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

The conviction, related to actions in 2003 and 2004, was the ICC’s first regarding crimes committed in Darfur. The region is now suffering further due to war.Published On 9 Dec 2025The International Criminal Court has sentenced a former leader of the Janjaweed militia to 20 years in prison for committing atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region.Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, 76, also known as Ali Kushayb, was sentenced on Tuesday following his conviction in October for war crimes and crimes against humanity.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Prosecutors demand life as ICC prepares to sentence Sudan ‘axe murderer’list 2 of 4ICC convicts Sudan ex-militia leader Ali Kushayb of Darfur war crimeslist 3 of 4ICC convicts first militia leader for brutal attacks in Darfurlist 4 of 4‘Crimes against humanity’ in Sudan’s Darfur: ICC deputy prosecutorend of listThis is the first time the ICC has convicted a suspect of crimes in Darfur, a region that is once again seeing mass atrocities amid a vicious civil war between the government-linked Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which traces its origins back to the Janjaweed militia.The court had unanimously convicted Kushayb on 31 counts, including attacks against civilians, murder, torture, rape, pillaging, destruction of property, persecution, and forcible transfer of population between 2003 and 2004.‘Extermination, humiliation and displacement’Abd-Al-Rahman was a leading member of Sudan’s infamous Janjaweed militia who participated “actively” in multiple war crimes during the civil war, the court found.Judge Joanna Korner, who passed the sentence, said he had “personally perpetrated” beatings, including with an axe, and given orders for murders.She quoted victims who said he had carried out a “campaign of extermination, humiliation and displacement”.Abd-Al-Rahman had consistently denied during his trial being a high-ranking official in the Janjaweed militia, a largely Arab paramilitary force armed by the Sudanese government to kill mainly Black African tribes in Darfur.