JAKARTA - The International Criminal Court (ICC) plans to hand down a war crimes verdict on Monday, October 6, against Sudanese militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.
According to AFP, Abd-Al-Rahman faces 31 counts of crimes, including rape, murder, and torture, allegedly committed in Darfur between August 2003 and April 2004.
The ICC prosecutor said Abd-Al-Rahman was a leading member of Sudan's notorious Janjaweed militia, who participated "enthusiastically" in numerous war crimes.
However, Abd-Al-Rahman, who was born around 1949, denies all the allegations.
At a hearing in this case, scheduled for December 2024, Abd-Al-Rahman argued that the court had the wrong person in the charges against him.
"I am not Ali Kushayb. I don't know this person... I have nothing to do with the charges against me," he said.
During the previous hearing, Karim Khan, then the ICC prosecutor general, said Abd-Al-Rahman and his forces were “rampant in various parts of Darfur.”
“Inflicting immense pain and suffering on women, children, and men in the villages he abandoned,” said Karim Khan, who has since resigned from his post.
Abd-Al-Rahman is also suspected of allying with ousted Sudanese leader Omar Al-Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC on genocide charges.
Bashir, who ruled Sudan with an iron fist for nearly three decades, was ousted and detained in April 2019 after months of protests in Sudan.
However, he has not yet been handed over to the ICC, which is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. Bashir also faces multiple charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The ICC prosecutor hopes to issue a new arrest warrant related to the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
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