ICC sentences Sudanese motorcyclist to 20 years in prison for Darfur Atrocities
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Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) sentenced the leader of the dreaded Sudan Jaldjaweed Marlitia sect to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for war crimes and crimes against humanity that have plagued the country for the past two decades.
In a hearing last month, prosecutors sought a life sentence for Ali Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman, who was convicted in October of war crimes and the execution of two prisoners who died by ax in 2003-2004.
“He committed these crimes deliberately, deliberately, and, the evidence shows, a prosecutor and a vigilante,” prosecutor Julian Nicholl told jurors at a hearing in November.
Abd-Al-Rahman, 76, stood and listened, but he did not see him and in charge of Judge Joanna Korner passed the sentence. He handed down sentences ranging from eight to 20 years on each count before the court imposed a combined sentence of 20 years.
He said Abd-Al-Rahman “not only gave orders that led directly to crime” in attacking the most targeted members of the Sudanese tribe, “he himself became one of them using an axe.”
The ICC may decide to appeal
The Office of the Prosecutor of the Court said that its staff would study the decision of the sentence to decide whether to “take further action.” The office can impose a sentence and renew his call for life.
The office said in a written statement that it was seeking a life sentence “due to the large number of crimes Mr. Abd-Rahman was found guilty of – rape, as a smoker and ordering others to commit such crimes.”
It added that a large number of victims were also observed, including at least 213 people killed, including children, and 16 women and girls who were victims of rape.
Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, is the first person to be indicted by the ICC for Atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region, where Janjawee Judges ruled that the Janjaweed crimes were part of the government’s plan to end the rebellion there.
The ICC has a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, but judges have the discretion to increase that to life in the most serious cases. Abd-Al-Rahman’s time in custody before and during his trial will be deducted from the sentence.
Abd-Al-Rahman’s crimes were committed more than two decades ago, but violence continues to plague Darfur as Sudan is torn apart by civil war. ICC prosecutors are seeking to collect and preserve evidence from last month’s deadly massacre in a banned city in the region.
The recent allegations in Famal-Hit El Fasher are “part of a wider pattern of violence that has plagued the entire Darfur region” and “Consider the war crimes they say,” which means evidence for future prosecutions.
Korner said the ICC sentences were set as a deterrent to prevent other crimes in the future.
“Deverlence is particularly apposite in this case given the current state of affairs in Sudan,” he said.
