On October 6, 2025, the International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered a landmark verdict that reverberated from The Hague to the war-torn plains of Darfur, Sudan. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, better known as Ali Kushayb, a notorious commander of the Janjaweed militia, was found guilty of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his leading role in a brutal campaign of violence in Darfur between August 2003 and April 2004. The conviction marks the first time the ICC has secured a guilty verdict for atrocities committed in Darfur, a region that has become synonymous with some of the most harrowing human rights abuses of the 21st century.
The three-judge panel presiding over the trial, led by Judge Joanna Korner, found that Abd-Al-Rahman orchestrated and personally participated in a campaign of mass executions, rape, torture, and forced displacement, targeting non-Arab tribes who had rebelled against the regime of then-President Omar al-Bashir. According to The Associated Press, the court ruled that these atrocities were not random acts of violence but part of a systematic government plan to crush dissent and snuff out the rebellion in Darfur.
Wearing a suit and tie and listening through a headset, Abd-Al-Rahman showed no emotion as the verdict was read. He was convicted of ordering mass executions—including the bludgeoning of two prisoners to death with an ax—and using rape as a weapon of war, a chilling detail that underscores the depth of the suffering inflicted during the conflict. The verdict is also notable for being the first ICC conviction for gender-based persecution and rape as a war crime, a milestone highlighted by the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor, which stated, “With this judgment, the Office resolves to continue pursuing its policy commitment to effectively investigate and prosecute gender-based crimes.”
The trial, which began in April 2022, featured testimony from 56 witnesses who recounted the horrors they had witnessed and endured. Survivors described how the Janjaweed, often arriving at dawn on horseback or camelback, swept through villages, killing indiscriminately, burning homes, and using sexual violence to terrorize and humiliate. As reported by Reuters and India Today, the court’s 355-page verdict left no doubt about Abd-Al-Rahman’s identity or his role as a senior commander. Attempts by the defense to cast him as a “no one” or a victim of mistaken identity were firmly rejected. Judge Korner noted that Abd-Al-Rahman had even identified himself by his name and nickname in a video at the time of his surrender in the Central African Republic in 2020.
The scale of the devastation in Darfur is staggering. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million displaced during the conflict, according to United Nations estimates. The Janjaweed’s campaign, backed and funded by the Sudanese government, targeted the Fur and other non-Arab tribes, leaving entire villages destroyed and families shattered. Human rights groups have long pressed for justice, and the ICC’s verdict is being hailed as a vital—if overdue—step toward accountability. “This long overdue verdict goes some way in providing justice for the victims of Ali Kushayb and should serve as a significant milestone in the pursuit of justice for crimes committed in Darfur more than two decades ago,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.
The conviction carries broader implications for Sudan and the international community. The judges found that the crimes were committed as part of a wider state policy, involving the government’s recruitment, training, and arming of the Janjaweed. The verdict, as Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan put it, “sends a resounding message to perpetrators of atrocities in Sudan, both past and present, that justice will prevail, and that they will be held accountable for inflicting unspeakable suffering on Darfuri civilians, men, women and children.”
Yet, the verdict also highlights the limits of international justice. Despite the ICC issuing arrest warrants for former President Omar al-Bashir and other senior government officials as far back as 2009 and 2010, these figures remain at large. Al-Bashir, indicted for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, is currently held in a military-run facility in northern Sudan, but has not been handed over to The Hague. Other key suspects, including Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein and Ahmed Haroun, also remain under the protection of Sudan’s military. The ICC has called on member states to enforce all outstanding arrest warrants and to enhance their support for the court, a call echoed by Amnesty International and other rights organizations.
The timing of the verdict is especially poignant given the ongoing turmoil in Sudan. Since 2023, the country has been engulfed in a new civil war between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—the latter a direct descendant of the Janjaweed. The conflict has already claimed at least 40,000 lives and displaced up to 12 million people, with over 24 million facing acute food insecurity, according to the World Health Organization and the World Food Program. The city of El Fasher in North Darfur is now under siege, and reports of atrocities and famine continue to emerge. As Liz Evenson of Human Rights Watch observed, “With the current conflict in Sudan producing new generations of victims and compounding the suffering of those targeted in the past, the verdict should spur action by governments to advance justice by all possible means.”
The ICC’s work in Sudan has not been without controversy. The United States has imposed sanctions on the court’s top prosecutors, and the ICC itself is under scrutiny, with Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan stepping aside amid an independent investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. Despite these challenges, the court’s determination to pursue justice for Darfur remains undimmed. As Tigere Chagutah of Amnesty International urged, “The United Nations Security Council should extend the Court’s mandate from Darfur to the entirety of Sudan.”
For the victims and survivors of Darfur, the conviction of Ali Kushayb is a long-awaited, if partial, vindication. “Finally a victory for justice, and justice for the victims of Darfur,” said Enaam al-Nour, a Darfur rights defender and journalist. Khalid Omar, a political activist and former minister in Sudan’s post-Bashir government, echoed this sentiment, writing, “Justice for the victims will come, even if it takes some time.”
As the ICC prepares to sentence Abd-Al-Rahman and considers reparations for victims, the world is reminded that the pursuit of justice is often slow and incomplete, but never without meaning. The verdict may not bring back the lives lost or heal all the wounds, but it stands as a testament to the resilience of those who demand accountability—and a warning to those who would commit such crimes in the future.