ICC trial of Ali Kushayb an indictment of Al Bashir regime and Sudanese Armed Forces

Report by Amal Mohammed Al-Hassan of Al-Taghyeer Newspaper for Sudan Media Forum

Ali Abdel Rahman, known as “Kushayb,” is awaiting sentencing on November 17 after being convicted by the International Criminal Court on October 6 of 27 counts, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and persecution of civilians in the Darfur region.

The prosecutor’s office expressed its expectation that the sentence would be life imprisonment, noting in a media press conference held on October 8 that he would be transferred to another country to serve his prison sentence.

Kushayb’s trial began after he surrendered himself in Central Africa in June 2020, based on an arrest warrant issued against him by Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court on April 27, 2007, which was linked to al-Bashir’s government leader, Ahmed Haroun.

Ali Kushayb atrocities

The back and feet of “Adam,” a pseudonym, a resident of the Mukjar locality, still bear the marks of the iron with which he was burned in 2004. Ali Kushayb’s forces arrested him on charges of belonging to the forces of Abdul Wahid Muhammad al-Nur and tortured him by burning him with the hot iron “the traditional iron that is heated with charcoal” and jumping on his stomach until his intestines came out of it.

More than twenty years after that incident, Adam, who is now in his sixties, still suffers from the effects of torture and abdominal pain does not leave him.

This is what human rights defender and documenter of the violations in Mukjar, Badour Zakaria, told Al-Taghyeer. She emphasised that the stories of the victims and their families are countless, and that the case in court addressed Kushayb’s violations in specific times and places, while many events have yet to be recounted.

Zakaria told Al-Taghyeer that the story of “Amina,” the wife of one of the mayors, will not leave her memory. While the region learned of her husband’s death from his famous “Seiko” watch lying on Khor Kushib, his forces attacked her after they recognised her as the mayor’s wife as she was trying to escape from Mukjar with her children on the back of a donkey, and they hit her with the butt of the rifle on her head until she lost consciousness.

“When she took the dress off her head, she found a circle of baldness in the middle of it. The area where she was beaten had not had hair grow back,” Badour Zakaria continued, saying: “It seems that the killing of her husband and the beating she suffered to the head affected her memory. The previous events are no longer clear in her mind.”

Landmarks that bear witness to brutality

Khor Kushayb, located in the southeastern direction of Mukjar locality, near the former UNAMID headquarters, is considered one of the landmarks that bear witness to the brutality with which the Janjaweed leader treated local citizens, as he would lead men there to liquidate and bury them.

Near the famous creek, other genocide graves can be seen as you leave Mukjar heading towards Garsila. Local efforts to erect a wall around the site to commemorate the victims were interrupted by the outbreak of war in April 2023.

Badour Zakaria said that the attacks carried out by Kushayb in the Mukjar area and other regions were carried out on the direct instructions of the leader of the dissolved National Congress Party, Ahmed Haroun, and with the support of al-Bashir’s government.

According to information obtained from survivors, the area witnessed a number of notorious attacks that began in August 2003, followed by another attack in February 2004 and another in March of the same year, indicating that the targeting was intended for areas controlled by the leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement Army, Abdul Wahid Muhammad Nur.

A criminal carrying an axe

Zakaria said that most of the attacks were carried out using camels, horses, and motorcycles, with a small number of cars involved, while Kalashnikovs, Dushkas, and RPGs were used.

“The Fur and their property are yours.” This was a famous phrase of Kushayb, with which he gave permission to the Janjaweed forces to loot all property and practice persecution, mass rapes, killing and torture, according to eyewitnesses who said that he was also known for carrying an axe with which he would strike people in any part of the body. Zakaria quoted eyewitnesses as saying that he would force men to lie on their stomachs until the helicopter that Ahmed Haroun used to arrive in the area landed, and they would do the same lying-down line when it took off, in scenes to impose power and control and humiliate the tribes accused of rebelling against the state.

Types of torture

One of the most notorious methods of torture practiced by Kushayb’s forces on the residents of Mukjar, Bindisi, Dalij, and Kadom (Kutum) areas under investigation and charges in the Criminal Court was that they would set fire to plastic bottles and then drip the burning liquid onto the naked bodies of the people.

Bodies were also burned with hot irons and heads were shaved with shards of glass, and some died from overcrowding in prisons and the lack of oxygen in them.

“The Qam Plane” was a torture method that killed detainees who could not endure it being repeated three times. The torture method was carried out by tying up the detainee and lowering him upside down with his head down and his feet up and swinging him.

 According to the human rights defender, she met “Yahya,” a pseudonym, who miraculously survived that method of torture until the fifth time it put him in a coma. When he woke up, he found that three prisoners who had been tortured in the same way had died.

Arm of power

Kushayb, who led the Janjaweed forces in the Wadi Saleh region, was an official arm of Omar al-Bashir’s government, as he was a member of the Central Reserve Forces and held the rank of Sergeant, according to the director of the Sudan Centre for Human Rights and lawyer Munim Adam, who confirmed that he became a tribal militia leader after leaving the official forces, targeting the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit components.

The Bashir government provided protection to Kushayb despite the fact that the investigations of the first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, concluded that there were crimes against humanity, war crimes and acts of genocide that were carried out within the framework of what is known as the scorched earth policy, according to the head of the Darfur Lawyers Association, Saleh Mahmoud.

Mahmoud told Al-Taghyeer, “Al-Bashir’s refusal to hand over Kushayb and Ahmed Haroun led the ICC to charge him with obstructing international justice, and he was considered a key partner in all the crimes.”

Mahmoud held the Bashir regime and the post-revolution military-civilian coalition government responsible for obstructing justice in the Darfur crimes by refusing to hand over Omar al-Bashir, Ahmed Haroun, Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein and Ali Banda.

Mahmoud said that the failure to hand over the wanted individuals is a negative point in the record of the civilian component headed by Abdullah Hamdok, who ignored the cries of the victims.

He added: The wanted men are still at large and are under the protection of the Port Sudan government. Civil forces must organise a long and broad campaign to force the government to hand over the wanted men.

“When new lists are issued, we should be prepared to force any government, whether the de facto government in Port Sudan or Nyala, to expedite the handover of those wanted.”

The army protects criminals

The director of the Sudan Centre for Human Rights agreed with Mahmoud’s assertion that those in power at the current helm were colluding with those wanted by the ICC, holding the army leadership responsible.

Adam told Al-Taghyeer that the withdrawal of the Al-Arabiya correspondent’s license after her report last month that revealed al-Bashir’s location is one of the indicators of the Port Sudan government’s refusal to cooperate with the ICC.

Adam described Kushayb’s trial as a trial of the former regime to which the army belonged, which used the Janjaweed as an arm to strike at tribes of African affiliation. He pointed to the misunderstanding of the Port Sudan government, which sent delegations to attend the trial thinking it was a trial of the Rapid Support Forces.

“The presiding judge spoke clearly about the instructions being issued by al-Bashir and Haroun to Kushayb.”

On the other hand, lawyer Munim Adam asserts that the methods used in the crimes committed by Kushayb resemble those used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during the current war, particularly in El Fasher and other areas, amidst media campaigns suggesting the RSF’s deployment to the Northern State and Merowe. “This is a very dangerous form of hate speech that will lead to future trials of RSF members,” he stated.

Shameful silence

Immediately after the verdict of conviction against Kushayb was issued, statements of welcome poured in, while marches took place in a number of displacement camps in Darfur, celebrating the decision and demanding the handover of the other wanted individuals.

However, the authorities in Port Sudan, the Islamists, and the armed movements allied with the army chose to remain silent, except for a statement written by the leader of the Sudan Liberation Army Movement, Minni Arko Minawi, the day after the decision was issued, in which he did not refer, directly or indirectly, to the need to hand over al-Bashir and the other wanted men.

Political analyst Mohamed Latif said that the armed movements’ stance on the decision revealed the contradiction inherent in movements with unprincipled positions that do not represent the interests of Darfur’s citizens.

Latif accused the movements of making huge gains through the peace agreement in the name of the people of Darfur, including obtaining positions and controlling the Sudanese economy, while the citizens of Darfur did not benefit at all, despite the huge sums received by the leaders of the movements, especially Jibril and Minawi.

In his interview with Al-Taghyeer, Latif expressed his surprise at the movements’ silence regarding the condemnation of Kushayb, which is essentially a condemnation of the violations committed in Darfur. “The simplest thing for these movements is to issue a statement supporting the verdict and demanding more sanctions,” he stressed, adding that the silence confirms that the citizen was not their concern.

Regarding the Islamists’ stance, Latif emphasised that their position from the outset of the court proceedings was clear: they considered the proceedings an attack on Sudan, and therefore, their support could not be expected under any circumstances. Latif asserted that they were surprised by the verdict because they had wagered that the charges were fabricated by the opposition.

Latif asserted that the International Criminal Court’s ruling is a condemnation of the entire former regime because a court with such transparency and fairness would not issue an unjust ruling.

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This article by Amal Mohammed Al-Hassan of Al-Taghyeer Newspaper is published by the Sudan Media Forum and its member organisations, to document the trial of Ali Kushayb for crimes he committed in Darfur 20 years ago. The article reminds us of the importance of documentation in combating crime and emphasises that criminal acts do not expire with time.

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