Wayne Lumbasi
The International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered a long-awaited verdict against Sudanese militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd Al Rahman, known to many as Ali Kushayb.
He was found guilty of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the Darfur conflict that devastated western Sudan between 2003 and 2004. The ruling, coming nearly twenty years after the United Nations referred the case to The Hague, marks a defining moment in the global pursuit of justice for victims of one of Africa’s most brutal wars.
Ali Kushayb was a leading commander of the Janjaweed militia, a force accused of working alongside Sudan’s military to crush rebel movements in Darfur. Under his leadership, the militia launched coordinated attacks on villages such as Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar, and Arawala, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Survivors recounted how armed men stormed their homes, executed men in public, raped women, and burned entire settlements to the ground. The ICC heard from 56 witnesses whose testimonies exposed the extent of the horror, describing corpses in wells, children separated from families, and villages erased from the map.
The scale of the Darfur tragedy remains staggering. According to United Nations estimates, more than 300,000 people were killed during the conflict, while about 2.7 million were displaced, many of whom still live in refugee camps.
The attacks targeted ethnic groups such as the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa, accused of supporting rebel fighters opposing the government in Khartoum. Behind the rhetoric of counterinsurgency lay a campaign of ethnic cleansing that shocked the world and drew accusations of genocide.
For the people of Darfur, the ICC verdict is more than just a legal decision. It is an acknowledgment of their suffering and endurance. It demonstrates that even those who once operated with complete impunity can be held to account.
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