In a first, ICC convicts Sudanese militia leader of Darfur war crimes
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was found guilty of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2004.
More than two decades after the atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region, the International Criminal Court on Monday convicted a former militia leader of war crimes and crimes against humanity. It's the ICC's first-ever verdict addressing crimes committed during the conflict.
What happened: Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, was found guilty on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in leading Janjaweed militias in carrying out attacks on non-Arab communities in Darfur between 2003 and 2004.
#ICC Trial Chamber I finds Ali Muhammad Ali #AbdAlRahman guilty of 27 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in #Darfur, #Sudan.
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) October 6, 2025
📖 More info in press release to come pic.twitter.com/FNXb5MBypW
Rahman was a senior commander in the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia that terrorized the region during the early years of the conflict, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions.
Delivering the verdict in The Hague, presiding Judge Joanna Korner said, “Acting on government of Sudan instructions, the Janjaweed carried out operations against several predominantly Fur and non-Arab villages in Darfur. … During these operations, villages were pillaged and destroyed, civilians were murdered, raped, persecuted, mistreated and forcibly displaced.”
