THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court on Tuesday handed down a sentence of 20 years to a Sudanese militia leader for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country&#39;s civil war two decades ago.&nbsp;The court had already convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, of 27 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including rape, murder, and torture, in the western Darfur region between 2003 and 2004.&nbsp;The 76-year-old, wearing a blue suit and tie, stood impassively as presiding judge Joanna Korner passed the sentence.&nbsp;Abd-Al-Rahman was a leading member of Sudan&#39;s infamous Janjaweed militia who participated &quot;actively&quot; in multiple war crimes during the civil war, the court found.&nbsp;Korner said Abd-Al-Rahman &quot;personally perpetrated&quot; beatings, including with an axe, and gave orders for executions.&nbsp;She cited victims who said he had carried out a &quot;campaign of extermination, humiliation and displacement.&quot;&nbsp;Korner read out in court harrowing testimony from victims of the suffering they had endured under the Janjaweed.&nbsp;&quot;Days of torture began at sunrise... blood ran freely in the streets... there was no medical help, no treatment, no mercy,&quot; said Korner.&nbsp;She said that Abd-Al-Rahman had personally walked on the heads of injured men, women, and children.&nbsp;Prosecutor Julian Nicholls had called for a life sentence, telling the court: &quot;You literally have an axe murderer before you. This is the stuff of nightmares.&quot;&nbsp;Abd-Al-Rahman had denied being a high-ranking official in the Janjaweed militia, a predominantly Arab paramilitary force armed by the Sudanese government to kill mainly black African tribes in Darfur two decades ago.&nbsp;He fled to the Central African Republic in February 2020 when a new Sudanese government announced its intention to cooperate with the ICC&#39;s investigation.&nbsp;He said he then handed himself in because he was &quot;desperate&quot; and feared authorities would kill him, a claim the court rejected.&nbsp;Korner said this voluntary surrender was one of several factors that mitigated the sentence, along with his age and good behavior in detention.&nbsp;&quot;The chamber would have pronounced a higher sentence had it not been for the mitigating circumstances discussed above,&quot; said Korner.&nbsp;The time he had already spent in detention since June 2020 would be deducted from the sentence.&nbsp;&#39;Symbolic&#39; convictionFighting broke out in Sudan&#39;s Darfur region in the 2000s when non-Arab tribes, complaining of systematic discrimination, took up arms against the Arab-dominated government.&nbsp;Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed, a force drawn from among the region&#39;s nomadic tribes.&nbsp;The United Nations says 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million more displaced in the conflict.&nbsp;ICC prosecutors are hoping to issue fresh arrest warrants related to the current crisis in Sudan. Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced in a war between Sudan&#39;s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which traces its origins back to the Janjaweed.&nbsp;The conflict, marked by claims of atrocities on all sides, has left the northeast African country on the brink of famine, according to aid agencies.&nbsp;In passing sentence, Korner said the ICC wanted to ensure both &quot;retribution and deterrence.&quot;&nbsp;She added that &quot;deterrence is particularly apposite in this case given the current situation in Sudan.&quot;&nbsp;Victims&#39; representatives had wanted the sentence to be sufficiently long that he would never return to Sudan. The ICC, which tries individuals for the world&#39;s worst crimes, can impose a life sentence, but has never done so.&nbsp;Abd-Al-Rahman&#39;s conviction &quot;is also symbolic,&quot; ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang told AFP in an interview on Friday.&nbsp;&quot;It is a signal to the victims in Sudan, but also to those committing crimes, that justice may be slow but it will get you in the end,&quot; Niang said.

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Abd-Al-Rahman was a leading member of Sudan's infamous Janjaweed militia who participated 'actively' in multiple war crimes during the civil war, the International Criminal Court found.

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ICC sentences Sudan militia chief to 20 years