The judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) began their deliberations in the Ali Mohamed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman case on Friday evening. The Janjaweed leader is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur in 2003 and 2004.
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In his defense, Ali Mohamed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman assures that he is not Ali Kushayb, the nickname given to him by several witnesses. “ I am not Ali Kushayb. I don’t know this person “, he told the ICC. According to Ali Mohamed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, the accusations against him were “not nothing to see » with him. On the contrary, he claims that he identified himself as Ali Kosheib to the ICC because he was “ desperate “. “ I had been waiting in hiding for two months […] and I was afraid of being arrested » by the Sudanese government, the accused said. “ If I hadn’t said that, the court wouldn’t have received me and I would have died », continues the accused.
He also claims that he was never a great Janjaweed commander, as the prosecutor claims. And that at the time of the alleged crimes, in 2003 and 2004, the Geneva conventions were not taught in the Sudanese army, points out our correspondent in The Hague, Stephanie Maupas.
Khaki jacket, burgundy tie, the 75-year-old accused concluded the pleadings with a short statement: “ The victims of 2003, 2004 and today are my brothers and sisters. I pray for their salvation and I suffer with their families for whom absence has caused eternal suffering. If I had done the things they say I did, I wouldn’t be able to get over it, but I ask God to give me the strength to endure God’s punishment, for just as brothers do not can’t fight each other. I pray to God the Merciful to bring peace to the Sudan. »
Ali Mohamed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, who surrendered on his own in 2020, is suspected of being responsible for violent attacks on villages in the Wadi Salih region of Central Darfur in August 2003. He is on trial for 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, torture, pillage and cruel treatment.
Fighting broke out in 2003 in Darfur when rebels, denouncing systematic ethnic discrimination, took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime of Omar al-Bashir. Khartoum responded by deploying the Janjawid militia, a force made up of members of nomadic groups in the region. According to the UN, the conflict in Darfur, which ended in 2020, left 300,000 dead and 2.5 million displaced.
The judges began their deliberations on Friday evening. They have no deadline to deliver their verdict. This could take several months.
Also readThe Darfur war seen through the trial of Ali Kushayb: the arming of the Janjawids [2/3]