By CNN International
October 7, 2025 | The Hague, Netherlands
He was called “Ali Kushayb,” the man with a cane and a cold command. To victims in Darfur, he was the shadow that came with the dawn, a harbinger of death galloping through villages in flames. Yesterday, after years of silence, scars, and international suspense , justice finally found its voice.
In a landmark decision, Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman , known more widely by his nom de guerre “Ali Kushayb” , of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, Sudan, during one of the most brutal chapters of the 21st century.
The verdict, handed down Monday, October 6, marks the first-ever conviction at the ICC for crimes committed in the Darfur conflict , a conflict that left over 300,000 dead and millions displaced.
The Gavel Strikes After Years of Grief
After a trial spanning three years, involving 74 live witnesses, nearly 1,600 participating victims, and over 1,800 pieces of evidence, the court found that Abd-Al-Rahman , once a powerful commander of the feared Janjaweed militia , directly ordered, participated in, and enabled widespread atrocities between August 2003 and April 2004.
In its ruling, the Chamber found him:
Directly responsible for murder and torture as both war crimes and crimes against humanity, including outrages upon personal dignity and persecution.
Jointly responsible — alongside Janjaweed fighters and Sudanese government forces , for mass executions, attempted killings, and systemic torture of at least 200 detainees during the Mukjar and Deleig operations.
An architect of destruction who commanded mass rape, murder, pillaging, and the burning of civilian homes during the Kodoom and Bindisi assaults , a campaign of terror that was not just military, but methodical.
A Legacy of Smoke, Blood, and Dust
To many Sudanese, the name “Ali Kushayb” is synonymous with terror. Survivors told harrowing stories of children burned alive, women gang-raped at gunpoint, and entire communities wiped off the map. His forces were known for riding into towns on horseback like a storm, bringing death as swift as a whipcrack.
One survivor, who testified under protective anonymity, recalled hiding in a dry well while her entire village was massacred. “He was there,” she whispered in court. “He laughed while people screamed.”
The judges — Joanna Korner (Presiding), Reine Alapini-Gansou, and Althea Violet Alexis-Windsor , were unflinching in their final judgment: Ali Kushayb was no pawn of war; he was a player and planner, a man who wielded his power with ferocity and without remorse.
Justice Deferred, But Not Denied
This case marks a pivotal moment for international justice and accountability. It is the first ICC conviction related to the Darfur conflict, fulfilling part of a mandate issued by the United Nations Security Council in 2005 to investigate atrocities in western Sudan.
Prosecutors initially brought 31 charges; the Chamber found the evidence strong enough to convict on 27, ruling the others were subsumed under overlapping charges.
The sentencing phase will now commence , with a separate hearing already scheduled. In parallel, the Court will initiate reparations proceedings for the victims, marking another critical step toward healing.
An Unfinished Chapter
For many Sudanese, this judgment represents more than a courtroom victory , it’s a symbolic turning of the tide. But justice, like healing, is a journey paved in long shadows. Ali Kushayb is just one name among many who orchestrated the suffering in Darfur.
“Justice isn’t only a gavel’s echo,” said ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan outside the courtroom, “It’s the sound of silenced voices finally being heard.”
A Verdict Etched in Fire and Memory
In the red dust of Darfur, where vultures once circled overhead and the land bore witness to unspeakable cruelty, the echo of this verdict carries like thunder across the Sahel.
No ruling can resurrect the dead. No sentence can erase the pain of the living.
But yesterday, for the first time in over two decades, a name once spoken with fear has now been etched into the record of history , not as a warlord, but as a criminal.
And in that, there is a flicker of justice , faint but fierce , like a candle in a windstorm that refuses to die.
