his conviction on 6 October 2025 for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Kushayb is accused of 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur, particularly Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar, and Arawala, between August 2003 and March 2004. He was convicted by the ICC on 6 October 2025 for 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between August 2003 and March 2004. These charges include:
- Forcible transfer and displacement of people
- Murder
- Rape
- Torture
- Persecution
- Pillage (looting)
- Attacks on civilians
- Outrages upon personal dignity
This is the first time the ICC has convicted and sentenced a suspect of crimes in Darfur, a region that is once again seeing mass atrocities amid a war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which traces its origins back to the Janjaweed militia.
The Darfur war, also referreed to as the Dafur conflict, began in 2003 in the Darfur region of western Sudan. It started when two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), took up arms against the Sudanese government, accusing it of oppressing non-Arab populations and neglecting the region. In response, the government armed and supported militias known as the Janjaweed, who carried out widespread attacks on civilians, including mass killings, rape, and the destruction of villages. The war caused a humanitarian crisis, with estimates of 300,000 deaths and 2 to 3 million people displaced internally or as refugees in neighbouring countries such as Chad and the CAR.
Several individuals from Sudan remain under arrest warrants issued by the ICC for their alleged involvement in atrocities committed during the Darfur conflict, including Former Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir, Former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Harun, former Sudanese militia leader Abdel Raouf Abu Zaid, and Former Minister of Defense and Interior Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein.
The ICC is an intergovernmental organisation and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. The ICC investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
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